Originally Posted by
Gwolf
Get the proper maintenance manual for the year and model. Not the Owner's Manual, the Shop Manual, which has the specific procedures for almost all mechanical, electrical, and other problems. The Shop Manual is expensive, but not compared to an hour at the dealership.
Find the trouble shooting section for your problem and go through all the potential problems that cause the malfunction. The manual has many pictures of the parts affected, and how to correct them.
You don't have to be a factory mechanic to work on anything. If you can read a manual and turn a wrench, you can fix just about anything there is.
A lot of working on machinery is just a matter of confidence in yourself. The more you do it, the more confidence you gain.
You will probably be better off doing the job yourself, because the dealerships often create as many problems as they solve.
I have been working on my own motorcycles all my life, and the Spyder for the last 4 years. Never ran into a problem on it so far that meant that BUDS was even needed. It is not required for most problems you will be fixing. A Multimeter and a 12-volt test light will usually be enough.