How much time do you spend on maintenance of your bike?

[Jakobi]

Totally agree you can't see a problem if its covered in dirt.. but scrubbing every inch of the bike with a scourer, every single spoke.. after every single ride.. Not for me I dont have that much time.

Truck wash on. Have a beer. Scrub Scrub Scrub. Have a beer. Hose it off. Have a beer. Then start it up. Bring it to temp. Run it on the stand. Lube the chain and any other pivots or connections that need it. Done. The days leading up to the next ride I do an entire front to rear checking that the bike starts, brake pads, air filters, oil levels, coolant etc are all within spec so that the bike is ready to roll. I personally find the real difference between the bike looking good and looking great is a can of silicone spray!

[Front Royalty]

Just spray the bike down with motor oil. Then she'll really shine! Ive gotten away from doing the spot treatment on mine, too many other items that need attention!

[GMP]

If you have never seen Rick's bike, it's absolutely mint for a '99!

My system starts when the bike comes home from the dealer. In addition to the basic and obvious stuff, I do a lot of evaluation and custom stuff to make my life(and the bike's) easier and speed basic maintenance. Electricals and waterproofing get particular attention. The steeing head gets a steel collar and extra oring for a positive seal. Forks get a seal grease packed cord fitted under the wiper to trap anything that gets past the wiper. I make hardened sleeve wheel spacers, use Ironman sprockets, and in general do things that increase durability. I rarely have problems. With a tight bike, I wash with a hose, Simple Green, and a few different brushes and rags. Compressor blow dry, start and run around the hood to dry brakes, and a carefull spray down with WD40. Bike Spirits on the plastic. I'll also put a fan on the floor blowing air over the bike in cooler of damp weather to help it dry faster. Takes me an hour. Filter, oil, fastener check, damage assessment the next night. Fix or improve anything I can before next weekend.


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[waycrazy]

I do airfilters oil changes chain lube most of the normal stuff. Not terribly anal about cleaning. As of late I have been riding 2 times a week . So complete cleaning isn't really worth it. Spray off the mud make sure there isnt any new leaks or broke or near broke parts. Gas it up for the next day.

[ACR Tom]

I wash it with a pressure washer low pressure i use acid / caustic 2step system I have at my shop . I sell pressure washers so i have an advantage in cleaning knowledge , then oil as needed and have my one mechanic go over it as needed . It is at that time I like having employees !

[bowhunter007]

I've spent more hours going over my bike, this week...more time than I prolly spent in 6 months, on 2 bikes. I wasn't taking any chances for a 100 mi race. Now all that's in the toilet due to my vehicle's soon-to-blow trans. Oh Well, at least I'll be ready to race April 14th...and much closer to home

[Pepperami]

I'm with Rick on this one. I find it difficult to get my bike 100% ready in two weeks! Peace of mind, you don't want any nasty surprises half way through a race and 10 miles from the nearest help.

[houndog]

I must have the two best Gassers in the world. The 300 has >5k miles.....I keep the air filter clean, the oil clear and the chain clean and greasy. Replaced the O'rings due to bubbles in coolant tank, that's it. I trail ride or do the dirt roads most every day so cleaning is not an option, she's always dirty. I also have no dents in the pipe, bars are straight and the only tear in the seat came from it falling over and hitting my hand truck. Stupid kickstand. My forks don't leak and all bearings seem fine. She starts second kick every time. 32:1 on the oil, synthetic only,,,Red Line, Mercury PWC or Amsoil Dominator. I do change the plug way more than it needs......if I pull it to look at it she gets a new one or a blasted clean one from the pile of removed ones. She's never fouled one. Has alloy water pump impeller and flywheel weight. Did not like the big power valve cover.

The 450 has 1825 miles. Same as 300.....keep air filter clean, oil clear, chain clean and greasy. No issues or problems at all. Except I can't kick start it....no one has been able to, yet. I know I should at least check the valves.....I was a mechanic in a former life (was decent I was told) but it just seems like soooooo much trouble .

Wife's CRF 230L Honda gets the same treatment....she's got 2200 miles.

I have friends who keep their bikes spotless, grease and lube everything after every ride or so, and they think I neglect my bikes. I laugh at them. They have no less problems than I do and spend a lot more time cleaning and worrying than I do. If my air filter, oil and chain are clean it takes me about 2 minutes to determine if I need "maintenance" instead of going for a ride. I enjoy riding my bikes not cleaning or working on them. I never have parts failures! Seriously, I have never had a bearing failure of any type. My Bunny ('97 CR250) blew a crank bearing after 25 miles in 100 degree weather after following Helen putting through the woods, but Hell, Bunny was bad ass and had more work to her than I could describe....she was rabid and deserved an new heart.

When I bought the 300 I was very worried about how much maintenance would be needed to keep it alive. Turns out, not a bit more than a Honda or any other bike I've owned.

I love both the 450 and 300 and in the last 45 years have had the opportunity to ride and own a whole bunch of bikes.....I worked at a Kawasaki dealership.........the Gas Gas are special. There are "better" bikes I'm sure, but for me, I'm done. I'll own a Gas Gas until it's impossible to do so either from health (not likely) or because it can't be fixed!

Again, I do not race but do put a lot of miles on them in the woods and my pace is not "slow" but not "fast" either.

Laugh if you want but I expect 10K miles before I have to do or plan to do anything "major" to the 300.......that's when I'll look at all the bearings and maybe do fork seals if they do not leak before then. She'll get rings when she gets tired and needs it....right now it would be a complete waste of money.......Ting Ting is very fast and strong. I really can envision 10k before rings.

The number in my mind for the 450 is 5K for the same thing and a valve check. Unless of course I get worried about the valves for some reason
Ed

[Jakobi]

Originally Posted by houndog

Laugh if you want but I expect 10K miles before I have to do or plan to do anything "major" to the 300.......that's when I'll look at all the bearings and maybe do fork seals if they do not leak before then. She'll get rings when she gets tired and needs it....right now it would be a complete waste of money.......Ting Ting is very fast and strong. I really can envision 10k before rings.

There are always many variables at play, and I agree, keeping a bike looking new and clean is very different to keeping a bike maintained.

I can tell you though, run 6-12 months here in the tropics without pulling your linkage to regrease the bearings and they will fail. Same goes for wheel bearings.

Engine wise, 16 000kms is a long haul. I'm confident that the engine could do it, but it would be out of spec by the time you got there and you might not have noticed the loss of performance. Ring end gap will be beyond where it should be. Skirt wear increases. Both wear the cylinder more than it would otherwise. IMO I maintain it before it needs it so when I venture out I'm confident that its as reliable as it could be. The longer you let it go, the greater the chances of something failing.

[GMP]

You can keep your linkage tight by simply using all orings, in any conditions. I just bought a low hour KX125 I'm going through for my son, did the same thing to it. Some orings are the same as used on the GG.

Piston skirt fatigue is what I think about @ 100+ hrs., 250 pistons still come out looking fine but thats a lot of time. What gets me sometimes is why some guys do rings only? I have NEVER had a GG250 with ring wear that required replacement, it was always the piston hrs. as mentioned. Maybe its the 36:1 ratio that some scoff at.