Maintenance oh maintenance

[etiainen]

So, I have around 1800 miles until I hit 7500mi

I ride about 1000-1500 miles a month(probably more like 1600 in July but eh, sometimes I can't control myself )

Just a few questions,

I assume it will be ok if I took it in for service a bit early? I'm going away for a week around Labour Day weekend..so I was thinking maybe that's a good time to get the valve check done while I'm gone anyways...?

Also those with IRC Road Winners, around what mileage was it time to replace them? Right now they have some tread left, but I was thinking maybe while its in the shop for a valve adjustment maybe I could get them changed out too?

About how much should all of this this run cost wise(going for the BT45s I think, unless someone has a better recommendation, I don't do any track riding, commuting and lots of weekend trips)?

To those in the tri-state area, know any shops I can trust? My friend got ripped off by a dealer in the area, and most I've been to seem to have a relatively stuck up staff that I don't trust with my bike.

Thanks

[planet-beaver]

Well let see.

Valves = $250
Tires = $220
Oil change, air filter cleaning, cable lube, antifreeze = $80

Total about $550

Buy tires on line and do everything your self = $180

[etiainen]

Originally Posted by planet-beaver

Well let see.

Valves = $250
Tires = $220
Oil change, air filter cleaning, cable lube, antifreeze = $80

Total about $550

Buy tires on line and do everything your self = $180

Everything myself is definitely my style

But, I don't know if I have the time coming up to do all of this:/

Starting college again in the fall full time and time is very hard to come by, but so is money

How much time do you think this would all take?

[planet-beaver]

It depends. If you done it before (valves, tires, oil) you are looking at about 5 hours. First time, could be two days as you will find your self missing the right wrenches, trips to auto store, making a bead breaker. I would recommend getting tires from a dealer. If you buy tires there they will do the mounting for free. Just bring you wheels and you don't have to pay them for taking them out.

Do the valves your self, you learn it once and won't have to pay every 7500 miles.

[etiainen]

Originally Posted by planet-beaver

It depends. If you done it before (valves, tires, oil) you are looking at about 5 hours. First time, could be two days as you will find your self missing the right wrenches, trips to auto store, making a bead breaker. I would recommend getting tires from a dealer. If you buy tires there they will do the mounting for free. Just bring you wheels and you don't have to pay them for taking them out.

Oil, I've done before, so that I'll definitely do myself...valves and tires, I've never done before.

How much more are tires at the dealer usually?

Though after reading DIYs and posts about changing tires at home, I am intrigued by the challenge I also think I'd try and split up doing each piece of maintenance so I don't get too overwhelmed, but I do think learning this stuff could be really helpful too.

[Soujyu]

The valves took me two nights to do. I spent the first night (several hours) getting everything stripped down down to the cylinder head cover. You have to let the engine cool down overnight before doing a valve job anyway.

The second night, I got home from work at 6pm, and I pulled off most of the rest of the job. I didn't go inside to sleep until 4am. The next day, I finished up by syncing the carbs.

Yes, it looks scary in terms of the amount of time it takes. However, the potential consequences of misadjusted valves, plus the fact that all the Kawasaki dealers in this area are no good for any sort of service makes it mandatory that I do it myself.

[etiainen]

Originally Posted by Soujyu

The valves took me two nights to do. I spent the first night (several hours) getting everything stripped down down to the cylinder head cover. You have to let the engine cool down overnight before doing a valve job anyway.

The second night, I got home from work at 6pm, and I pulled off most of the rest of the job. I didn't go inside to sleep until 4am. The next day, I finished up by syncing the carbs.

Yes, it looks scary in terms of the amount of time it takes. However, the potential consequences of misadjusted valves, plus the fact that all the Kawasaki dealers in this area are no good for any sort of service makes it mandatory that I do it myself.

Good to hear that I can probably fit it into my schedule. Did you just use the DIY + service manual or are there any other tips/instructions you used that could be helpful?

I thinking of splitting up these tasks into one task per week so I can work slowly and not screw things up due to impatience. Also thinking of having my buddies give me a hand to prevent me from doing anything stupid

Also tire wise hoping to go with these:

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...Rear-Tire.aspx

I don't see the front in the right size?

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...ront-Tire.aspx

Anyone know a good place to get these Dunlop GT501s in the right size?

[alex.s]

if you build a good relationship with a shop or just find a good shop you can get a tire changed (off bike) for around 15-25$... worth it to save yourself the hassle of muscling that damn tire onto the rim IMO. changed on bike will probably be double. or if you flirt with the cashier every time you go there, you might be able to get it for free... just hope the cashier isn't a guy (uhh... unless that's your thing... judge not, adr99ian. judge not.)

valves... ugh. probably don't need to be adjusted so early but not a bad idea to check them. if you take it to the shop they will want to do the entire 7500mi service which is a flat hour quote regardless of if the valves need adjusting or not. its extremely expensive for boiling down to an oil change and chain lube. if you can, DIY and spend the money on gear or gas or something nice for the Mrs. just my opinion.

[Soujyu]

Originally Posted by etiainen

Good to hear that I can probably fit it into my schedule. Did you just use the DIY + service manual or are there any other tips/instructions you used that could be helpful?

I thinking of splitting up these tasks into one task per week so I can work slowly and not screw things up due to impatience. Also thinking of having my buddies give me a hand to prevent me from doing anything stupid

I did some planning beforehand to make sure I got it done expediently. Basically, you'll need to have a collection of shims (The HotCam shim kits are what I used: http://www.cyclebuy.com/shopping/hot...imkits_748.htm), a gasket for the CCT (I don't remember the part number right off the bat), and any fluids and other parts that I needed.

I used a combination of the DIY forum thread and the service manual. They mostly differ in that the forum thread instructions do not remove the radiator, while the service manual does.

[austinm911]

Originally Posted by alex.s

if you build a good relationship with a shop or just find a good shop you can get a tire changed (off bike) for around 15-25$... worth it to save yourself the hassle of muscling that damn tire onto the rim IMO. changed on bike will probably be double. or if you flirt with the cashier every time you go there, you might be able to get it for free... just hope the cashier isn't a guy (uhh... unless that's your thing... judge not, adr99ian. judge not.)

valves... ugh. probably don't need to be adjusted so early but not a bad idea to check them. if you take it to the shop they will want to do the entire 7500mi service which is a flat hour quote regardless of if the valves need adjusting or not. its extremely expensive for boiling down to an oil change and chain lube. if you can, DIY and spend the money on gear or gas or something nice for the Mrs. just my opinion.

Where do you take your bike in, in SD?

[etiainen]

Originally Posted by alex.s

if you build a good relationship with a shop or just find a good shop you can get a tire changed (off bike) for around 15-25$... worth it to save yourself the hassle of muscling that damn tire onto the rim IMO. changed on bike will probably be double. or if you flirt with the cashier every time you go there, you might be able to get it for free... just hope the cashier isn't a guy (uhh... unless that's your thing... judge not, adr99ian. judge not.)

valves... ugh. probably don't need to be adjusted so early but not a bad idea to check them. if you take it to the shop they will want to do the entire 7500mi service which is a flat hour quote regardless of if the valves need adjusting or not. its extremely expensive for boiling down to an oil change and chain lube. if you can, DIY and spend the money on gear or gas or something nice for the Mrs. just my opinion.

Flirt with the cashier..lolol that cracked me up..the best I've ever done is fix a cashier's computer(I suck at flirting)

I would assume if I would have to buy the tires at the shop though? Most shops in my area seem to be charging a hell of a lot more for tires than I've seen online

I was thinking of doing the valves now only because I'm not sure how much time I'll have once school starts, if they are in spec now, when would be the next time to check them? I would assume by the time I get to this I'll be at 6500 or so.

Also, no Mrs. here, just me and the bike .......FREEDOM(at a price of course)

[etiainen]

Originally Posted by Soujyu

I did some planning beforehand to make sure I got it done expediently. Basically, you'll need to have a collection of shims (The HotCam shim kits are what I used: http://www.cyclebuy.com/shopping/hot...imkits_748.htm), a gasket for the CCT (I don't remember the part number right off the bat), and any fluids and other parts that I needed.

I used a combination of the DIY forum thread and the service manual. They mostly differ in that the forum thread instructions do not remove the radiator, while the service manual does.

Did you remove the radiator then?

[Soujyu]

Originally Posted by etiainen

Did you remove the radiator then?

Yeah, I completely removed the radiator.