General Bike Maintenance.

[karlos]

I’d ideally like this to be pinned, pretty please with a cherry on top.

All of us weathered bikers know the importance of vehicle maintenance but do the newbie’s? I have read many threads over the past 3 years on Thai Visa and been shocked at the lack of knowledge when it comes to maintenance, so I have decided to start this thread where we can all chip in and help to create a valuable collection of videos and how-to write ups. I hope the Mods of this forum can help this thread to remain at the top so it can benefit you all.

Ok, most of you will know all the basics but as ‘big bikes’ become more popular here in Thailand it’s inevitable that the Fino/Click brigade will fancy a slice of the action, or even those completely new to bikes will start placing orders for the latest must have hi-so but somewhat dangerous accessory. These videos/write-ups are aimed at you and for anyone who currently owns a bike whom wishes to learn more, or just wants to understand why such maintenance should be carried out and what happens if neglected

There are some great videos to be seen in this guy’s YouTube channel, I particularly like them because he describes everything in detail and highlights the dangers and benefits of such basic maintenance.

Try to add a bold title, as some hyperlinks fail to work in some browsers and mobile devices.

Tyre Inflation for ROAD USE

Chain Maintenance.

The second video I have stolen from a post Thaicbr added to the CBR500 thread… 5555

Thanks to all the contribute.

Karl

Please note that all videos and how-to’s are specific to a particular bike the owner/mechaninc is working on. Always follow the instructions and guidance of your bike’s workshop manual, only using this thread as preparation providing you are confident and competent to do the work yourself. If in doubt consult a qualified mechanic, your owner’s manual or PM a trusted member on this forum for advice on what to do.

Edited January 22, 2013 by cdnvic
Disclaimer added at request of poster.

[loserlazer]

Good idea karlos.

Here we go then:

When to change motorcycle tire?

[karlos]

Perfect.

As far as I can see, this will cut down on the amount of 'repeated threads' and even those that are too lazy to use the search bar should be able to find this at the top of the forum (should it get pinned)

Anything can be added here;

Washing

Polishing/waxing

Bearings

Fork oil/seals

Engine oil/filter

Coolant top-up/replacement

Clutch adjustment/replacement

Modifications

ETC ETC

[karlos]

Engine oil & filter change

Fork Seals

[karlos]

Plastic welding

[karlos]

Fork Re-alignment

[Ticketmaster]

Excellent vid on forkseals! It is a job I have never personally undertaken, so was a bit of a mystery. Now, no problem! Thanks.

[aitch52]

Excellent, hope it gets pinned and added to.

[cdnvic]

Excellent, hope it gets pinned and added to.

Done

[mania]

I wanted to add a chain clean/oil tip

I did not seen a video I agree with so will just give an opinion.

With O ring chains you need to be aware that many spray cleaners may harm the O-rings

defeating your reasoning of caring for your chain so keep that in mind. There are special

spray cleaners that do not attack the O rings

Probably the best simple way to maintain your chain is best done with two people unless you have

a center stand or a accessory type stand. One person tips bike on side stand with bike in Neutral while you spin the rear wheel

spraying a good lube mainly between the plates

Of course you can just roll the bike & do sections at a time too.

The next thing & what most don't do is wipe off the excess. Continue to spin the wheel with a rag held

loosely in your hand around the chain & wipe the excess off. There is no need for oil to be on the outside

of the plates/chain. In fact it will just act like a dirt magnet & have dirt sticking to your chain.

I do pretty much agree with this older article.

http://www.motorcycl...cle_chain_lube/

Edited January 25, 2013 by mania

[Theboy]

I have one of these and it works great - so simple but effective

http://www.tutorochainoiler.com/

[aitch52]

cheers cdnvic

[Beardog]

Good job pinning this!

[Neilly]

I used to ride in the dunes a lot so started using wax instead of normal chain lube (sand used to stick to it and turn it into grinding paste) and find it much better...only drawback is you have to let it set for half hour

This stuff is good...Maxima Chain Wax

[karlos]

Tyre Maintenance

While the wheels are up, check your bearings too.

[bigdod]

I wanted to add a chain clean/oil tip

I did not seen a video I agree with so will just give an opinion.

With O ring chains you need to be aware that many spray cleaners may harm the O-rings

defeating your reasoning of caring for your chain so keep that in mind. There are special

spray cleaners that do not attack the O rings

Probably the best simple way to maintain your chain is best done with two people unless you have

a center stand or a accessory type stand. One person tips bike on side stand with bike in Neutral while you spin the rear wheel

spraying a good lube mainly between the plates

Of course you can just roll the bike & do sections at a time too.

The next thing & what most don't do is wipe off the excess. Continue to spin the wheel with a rag held

loosely in your hand around the chain & wipe the excess off. There is no need for oil to be on the outside

of the plates/chain. In fact it will just act like a dirt magnet & have dirt sticking to your chain.

I do pretty much agree with this older article.

http://www.motorcycl...cle_chain_lube/

+1

Many years ago, I used to run an old GSX 1100, 365 days a year throughout our delightful Scottish weather. The bike ran a good quality (D.I.D) o-ring chain and I oiled it regularly, but every Saturday morning, my first job was to adjust the chain (along with all the other routine maintenance jobbies). Then I purchased a Scottoiler chain oiling system. It was a little messy to begin with until I got the feed rate set up correctly, but after buying it, I had one more chain adjustment the following week, and then, without word of lie, I didn't have to adjust it for another 3 months - and even then it was only one flat on the adjuster nuts. Amazing. I'm just using the spray lubes just now, but I still totally recommend the use of these chain oilers.

[Lickey]

Coupla things id like to elaborate on in the above vids,

1st is the chain thingy, very good, but many big bikes have a chain slipper fixed to the top of the swing arm, comes into play in off throttle situations, this also gets covered in sticky chain lube and road crap, check if your bike has one,, and clean if so,

2nd, Front end,tyre and bearings ect, decent vid, but, the Honda mech said the tyre was feathering and also down to 25psi, perhaps low pressure caused the feathering? but he re-inflated the tyre to its normal 36psi and fitted the valve cap? bad move!! he should have spit on his finger and tested the valve for leakage.

3rd, wheel bearings, Honda mech spun the wheel and said if you cant hear a rumble all is ok, not so, the brake calipers were still on, best wat is when changing the brake pads, spin the wheel and hold very near the wheel spindle and feel for any slight vibration, if felt, change bearings, if you can hear them, they are so bad, near to the point of collaspe,

[Rimmer]

Off topic post about where to buy chain lube removed, the OP has asked the topic stick strictly to General Bike Maintenance.

Thank you

[AK86]

Hi all,

First post here and as a heads up, I am in Cambodia so I am not entirely familiar with the Thai market bikes (although a lot of our bikes come from Thailand). I'm a mechanic from Japan and a regular on the Cambodian K440 forums and just want to add the maintenance schedules and tips I have for your average underbone and automatic scooters. I've only been to Thailand once, but I saw droves of underbones there just like in Cambodia, so I hope some people can find this information useful.

This is a very basic guide for maintenance intervals on stock underbone/scooters/bikes.

Oil changes

..for a 600 ml capacity (super cubs, 50cc scooters), every 800 km.

..for an 800 ml capacity (up to 125cc ish), every 1000 km.

..for an 800ml to 1 liter capacity that is water cooled, I've been fine at 2,500-3,000 km.

I've had bikes go 70-80k + and still be fine with these service intervals.

Why so often compared to cars? Because oil acts as the engine coolant as well as the lubricant. This means engine oil heats up much quicker and gets much hotter than oil in water cooled applications. Also to note, obviously the oil capacity of these motors is much less than cars, so it takes a lot less heat energy to "cook" the oil and begin to degrade it.

Valve Clearances

I find it best to check every 20-25k km if you're not keen on overly maintaining your bike. I like to go every 10k for my bikes, but that's usually not necessary. 20-25k is usually just fine and very safe I've found.

Air filter

Something that auto part companies always talk about is the air filter and to change it at a certain interval. It's actually not necessary to do so, you can actually in theory keep taking out the original and tapping the dust off of it. Air filter elements don't wear out, they simply get clogged. It's true that you wont get all the dust off of them and such if it's a paper element, but to prove a point, I did this with my Honda 48cc scooter. Never changed the air filter once, just tapped it off (DON'T USE HIGH PRESSURE COMPRESSED AIR IF IT'S A PAPER FILTER, IT WILL RIP MICROSCOPICALLY AND RENDER IT USELESS), anyway, and the bike was 11 years old when I sold it with 57k miles on the clock, no running issues or leaning issues at all and zero wear on the bore and cylinder related to dirt. EDIT: I did buy the scooter with 45k miles on it already though, but the air filter was original, which is the point I am trying to make.

But if you must finally change the air filter, just make sure to get a new PAPER OEM element. I've seen issues with reusable sponge and cloth filters (disposable cloth okay) so just avoid the expensive reusable ones.

Spark Plugs

15,000 km (8,000 miles) per OEM new plug. Here's why?

First off, I usually get two questions regarding plugs. Why so often? or Why not more often?

Why so often? Don't cars need plugs every 50k km?

Well, two reasons.

#1 Rpm. Bikes like ours stay in the 3-5k rpm range all the time vs. cars which stay below 2k a lot of the time. That means the plug fires more often and wears out quicker, simple as that.

#2 Wasted Spark Ignition System. Something a lot of people don't know about these bikes is that everyone of them (I think) uses a wasted spark system, which means that the spark plug fires twice as often as it needs to. Easy to engineer. That means that a high revving moto's plug is going to be firing not just 2-3 times more than an average car per minute, but 4-6 times more because of the wasted spark system. So, you're plug is going to wear out 4-6 times faster than a cars.

Why not more often? Plugs can be changed in 30 seconds right?

Because looking at above while the bike does wear out it's plugs ridiculously fast compared to a car, just look at a car service interval. A car's copper plug can go 50k km easily, so when you have a bike plug that fires 4 times more often than a car, just take the 50k km number and divide it by 4. 15k, simple as that, you shouldn't need to do it more than that.

Automatic maintenance

Automatics are pretty simple machines, just like semi autos, but of course, specific maintenance is needed on them as is with any machine.

FIRST and most importantly I want to stress is the TRANSMISSION OIL. I stress this in bold caps because on semi automatics (the ones you need to shift), the transmission and engine oil is the same. On automatics, it is NOT the same. Now to be honest, you can get away with 25,000 km transmission oil changes no sweat in automatics because the oil is simply a lubricant and not usually heated up too much to where it breaks down the oil.

HOWEVER, the most important transmission oil change in an automatic is the FIRST ONE, recommended not much later than 1,000 km after the bike is new. This is because the new transmission "breaks in" during that time and leaves metal flakes and deposits everywhere after that time. Once you drain the first oil and get rid of the deposits, I kid you not in saying that you can leave it for rest of your bike's life if it was built really well and has quality seals on it. But, how many owners of new scooters have changed their transmission fluid after the first 1,000 km? That's why I stress to have it done. It's very easy (as easy as an oil change), and only costs 2-3$ in gear oil. I might even post up a transmission oil change if you want to do it yourself.

The belts on these scooters aren't usually prone to breakage (but some are), but to be safe, 25-30k is usually when I change the belt on my own scooter. I've seen scooters with 50k on their belts though, but usually by then they are mostly gone.

SECOND, the transmission belt and weights. In the U.S. the Honda scooters recommend a belt and weight replacement every 16,000 km (at least on my Ruckus it was), but in my experience you can go at least 25-30,000 km.

If your scooter accelerates and hangs up or seems to hesitate for a moment at a certain rpm, this may your problem. These weights (new on the left, worn on the right) wear out, and if they get flat spots like the worn one shows, then this can cause a "hesitation".

Water cooled scooters. If you have a water cooled scooter (Honda Airblade, Scoopy 50), I suggest changing the coolant at least once every 20-25k along with the thermostat and radiator hoses.

Make sure you buy only scooter specific coolant because these engines are all aluminum and other formulations of coolant can corrode the engine away itself. And please, don't use water!!

Alright, that's just basics and I know I haven't covered everything at all, but as mentioned I hope that it helps someone starting from ground zero when they are unfamiliar with their bikes.

[Garry]

One request I would ask from posters, is where you are getting your specialty tools from? Whether from abroad or locally. Most of my specialty tools I have imported, but some I've fortunately acquired locally, but this has mainly been precision measuring equipment.

Also if you're after a specialty tool, then ask away. Someone is sure to know

[RubberSideDown]

I generally have someone bring tools in for me (though this can sometimes be a big favor due to the weight/bulk of what I need), order via eBay (tools from the UK have the best shipping rates), or try to source something locally (which often ends in buying crap quality or paying way too much).

I'm not at the level where I can go too deep into the engine, though- the tools you need depends a lot on your ability.

[bootly66]

Anyone know where i can get the fairing, RC valve CDI for NSR 150RR??? Also my forks are pretty worn..are they replaceable with something more modern ie CBR or Sonic????

[bigdod]

I generally have someone bring tools in for me (though this can sometimes be a big favor due to the weight/bulk of what I need), order via eBay (tools from the UK have the best shipping rates), or try to source something locally (which often ends in buying crap quality or paying way too much).

I'm not at the level where I can go too deep into the engine, though- the tools you need depends a lot on your ability.

Yep, I agree. I've bought a few bits and pieces over the internet from UK which although expensive, is a guaranteed way of getting what you want. That said however, I've recently been made aware of a place in BKK somewhere called Veerasiam Hardware (they have a website of the same name) which I intend to look up next time I'm in the city - they stock a bunch of top brand name tools (Snap-On, Klein, Rigid etc) so have to be worth a look...

[Garry]

I'm carrying out a mod to my Ducati that should ultimately resolve my overheating problems in stop & go city riding. More to follow with photos and possibly a How-To. Just waiting on some final parts to arrive.

[H1w4yR1da]

One person tips bike on side stand with bike in Neutral while you spin the rear wheel

This would be okay for small bikes but I'd advise against it with heavier big bikes. Buy a bike stand.

[Carol Jadzia]

One person tips bike on side stand with bike in Neutral while you spin the rear wheel

This would be okay for small bikes but I'd advise against it with heavier big bikes. Buy a bike stand.

I have a ZRX 1100 and I use the side stand for rear wheel removal all the time. I do have a paddock stand but that does not allow me to work on the swinging arm so I place a peace of wood under the side stand and use a trolly jack to lift the other side up. Then place axle stands either side for safety.

I would live to get a proper bike lift but even if I could afford one it would not fit in my garage.

I have often hoped the side stand would bend as the old girl sits high and I am often worried she will fall over.

[Lickey]

One person tips bike on side stand with bike in Neutral while you spin the rear wheel

This would be okay for small bikes but I'd advise against it with heavier big bikes. Buy a bike stand.

I have a ZRX 1100 and I use the side stand for rear wheel removal all the time. I do have a paddock stand but that does not allow me to work on the swinging arm so I place a peace of wood under the side stand and use a trolly jack to lift the other side up. Then place axle stands either side for safety.

I would live to get a proper bike lift but even if I could afford one it would not fit in my garage.

I have often hoped the side stand would bend as the old girl sits high and I am often worried she will fall over.

Would,nt a center stand be cheaper? im sure the fitting lugs must be there, also very handy for roadside problems,punctures ect,and front wheel removal with a weight on the pillion,

[ll2]

One person tips bike on side stand with bike in Neutral while you spin the rear wheel

This would be okay for small bikes but I'd advise against it with heavier big bikes. Buy a bike stand.

I have a ZRX 1100 and I use the side stand for rear wheel removal all the time. I do have a paddock stand but that does not allow me to work on the swinging arm so I place a peace of wood under the side stand and use a trolly jack to lift the other side up. Then place axle stands either side for safety.

I would live to get a proper bike lift but even if I could afford one it would not fit in my garage.

I have often hoped the side stand would bend as the old girl sits high and I am often worried she will fall over.

Would,nt a center stand be cheaper? im sure the fitting lugs must be there, also very handy for roadside problems,punctures ect,and front wheel removal with a weight on the pillion,

center stand for a sport bike is not a good idea due to ground clearance and weight issues.

but it is handy for touring and adv bikes of course.

[floridaguy]

center stand for a sport bike is not a good idea due to ground clearance and weight issues.

but it is handy for touring and adv bikes of course.

Well I am a daredevil, I just use a piece of wood to prop up the right hand side and lift the wheel off the ground in conjunction with the sidestand. I have a single sided swingarm, so this works mostly. I know they sell a small metal extendable rod that does the same, I think called a Bike Bandit somewhere but I have never bothered.

[papa al]

Bike Standit.