Self Service!

Well- I did my first service on the bike on Saturday- plugs, oil + air filters, coolant and oil, plus replaced the clutch cable (the last one sent to me was clearly too long and for the unfaired mode).

It all went....characterbuildingly! A 1. hour job taking 5. The wing mirror bolts on the fairing had their allen sockets rounded, so just had to leave the fairing on and pull it away to get at stuff- that was no real bother. Even the washer on the coolant drain plug was OK (was expecting it to be broken as I'd had a bit of spitting from the area on occasion) and almost everything else came apart fine.

The old oil filter was absolutely stuck fast- took a lot of muscle to get the thing off. Lovely. Popped the new filter on and filled the engine. Started her- lovely. My brother (helping and giving moral support!) revved the bike- and a huge jet of oil shot out from around the filter. On inspection, a bit of rubber was sticking out of the side- bugg€r, I thought- as in the filter is
bugg€red! But no- the rubber seal from the old filter (lookied like a cheaper, non suzuki one) was stick sticking to the filter socket. A relief, I can say.

So- popped it back together and started to fill up with oil again- at which point I hadn't re-fitted the sump plug after draining the oil again. Big D'Oh!

So- at this point, people are turning up with fairy liquid to help wash the local birds and wildlife, while my bro shoots off to get more oil.

Finally- all filled up, and she's running sweeeeet now.

I got to 155 miles before filling up the tank- the light started flashing at 147 miles (normally anything from 110 to 125 before it lights up. So- she starts more happily, with less choke, the clutch works proply and smoovly now and the engine seems to run much sweeter. Very happy D!

One thing I did spot was that the airbox had some brown fluid in it- I assume from all the rain and muck and stuff knocking about- I assume it's coming through the snorkel in the air filter and was the main cause of running woes in the baddest wet weather- any suggestions on how to avoid this? I gues regular checks will help.

The back plug was fine and the front FILTHY- but the electrodes were fairly clean. I've covered the ceramic part of the plug in silicone seal and given each cylinder head a good squirt after plugging the leads back in- hopefully this should also avoid running woes.

Is it common to notice such an increase in mpg after a service? Admittedly, most of the miles yesterday were A roads, rather than up and down the gears in traffic and I wasn't absolutely hooning around, but it does seem to be a vast improvement regardless... Not that I'm complaining of course. And it's so nice not to have to blip the throttle when starting up and run at full choke for a while... And I saved at least £40 on labour whilst learning loads!!

Perhaps now I can start saving for that Fuel exhaust- but I'm sure something else will turn up...!

Originally Posted by thedonal

Well- I did my first service on the bike on Saturday- plugs, oil + air filters, coolant and oil, plus replaced the clutch cable (the last one sent to me was clearly too long and for the unfaired mode).

It all went....characterbuildingly! A 1. hour job taking 5. The wing mirror bolts on the fairing had their allen sockets rounded, so just had to leave the fairing on and pull it away to get at stuff- that was no real bother. Even the washer on the coolant drain plug was OK (was expecting it to be broken as I'd had a bit of spitting from the area on occasion) and almost everything else came apart fine.

The old oil filter was absolutely stuck fast- took a lot of muscle to get the thing off. Lovely. Popped the new filter on and filled the engine. Started her- lovely. My brother (helping and giving moral support!) revved the bike- and a huge jet of oil shot out from around the filter. On inspection, a bit of rubber was sticking out of the side- bugg€r, I thought- as in the filter is
bugg€red! But no- the rubber seal from the old filter (lookied like a cheaper, non suzuki one) was stick sticking to the filter socket. A relief, I can say.

So- popped it back together and started to fill up with oil again- at which point I hadn't re-fitted the sump plug after draining the oil again. Big D'Oh!

So- at this point, people are turning up with fairy liquid to help wash the local birds and wildlife, while my bro shoots off to get more oil.

Finally- all filled up, and she's running sweeeeet now.

I got to 155 miles before filling up the tank- the light started flashing at 147 miles (normally anything from 110 to 125 before it lights up. So- she starts more happily, with less choke, the clutch works proply and smoovly now and the engine seems to run much sweeter. Very happy D!

One thing I did spot was that the airbox had some brown fluid in it- I assume from all the rain and muck and stuff knocking about- I assume it's coming through the snorkel in the air filter and was the main cause of running woes in the baddest wet weather- any suggestions on how to avoid this? I gues regular checks will help.

The back plug was fine and the front FILTHY- but the electrodes were fairly clean. I've covered the ceramic part of the plug in silicone seal and given each cylinder head a good squirt after plugging the leads back in- hopefully this should also avoid running woes.

Is it common to notice such an increase in mpg after a service? Admittedly, most of the miles yesterday were A roads, rather than up and down the gears in traffic and I wasn't absolutely hooning around, but it does seem to be a vast improvement regardless... Not that I'm complaining of course. And it's so nice not to have to blip the throttle when starting up and run at full choke for a while... And I saved at least £40 on labour whilst learning loads!!

Perhaps now I can start saving for that Fuel exhaust- but I'm sure something else will turn up...!

good on you for doing it yourself...its amazing how much you learn, and also how much you can save yourself!

I did the coolant, but with judicious use of a fish tank syphon managed to do it without removing the fairing, although halfway through I wish I had.

I think the brown stuff in the airbox maybe from the crankcase breather...sometimes the engine may puff an oil mist up to the airbox, although I am sure someone more knowledgable will set you right!

wrt mpg - sounds like your bike was ready for a service...looks like you got an added bonus too!

Congrats

Well done mate. I think everyone should service their own bikes, you get to know em a lot better then, and it's a good time to spot other problems before they escalate into expensive ones!

I grew up with Motocross bikes - engine rebuild every 8 hours of use if you wanted to keep it running sweet - think yourself lucky! (having said that I wasn't exactly a pro so the 8 hours was more like 20 for me).

wrt the mpg you are getting, seems about right. I have an '02 curvy with fairing and i get 150 to the light riding normally on A roads, dropping to about 130 if I nail it everywhere or with more town riding.

Every bike i have had always has a bit of brown gunk in the airbox - nothing to worry about so long as it's just a trace.

[northwind]

I've caused ecological disasters when doing oil changes too, it's a gift. Halfords sell a great oil-eater powder

Cheers folks. Just goes to show how overdue the service was, I spose (was at nearly 33K miles- should really have been at 30K, but other things were costing cash back then!!).

I'll keep an eye out Northy for the next service- though I won't be doing it on the path in the front garden- the landlord wasn't too happy... I used one of those Halfords oil collectors- next time I'll put a big pan of some sort under the tank first then drain this.

Fairy liquid, a scrubbing brush and lots of hot water did a good job- not a slippery spot on the path and just a few stains on the grass and the occasional castrol red woodpigeon in the area give it away!

[muzikill]

Well done! , aint that hard is it? cost me around 35 quid including the new oil! imagine how much it would have cost in a garage - next thing im doing is upgraded the brake hoses too goodridge and replace the pads and balance the carbs.

One thing i have learned is no-one else touches my bike unless its serious!

Cheer! I'm not sure I'm game for balancing carbs yet- and judging by my oily exploits, I may leave brake fluid to someone with more (ie some) experience.

But the more I can do, the more personal the whole experience gets!

Good man...nice to see someone realising they don't "need" a mechanic and servicing is much more simple than people think.
You'll be moving up to bulb & chain replacement next then dude?
Then tyres? Ever thought of being a bike mechanic?

Chain- I've thought about that- but I'm not sure it's something I'm ready to mess with yet- plus, In the short term, I reckon it'd be just as much to pay a mechanic to do it, as to buy the stands/bobbins and tools- thinking that this is only something that'll need doing about once a year.

Bulbs- can't see them being too tricky. Though I'll have to get the thing to my mech to drill out the bolts for the wing mirrors and replace them - something I'm bound to klutz up big stylee!!

Incidentally- with the plugs, is it proper to replace both at the same time- or if the back plug looks fine and the front is well messy (as is the SV norm, I spose), can I just do the front with no risk of major ill effects?

you just saved yourself a hundred gold pieces and learned abit more about your bike