We're not talking about dealer specific warranties, but about warranty claims that are the fault of the rider/owner because some modification is attributed to a failure. For instance: You change your own oil and do your own maintenance so after buying the bike from your dealer you ask him/her that you don't want to affect the warranty, but can you perform your own maintenance? We say yes, but buy the oil and filter from us so we know the bike is getting the proper care and feeding. But don't show up 18 months later after never having communicated once with us, with a bike that has sludge in it and the obvious wear and tear from no maintenance, then want us to do a top-end job because "This thing doesn't run right any longer".
Can I adjust my own valves, you ask? The answer is yes you can, it is after all, a free country
. However, we will tell you it's not a good idea, because no matter how good a Honda mechanic you were in your other life, if there is a burnt valve to evaluate after the home adjustment, you will pay for it. Also, if you don't tell us you adjusted them, and bring it in trying to pull one over on us, we will know
(we have our ways).
The truth is that as a dealer, we submit the warranty claim. Therefore we control the information the Manufacturer evaluates. I'm not saying that dealers should lie about warranty claims, but we're talking about jetting here. If the bike is jetted correctly then what is the problem with covering the warranty? The same logic can be applied to many other repairs that could be in areas that a rider modified. Say, if an aftermarket carb is substituted by the owner with our knowledge and we okay the jetting; and ring breaks while running at 80 MPH? It ought to be covered and we will fight for the customer if the manufacturer rejects the claim.
However, if you (the rider), send your motor off to the latest techno-wiz guy your internet pals say is making the most horsepower, have it super-sized, new cam, rev-limiter and so on and so forth, you have now produced a race motor and sorry, we will not submit a warranty claim on your behalf.
So no matter what the fine print says, it's not so cut and dry in the real world. If you have a dealer who lives by the fine print, that is his or her choice, we choose to work with our customers and help them enjoy their MZ products without having to look over their shoulders if they want more performance.