Maint. reminder

ofdave

Member
Riding season is here for all of us.
Just a reminder to flush/refill brakes if your bike is 2+years old.
Probably time to do a coolant change too, for many.
If you don't need the brake fluid change, here's a tip I got a long time ago. front master cylinder screws can be a pain in the butt and the heads often strip when trying to unscrew them. Every once in a while, just loosen them and re-tighten them. No need to remove, loosen and tighten 'em back one at a time. Then when you do need to remove them for service, they will come out easily and you won't strip the heads. Remember also, they are not Phillips head although a Phillips will work most of the time. They are JAS screws and not as deeply grooved as Phillips heads. A drywall bit works as well as buying a special screwdriver. Drywall bits from a home store are a buck or less.
Take advantage of a rainy day and sit with your bike, talk to her (you know you do) and check fasteners, clean the hard to get spots, maybe a coat of wax on the paint. Then when the sun is out, all you have to do is ride!
 

MJC

Super Moderator
"...........Take advantage of a rainy day and sit with your bike, talk to her.."

OK, I never really talked to her just sitting in the garage, I wait to we are out and just finished coming out of a hairy turn or over the GW bridge (metal plates covering pot holes) then I tell her how good she is. lol.

Before I head out tomorrow I will make sure I spend some time checking and talking to her. Oh, and how do you know she is a she?

Funny thing. I ran into a guy at the store today, and he was telling me about his bike. At 1st I did not know what he was talking about, he kept saying Him, like I am all ready for tomorrow, I cleaned him up and tank is full, what time we meeting at? Anyway we will see you then.......... I walked away thinking, who is we and I wonder who he is!?! Now I know....lol.
 

ofdave

Member
I guess a bike has the right to be "he" or "she" on any given day, depending on how they identify on that day.

My bikes have always been a "she". Mostly because they look good and act a little sassy, and can make my knees weak.
 

BobWitte

Member
"...........Take advantage of a rainy day and sit with your bike, talk to her.."

OK, I never really talked to her just sitting in the garage, I wait to we are out and just finished coming out of a hairy turn or over the GW bridge (metal plates covering pot holes) then I tell her how good she is. lol.

Before I head out tomorrow I will make sure I spend some time checking and talking to her. Oh, and how do you know she is a she?

Funny thing. I ran into a guy at the store today, and he was telling me about his bike. At 1st I did not know what he was talking about, he kept saying Him, like I am all ready for tomorrow, I cleaned him up and tank is full, what time we meeting at? Anyway we will see you then.......... I walked away thinking, who is we and I wonder who he is!?! Now I know....lol.

Oi!! Gender identity PC is creeping into our biker culture!! :confused:
 

Steven

Member
Changed oil and filters yesterday. Perhaps it's imaginary but the engine seems to run better with fresh oil. I also changed spring on shock, now it rides a little softer but still handles rough roads well. I just got the tool to take my Ricor Intimidators apart so I'll be adjusting them soon. I think my chain needs replacing. I noticed that the links seemed to be a little stiff.

I haven't been around lately, my computer died so I'm in the process of building a new one. I'm kicking it up to 8 cores and 16 threads. Meantime I'm using my tablet. It's a lot harder to use a tablet compared to a real computer.

It's raining and raining very well at the moment.
 

casper

New member
Speaking of shocks, if we were to change it out for a softer ride, what shock would we be able to buy? It'd be nice to have an adjustable one, but don't know if there's an application for that for the C.
 
Casper, talk to a dealer for Penske, Ohlins, JRi, Wilburs, Elka or probably 4-6 other aftermarket suspension manufacturers. Any of them should be able to supply a better quality damper for a price.

I picked up a rebound-only adjustment NC700X Ohlins with 5000 miles for $450. The NC owner was of similar weight so since 90% of the important parts of a CTX are shared with an NC I expect it will work pretty well when I get the bike back on the road. I think that particular Ohlins usually retails for about $600.

The NC and CTX have the same swing arm, rear suspension rocker, rear suspension links, wheels, brakes, fork tubes/sliders and the main frame seems to be pretty much the same too, with the big difference being in the angle of the tubes in the seat subframe and minor brackets. Keep in mind that the NC damper has more travel. The compressed length is the same as the CTX, but extended it will raise the seat height by 1" or so.

So if a supplier doesn't list something for the CTX, as what they have for the NC700X.

cheers,
Michael
 
You'll want a good chain tool and a set of calipers to press the side plate to the proper width and then measure the heads of the rivets when they are peened.
 

MJC

Super Moderator
What kind of millage do you guys have that you replaced the sprockets and chain?
 
10K on mine put on by the prior owner. The chain was definitely worn out, sprockets didn't seem bad but since I'm starting out fresh with the bike putting sprockets on with the chain wasn't much extra expense and now they are a known quantity. I picked that particular DID chain as it seemed pretty popular at a big NC700X forum.
 

Steven

Member
I have about 18k miles on mine. The chain still has some room for adjustment left. I can see a little wear on the front sprocket, but the rear sprocket looks in good shape.


I've had a chain go bad and of course it was on a trip and happened suddenly.
 

MJC

Super Moderator
Thanks for the chain and sprocket info. Guess I will have to start saving for new soon, (was saving for a front tire). I never thought about changing the sprockets at under 20K, just keep oiling the chain, and thought maybe at 25K I would have to replace the chain.

It has been over 20 years that my main bike had a chain. When I was looking at buying a new bike I had forgot how much care and maintenance goes into a chain (never even thought about the sprockets). I checked the adjustment at the start of riding season, cleaned off the sprockets, did a nice oiling and just lube the chain til next year. during the season I just go for a ride, and lube the chain every 200 to 500 miles or so. If it gets wet I lube ASAP, but that is about all I do til next year.

After this riding season I am going to have so much maintenance to do that it maybe cheaper to just buy a new bike! for lol!
 
Keep in mind that motorcycle drive chains are, compared to industrial uses, usually over stressed, under lubed, improperly tensioned, running on too small of sprockets and possibly going at an overly high surface speed (feet/minute). Like the dancing bear, the amazing thing about chains on motorcycles is not how poorly they work/dance, but that they work/dance at all.

If you've managed to wear out the chain, the sprockets probably have some wear on them too. A very slight amount of sprocket wear may only reduce the life of a new chain by a few percent, but sometimes once wear starts it continues at an increasing rate so it might be a bigger reduction in the chain life.

What's the ROI? My new chain and sprockets were $138, $55 for the sprockets and $73 for the chain. If the chain is good for 13800 miles then that's $1/100 miles for chain and sprockets combined. I guess if I saved $55 by not replacing sprockets (that might still be usable) but the chain then only lasts 11040 miles (80%) then it was $1/151 miles so maybe it makes sense. But I may have to do more frequent chain maintenance with the increased wear and I might be at a little higher risk of a chain failure.

Of course, different quality/price chains and sprockets will last different lengths of time, and a very well cared for cheap chain might have a longer life than the best possible chain that is abused/ignored.

For me, spending the extra $55 for a bit of peace of mind and eliminating the sprockets and chain as a probable point of concern for the next N years seems an easy decision. $1-2/month isn't going to cause me financial distress, other people's budget concerns may be different.

Another factor in my decision may be that my moto activity has been about 98% competition, so I'm used to parts wearing out and getting replaced pretty frequently. Someone who is used to tires lasting for 20K miles might not think that "these tires are wearing great, I got two track days out of them before they lost traction and were changed" sounds too good.

cheers,
Michael
 

randy1149

New member
I know this has been said before but... for around $100 on a chain oiler as the Tutor it will at least double the life of your chain. If you don't mind some oil fling you could probably get 3 times the life of a chain... 30K is not uncommon. People on these forums have even gone beyond 30K, so what are you waiting for? AND you'll love not having to clean and oil the chain every 500 miles.
 

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ofdave

Member
When you look at the bikes with the most power and bikes that are raced, you always see they are nearly all chain driven.
Land speed record bikes are an exception, of course. That leads me to believe there must be some sort of efficiency using chains or there certainly would be other and better alternatives developed for those high stress applications. I realize racing and off road bike chains get much more attention than our street bikes and that is likely a factor.
I have had chain, belt, and shaft driven. I actually think belt is the way to go but all three have their respective short comings.
Chains are not a bother to me. Lube every 500-600 is not a big deal. I really don't understand the griping about chain maintenance by so many riders. It is part of the ride, in my opinion. 18000 and more miles can be easily achieved on a chain.
I would never put on a new chain without new sprockets-no matter what they looked like.
I would like to learn more about chains breaking. I have never known anyone who broke a chain riding on the street. And only one or two off road. If anyone has first hand experience with a chain breaking on a street bike, I'd like to hear about it and the probable cause.
 
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