What have you done for your bike today????

[TundraOG]

Weekly summary - new HiFlo air filter, new battery (old one lasted for about 6 years!!), valve adjustment (turns out in over 70K KM it hasn't been done ONCE, yet the engine runs great) and the intake manifolds have been replaced.
Plus I got her some rim tape that matches her paintjob and looks killer

[mr72]

Painted the rear wheel to match the front that I painted last week: Rustoleum Appliance Epoxy "Stainless Steel" color which looks pretty fabulous as a wheel color for the bike.

Next up, maybe even later today or this evening: install the Katana 600 shock, then put the rear wheel back on.

Rain goes away tomorrow, should be a great day to ride.

[ShowBizWolf]

Went and bought a new one of those expanding garden hoses today. The first one I bought was this summer... a cheapo that lasted about 10 seconds before the end blew off LOL. SO I picked up the $20 one from Home Depot. Gave my GS a nice warm wash in my heated garage... it deserved it after it got me home from work last week in the snow. Many thanks to my bike for starting in 19F temps!

[Janx101]

All those expanding hoses are prone to blowouts, use low pressure at the tap and you might be ok! ... also.. don't drink the water out of them... gives you a guts ache!

[ShowBizWolf]

Thanks Janx!!! I will remember both tips!

I did indeed use a more modest amount of water pressure this time... and also kept the receipt 

[ShowBizWolf]

Technically was today since it was around 1am after I got home from work lol... took my time and really cleaned the chain (since the roads are all so salty now) and then put on a good coat of chain lube.  Looks like the weather will still be cold (in the low 30's F) but dry today as well so it's another day I can ride! 

[qcbaker]

Got up to ~50 degrees here over lunch, so I fired my bike up (started well despite recent below freezing temps) and rode it in to work. I don't know if this really qualifies as "for my bike" since I'm procrastinating proper winterization in hopes that I'll get more days like today where I get to ride lol.

I guess riding it instead of letting it sit is technically "doing something for your bike" since I'm keeping it running lol.

[ShowBizWolf]

I couldn't agree more 

[the_63]

It's good to get the bike up to running temp and burn out any condensation. Did for mine earlier, been stood for 7/8 months so fired it up, let it idle for a bit before tucking her back in nice and cozy, I need to decide between swingarm:


shock swap:


or exhaust. The exhaust needs fixing anyway and the state it's in atm it won't pass an MOT, so maybe a nice new shinny one i needed

Chris

[Ashtray 91]

my gs500 likes to stay revved up

[mr72]

This morning I swapped my bars and grips.

Since I've now ridden about 700 miles or so, I'm learning that the fit wasn't right. I had Bikemaster Superbike bars, and with my height and long arms and body type this resulted in me sort of sliding down the seat towards the tank all the time.

I switched to some aluminum KX high bend handlebars complete with bolt-in crossbar. I thought the crossbar would have to come off in order for me to see the gauges but it's low enough that I can see fine so I'm keeping it.

Bars are maybe 3" wider than the Superbikes and maybe 1" higher, and WAY WAY WAY more comfortable. Still have not ridden.

While I was at it I chunked the crummy Bikemaster rubber grips I had before and swapped on my favorite Oury grips that I've been riding on mountain bikes for decades. Man, what a difference!

With careful cable routing the big bars fit without requiring longer cables or brake hose.

[ShowBizWolf]

Pics mr72 !! Please

[mr72]

Alright SBW, here you go.





Still need to adjust them just a bit. I rode it just a little yesterday and it's way more comfortable than it was with the superbikes. As long as these bars are, turning at full lock is a little bit of a reach, but the width feels great when riding on the road.

[ShowBizWolf]

Ahh that looks marvelous! Thank you!! Well done 

[the_63]

Drove 1110 miles (round trip) for some valve shims to squidge into the exhaust valves. Should take my exhaust clearance to 0.12mm. Saturday will be a Chris heart Sookie day and we're going to make some progress. Meeeeeee and mrs.  Mrs Jonnes, We got a thang, Going ooooon 

Chris

[qcbaker]

mr72, is there any particular reason your mirrors are clamped to the bar separately, rather than a set that screws into the factory spots on the hand controls? Just curious.

[mr72]

Yeah. The right side mount is broken. I got a generic replacement part for it but the two sides don't mount at the same angle which is annoying. But the clamps are also annoying.

[the_63]

I'm planning on using my old mirror mounts for a satnav mount. Just need the right bolt and I'm away.

Also got Sookie running pretty well today.

Chris

[qcbaker]

Yesterday, I checked my tire pressures and inflated them a bit since they had deflated a little bit due to the cold weather.

[WestAussie]

Well long time no post. Still have my baby. She is only a little worse for wear. Complete clean of frame rims and plastics today. Then a coating of silicone spray and wipe down with clean cloth. Looking shiny and still sparkling. Got to be happy with that.