elus1ve
Member
So I have owned this bike for 3 years now and have finally gone ahead with some major maintenance work (at least to me). I didn't feel confident doing those myself so had a good mechanic do it.
1) Steering bearings. According to the mechanic, the bike is still rocking the factory bearings. For 72,000Km, he says they aren't so bad but I'm glad I got this replaced.
2) Changed the spark plugs. They don't look too bad but apparently my engine is running a bit lean. I only have a K&N air filter that I clean and regrease every year, so don't know why it's running lean. Also did the spark plug cap as suggested in another thread here except the mechanic simply cut a 1 or 2 mm of the tip of the cable before putting the cap on.
3) Fork oil changed to 10w. The old oil was still ok so the PO must have done this before selling the bike.
Unfortunately I got a couple of bad surprises. Front brake pads are gone and need replacement asap together with the front tire. I knew about the front tire but the state of the brake pad was a bit shocking.
The worst is that one of the fork springs are not equal. Meaning that one of the spring is more compressed than the other. It was obvious when he was assembling the forks, one had the spring pushing the against cap and the other just bottomed down. Also while reassembling the fork and the front wheel, he had to leave the forks lopsided for a free rolling front wheel See pictures to get a visual. He suggests I replace those springs soon so that I don't have to change the oil again. He can just open up the cap and replace the springs.
So I'm gonna have to spend on new brake pads, front tire and springs very soon.
On the upside, the nose doesn't dive that much on braking anymore and it is more stable on bumpy roads. The engine is a bit smoother thanks to the new spark plugs and the cap. On the downside, the fork oil caused the front tire to lock/skid easier on hard braking. I had a scary two wheels sideway skidding when coming back from the maintenance. Have to get used to the fork / braking again and it also makes changing the front tire more urgent.
As for the springs, what would you advise me to get: OEM springs or stiffer aftermarket springs? For a small ride back, the suspension seems to behave better, so is it going to be even better with stiffer springs?
1) Steering bearings. According to the mechanic, the bike is still rocking the factory bearings. For 72,000Km, he says they aren't so bad but I'm glad I got this replaced.
2) Changed the spark plugs. They don't look too bad but apparently my engine is running a bit lean. I only have a K&N air filter that I clean and regrease every year, so don't know why it's running lean. Also did the spark plug cap as suggested in another thread here except the mechanic simply cut a 1 or 2 mm of the tip of the cable before putting the cap on.
3) Fork oil changed to 10w. The old oil was still ok so the PO must have done this before selling the bike.
Unfortunately I got a couple of bad surprises. Front brake pads are gone and need replacement asap together with the front tire. I knew about the front tire but the state of the brake pad was a bit shocking.
The worst is that one of the fork springs are not equal. Meaning that one of the spring is more compressed than the other. It was obvious when he was assembling the forks, one had the spring pushing the against cap and the other just bottomed down. Also while reassembling the fork and the front wheel, he had to leave the forks lopsided for a free rolling front wheel See pictures to get a visual. He suggests I replace those springs soon so that I don't have to change the oil again. He can just open up the cap and replace the springs.
So I'm gonna have to spend on new brake pads, front tire and springs very soon.
On the upside, the nose doesn't dive that much on braking anymore and it is more stable on bumpy roads. The engine is a bit smoother thanks to the new spark plugs and the cap. On the downside, the fork oil caused the front tire to lock/skid easier on hard braking. I had a scary two wheels sideway skidding when coming back from the maintenance. Have to get used to the fork / braking again and it also makes changing the front tire more urgent.
As for the springs, what would you advise me to get: OEM springs or stiffer aftermarket springs? For a small ride back, the suspension seems to behave better, so is it going to be even better with stiffer springs?