sfriderjpo.. In general terms, anything you can learn to do yourself will save you money, whether it be oil changes, plugs, checking fluid levels, cables, etc. It brings you closer to "knowing" what be be wrong with your bike at any given time. I suggest a maint manual and a friend to give you a hand learning more about the inner workings of your bike. As you learn more you'll get more comfortable doing more complicated tasks etc. I live in a condo and keep my bike in a storage unit where I do as much of the maintenance that I can.
Again in general terms, anything with a fairing will require more dissasembly prior to getting to the inner workings of your bike but becomes second nature once you've removed the fairings a few times. I own a 2001 Roadstar 1600, 2003 FJR 1300, and a 2005 Gold Wing and have gradually done more and more on each of them. It's usually the valve check that's gonna cost the most on most bikes but they usually are adding in alot of other routine checks that you can do easily, so just pay for the actual valve check if you want and do the rest yourself.
Previous question about a new bike. Get an FJR. Comes with easily detachable hard bags, add a Givi top box and you have plenty of packing room. It handles twisties great, top speed 152, plenty of horses..good luck!
