What are you doing for a maintenance/service log book?

In this electronic day and age, I imagine many are using a device to store this info.

Growing up in the 60's.....I remember Dad keeping a small "pocket" sized notebook in the glove box of our cars with detailed info on service work done, including dates and mileage.

Back in March of 2021 when I bought my one owner '97 Volvo 850 5 speed wagon.....with only 80K original miles....it came with a maintenance record written on the back of the cardboard for a case of Budweiser beer! First entry: 10 May '97 - oil and filter change - 3154 miles. Everything is on there through the years....battery, brake pads, tune ups, tires, belts.......just amazingly thorough!

My preferred method is to keep it all hand written and kept in 3 ring binder....plus I tend to take a lot of photos on work I do to all my vehicles and bikes with my digital camera which I have the date stamp deployed. And all those photos go into folders on my hard drive. For motorcycles alone right now I have 49 different folders.....one for each bike but also separate ones for carbs, fairings, fuel tanks, etc.

So what method(s) are you guys using to keep track of work done on your machines?

Some pics of that Volvo log I mentioned. The car is immaculate and runs like a freaking sewing machine, so that was quite a good snag! Got her on eBay located an hours drive away.......

 

spreadsheet on a cloud server so i access it from any computer

 

I have a small hard cover notebook for each bike. I write down any servicing work that I do with a date and km, and do the same for any new tyres.

 

https://www.fuelly.com/ and app for all my vehicles. i set service reminders for oil changes etc based on miles/time, and whenever you put the info in at fuel ups it tells you if you need to do anything. pain to get going initially, but it works for our fleet.

 

I should probably get a lot better with my maintenance logs. Realistically I should just get a new notebook for every bike instead of miscellaneous entries into the three different ones I juggle now.

I'm not much of a stickler for timing on when I get things done. At the end of each year I usually sort my photos to make them easier to find in the future. I can usually get an idea of when things were last done. I don't ride enough street miles to warrant mid-season oil changes, so those just get changed when I put the bikes down for the year.

 

Thanks for the responses, so far. Good stuff!

For me....I also like the idea of a "bio" for each bike.

Date purchased.
Mileage/condition.
Seller info.
Amount paid.
How purchased (CL, eBay, FBMP, etc.)
Copy of classified ad, if possible.
Transport costs and details.
Photos of acquisition.

All of the above is the start of that bike's story....how it came into your possession.

After that you can start adding in service and maintenance performed, etc.

I have most of this for my bikes but it's not organized very well. Each bike has it's own file folder and in that folder is a collection of hand written notes and photo copies & originals of various documents.

I also make a copy of the seller's title received when I buy the bike showing all that info.

As the years roll on there's no way anyone can remember all this stuff so keeping records really helps, for me anyway.

 

Man, I'm old school. 3 ring binder with dividers. All paperwork in a sheet protector and I keep all receipts in sheet protectors corresponding to each bike.

 

Another old school owner.

For every vehicle I maintain a bulging folder(sometimes two) where I keep all documentation from the day I bought it to the day it gets sold on.

I also have and refer to the Factory Service Manual for stuff like tyre pressures and torque settings. Otherwise under the seat I also keep the OEM service book which I ensure is duly stamped by the garage.

For some a digital approach especially one with reminders could be a great approach to keeping your servicing up to date. But sadly digital records are far too easy to mess with, so never throw away paper documentation. When it comes to actually selling a motorbike there is no substitute for showing a potential buyer that you do have a heap of servicing invoices and sundries like invoices for tyres, batteries, and roadworthiness testing invoices etc.

 

I'm old school as well. A separate 2 or three inch 3 ring binder for every vehicle and RV I own. The one for my VFR, the oldest and my first bike, is starting to bulge a bit so I may need to start Vol II. I stopped recording the oil changes. I just do oil changes on the bikes I have had every 10,000 km on the zeros. Easy to remember and no calculations and figuring out where and dates and the like. Owners manual says every 12,00 KM. The first year, I did it every 5,000 km so I think I have it covered. BTW. 228,000+ KM on the old gal and the engine has not skipped a beat.

 

The fella I bought my Ninja from had a 3 ring binder and Haynes manual for it, which came with the bike.

The binder contained service info and some receipts.

Really love the format he used with the photo, VIN, and date on the front.....

 

Excel makes everything easier...

I have a car file and a bike file for active vehicles. Once I sell them, I save those tabs as their own file in the folder for that vehicle.

Each of the two files has a tab for each vehicle containing columns for each type of service. I keep one master tab with conditional formatting that tracks when I'm within 1000 miles of any given service/parts needed.

I've been using this simple system for decades and it rocks.

Samples from my car log I'm working in after a recent trip:

 

I have a mish mash of approaches, and i need to get my Sh!t together on this.

I have a hand written log book/spreadsheet keeping track of :

When each bike had its fuel changed. (I have alot of bikes that don't get ridden much)
When each bike was run & heat cycled last

I have online spreadsheets for:

All the $ spent on each bike, parts & $ that went into the restorations and the total $ invested
A sheet on the collective spend YoY on all bikes in my collection and Market values vs what I paid/invested etc

For my newer bikes that I ride regularly - one is dealer serviced (BMW = Bring My Wallet), the other just gets serviced every 5,000km regardless, not much to track there.

 

I have a mix of excel and paper. I like digital, except I get lazy in the garage, do the work and walk away if I don't have paper in hand. My logbook has every current and past vehicle. I like the binder w/photos for each approach others are using.