New member from Vienna, AuSTria (Europe)

[Coyote Chris]

A logistical nightmare either way...
I need to take a day off, have the bike and a car (hence a second person) at the shed, throw the wheels into the car, get to the shop, etc...
Or make an appointment, drop the bike off, no you can't wait, we call when its done, grab a rental scooter to get home, pick my rig up again "somewhen" in the late afternoon...
35,- you might pay when you'd also buy the tires there...

So I can do it relaxed at the evening or on a weekend, carefully clean the wheel flanges, etc...

What's a day off? I have been retired 16 years. I dont get days off.....Luckily, my dealer is only an easy 20 minutes away so I grab one of my cars and take the wheel and new tire over to them and pick it up in the afternoon. Do errends on the way....My dealer will usually meet internet prices on tires but I mostly I just buy them over the web. Gas is cheeper than milk here....the tire machine would be neat to have. My problem is that I have lots of things that are neat to have and I have had to add another garage and two storage sheds.....

 

[Coyote Chris]

Guilty. A week or two ago I checked my truck spare. It would have worked but was way low. I plan on doing better, I even built a tool to make it more convenient to lower the spare to access it. I have no excuse now.
Like anything there are good and not so good mechanics. I do think they are getting harder to find. I'm younger than many here but as age related issues happen it will be harder to do the required stuff.

Brad

Maintenance gets to be a pain but if you have a separate calander on the wall or where ever, its easier. I have three cars, plus my wife's car, and three motorcycles. Every car and bike has a jump pack and that needs to be charged and tested . That's a whole lot of oil changes, and tire pressures to check. When I worked for the state patrol, the fleet manager had us vehicle "owners" turn in our jumper cables and we were issued jump packs. Cars have lots of expensive computers. One trooper took his jumper cables and tried to jumpstart a citizen's car. It started all right....but its alternator/regulator had "run away" and put massive amounts of voltage into the troop's car's electrical system. Made toast out of the computers. Maybe they are better protected now, but I like jump packs.....

 

[Bear]

That's the reason I bought a trailer. I drop the bike off and pick it up when it is done.

 

[ST1100Y]

That's the reason I bought a trailer.

:ROFLMAO:
Right, like this would cure the issues with workshop appointments and get to/from them... :sneaky:
Besides that I wouldn't know where to store such a rig in my slip of the sub-level garage...

 

[ST1100Y]

Inspected the tire machine today (don't like having it to fail on my right during a job...)

Fixed a leak between water-separator and oiler by replacing the plastic(?!) seal with an O-ring...
(but found the oiler being factory filled (y))



fixed some loose bolts on the kinematic...



ordered a spare belt for the table drive...



and discovered an undocumented feature...

 

[ST1100Y]

Ready to pun my friend...

 

[Phil Tarman]

Speaking of good or bad bike mechanics. MY mech seems to be pretty good when I can get him to work on my bikes. He is not always available. However he is a good instructor. He taught my daughter how to do normal maint. Now if he can get her to do it. Here are a few pictures of him working on my bikes over the years. Only problem is he is getting a bit older and his enthusiasm for working on motorcycles is waning a bit.

I remember this guy from back in the day when he was a pretty decent NT mechanic.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Ready to pun my friend...

I got my "My Local Riding Area" decals from Callie yesterday. I'll maybe get 'em on the bike tomorrow.

 

[ST1100Y]

So: why didn't I get it sooner?!! :unsure:



I mean detaching the front calipers & removing the wheel takes longer as the process of removing old tire, installing new valve stem, putting the new rubber on the wheel and checking if it's still balanced... (y)

 

[ST1100Y]

And unlike after getting tires changed by a "professional" (you'll need to ride on the motorway to warm it up, so the beads settle fully...), the brand new tire holds air right away... despite the bike sitting in the unheated shed... :unsure:

 

[ST1100Y]

Another afternoon tinkering in the hangar...
Bottom shock mount (needle bearing) on my GF's NT showed a little play...
So out with the rear wheel (this time I left the exhaust/muffler attached ) and recovering the shock
Turned out that the bearing was completely dry... :unsure:

Fabbed a DIY puller with 2 sockets and a threaded rod, broke out the heat gun:



Used the bench vice and heat to insert the new part:



Again the socked to sink the bearing shell in:



New gaskets and packed all meticulously with marine grease, that'll last...

While at it I also topped off the preload adjuster, which was missing like 1/3rd of the oil volume.
Now I've resistance after ~1/2 a turn (before it took like 7~8 turns...)

Fumbled the shock back into it's mounts and attached the bolts, all firm, no clicking when rocking the swing-arm up and down



Next was oil & filter change, + checking coolant...

I also found the 5W bulb of the license-plate illumination had fully darkened inside the tube... :unsure:
Popped a new one in, but might consider a 3W replacement or even an LED drop in there, as this thing seems to overheat easily...


As the shop had nicely warmed up by then (the mobile 3-phase 5kW fan heater works nicely...), I attached the hand-deflector kit:





And, still some time at hand, added some overdue nose-art :sneaky:




Still due is chasing/fixing a small issue in the radio/BT-interface wiring, lubrication of shifter-linkage and kick-stand pivot... and the 2021 season can come

 

[Coyote Chris]

Another afternoon tinkering in the hangar...
Bottom shock mount (needle bearing) on my GF's NT showed a little play...
So out with the rear wheel (this time I left the exhaust/muffler attached ) and recovering the shock
Turned out that the bearing was completely dry... :unsure:

Fabbed a DIY puller with 2 sockets and a threaded rod, broke out the heat gun:



Used the bench vice and heat to insert the new part:



Again the socked to sink the bearing shell in:



New gaskets and packed all meticulously with marine grease, that'll last...

While at it I also topped off the preload adjuster, which was missing like 1/3rd of the oil volume.
Now I've resistance after ~1/2 a turn (before it took like 7~8 turns...)

Fumbled the shock back into it's mounts and attached the bolts, all firm, no clicking when rocking the swing-arm up and down



Next was oil & filter change, + checking coolant...

I also found the 5W bulb of the license-plate illumination had fully darkened inside the tube... :unsure:
Popped a new one in, but might consider a 3W replacement or even an LED drop in there, as this thing seems to overheat easily...


As the shop had nicely warmed up by then (the mobile 3-phase 5kW fan heater works nicely...), I attached the hand-deflector kit:





And, still some time at hand, added some overdue nose-art :sneaky:




Still due is chasing/fixing a small issue in the radio/BT-interface wiring, lubrication of shifter-linkage and kick-stand pivot... and the 2020 season can come

My Kawasaki C10 had zerk fittings on the suspension pivot points. Nickel and dime stuff to install at the factory during production. Yet they dont. I wonder why?

 

[ST1100Y]

My Kawasaki C10 had zerk fittings on the suspension pivot points.

Honda's had such on the swing-arm tube for the bronze bushings...
My ST has drain plugs on the fork bottoms, eliminating the need for removal and flipping upside down when changing the oil...
But then again who does such these days? People get furious over the suggestion to replace the fork oil every 36Tkm... "WHY?! YOU DON'T DO SUCH ON A CAR?!"

 

[Chucksklrst]

Another afternoon tinkering in the hangar...



Still due is chasing/fixing a small issue in the radio/BT-interface wiring, lubrication of shifter-linkage and kick-stand pivot... and the 2020 season can come

I think the 2020 Season has come and gone. Thankfully.

 

[Brillot2000]

For the same reason they have a warning label for people not to iron a shirt while wearing it. YOU CANNOT FIX STUPID!!!

 

[ST1100Y]

I think the 2020 Season has come and gone.

Well, typo...

 

[Phil Tarman]

Well, typo...

LOL! I don't write many checks these days, and I've only written one since we left 2020. So, I'm still waiting to make the mistake of writing 2020 for the first time in 2021.

 

[Coyote Chris]

Honda's had such on the swing-arm tube for the bronze bushings...
My ST has drain plugs on the fork bottoms, eliminating the need for removal and flipping upside down when changing the oil...
But then again who does such these days? People get furious over the suggestion to replace the fork oil every 36Tkm... "WHY?! YOU DON'T DO SUCH ON A CAR?!"

I rememeber fork drain holes in many bikes of the last century....trying to remember when they went away....

 

[ST1100Y]

I attached the hand-deflector kit:

Well, GF rides again for the 2nd week now (despite morning/night temps barely above freezing...)
Due the aerodynamic changes she claims that the engine now sounds different of course...

 

[Brillot2000]

Well, GF rides again for the 2nd week now (despite morning/night temps barely above freezing...)
Due the aerodynamic changes she claims that the engine now sounds different of course...

I swear by mine. I have had them installed for over 2.5 years now. I transferred them to DIVA's bodywork. I had to purchase a roll of trim tape and remove the old trim tape to be able to install them. Certainly worth spending the time and effort to reuse them.

Also, a taller and wider windshield makes a big difference during colder temperatures.