Wednesday, March 25 2015 [17,808 miles]

The bike is 200 miles shy of 18K. Time for a new front tire and the 18K service.

The Karoo III on the front is just over 10K miles old. The tread is badly cupped with the deepest portion of the cup even with the wear bars. I’ve an Anakee III that’s been sitting in a spare room. Time to put it on the bike.

Before removing the wheel I made sure the front end can’t accidentally come crashing down on the front forks. I also use some wire to hang the front brake calipers so I don’t put strain on the brake lines. The front pads have lots of life left. The front rotors are both 4.45 mm thick. Last service they were at 4.46 mm.

I remembered to pay attention to the front wheel spacer this time. It goes on the left side of the wheel. After removing the old tire I cleaned the rim. The picture is before cleaning. Balance was good. When I removed one of the weights that the bike came with balance was better… near perfect.

Thursday, March 26 2015 [17,808 miles]

I took the bike on a short ride to warm up the engine for the oil change and to check out the new front tire. New tires always make the bike feel better.

Before sticking my hands next to very hot exhaust pipes to drain oil I checked the brake fluid. Level was OK front and rear and the fluid looked OK. I used a fluid tester to check the H2O content. It was less than 2%. Next service it will likely need changing. For the fun of it I checked the H2O content of the fluid in the bottle that was opened quite a while ago but not yet thrown away. It, too, was at the 2% level. Maybe there’s something to the “always use fresh fluid from a sealed bottle” mantra.

The clutch fluid was slightly high. Some overflowed the reservoir when I removed the cap. I removed a touch more to make way for expansion as the clutch wears.

The engine was still plenty warm but cool enough that I wouldn’t burn myself draining the oil and changing the oil filter. There was a touch of dark grey schmutz on the magnetic drain plug. Nothing hard was felt when rubbed between two finger. I filled the bike up with oil to the level shown — about 3 1/2 quarts. I’ll top it off after a test ride.

I couldn’t get a good view of the rear brake pads so I removed them. There is still some life left in the pads, but probably not enough to make it to the next service. Since I had a set of spart pads on hand I installed them on the bike. The rear rotor measured 4.81 mm thick. Last service was 4.84. Not bad.

The coolant level was just above the minimum mark on the reservoir. I added around 100 ml (about 3 oz) to bring it to the full mark. I checked of the other items on my service checklist and put the bike away. It’s hot, late, and beer time. I’ll give the bike its post service check ride, tomorrow.

Friday, March 26 2015 [17,808 miles]

Took test ride. Got a “check oil level” warning as expected. Got home and topped up the oil. All is now well.