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

[J_Walker]

Went for a ride in Nockamixon State Park and took a picture by the Lake's spillway.

The bike is running okay so anything I have to do to it can wait.

looks good. I am curious who hit that guard rail, looks like an odd way its flattened. or maybe the GS has its own gravity field...?

[RideShield]

Although I didn't get a picture, that's the break in the guard rail where you can walk up to a park bench with an informational sign. Also, people appear to be putting locks on the fence that keeps you safe from going over the edge. I remember a summer when fisherman would cast over the fence and down the short cliff. Maybe they still do.

 

[KGSB11]

Put new tires on this weekend -- Avon Roadriders.  I've only put 1.5mi on them from the 20deg F ride home from my colleague's shop, but they should be an improvement from the worn out 2006 OEM's.

At the shop (Background are a RW&B GSXR and four 2010 Aprillia RSV4's:


Back safe at home -- pardon the mess in the garage, I am in the process of re-organizing it to make better room for the GS.

[MichaelM3]

In one month my bike will turn 10 years old 

As an early birthday present I gave it a set of HEL braided brake lines - the pretty transparent blue ones with shiny banjos. They almost match the 2007 Suzuki blue. The front ones went on without a problem, except for the usual dribbles of brake fluid hastily cleaned up. At 10 years old, with 53000 ks on the clock, I thought it was time to do some of those jobs that the service manual suggests, like changing brake and fuel lines.

Installing the rear one looks like a more fiddly job, so I've left it for next weekend. However, I did change the rear pads. Surprisingly, the old ones still had 2-3mm left on them after 41000 k. Anyone got any advice on this job? I thinking about undoing the muffler mount point to drop it down a bit to get some extra working space. Or is it better / easier to remove the caliper and rotate it up on the torsion bar?

Also, any thoughts on replacing fuel lines? They appear to be in good condition but they are 10 years old. Usually I live by the rule 'if it ain't broke - don't fix it'.

Any advice gratefully received.

[J_Walker]

In one month my bike will turn 10 years old 

As an early birthday present I gave it a set of HEL braided brake lines - the pretty transparent blue ones with shiny banjos. They almost match the 2007 Suzuki blue. The front ones went on without a problem, except for the usual dribbles of brake fluid hastily cleaned up. At 10 years old, with 53000 ks on the clock, I thought it was time to do some of those jobs that the service manual suggests, like changing brake and fuel lines.

Installing the rear one looks like a more fiddly job, so I've left it for next weekend. However, I did change the rear pads. Surprisingly, the old ones still had 2-3mm left on them after 41000 k. Anyone got any advice on this job? I thinking about undoing the muffler mount point to drop it down a bit to get some extra working space. Or is it better / easier to remove the caliper and rotate it up on the torsion bar?

Also, any thoughts on replacing fuel lines? They appear to be in good condition but they are 10 years old. Usually I live by the rule 'if it ain't broke - don't fix it'.

Any advice gratefully received.

the fuel lines, I first thought the clear plastic ones would be cool, so I ordered clear plastic ones from a reputable vendor. they where rated for "fuel" and everything, soon found out that the clear ones are junk no matter how much you pay. so I went down to NAPA and picked up some super heavy duty regular rubber fuel lines, they are great, their wall thickness, and the fact their reinforced with a fiber makes them less likely to kink.

so TL:DR head to napa get rubber fuel lines, and not have to worry about them for another 10 years, only other thing I'd say is get hose clamps to replace the OEM clamps.

[k.rollin]

Dart Classic flyscreen arrived from London while I was at work, so I installed it before dinner. I'm not sure if it will stay or not, as I got it for aesthetic reasons (to conceal gaps between the headlight bucket and the gauges/forks), so some riding at freeway speeds will be required before I make the final decision, as I am used to riding completely naked.

[J_Walker]

Dart Classic flyscreen arrived from London while I was at work, so I installed it before dinner. I'm not sure if it will stay or not, as I got it for aesthetic reasons (to conceal gaps between the headlight bucket and the gauges/forks), so some riding at freeway speeds will be required before I make the final decision, as I am used to riding completely naked.

riding naked sounds like a good way to get road rash on your.. well ya know. 

[rscottlow]

(Yesterday) I ordered short brake & clutch levers and LED turn signals for my GS. I bent the clutch lever and broke the left front turn signal when I lowsided a couple of weeks back. They should be here tomorrow, and installed over the weekend for a ride on Sunday.

[Suzi Q]

Went to the dealership and ordered the valve tool so I can do the valve adjustment. Should be here Saturday or Monday.

[TheGreenWeenie]

Went to the dealership and ordered the valve tool so I can do the valve adjustment. Should be here Saturday or Monday.

craaap, I forgot to do that when i had the motor all apart.

[Suzi Q]

So i actually ordered one off ebay that got lost in the mail. I messaged the seller, so they mailed me a SECOND one, that ALSO got lost in the mail. They are investigating all that nonsense with the USPS after issuing me a refund and, in the meantime, I ordered the one from the dealership.  I should have done that in the first place, but the dealership is 60 miles away. PM me your address and if one of the ones that's been lost in the mail shows up, I'll send it to you for the cost of a trade review.

[rscottlow]

It snowed a few inches last night.



My new levers and turn signals arrived, so I'll probably install those this afternoon when it warms up a little. Tomorrow's forecasted high is 63 F, so if the roads aren't covered in salt, I'm going to try to get a little ride in to test them out.



Thanks mr72 for the link to these levers, I'm excited to see how they look on my bike.

I ordered a set of 4 LED turn signals, but I'm not crazy about the smoked lenses...I'm afraid they won't be bright enough. Since I only broke the one on the left front I'm just going to install them on the front and hold onto the other two.


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[qcbaker]

I have what look like those exact same levers on my bike. I like them a lot

[rscottlow]

I have what look like those exact same levers on my bike. I like them a lot

Glad to hear it. That's the second positive review I've received on them. I'm excited to get them installed. We're having people over tonight, and hadn't really planned to, so I've got some house cleaning to do before I can work on the bike. It might have to wait for tomorrow's warmer temps.


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[TheGreenWeenie]

I have what look like those exact same levers on my bike. I like them a lot

everyone has these levers, lol. they just print different names on them and charge more or less depending on who's name it is.

[rscottlow]

I got them installed and rode about 70 miles. They look great! It's weird getting used to the short clutch lever, but I like them a lot.



You can see my tank dents pretty well in this photo too lol. I'll get around to trying to pull those out at some point...


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[gstam]

I thought I would just make an irrelevant extraneous post to bump my post-count up and get past these charming captchas.

spark plug !=sparkplug.
carburettor != carburetor.

I've been catching up on old posts, and this place is an excellent resource, learned much that is new and familiarised myself again with the bike and all its quirks and traits, falling in love with it all over again.

I'm reading posts backwards, reverse chronologically, so everyone with problems of their own making have a happy ending, everyone starts wizened and cynical experts and turn into refreshingly callow n00bs making clueless blunders. 

Today I whipped off the battery box for a de-rust and coat of paint, going from silver to black.  Should set off nicely the now proven Yellow Motobatt, the sides of that already blacked out with duct-tape. I'm trying to make the side profile of the bike look cleaner, less cluttered.

New back wheel with newly fitted BT45 sits ready to fit when I get around to it.
New front wheel is in the post, I'll probably re-use the existing tyre on that another year or so.

Retiring the original back wheel for white corrosion on the tyre seating area and the new wheel I got was black, not in error, so rather than rattle-can the front to match, I'll change the front too and maybe get the old pair blasted and re-coated, somehow, if possible.  This has got considerably worse over the years and through several replacement back tyres, there had always been some leakage of around 6-7 psi per week.





Few other minor jobs cleaning, checking connections etc.

I already had long-ago bridged the clutch switch and sidestand switch, plan soon to eliminate the remainder of this junk: the diode and the relay, which are more trouble and potential to go wrong than they are worth.  Likely to just connect orange ignition feed, straight to kill/start switch and connect the neutral switch direct up to the lamp.  I'm not convinced by the back-emf from the solenoid argument about the diode, considering the likely not inconsiderable spike from the starter motor itself is far greater; even ordinary relay coils have this slight drawback when the field in the winding collapses, such as the sidestand-stand relay itself, at which point the argument becomes circular.  I'd probably be reluctant to do this on the later bikes bristling with vulnerable electronics.  Arguments pro/con welcome.

[Atesz792]

ask away... 

Exactly!

[Suzi Q]

Just hit up Jake Wilson for a set of S20 Evo's. I had been eyeing the Rosso II's, but they're backordered a month out. I'm traveling for work and out of town for a week, but when I get back I should be looking at all the parts necessary to get her back on the road.

[JROCKrwb]

new spark plugs, cleaned electricals, new led headlight bulb "the little one", new dash bulbs, new fuel lines, cleaned the carbs.............. still wont crank