Winter fettling and mods
Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 3:22 pm
I like to save servicing and big jobs for the winter layup so that with the bike off the road anyway there's no rush to get on. Plus, summer's for riding, not tinkering. This year, as well as a major service being due I had some restoration and modding in the pipeline. I'm lucky in that I have a shed big enough to work in with lighting and power which I installed for winter work.
The bike has done 11383miles now so I decided to do the 12k service early. Rather early than late. As well as all the minor, routine servicing tasks the following was done-
1. Valve clearances checked and adjusted. First time I've done this, they were done at 6K by a dealer. Mori Man's guide was a great help, I had done screw and locknut clearances before but not shims. I did it with the engine in the frame no probs but I would say that IMO removing the plug funnels is essential. You can't really get feeler gauges in properly with them in place. I put new o-rings in as recommended by the Blingmeister - they don't cost much, why risk a cock-up? You will find that you have to remove the rad fan so give yourself room to get at No.2 exhaust rockers to move them out of the way - 3 bolts, job done, why struggle? Now, my engine was running sweet with plenty of power, yet 11 of the clearances were out, a few badly. Moral of the story is don't think you don't need to do this job because your bike sounds ok and is running fine . It will probably continue to do so until it goes bang. The clearance checks are a periodic maintenance task for a reason - do it. Tip when replacing the rocker cover - be careful not to overtighten the bolts. It's easy to do even if you do the job 'properly' with a torque wrench because if you have the engine in the frame with carbs on there isn't much room to swing the wrench it just turns a few clicks of the ratchet at a time without releasing on the limiter. As you tighten them they squash the rubber gasket until the unthreaded shoulder hits the cam shroud they are threaded into. They won't screw in any more no matter how much you tighten them up, all you do is stretch the threaded section until it snaps (which also means that if you have a leaking gasket, if the bolts were tightened properly, tightening them up some more won't help, you need to replace the gasket). All you need to tighten them properly is screw until you feel they have hit the shoulder, then just nip them up a fraction of a turn. You're only stopping them unscrewing, you won't be helping any giving it a big fistful.
Don't be afraid of doing this job. Provided you equip yourself with the required tools and work carefully (DO block all oilways and tunnels with rags - don't miss the three oilway tunnels in the head underneath the exhaust cam, they will be filled with oil and 'hidden') and take your time it is nothing to be scared of.
2. Rear suspension removed from bike and regreased. Make sure you do this job when it is due as the bearings ex-factory will probably have had very little or no grease. A rear suspension that works properly is worth a few hundred £ in tuning work. You will need a bike jack unless you can strap the bike to a roof. If you are going to work on sportsbikes a jack is an investment that will pay you back as centrestands are a thing of the past. My bike has seen virtually no rain yet the swingarm pivot pin was pretty seized in and the ball bearing was as dry as a desert - again, don't assume if it seems ok that it is ok.
3. OEM rear shock removed. Worst part of the bike, Kwak let themselves down with that pile o' shite. Nitron Sport shock fitted made for my weight. They got it set pretty right from the factory, I only needed to back off the preload about a turn and a half to give a perfect rider sag setting. Looks the dog's too
4. New OEM brake pads fitted to the front. The Ferodos I was running had only done 5k but they felt wooden and not very sharp. I dunno if they deteriorated during the years the bike was laid up (reading online suggests pads don't go off, so ) but when I took them off for a looksee they were crumbling at the edges and in a few places there were craters in the surface where material had crumbled out Might have had something to do with the feel....... They were visibly ok when the bike was restored. What I saw tightened my ringpiece up a bit.
5. Exhaust system removed from bike and headers emery papered clean of surface rust and repainted with Rustoleum BBQ paint from B&Q. I've read a bit about this stuff in resto mags being the dog's, a lot better than dedicated exhaust paint. It contains a rust killer. Certainly went on fine and looks good. It has touch dried but it will cure hard when the bike is running. The headers were only just starting to show signs of rust but rather than leave them to rot before acting I thought I'd strike quickly.
6. Rad and oil cooler stone guards were just starting to show outbreaks of surface rust so they were removed, cleaned, primed and resprayed with Plasticote black satin.
That's pretty much it so far. On top of the normal full service it was a lot of work and took many hours but very fulfilling. The main PITA was, as with all supersports bikes, that so much needs to be removed before you can get at components or to give access for tools. That's why I would say you need to give yourself the time and facilities to get on methodically and be able to leave it dism,anted and come back to it later. If you rush or try shortcuts you'll come unstuck.
At present the bike looks like this -
I need to balance the carbs but I'll do this in a few months as the bike is currently drained of petrol for winter storages. The job I'm going to get on with in a few days is to grease the headstock bearings - again an easy job to neglect but one which will come back and bite you. I'm in the process of obtaining a 36mm socket for the top yoke nut as I have nothing big enough to shift it and will need torqueing back down when I've done. I've had a look at the job and I suspect it can be done easily without taking off all the ancillaries and clip-ons. With a jack under the engine, once the top yoke is off and the steering stem locknut off I'm thinking that jacking up the front of the bike a few inches will be enough to drop the stem through the headstock enough to get at the bottom bearing, clean it up and regrease. Then lower it back down, reassemble and job done. Again, the jack is your friend and if the above works then there really is no reason to to skip what should be an hour's job (famous last words ).
The bike has done 11383miles now so I decided to do the 12k service early. Rather early than late. As well as all the minor, routine servicing tasks the following was done-
1. Valve clearances checked and adjusted. First time I've done this, they were done at 6K by a dealer. Mori Man's guide was a great help, I had done screw and locknut clearances before but not shims. I did it with the engine in the frame no probs but I would say that IMO removing the plug funnels is essential. You can't really get feeler gauges in properly with them in place. I put new o-rings in as recommended by the Blingmeister - they don't cost much, why risk a cock-up? You will find that you have to remove the rad fan so give yourself room to get at No.2 exhaust rockers to move them out of the way - 3 bolts, job done, why struggle? Now, my engine was running sweet with plenty of power, yet 11 of the clearances were out, a few badly. Moral of the story is don't think you don't need to do this job because your bike sounds ok and is running fine . It will probably continue to do so until it goes bang. The clearance checks are a periodic maintenance task for a reason - do it. Tip when replacing the rocker cover - be careful not to overtighten the bolts. It's easy to do even if you do the job 'properly' with a torque wrench because if you have the engine in the frame with carbs on there isn't much room to swing the wrench it just turns a few clicks of the ratchet at a time without releasing on the limiter. As you tighten them they squash the rubber gasket until the unthreaded shoulder hits the cam shroud they are threaded into. They won't screw in any more no matter how much you tighten them up, all you do is stretch the threaded section until it snaps (which also means that if you have a leaking gasket, if the bolts were tightened properly, tightening them up some more won't help, you need to replace the gasket). All you need to tighten them properly is screw until you feel they have hit the shoulder, then just nip them up a fraction of a turn. You're only stopping them unscrewing, you won't be helping any giving it a big fistful.
Don't be afraid of doing this job. Provided you equip yourself with the required tools and work carefully (DO block all oilways and tunnels with rags - don't miss the three oilway tunnels in the head underneath the exhaust cam, they will be filled with oil and 'hidden') and take your time it is nothing to be scared of.
2. Rear suspension removed from bike and regreased. Make sure you do this job when it is due as the bearings ex-factory will probably have had very little or no grease. A rear suspension that works properly is worth a few hundred £ in tuning work. You will need a bike jack unless you can strap the bike to a roof. If you are going to work on sportsbikes a jack is an investment that will pay you back as centrestands are a thing of the past. My bike has seen virtually no rain yet the swingarm pivot pin was pretty seized in and the ball bearing was as dry as a desert - again, don't assume if it seems ok that it is ok.
3. OEM rear shock removed. Worst part of the bike, Kwak let themselves down with that pile o' shite. Nitron Sport shock fitted made for my weight. They got it set pretty right from the factory, I only needed to back off the preload about a turn and a half to give a perfect rider sag setting. Looks the dog's too
4. New OEM brake pads fitted to the front. The Ferodos I was running had only done 5k but they felt wooden and not very sharp. I dunno if they deteriorated during the years the bike was laid up (reading online suggests pads don't go off, so ) but when I took them off for a looksee they were crumbling at the edges and in a few places there were craters in the surface where material had crumbled out Might have had something to do with the feel....... They were visibly ok when the bike was restored. What I saw tightened my ringpiece up a bit.
5. Exhaust system removed from bike and headers emery papered clean of surface rust and repainted with Rustoleum BBQ paint from B&Q. I've read a bit about this stuff in resto mags being the dog's, a lot better than dedicated exhaust paint. It contains a rust killer. Certainly went on fine and looks good. It has touch dried but it will cure hard when the bike is running. The headers were only just starting to show signs of rust but rather than leave them to rot before acting I thought I'd strike quickly.
6. Rad and oil cooler stone guards were just starting to show outbreaks of surface rust so they were removed, cleaned, primed and resprayed with Plasticote black satin.
That's pretty much it so far. On top of the normal full service it was a lot of work and took many hours but very fulfilling. The main PITA was, as with all supersports bikes, that so much needs to be removed before you can get at components or to give access for tools. That's why I would say you need to give yourself the time and facilities to get on methodically and be able to leave it dism,anted and come back to it later. If you rush or try shortcuts you'll come unstuck.
At present the bike looks like this -
I need to balance the carbs but I'll do this in a few months as the bike is currently drained of petrol for winter storages. The job I'm going to get on with in a few days is to grease the headstock bearings - again an easy job to neglect but one which will come back and bite you. I'm in the process of obtaining a 36mm socket for the top yoke nut as I have nothing big enough to shift it and will need torqueing back down when I've done. I've had a look at the job and I suspect it can be done easily without taking off all the ancillaries and clip-ons. With a jack under the engine, once the top yoke is off and the steering stem locknut off I'm thinking that jacking up the front of the bike a few inches will be enough to drop the stem through the headstock enough to get at the bottom bearing, clean it up and regrease. Then lower it back down, reassemble and job done. Again, the jack is your friend and if the above works then there really is no reason to to skip what should be an hour's job (famous last words ).