Preventative Maintenance

[Bones85]

I bought a used Ninja 250 last year and so far I've changed the oil, spark plugs, air filter, and cleaned/lubed the chain regularly. The bike has approximately 5,500 miles.

What other preventative maintenance would be a good idea to do?

Thanks.

[Jiggles]

Birth control

[alex.s]

owner education. get and read the owners manual. in it you will learn about the required maintenance, including but not limited to valve adjustments

[Bones85]

Originally Posted by alex.s

owner education. get and read the owners manual. in it you will learn about the required maintenance, including but not limited to valve adjustments

I've read it, but I want to get opinions on maintenance that is often overlooked, etc.

[Boom King]

Change fluids, check bolts, clutch engagement, check idle speed, lube cables. I think if you follow the 600 mile service you should be good.

[alex.s]

the owners manual has a table with all of the maintenance items and their intervals... some other things you didn't mention would be lubricating the cables, not letting nasty gas run through it. if you want the paint to last, keep it clean and wax and buff it i guess. the black plastic will oxidize in the sun pretty quickly. changing things like brake fluid and coolant semi regularly will keep everything working well. suspension fluids probably should be changed every 5 or so years for a street bike... all moving parts should be properly greased to prevent corrosion/excessive abraision

[Bones85]

Good ideas. I forgot to mention that I did check the idle speed and bolts. I'll probably go ahead and change the coolant and brake fluid and lubricate the cables.

Originally Posted by alex.s

not letting nasty gas run through it.

What do you mean by this? I usually fill up at Shell, Hess, or 7/11.

[alex.s]

month old gas that has been sitting in the bike while it sits in the sun is nasty gas.

[ricomtzjr]

Follow the owners manual and you'll be fine. I wouldn't recommend going passed those specifications.

[mikecronis]

Valve check, carb-sync, Sea Foam.

[Bones85]

Originally Posted by mikecronis

Valve check, carb-sync, Sea Foam.

Should I use Sea Foam if I haven't had any issues and the bike doesn't sit for long periods?

[krolinked]

It wouldn't hurt, might help, or at worst you just wasted a couple bucks. I would do it though since you don't know what its been through or how it was maintained. PS. I ran some seafoam through my brand new R6, which I PERSONALLY "Meticulously" Maintained. And it ran /idled better than before. SO, Yes run some through it :P

[Jiggles]

Sea Foam for a bike is a lot like fiber. It will help clean you out but too much and you're going to **** all over the place

[choneofakind]

Don't forget the unitrak linkage and swingarm service. That gets forgotten pretty often and makes a huge difference.

[mikecronis]

A shotglass or two will do wonders. Don't dump the whole bottle. Like he said above, it'd be like eating a bar of Exlax. People also will put a few shotglasses in their oil and let it run about 5 miles or so before an oil change. People in all motorsport forums, cars, boats, motorcycles, etc. have been doing these things to good success for decades, so no worries.

[Bones85]

Would this coolant be safe to use? http://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Tech...e-Mix/16928010

Also, should I flush the coolant with distilled water or just skip that step and drain the old coolant and replace it?

[tubarney]

yeah that coolant will be fine. You only need less than half a gallon, so you can get some good stuff if you want, still really cheap http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...e-Coolant.aspx.

With flushing the cooling system. There are 2 types of coolant, ethylene glycol and Propylene Glycol. They don't mix. If you switch from one to another you need to flush, if you use the same your sweet.

Don't get distilled water, get de-ionized water, big difference, available from any super market.

[tubarney]

as far as maintance get some silicone H1 spray. Panolin make a good one. Spray in on anything rubber, electrical and plastic. really good stuff.

lube and clean Wheel bearings, steering stem bearing. change fork oil, its easy.

[Boom King]

Originally Posted by tubarney

Don't get distilled water, get de-ionized water, big difference, available from any super market.

Interesting, care to elaborate? I'm just thinking that for flushing out the cooling system, the end results will be the same once you top it all off with pre-mixed coolant.

[Bones85]

Originally Posted by tubarney

Don't get distilled water, get de-ionized water, big difference, available from any super market.

Too late. I already used distilled water (just to flush the system). Everyone said to use it so I assumed it was safe. What's wrong with it?

[choneofakind]

Using distilled just to flush the system is just fine. [source]

For a coolant system flush, any kind of clean water can be used, but for the final water/coolant mixture, distilled water must be used. The flush water isn't in the system long enough to cause problems if it's not distilled.

Basic info on varying water purification methods

I've always read to use distilled water for a radiator because it's cleaner than tap water, but I guess de-ionized would work as well since most minerals are in the form of ions in the water.