Motorcycle Maintenance
May 24, 2006 by John in Motorcycle News
Note to self: the odometer on my motorcycle rolled over 26,000 miles on the way home from work, May 23, 2006.
Well, due to various commitments I won’t be going on a road trip this Memorial Day Weekend. Instead, I’ll stick around for the car show on Saturday and then tear apart my bike for maintenance on Sunday. Here’s what’s on tap for the scooter:
- Oil and filter change
- New spark plugs
- New jets and needles for the carbs as well as drilled out carb sliders to 7/64″
- New tires (I already have the new Avon Venom skins and will drop them off with the wheels at Jeff’s on Tuesday and remount the wheels on the bike one evening that week or the following weekend), which will naturally involve readjusting the belt tension when I remount the wheels
- Speedbleeders for the brake calipers (install and re-bleed brakes)
- 1″ Spacers for the handlebar risers to bring the bars a little closer
- Clean and re-oil the K&N air filters
- Install new carb brace from Bellacorse
- Solder pigtail wires on new micro-toggle switch for driving lights and install in dash
- Reinstall my bike watch on the steering head bolt
- Check the valve clearances and re-shim if necessary (this is the big bad boogieman - never done it before)
- Install new idle mixture screws in carbs (I don’t know about this one - some people have been having problems with them -I might wait)
- Install stainless steel allenhead screw kit in carbs
- Replace tiny stock inline fuel filter with aftermarket glass inline-filter
- Balance carbs
- Install replacement sidestand
- Install new louder horn
With the exception of the valve adjustment, it should all be very fun. I love wrenching on my bike. After this all I need to do to get ready for my July bike trips is to get the right saddlebag re-painted (I finished sanding it last Saturday) and put the new locks into the EasyBrackets. I’ll probably try and figure out a supplemental system to insure that neither of them come off again.