A girly mechanic speaks.

[Jayneflakes]

So it is that time of year again, the road tax on the SV has ran out and the CG needs an MOT and Tax as well, plus it is some religious holiday time which seems to imply that any contents of my purse must be spent on others and not me.

So I have just spent two hours in the garage with the bike, which now looks nice and clean with her tyres pumped up and with the exposed metal covered in a nice oily residue, ready for next year when I can afford to run her again.

This is the first time I have worked on Silvie so thoroughly and given her a service and I must admit that I greatly enjoyed working on my lovely little Silver S-K3. She now has two new NGK Spark Plugs, half a can of Silkolene semi synthetic 10W40, a new oil filter, a stainless bolt kit and I cleaned out her air box too.

Replacing the Spark Plugs was so much easier than I thought it would be, mainly because I read how to do it all on here first and the had my Haynes manual with me too. Getting the old Oil Filter off was a pain and I am not sure I got the new one on as tightly, but it is not dripping oil at all. Just to be sure I have left a piece of paper under the filter to catch any drips, so I will know. However, one little odd thing. The Haynes manual said that there is a a little arm that hold the fuel tank up, but I could not find such a thing. Any ideas?

I poured in just over two litres of Oil and waited for it to settle on the little glass level indicator and it read F, so I was happy with that I still have just over one and half litres left. The old oil is all bottled up ready to dispose of ( I thought I should take it to be recycled rather than throw it in a local pond! ) and I will do that soon. I also noticed a little light rust forming under the tank, so sprayed it out with WD40. All of the major metal parts have been sprayed and last night I charged the battery after it went flat due to the Datatool alarm (again).

So she is sat in the garage, all sparkly and pretty and the alarm has been switched over to battery saving mode, no power in there means no trickle charger sadly. So she just awaits the nice weather of spring and a bit of spare cash to Tax her again.

Do you lovely folks have any ideas of things I have missed out and should check or adjust while she sits in the cool dry garage. I did think about putting her cover on her, but do not want to give a place for water to condense and start corroding her.

Right I am off for a spot of lunch. Thank you for any tips you may have and also thank you for any information I read this morning. You lot are all fab. Hugs XXX

The tank lifter should be under the pillion seat on the RH side , a long grey bar that sits in the bolt holes of the tank and keeps it upright . Just to clarify : The filter only goes on hand tight so no need to "Gorilla" it into place . Did you run the bike for a while til it was around 90 odd degrees then switch it off and check the oil level after 3 minutes ? . If you overfill it , it can be a pain in the butt to select neutral you see , I overdid it once by a smidge so now have a Syringe with some clear tubing on the end so I can extract surplus oil out . If the bike was warm and you checked after 3 minutes and it was a little bit under I wouldn`t worry about it . Other than that I would say it was a job well done .

Ok Winter tips for a standing bike . ACF50 for a standing or moving bike . Fork legs could do with a wipe down of an oily rag . This will help deter rust spots that can chew into your fork seals . Remember to put front brake on and haul back a little on the bars to unload the forks and get your other half to apply a little bit of oil around the edge of the seal then allow the bike to settle back into it`s resting position . I don`t like to spray oils when near the front and rear Brake rotors so I turn away and spray onto a cloth then turn around and apply to sensitive areas of the bike .

Now would be a good time to check the condition of the pistons in the front and rear calipers and make sure all is well . From experience the brake pad pins can be a complete `mare to get out if they corrode so I would have a look at them .

did you check the oil with the bike upright or on its side stand? should be held upright when checking!

hth

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

The tank lifter should be under the pillion seat on the RH side , a long grey bar that sits in the bolt holes of tha tank and keeps it upright .

Hmm, I thought it should be something like that, but I could not see anything that looked like it should pop out. I wonder if it was removed when I had the alarm fitted when I bought the bike?

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

Just to clarify : The filter only goes on hand tight so no need to "Gorilla" it into place .

Good to know that about the Oil filter. Don't feel quite so silly now for not getting it so frighteningly tight.

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

Did you run the bike for a while til it was around 90 odd degrees then switch it off and check the oil level after 3 minutes ? . Other than that I would say it was a job well done

I did, mind you I wanted to make sure that I had not broken anything too! It would be just my luck that after all of that work, she had failed to start again.

Thank you for your words Badger, you are a Gentleman.

Fill the tank with fuel and rock the bike from side to side, then top the fuel up again, to get all the air out of the tank. Prevents condensation inside your tank which can lead to rust and eventually contaminate the fuel. If it's only a few months that will be fine, but if you think for any reason it may "slip" and be a year or more, use a fuel conditioner additive. You could also let some pressure out of your tyres and lift the bike onto paddock stands to prevent a flat spot in your tyres.

[Jayneflakes]

Originally Posted by 2hys

did you check the oil with the bike upright or on its side stand? should be held upright when checking!

hth

I held the bike upright off the stand and waited for the oil to level out before I decided it was OK.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Fill the tank with fuel and rock the bike from side to side, then top the fuel up again, to get all the air out of the tank. Prevents condensation inside your tank which can lead to rust and eventually contaminate the fuel.

Good idea, thanks Ralph. Will have to pop out with a fuel can for that one now Tax has expired.

[Wideboy]

The oil filter only needs to be pinched not wrenchd up. brim the tank and lube the cain with propper chain oil not the wax crap you get in the cans

Edited my first post as well with a couple of Winter tips , I`m not a great winter tipster as I ride my bike all year round

Did you run the bike after filling up with oil and then wait a mo and check? thats what i always do, dunno if you have too though

Knew the girly mechanic would come to us men for advice eventually....runs...