Maintenance Confessional

[Bill Lumberg]

I ride year round, and in rain regularly. I went from a great kraut bike that had fairly regular issues to one with a history of legendary reliability, one with one of the best, cheapest, and longest warranties available. Bought the FSM. Perform or hire all scheduled maintenance. Nothing to worry about on this bike. Here's the confessional part: I routinely pore over linkages, bolts, joints, and anything else exposed to road spray to ensure that proper lubrication is present to guard against rust or accelerated wear from moisture and road grit. I dab or spray these areas on a fairly regular basis. I think I might have a screw loose. Mother of god. Either I have a problem, or I'm lucky not to have real problems.... Thus ends the confessional.

 

[Pterodactyl]

What is a FSM?

 

[MrZappo]

You have the same "voice in your head" that I do.

She is nice but gets mad if I don't lube things. Also talks a lot about platinum plugs, synthetic oil, Moly grease, and other assorted things.

I do my best to avoid upsetting her.

You sound totally sane to me.

We should introduce them someday.

 

[RJAMT]

Probably Factory Service Manual but we should be able to come up with something better eh?

 

[101stpathfinder]

I have a confessional also… I had to look "meyn-tuh nuh ns" up in the dictionary.

I am still trying to figure how it relates to my FJR (?)

 

[bluesdog]

What is a FSM?

Flying Spaghetti Monster. Ramen.

 

[PhilJet09]

I was an A&P/IA in a previous life. I pretty much carry those same habits over to my bike maintenance. I do an "annual" on the FJR every winter, tearing it down much farther than most would consider necessary. Corrosion is our enemy.

 

[majicmaker]

I was an A&P/IA in a previous life. I pretty much carry those same habits over to my bike maintenance. I do an "annual" on the FJR every winter, tearing it down much farther than most would consider necessary. Corrosion is our enemy.

Amen, Brother! We know all too well what corrosion will do if given enough time. My Baby is 10' years old and it looks like it just rolled off the show room floor. There's a reason for that. It's called, Preventative Maintenance.

 

[radiummadman]

where does PM end and OCD begin ???

 

[Fred W]

If it's your hobby, and it makes you feel good doing it, what could be wrong with being obsessive about it?

I am in a different (bipolar?) maintenance camp. I am conscientious about the maintenance items that I believe make a difference to longevity, but a slacker in some I think are a waste of time.

For instance, I change my oil at 5k oil intervals. I think that 4k miles is a bit too soon, especially when running synthetic oil (which I do). I'd go longer than 5k on the changes, but doing them on the 5's makes it easy to remember.

I do not change the oil filter every oil change like some folks do, but instead I use the "every other oil change" as specified in the manual. It isn't needed, and really doesn't accomplish anything extra.

I change the gear lube in the final drive every other oil change too. Its cheap and easy and I think the final drive has a tough job. Keeping fresh synthetic lube in it can't hurt.

The air filters will go a lot longer than the interval they list in the manual, so long as you are not riding on dusty dirt roads (behind me) a lot. . A dirty filter will actually pass fewer particulates than a new clean one does. Until it starts restricting intake air, which it would have to be pretty extremely dirty to do, there is no downside to extending the air filter changes.

I do the suspension relay arm pivots regularly since they hang down in the road spray, but on my 2005 I never did the main swing-arm pivot bearings as that isn't exposed to weather at all.

After adjusting the steering head bearing preload once, I never had to touch it again on the '05. I've done it once on the '14 now and that will hopefully be the last time.

I was an adopter of the zerk grease fitting mod for the brake pedal on the '05 as that makes shooting some grease in there easy peasy, and it's known to hang up and cause other brake problems. I'll likely do it on the '14 soon too.

Plugs and coolant get replaced when you remove them to do the 25k mile valve check. Wheel bearings get checked at tire replacements. Driveshaft doesn't need to be lubed after the initial anti-corrosive is applied.

I would never skip a valve check.

YMMV

 

[Knifemaker]

where does PM end and OCD begin ???

When you spend more time fiddling with your bike than riding it.......

 

[Pterodactyl]

Fred, what are your thoughts on changing the fork oil?

 

[Fred W]

I've done it in the past at ~ 25k intervals. Not sure I've ever felt a huge difference afterwards, though I tried to keep a similar viscosity oil to stock (thin).

Along the same vein, I replaced the fork bushings and seals at ~65k miles, but that was because I was upgrading the damping valves with GP suspension kit. That made a huge difference. It really didn't need the new bushings or new seals yet. But that was also on a 1st Gen. My understanding is the 2nd Gen bushings don't hold up that long.