Documenting your Wrenching

I try and do what I call basic services on my motorcycles. Part of it is that I am cheap and owning beemers tend to get expensive in terms of maintenance at times. Part of it is the satisfaction of knowing the services was done and done right. Part of it is not liking to leave my motorcycles in the hands of others, and the logistics of bumming a ride from/to the mechanic/dealer to drop off or retrieve ones pride and joy.

Source: California Motorcycle Adventures (googled)
Click the above for a snapshot of Maria's log as of today

So where am I going with this you ask? Doing your own basic stuff, in my opinion, is all well and good but you must also be a zealot about documenting said services! Not only to track and schedule the next required work to keep your motorcycle humming along but also to prove to a buyer that you're steed was well taken care of in case you decide to sell it in the future.

I don't see myself selling Brigitta anytime soon but Maria? Maybe.

I spent part of this morning updating my documentation. The small little space in the owner manual that came with Maria is ludicrous for documenting work, works great for the BMW dealer to check off but that's it. I use an Excel spreadsheet to track my work on my motorcycles.

What do you use on yours?

Note: Yes, I do backups of my computer data monthly and nightly. Do you?