Ok so it's been over 35 years since I've spun a spanner on any bike so with some initial trepidation and a healthy of having my man card cancelled I dove in with an "I've got this" attitude. This bike has been sitting for over 5 years so it all needed changing.
This weekend...
- Oil Castrol semi synth
- Genuine Suzuki oil filter
- Genuine Suzuki air filter
- 4 new spark plugs
- Chain lube
- removed grandpa grip heaters (no offense to those who like them - just not for me)
Bought new washer for sump plug (I read things said on here) and torqued it back up to 17 lbs with my new ancient and amazing Britool reversible 3/8 torque wrench (anyone else have a high quality old tool fetish?). I also bought his 1/2 inch bigger brother for just $150 for both!
Anywho, first problem, I over filled the oil - naturally. Tried 4 litres at first and that brought it up to the exactly filled level which I thought was weird so I started her up and let her run for a few moments and switched her off and sure enough - nothing in the site glass. Repeated, getting better but still low. Repeated - filled sight glass. That was Friday night and it was late. Slightly frustrated at this mysterious oil level trickery I switched off the light in the shed, washed up and went to bed.
In the morning, full of enthusiasm I drained a little oil by cracking the sump (re-torqued correctly at 17 lb/ft) with my new washer and yep...let too much out. So I tipped it back in a little at a time until I got to "just over filled but still air gap visible at the top of the sight glass. Happy with that.
Oh, the manual says "gasket touching then two full turns" on the oil filter but I could only manage 1.5. Tried again a few times to make sure I was feeling it touch the block correctly and every time I could only get 1.5 turns so I just did it up about 1/5-1/4 a turn past "tight". Ought to be good enough?
Spark plugs were black, black, black and black. Couldn't get the torque wrench on to tighten them to spec so I just used my "holden" method and did them up mildly tight past finger stop. Ought to be good enough?
While I had the tank off I was really tempted to remove the fuel filter and check the teabag but was happy enough with removing the tank successfully which will give me the experience to rip her off when it's time to do it because now I'm fearless...lol. I only have light to midlan mechanical skills but I'm respectful of not charging in blind so I laid all my nuts and bolts out carefully. One thing I was hping was good enough was clipping on the fuel hose again. Didn't get the positive "click" I was hoping for. I used
this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9WANJEc-NE) for a visual how to and it was PRICELESS! Showed me exactly how to do it. Soooo cool.
Anyway, the bike was (what looked like) in pieces but I managed to get it all back together again and she fired right up and sure enough seemed snappier then before. Settled down to a nice 1,100 rpm idle.
While I was at it I decided to remove all the Oxford hand grip warmers and associated wiring. Really pleased with the much cleaner front end and losing about 30lbs in zip ties. I stripped off the hand grips by simply sliding them off (thanks for the advice on that one) and cleaned all the gunk and dried glue off in preparation for my original hand grips which arrive tomorrow. The problem with that was after I decided to paint the block (detailed in
this thread (https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=5579)) I was hanging out to go for a ride (to bake on the high temp BBQ paint your honour) so I came back inside and looked up how much a new Oxford grip warmer was and it was only $150 so my second hand set would fetch maximum $50 so I made the "fuck it" decision, snipped off the wires and re-glued the grips back on with contact cement just so I could go for a ride with my freshly serviced and painted motorcycle.
It was a good decision which I do not regret. Comment at will.
So now I'm much more familiar and far less fearful of touching or working on it. These bikes sure are a breaze to work on. Confirmed by the horror story of my mate and his "change the spark plugs on his R1 nightmare". I was grateful to experience first hand another reason why these may just be the best bike on earth.
And now...pics!
More pics...including an after photo of my freshly painted block which caused me to "have" to re-glue on the Oxfords to go for a ride to heat up and bake on the BBQ enamel paint.
P.S. I wasn't sure how to gap twin electrode plugs so I just installed them out of the box. Is that ok?
Great choice buying a Britool tension wrench. I bought a Whit/AF Britool socket set when I started my apprenticeship in 1962 that I still use every day. It cost me 27 quid which was more than 5 times my weekly wage but the tools are still like new.
Quote from: Snapey on Monday, 07 September 2020, 11:33 PM
Great choice buying a Britool tension wrench. I bought a Whit/AF Britool socket set when I started my apprenticeship in 1962 that I still use every day. It cost me 27 quid which was more than 5 times my weekly wage but the tools are still like new.
Actually, the old retired guy I bought it from had a whitworth socket set for sale too. Should have bought it. Sometimes a Whit socket is a better fit than the correctly sized but poorly made metric or imperial. I love old British and Australian made tools. The crap that's presented to people these days is soft and treats us all like price is the only thing that matters and we only need a tool for a temporary solution to a single problem. The torque wrenches belonged to his older brother who was born in 1920 and these were his. He was a mechanic. He was a bit sad to see it go. I told him it was in good hands and I'd appreciate it always.
Guess what my old tension wrench is, i also think it cost a few weeks wages. Been a ripper.
Quote from: grog on Tuesday, 08 September 2020, 06:05 PM
Guess what my old tension wrench is, i also think it cost a few weeks wages. Been a ripper.
No way! That's cool. Bought more cool old tools today. Might start a tool fetish thread.
I have lots of tools, old, older and new. 11 yrs ago my Dad died, what we threw in the skip, sacrilege really but nothing else to do. Original Sidchrome stuff, Crescent from early 1900s, lots i cant remember. He was old skool mechanic but just loved doing it. His restored cars, unbelievable, mustve done at least 20. Bikes also,quite a few. Think i have a pic of BSA he fixed, came as a pile of bits.
Heartbreaking on several levels.
@SA14 Excellent write up with photos and video links :onya: all very helpful :hat:
We like you :cheers:
Hehe...appreciate that. I love documenting my interesting things because my doggo doesn't seem to care and he's really not that useful when it comes to mechanical things. I reckon forums are the "killer app" of the internet precisely for the reasons you mentioned. We can document our journeys and hopefully it'll help or entertain others plenty more to come. Some cool parts arrived from Suzuki yesterday which I'll document shortly.
@SA14 good on you for getting into it !
Quote from: VladTepes on Wednesday, 09 September 2020, 09:14 AM
@SA14 good on you for getting into it !
Massive confidence boost achieved. Manuals, threads and posts on this amazing forum plus YouTube videos made w huge difference. Actually manual only said "remove tank", nothing about unplugging harness or how to unclog the fuel line. That video really helped for that. But I used lots of small but super helpful tips I found in posts made by you guys. Very helpful.
Let us know of any relevant YT videos you'll find - I am collecting them so to speak and will make a ready reference thread at some point.
Quote from: VladTepes on Wednesday, 09 September 2020, 02:52 PM
Let us know of any relevant YT videos you'll find - I am collecting them so to speak and will make a ready reference thread at some point.
Will do. But as you know there's very little in the way of "how to" on the 14s out there which is puzzling...maybe it's because they're so reliable? Not sure. TomsTube has
a few GSX1400 how to clips (https://www.youtube.com/c/TomsTubeChan/search?query=gsx1400)
At the moment I'm watching a lot of riding tips from
MotoJitsu (https://www.youtube.com/c/MotoJitsu/videos) and he's literally already saved my life - probably a few times. He's about riding tips and addresses new and re-riders like me.