Three Times Lucky

Portsmouth Motorcycles Service


I’ve now paid up a fair amount of hard earned green and purples for servicing on Shadowfax and always in the belief the smaller garages will be cheaper – or at least better value than the main dealer network. I’m delighted to report I may have been wrong.

Portsmouth Motorcycles conducted a full 12,000-mile service and rented me a bike for the day for just shy the £200 quoted. Sure, the evil bastard on morning shift who thought I’d have more fun on a rented CB600F than on a Deauville 700 is on my hit list of men whose testicles I’d most like to stamp on. Phut-Phut came to mind; naked, too low geared and totally uncomfortable and untrustworthy in traffic (although I did warm to the 600 a little more as the day wore on but there’s no way I could have done 100-miles commute on it). The unprotected visor also allowed the wind in and made me cry; most undignified!

Anyway, for a few quid more than Nige at Taylor’s Garage and Mike at Motorcycle Mechanic cost I’ve had the brakes serviced by guys used – and more importantly trained to play with the linked ABS system and I have confidence in the works carried out. I’m really quite surprised by the frugality of the dealership servicing episode and devastated our local alternatives have been proven less value than I had hoped to give then credit as being.

Sorry guys, but the hire bike and security of mind cannot be matched.

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