Hey All,

I'm trying to squeeze together some funds for an educational track day, and I'll have enough dosh if I do this service myself. Part of the justification in buying a bike over a car was that if I did my own maintenance I could live the the cost of the bike and associated twisty excursions.

So far I've only really done minor servicing including brake pad change + piston cleaning, bleeding brakes, oil+filter, miscellaneous electrical, clutch cable and lever service / replace. I wussed out on the 12 000 km service and paid for it.

Now my feeling is the major jobs I need to complete are:

Valve clearances
Swingarm pivot point lubricate
(oil and filter have been done at 21000 km)
(Spark Plugs were changed 6 months ago during 12000km service)

Am I missing any major maintenance tasks here?





I've checked out the DIY thread on valve clearance, looked at youtube videos for similar procedures and have a pretty decent idea what I'm doing and why. I understand I'll need to be giving the radiator some play, changing coolant and carefully maneuvering a bunch of other stuff out of the way of the cylinder head.

I have the following issues / concerns.

Valve cover gasket/seal - I'll probably need a new one right? (or at least have one on hand)

Feeler gauges: How important are brand and quality control on these? are there any shapes that work better (long and narrow or short and stubby?)

I've got the correct gap when the feeler gauge slides in and out with gentle persuasion right? (otherwise i deform the tool with too much force and render it useless) I appreciate I'll be measuing this when the cam lobe is furthest from actuating the valve.

Are the feeler gauges are softer than the cam lobes and tappets? really doubt I'll risk damaging or scratching them (not the feelers), but would like somebody to comment just in case)

I've noticed the DIY had markings on the cam lobes (appeared as white blobs) Are these markings produced by the factory or by me? If by me, what do I mark them with? (for clarity these markings are facing one another and are in line when cylinder #2 is at TDC) I presume given its a 4-stroke engine, I'll need to produce the correct 2T point in the cycle to replicate this.

I'm worried the cam chain will skip a link when I re-install the cams. I presume I should check for this by cranking the engine over (by hand) while I'm double checking the valve clearances to make sure the shims I installed are correct?

I know many of you buy a shim kit - I've looked and these are of the order of $100 bucks on ebay which is a little more than I'd hope to pay. Instead I hope to buy individual shims from a dealer. While I do this I plan to leave the head open and covered with glad/cling wrap - good idea or bad?

Will a magnetic grab tool make the work any easier (I appreciate I'll need this if I drop anything into the engine)






If you're brave/bored enough to keep reading, I have one problem with the swingarm service:

I'm not sure how to unload the rear wheel and get it off the ground to remove the load on the swingarm. I don't have any rafters or similar to raise the rear from the subframe, so I believe lifting from below will be necessary.

I have some big concerns on how to do this without the bike toppling over. With the fairings off, can I lift the bike from the oil pan provided I distribute the load evenly? Can I then rest the weight of the bike on the footpeg pivot points?

Is there a way to do this part of the service any other way?

I've been thinking about the above for the past couple of weeks and I think I'm perfectly able to do the job provided I'm careful and methodical about the work I'm doing and double check to catch mistakes before they catch me.




Any and all feedback appreciated

- Dave.

Dave, maybe u take a look here > http://www.theyeagergroup.com/2008_ninja_250_valve_clearance.htm < from what I think is a good information.
Good luck :thumbup:

Thanks for the link Somchai.

That DIY has a very nice set of pictures, appreciate the link. Between that, the DIY posted around here (I know how to find) I think its entirely possible for me to do this:eek:

Tree branch works good

Missing steering bearings lubrication. Good chunk of effort there too.

Missing steering bearings lubrication. Good chunk of effort there too.

Forgot about that one - Looked at the assembly diagram and it doesn't look difficult to disassemble, clean and then reassemble. The tricky part seems to be setting the tension on the bearings correctly. Seems to be tighten to seat the bearings, loose until free play is just removed. I have read the rear shock preload adjuster tool works for this. can somebody please confirm?

I've done the same task on a bicycle before and the bike survived, Should be able to manage.

What are the chances I'll have to replace the bearings and races? I can't really check the 'feel' of them until I get the front wheel off the ground which I'm still working on.