Saturday, 22 Jan 2011 [59966 miles]
59966 miles
34 miles short of 60,000 miles and the tank is near empty; guess it’s a good time to start the 60K service. Along with the normal valves, air cleaner, and fluids I need to bleed the brakes and swap out the front shock. My front shock was installed about 44,000 miles ago. It’s time for a re-build. I’ve another freshly rebuilt shock ready to install so down time will be limited to however much time I feel like taking to get everything done.
Start pulling things off
Checking for faults
Bodywork out of the way
The first step in any service is reading fault codes which means hooking up the GS-911 to the bike and my laptop. As long as I was taking the saddle off I removed other body parts, too. The GS-911 says there were no faults. Good.
Pull off crash bars
Connect frame
Hardware w/spacer
To remove the front shock I need to remove the front cover and to remove the front cover I need to remove the crash bars. No biggie. I re-installed the screw and spacer that connects the rear-sub frame to the bottom of the engine. That seemed like such a good idea that I re-installed all the hardware/spacers where they came from so I won’t have to remember when it comes time to put the bike back together.
Front cover off
Remove bash plate
Dirty under there
After removing the front cover I pulled the bash plate. It didn’t need to come off today, but it’s easier to pull when the engine is cold than when it is hot. It won’t harm anything to take a test ride with the bash plate off before changing fluids. Yeah, I do the cold bike stuff, then take a test ride, then change the fluids.
A bit cleaner
Drying after a wash
Parts off the bike are often easier to wash than parts on the bike. Parts off the bike also give better access for cleaning. So while the front cover is off the bike I cleaned the bottom part of the front case. I’ll get to the top, later. I also cleaned the bash plate and front cover in the garage sink and put then out to dry.
Fuel pump connnections
Fuel return and vents
Disconnected
The last thing I’m going to do this afternoon is pull the tank.
I’m aware of the problems people have had with the quick disconnects – the female portion attached to the tank flanges – so I’m extra careful to pull straight out from the tank when disconnecting the fuel lines, electrical connections, and vent hoses.
Ready to remove tank
Tank removed
Tank out of the way
I removed the two T-25 torx that connect the tank plastic to the beak plastic and the two M5 allen head screws to free up the tank before lifting it off the bike. I don’t take off the aluminum pannels as they aren’t in the way. The tank is light when nearly empty. I set it out of the way then cleaned up my work area. Tomorrow I’ll do more.