I Need Some Serious Advice

just looking over my bike, and i see that there is hardly any liquid in my front brake resevour, so this adds to the evergrowing list of problems with my bike
and here they are :

My tyres are squaring off - buy new tyres ( but which ones, i litrally have no idea)

my chain needs tightening desperatly - ? ? ? ? (although advice given before i still cant come to do it myself - might have to be a service jobby )

front brake fluid - buy more ( still dont know how to put it in ) unless its a case of open the cap and pour it in . . . .

my front susspension is horrible and feels crap - buy more oil and get the correct amount in each fork ( how much though ? ? ? )

engine oil, that needs replacing,

my left hand side footrest fell apart the other day, one of the screws came out and i couldnt shift gear, the whole foot rest moved back when i tried . . .
sorted that, but it just adds to things . . .

the problem i face is, i dont know what to buy and how much of it? in terms of oil ECT . . .

my bike is falling apart ! ! ! ! ! any help ? ? ?

[Luckypants]

Take it to Spannerman and get it fettled properly. He is quite close to you.

Originally Posted by lylej

My tyres are squaring off - buy new tyres ( but which ones, i litrally have no idea)

You can't go wrong with any modern tyre TBH. Stick with what you know, or play around. Personal recommendation, Z6s or PR2s.

Originally Posted by lylej

my chain needs tightening desperatly - ? ? ? ? (although advice given before i still cant come to do it myself - might have to be a service jobby )

If you're not comfortable doing that, you really REALLY need to learn. Ideally watch someone whilst they do it for you, so you know what's involved. I'm not sure on a curvy, but on the pointies it really couldn't be easier. Loosen the back wheel, adjust the erm, adjusters, then tighten the rear wheel up to the required torque. Only thing to watch out for is that you turn the adjusters the same amount, otherwise your rear wheel will be out of line.

Originally Posted by lylej

front brake fluid - buy more ( still dont know how to put it in ) unless its a case of open the cap and pour it in . . . .

If you still have a little fluid in the resevoir, then it really is a matter of just open & pour more in. If you don't, then you need to get rid of the air that is now in your lines. This will also be making the brakes a little spongy (if it's even there) so best it's got rid of.

Originally Posted by lylej

my front susspension is horrible and feels crap - buy more oil and get the correct amount in each fork ( how much though ? ? ? )

Judging from the above, get someone else that's experienced to deal with this for you.

Originally Posted by lylej

engine oil, that needs replacing,

No excuse IMO for not doing this, afterall, it's pish. Open the sump bolt & let the old stuff out, replace oil filter (not always needed), put the sump bolt back & fill up with fresh oil.

Originally Posted by lylej

the problem i face is, i dont know what to buy and how much of it? in terms of oil ECT . . .

ANY motorbike oil will do you (not car oil for christs sake), either 5w40 (track use oil - heavier, heavier clutch etc) or 10w40, 4litres of it will do you fine.

As for the bike falling apart, just keep on top of simple jobs and it'll be fine.

EDIT: I didn't notice location, have a word with Stewart (SpannerMan) & if possible, he'll fit you in before the AR, and teach you whatever you want to know. Just watch out for the security dogs he has!! Check his profile for his website, and from there you'll get his number, and remember to tell him you're from the .org, and you get a discount on parts

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by lylej

just looking over my bike, and i see that there is hardly any liquid in my front brake resevour, so this adds to the evergrowing list of problems with my bike
and here they are :

My tyres are squaring off - buy new tyres ( but which ones, i litrally have no idea)

my chain needs tightening desperatly - ? ? ? ? (although advice given before i still cant come to do it myself - might have to be a service jobby )

front brake fluid - buy more ( still dont know how to put it in ) unless its a case of open the cap and pour it in . . . .

my front susspension is horrible and feels crap - buy more oil and get the correct amount in each fork ( how much though ? ? ? )

engine oil, that needs replacing,

my left hand side footrest fell apart the other day, one of the screws came out and i couldnt shift gear, the whole foot rest moved back when i tried . . .
sorted that, but it just adds to things . . .

the problem i face is, i dont know what to buy and how much of it? in terms of oil ECT . . .

my bike is falling apart ! ! ! ! ! any help ? ? ?

Get yourself a Haynes manual, look up the issues and work out if you can fix them yourself.

Or call Spannerman, he's in your neck of the woods and will allow you learn as he works on your bike, so that oil changes and fluid top-ups are no longer a mystery to you.

David

[fizzwheel]

Alternatively give yourself and damn good slap round the face for letting your bike get into that state in the first place, then go and take it somewhere and get it sorted before you have an off or it breaks.

If I can do basic stuff, like chain adjustment, filling the bike with oil and brake fluid then anybody can. ( trust me I'm not mechanically minded at all )

Haynes manual, or a visit to spannerman sounds like a good idea. Or failing that take it somewhere that can sort it out for you.

As for Tyres, Metzler Roadtec Z6's do it and do it now.

Sorry if it sounds harsh, but if you neglect the basic's it will come along and bite you in the a*se sooner rather than later, don't ignore it. If you go to a bike shop and ask I'm sure they'll help you purchase enough of what you need.

Go with luckypants recommendation, I've not met spannerman, but from what I have read he's good, tell him what you want doing and ask if you can do it yourself under his expert guidance, it would be fair to pay something for his time and effort, but the skills you will learn will be worth it.

Originally Posted by Mogs

Go with luckypants recommendation, I've not met spannerman, but from what I have read he's good, tell him what you want doing and ask if you can do it yourself under his expert guidance, it would be fair to pay something for his time and effort, but the skills you will learn will be worth it.

That's not quite needed, and I doubt he'd have space in his garage for another bike to be worked on at the same time as he's doing something else (then comes things like insurance/liability etc).

However, when he's available, he'll happily do the work & get you to be pretty hands on, he does most but you watch closely & help out where he needs an extra pair of hands.

[Luckypants]

It was the watching, Q&A and general confidence boost you will get from seeing spannerman at work and finding out how to do basic maintenance yourself that made me recommend him in the first place.

The description of the state of the bike seems to suggest you have limited mechanical knowledge right now.

you can do all that yourself lylej and save some money, get some z6's fitted that bits easy, top up your brake fluid thats easy, adjust your chain thats easy too, live with the forks thats just how sv's are, get a footrest off ebay.

it does sound well easy doesnt it, but to me its not, ive never ever done this stuff before ever! my last bike was a DT 125 and required almost no effort to do anything to it, but on this i have no clue or no clue where to start . . . the manuals on the main site would anyone recommend using them? are they accurate?