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

[houndog]

GMP, you won't hear me scoff at 36:1!

As a matter fact I ran the 300 at 20:1 on Dominator for about 1.5K miles. Went to 28:1 then re-jetted and went to 32:1. There is absolutely no reason to go 40 or 50 to one unless you just enjoy doing bottom and top ends is the way I look at it. The pre-mix also helps keep the crank bearings alive too and I think many overlook that tidbit. I've never understood why fellows run so little oil when numerous studies and tests have shown over and over that properly jetted more oil always produces more power and in my opinion much longer engine (not just top end) life. That argument has been settled for years. And yet I still hear guys "brag" they run 100 or 50 to one. Then I ask how many times they have been through the motor. The answer is never "none" at 50 to 100 to one, if the bike is a year old or more.......next time you're around a bunch of guys take a survey of ratios and rebuilds......I mean needed not preventative rebuilds. Ask what the ratio was if/when they had a catastrophic failure of the top end. Do this long enough and you'll see a trend develop.

As a matter of fact last time at the forest a fellow asked how many hours on my 300 and if was holding up well. I told him I was unsure of the hours but I had about 4.8k miles and it had needed nothing yet. He seemed surprised. I simply said "oil at between 20 and 32 to one, never less".



Jakobi, you are correct....clean does not always equal "well maintained". I've changed the oil in the 450 8 times in 1.8k miles....filter every time too.
Ed

[GMP]

+1, and a little spooge is a good thing, shows oil made the whole trip.

[Front Royalty]

Ive realized, as most of you probably already know, that buying a brand new bike does not mean that one is done spending money by a long shot. It seems regardless of what you buy, there will be the initial "setup" cost to bring things to your liking, whether it be soft seat, tall seat, handguards, footpegs, suspension work, etc. There will always be something that needs to be done, regardless of new bike or used bike. Then theres upkeep... Ive learned that a few extra dollars here and there will cut down on maintenance time considerably. I noticed that the cheaper drive chains will need adjustment after every ride, and sometimes DURING a 3 hr ride. That becomes VERY tedious. I always thought this was "normal". Apparently, as I have learned from JohnRB's DID chain that I acquired, quality chains dont need adjustment for 2-3 and sometimes more RIDES. Not hours. Seems "you get what you pay for" also applies to motorcycle parts! Whod've thought? Im doing some experimenting with some $15 neoprene seal savers also. I cant imagine they were a waste of money. Time will tell. A little loctite goes a long way as well. Bolts were rattling out of my bike left and right. If Id have taken the time to loctite some of the more critical hardware upon initial purchase of my '12, I probably wouldnt have such a bad taste in my mouth about that bike. Above all the '12 was just too much power. Time to start over fresh with my new to me 07 EC200, which will hopefully be in the stable Monday. But this time, I have parts waiting on a bike, and not a bike waiting on parts

[Simmo737]

G'day mr royal

IMHO seal savers can be bad in just the condition they are advertised, in mud the can trap dirt and wear on your sliders, even worse if you have coated sliders like some ggs they cause quite some damage, I personally wouldnt use them, though some debate might prove me wrong.

[bowhunter007]

Per thread title: 2 hours...on someone else's bike. Poor kid...He's so excited, that I wouldn't let him race prep his own bike. I was afraid in his debut race, he'd try to run without trans fluid, or similar screwup. At least he'll leave the starting grid in one piece

[GMP]

+1, bad idea. Traps grit and "wet sands" your fork tubes. For additional fork seal protection, cut a piece of 1/8" nylon starter cord so it wraps once completely around the tube. Pack with seal grease and force into the underside of the wiper before pressing it back into the upper. This will trap anything that may get past the wiper.

The Seal Doctor tool is good for cleaning seals and wipers. Much better investment than Seal Savers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Front Royalty]

Originally Posted by Simmo737

G'day mr royal

IMHO seal savers can be bad in just the condition they are advertised, in mud the can trap dirt and wear on your sliders, even worse if you have coated sliders like some ggs they cause quite some damage, I personally wouldnt use them, though some debate might prove me wrong.

Interesting! Never heard that before. Maybe theyre not such a good idea after all!

[Jiikoo811]

After every ride...wash up bike, fill gas tank,lube chains,check it around,check air filter dirtyness,check coolant level.
After each 10h... change oils to tranny,check bolts and nuts are them tight and so.

Sent from Razr MAXX

[dazza]

For me I spend on average 1.5 hours to 5 hours ride time , what I've noticed is if you don't do it ,it'll accumulate so if you use it for 10 hours without any love(maintainance) then you will spend 4 hours on it as there will be other things that's a miss!

Today I found my pipe had a crack in it so,I welded it up
Also a bracket broke near the coil so that needed sorting and last week I did the oil and filled up the wheel bearings

It's just a revolving door really .....

The bonus is you can see if anything serious is occurring then you can catch it first.

P.s cleaning the bike is not maintainance , its part of using it and then paying it some respect for looking after you

Regards Dazza

[dazza]

Originally Posted by GMP

+1, and a little spooge is a good thing, shows oil made the whole trip.

Agreed but the quality of oil today just doesn't need to be so rich, when its fully synthetic it can be run at 50 to one and my bikes have never blown up ,

My bikes are well jetted so i get good fuel economy and the bikes not booged down so causing it to run a bit gluggy ,non responsive .

When I bike sings it smells sweet .......

I am pretty hard on my bikes and they never let me down

Regards Dazza