[JDuc]

I'm curious to know what all of you use to keep track of the maintenance on your vehicles?

This is geared mostly towards those of you who do your own maintenance, but as well as those of you who take your bikes in for maintenance.

I keep an Excel spreadsheet going for my bikes, but was interested to know if anyone else had anything easier or more nifty out there.

 

[Bella749]

keep track of what? If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Just kidding, I used to keep a little green notebook as a log with setup and maintenance notes... I gotta start one for my new bike.

 

[JDuc]

Yeah - I'm really wanting something I could sync between my windows based cell phone and my computer....that would be in a perfect world...so that when I'm out in the garage and I'm changing the oil, or flushing fluids, I can then enter it in on my phone...or while I'm at work and I'm wondering how long its been since I changed belts, oil, chain, etc...I can just pull up the log on my phone and check it out...or, while I'm out of town, at a friends...and I flush fluids...I can log it real quick in my phone...but that's probably wishing for too much...lol

 

[corndog67]

How many bikes do you have? I've got 2, I think I can remember a valve adjust or oil change, maybe.

What were we talking about?

 

[Tothna]

Yeah - I'm really wanting something I could sync between my windows based cell phone and my computer....that would be in a perfect world...so that when I'm out in the garage and I'm changing the oil, or flushing fluids, I can then enter it in on my phone...or while I'm at work and I'm wondering how long its been since I changed belts, oil, chain, etc...I can just pull up the log on my phone and check it out...or, while I'm out of town, at a friends...and I flush fluids...I can log it real quick in my phone...but that's probably wishing for too much...lol

If you have a Windows based Smartphone you can use either Microsoft Excel Mobile, or OneNote Mobile. They are both part of the Microsoft Office family and will sync to your PC if you have Excel and/or OneNote on your PC.

 

[JDuc]

Yeah - I do have a windows based smart phone, but it doesn't sync the changes like I was hoping for. This is what I've done in the past. But any time I've made the change on my phone I've then had to go and make the change on my laptop as well to keep the data on the laptop up to date.

Just looking to see what other people use.

I guess I'm the only one who keep track of when they changed brake pads last? Or tires? To see how many miles they've REALLY gotten out of a set...not just an estimate?

Or am I the only one around here who keeps their bike long enough to care...:abduct:

 

[LessPeople_MoreRobots]

I've been using www.fuelly.com for a while now.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/lesspeoplemorerobots

Its like an online fuel and maintenance log, and it tracks and graphs everything for you. There's even a mobile version of the site so you can jot down your fuel ups right there at the pump (works perfect on the iPhone). Since its totally browser-based, there's no sync'ing required. They do also allow import and export of all your stuff via excel or .csv

For oil changes or any other maintenance, just click 'add note'. There's a blank for an odometer reading, and then a blank space to write what you want. Works for me, but if you have an excel sheet with a bunch of rows/columns to track everything, you may not like this since it doesn't separate everything out. I put notes in when I mount new tires too, with the prices.

You can also compare your vehicle to others of the same model and year, since the stuff is viewable to anybody. Pretty neat.

 

[Bill_Anderson]

I use 4"x6" recipe cards which I keep in a ziplock bag along with my vehicle registration and proof of insurance form. The bag sits in one of the compartments under my seat.

 

[johnnyrotten143]

I use a green Army notebook (thanks to the taxpayers for supplying this)...
It's just graph paper in a book-binder. Just note the mileage & service performed. I also save ALL receipts of purchased mods, parts, & service...These are invaluable when either selling parts or a bike...Even though you'll NEVER recover your purchased price on add-on parts, it's nice to know a vehicle that is meticulously documented.....you can also compare/recall service rates, length of time to perform a job, etc....This is useful when $$ is tight & service needed. You can also help out others by letting them know pricing averages, etc...

I don't document mileage...Unless I ride the EXACT same route every tank of gas, the mileage isn't the same & neither are the averages...Your gas mileage is dependent on an ENORMOUS amt of variables...weight (1 up/2 up), tankbag/tailpack...amt of gas in bike...weather ridin in (hot/cold/humid)...road surfaces...tire tread condition,oil condition, chain condition....just to name a few....
I understand that the avg shouldn't be TOO far apart/different, and MIGHT indicate a pattern of something wrong happening (underlying problem), but I have other things to do in life besides tasting oil/measuring tenths of millimeters...my bike is for riding, not measuring...after all, I'm not on a WSBK/MOTO GP team where microns matter......just my $ .02.......

 

[Trenman]

If you have an iPhone there are several cool motorcycle maintainance apps you can get.

 

[corndog67]

Or am I the only one around here who keeps their bike long enough to care...:abduct:

]

I do what's required, and no, I keep them for about 1-2 years and get something else. Obsessive/compulsive and a very short attention span I suppose.

 

[mojodog]

Wall in the garage and a sharpie.

 

[Filantroop]

Yeah - I'm really wanting something I could sync between my windows based cell phone and my computer....that would be in a perfect world...so that when I'm out in the garage and I'm changing the oil, or flushing fluids, I can then enter it in on my phone...or while I'm at work and I'm wondering how long its been since I changed belts, oil, chain, etc...I can just pull up the log on my phone and check it out...or, while I'm out of town, at a friends...and I flush fluids...I can log it real quick in my phone...but that's probably wishing for too much...lol

You could try evernote. It's an app where you can enter notes on your phone or pc. It sync's though internet so you can acces your notes anywhere. Another cool function is that you can search through your uploaded photos for a word and it will "read" the text on your photos to find the picture youre looking for.
Ofcourse you do need a phone with an internet connection.