what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

just wondering what maintanence is in the realm of the moderatley mechanically minded? This is my first bike and i would like to do most realistic jobs myself in order to learn a bit and not get screwed over by garages.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

I do most things on mine (curvy), that's one of the reasons I got her and not a new bike so I don't keep thinking I'm going to kill it or how expensive it's going to be if I do...! No major experience on bikes (serviced alot of cars tho) and have done (so far) new chain and sprockets, oil, plugs, air filter, brake fluid change and new pads for around 150 squid - try finding a garage that would charge you those prices and if you do let me know....! You will save megabucks and it feels properly good to be able to work on it yourself. Plus as I found, any questions/difficulties you run into can usually be sorted with a post here...! Get yourself a haynes manual and take it slow and most things are possible to be fair.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Likewise, but I found watching someone capable first is much more instructive than trying to learn from the manual. I.e., would you be happy if your surgeon had learnt his craft from a book rather than a teaching surgeon? :study:

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

do what you are 100% happy with and double check everything before and after, ask for help where you are not 100% sure and if all else fails take it to a garage, i am sure that does not matter where you are in the UK (if you are here) there are people that can give reputable mechs around the country you can go to

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Basic jobs I've learnt as a mechanical noob so far are:
Chain tension adjustment
Oil change/filter change
Spark plugs
Air filter change
TPS adjustment
Clutch cable + worm drive lubrication

That seems to cover most of the minor servicing requirements then some and doesn't take a great deal of skill to learn. I've found i've slowly had to buy a few tools a long the way but no doubt they'll pay for themselves in the long run.
I'm leaving things like valve clearances to the people who do it for a living. Bear in mind I'm mechanically inept, if I can do these jobs, anyone can.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Good moaning :D

Everything, no money to pay anyone lol. Most complex was a rebore, I've never got into a gearbox yet.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

The SV is a very easy bike to cut your mechanics teeth on. I had absolutely no experience whatsoever but between Haynes and the advice on this forum you can pretty much tackle anything. Make sure you feel confident in what you're doing though - you have to ride the bike afterwards!

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

thanks everyone!!!

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Everything, with the exception of changing the tyres, although i do take just the wheel into the garage to avoid getting ripped off.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

I watched YC and learned alot from him/sv & gixerjunkies forums. Never done mechanical stuff til I started riding, now I'll happily do:

Oil & filter
Air filter
Spark plugs
Bulbs
Chain adjustment
Fit aftermarket master cylinder
Braided lines
New brake pads
Overhaul/fit calipers

Basic stuff to alot of people but easy to get wrong in many cases.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

On a bike pretty much everything but I now work everything out as how much I'd earn if I was to spend the same amount of time working against how much it'd cost me.

For some stuff I look at the amount of time spend ****ing around without the proper tools and it isn't worth it, examples being wheel bearings, if you have a bearing removal set[1] then it takes about 15 seconds[2], without it then it can take an hour or so. So now I tend to get my tyre place to do them and they charge me £10 for a new set fitted.

Druid

[1] My dad has a set. Pity he lives ~140 miles away.
[2] I'm not exagerating either. Insert tool, tighten bolt, bearing pops out.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

I work on anything but the gearbox, if the gearbox fails it goes to an expert, anything i get stuck on i simply post here and await a speedy response normally from yc or spannerman to tell you how it should be done, and if is all fails i get the hammer out... :)

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Not done much on me SV so far, but on the few bikes I had previously, i did:

Plugs
Chain and Sprockets
Front suspension rebuils
Replaced brake discs
Done brake fluid
Brake pads
Oil/Filter
Air filter
Tyres
Bulbs
Battery
Fuses

And Ive also done valve cleaning, and changed piston rings, changed con rods, and cams, and timing chains, and all the bearings that go with

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Me too, I never let any garages loose on my cars or bike, unless its for tyres or an MOT.

Never stripped a bike gearbox, yet, but, how hard can it be ?

:)

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Piece of p*ss to strip, bit harder to put back together ;)

No drama though, just getting your head around how they work is a bit scary first time.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

My SV is my first big bike and I love working on her, so far have given her a basic service (plugs, filters and oil), check over every week and check chain and keep it lubed. Had to have the front wheel off recently for a new tyre and then stripped and serviced the worm gear on the clutch. I am hoping to chop off the clip ons soon, just need a brake hose to finish the job. I like the fact that I can work on the bike fairly easily and it does not befuddle my little brain! ;-)

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

most things are pretty simple to do. It's only really nuts and bolts whether it be adjusting chain or draining oil.

Done by myself

Chain + Sprocket replacement
Fork oil + springs
Cleaning calipers
braided lines
rear shock

anyone who can get a hand from someone who knows roughly what they are doing will help you always.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

I do all the potentially deadly things myself;

keeps me on my toes....

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

yes easy to strip but i cant get them back together, i did on my ts250 and got it apart, changed all the gears couldnt get it back together, so took it to a dealer after 15 minutes they was done after me spending 2 hours swearing and shouting at it. i completely understand how the gearbox works...



... kind of :D either way never again touching one.

I also leave tyres for the pro's as i havent tryed that yet

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

I`ve done fwd and rwd car gearboxes, their easy enough. Sometimes a bit fiddly refitting the shafts into the cover on fwd ones though.

If anything ever goes wrong with the bike gearbox i`d still have a bash and strip it myself.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

i made the mistake of putting the forks the wrong way around on my ZX7R and forgot to check it before putting it all back together, grrrrrr
bike would not go above 1st, pop engine out, split crank case and turn fork selectors around

i wont do that again now...

check, check, check, all ok, check again

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

For complex jobs like gearboxes, keep the digital camera handy and take plenty of pics. (Stuff it in a plastic bag with just the lens sticking out). If you're uncertain how something should look you've got the photos you took while dismantling it to help you.

Not guaranteed, but better than nothing.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Cardboard box on the floor/bench... lay stuff on it as you remove it and write on with a permanent marker what it is.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

I don't think Stretchie would have been able to get the Thundercat gearbox back together without doing both of these things.....so spot on advice.

As for me, being a newbie, but quite happy to get dirty in and around Land Rovers, I will today be checking and lubing my chain and getting the front fairings off to have a proper look at the downpipes and whole exhaust system.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

If I performed all the maintenance on my bike and never needed to take it to a garage how would u prove that it has a full fsh to a potential buyer.

This may be an obvious question but a Newbie myself and looking at the recommended service details was also wondering what I need to get done at a garage and what I can so myself.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

Keep receipts of buying your parts and keep a record of mileages.

If you know what you are talking about that is worth 10x more to a buyer than some know-nowt who goes "duhhhhh I gives em me creditcard and the petrol goes in here... mlarrrr". You have a bike that is couple of years old, service history does not matter.

Re: what maintanence do you do yourself?
 

If I was buying a 2-3 year old bike then I'd want to see that it has been serviced properly with dealer stamps etc.

But if I was buying an older bike with higher mileage, as long as the first few years it's been serviced like a 'new bike' at dealers and then records kept by the owners, I'll be happy if it's got receipts to back up the details on the maintenance schedule :)

http://www.godesign.me.uk/gsxr750_ma...e_schedule.xls - This one's mine... It's due a 16,000 mile service but I'm gonna do as much of it as I can myself. (This one isn't as upto date as the one which is all scribbled on with my v5... digital version needs updating)