MrSinator
Guest
She's still purring like a kitten though she's developed a little more vibration. She must be broken in.
New saddle bag lids after taking a rough back road. The plastic mounting brackets were all cracked and barely holding on. Luckily I was still under warranty and got a shiny new set from Honda, no questions asked. The dealer just took pictures of the broken plastic and by that weekend I had new lids.
First thing I had to do this summer (besides more tires) was the rear brakes. When she hit the 24k mile mark I had to go in for a new rear tire. The brakes had about 15% left to go so I had a new set put on. The Honda brand brake pads were around $60/pad set. The front at this point were at about 50% so I didn't worry about it. I work the rear brakes quite a bit in the stop and go traffic here and the integrated system is amazing for that. I also use them to steady myself before going full lean into a hard curve. I had expected them to wear out soon. The Honda dealership had asked if I wanted to put some aftermarket pads on. They said the high-center pads would give a better feel but my usual mechanic told me that Honda brand would be better and would last longer so that's what I went with. I'm glad to know that with the dual rotors up front, the front brakes should be good til around 40-45k miles with the way I ride. Bad thing is, it'll cost about $120 for the pads when it's tiime to change them. That's really not too bad though for that kind of mileage, and I'm pretty rough on the gal.
After the brake pads, naturally, the brakes were a little squishy so I tried to go the cheap route and just top off the fluid but that didn't work so I knew it was time for a brake line bleed. The screw on the rear brake caliper is a tough one to get to. My mechanic was able to work a wrench in there somehow and got it loose enough to bleed. She felt great after some fresh brake fluid. Went ahead and changed spark plugs too and adjusted/lubed cables. At 24k she was on her 3rd set of plugs but since I was having everything else checked on the bike I figured we would just go ahead and change them.
Last was the dreaded valve check. I took my bike to my mechanic and took everything apart down to the throttle bodies and left her for the night. Since I saved my guy time on taking things apart, I only racked up $136.00 in labor. When I got it stripped down I noticed that the rear cylinder valve cover was leaking a little bit of oil, nothing to worry about. I pointed it out to my mechanic and he put some sealer on there when putting it back together. I had the valves checked at break-in and at 4k and had not touched them since. I spent too much money on my last bike worrying about valves so I figured I would ride it until I thought they needed to be checked. I was surprised to learn that all of the valves were in spec. I hear stories about mechanics just listening instead of checking the valves. When I went to pick her up my mechanic said they had a hell of a time finding the measurements for the valve specs as my NT is only one of two that come to the shop and the only one that's been in for a valve check. While putting her back together I noticed some fresh sealant around the valve cover gaskets and the valve covers were now much cleaner than they had been.
If you're near the East TN area, Ken's Cycle Center in Boone's Creek is the place to go. He's worked on every bike I've owned and has never wronged me. When I bought my first bike and took it to him for tires, he came back out with my wheels and showed me where the insides were covered with axle grease and duct tape and said "I just want you to know that I didn't do this. I was just going to see if you wanted me to sandblast these little rust spots out for you." I agreed and after a while he came back out and showed me where they had removed the grease and tape and sandblasted and primed the insides of the wheels. He didn't charge me anything for that so I've always taken my rides to him. I hope you all have mechanics like Kenny. If not, I hope you find one. Not having to worry about how your bike runs makes every ride that much more enjoyable.
New saddle bag lids after taking a rough back road. The plastic mounting brackets were all cracked and barely holding on. Luckily I was still under warranty and got a shiny new set from Honda, no questions asked. The dealer just took pictures of the broken plastic and by that weekend I had new lids.
First thing I had to do this summer (besides more tires) was the rear brakes. When she hit the 24k mile mark I had to go in for a new rear tire. The brakes had about 15% left to go so I had a new set put on. The Honda brand brake pads were around $60/pad set. The front at this point were at about 50% so I didn't worry about it. I work the rear brakes quite a bit in the stop and go traffic here and the integrated system is amazing for that. I also use them to steady myself before going full lean into a hard curve. I had expected them to wear out soon. The Honda dealership had asked if I wanted to put some aftermarket pads on. They said the high-center pads would give a better feel but my usual mechanic told me that Honda brand would be better and would last longer so that's what I went with. I'm glad to know that with the dual rotors up front, the front brakes should be good til around 40-45k miles with the way I ride. Bad thing is, it'll cost about $120 for the pads when it's tiime to change them. That's really not too bad though for that kind of mileage, and I'm pretty rough on the gal.
After the brake pads, naturally, the brakes were a little squishy so I tried to go the cheap route and just top off the fluid but that didn't work so I knew it was time for a brake line bleed. The screw on the rear brake caliper is a tough one to get to. My mechanic was able to work a wrench in there somehow and got it loose enough to bleed. She felt great after some fresh brake fluid. Went ahead and changed spark plugs too and adjusted/lubed cables. At 24k she was on her 3rd set of plugs but since I was having everything else checked on the bike I figured we would just go ahead and change them.
Last was the dreaded valve check. I took my bike to my mechanic and took everything apart down to the throttle bodies and left her for the night. Since I saved my guy time on taking things apart, I only racked up $136.00 in labor. When I got it stripped down I noticed that the rear cylinder valve cover was leaking a little bit of oil, nothing to worry about. I pointed it out to my mechanic and he put some sealer on there when putting it back together. I had the valves checked at break-in and at 4k and had not touched them since. I spent too much money on my last bike worrying about valves so I figured I would ride it until I thought they needed to be checked. I was surprised to learn that all of the valves were in spec. I hear stories about mechanics just listening instead of checking the valves. When I went to pick her up my mechanic said they had a hell of a time finding the measurements for the valve specs as my NT is only one of two that come to the shop and the only one that's been in for a valve check. While putting her back together I noticed some fresh sealant around the valve cover gaskets and the valve covers were now much cleaner than they had been.
If you're near the East TN area, Ken's Cycle Center in Boone's Creek is the place to go. He's worked on every bike I've owned and has never wronged me. When I bought my first bike and took it to him for tires, he came back out with my wheels and showed me where the insides were covered with axle grease and duct tape and said "I just want you to know that I didn't do this. I was just going to see if you wanted me to sandblast these little rust spots out for you." I agreed and after a while he came back out and showed me where they had removed the grease and tape and sandblasted and primed the insides of the wheels. He didn't charge me anything for that so I've always taken my rides to him. I hope you all have mechanics like Kenny. If not, I hope you find one. Not having to worry about how your bike runs makes every ride that much more enjoyable.
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