After the restoration: 10800-mile service
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
The odometer is telling me it's time for a service. The engine run timer,
part of the tiny tach, is saying 31 hours since the last service (I reset
the timer every service). If I'm remembering things correctly this is
typical. The timing is good as I've also ordered a new rear tire. The ME
880 front tire I'd mounted on the rear is wearing much faster than the
front. Not surprising.
The engine drain plug was free of metal bits. Good. The engine oil
was dark, but not too dark. I cleaned and replaced the drain plug and
added 2 quarts. I'm using Castrol 20w50 these days.
Once I finished with the engine oil I put the bike on the lift I bought this
winter. I like working with the bike raised, and the wheels of the lift
let me move the bike around. I'm going to start by pulling the rear
wheel and replacing the final drive (again). This is my original drive,
re-furbished. It has better splines than the spare drive currently on
the bike.
A quick glance at the final drive drain found sludge, but no slivers.
The sludge did not feel too gritty when rubbing the sludge between my
fingers. I think I'll just clean the case of this drive and store it
away. No need to open it up, again.
The transmission oil level looked good, just barely below the threads. The
color was good, too. Looked like the new stuff in the bottle. Yeah, you
can't see this in the photo. I didn't have enough light.
The drive shaft oil was drained. It looked new and the quantity
seemed appropriate. I put the axle back to help support the final
drive when loosening the rear shock screw and drive shaft mounting
nuts. Once off the bike I transferred the brake shoes and brake
actuating lever from the old drive to the new. The brake shoes
were sprayed with some brake cleaner. Finally, the new drive was
put on the bike, again using the axle to make sure the drive was
centered when tightening the mounting hardware. I was going to
re-install the rear brake rod, but found that I'm out of my favorite
grease. No hurry. I'll buy a tube in the next day or so.
With the bike on the stand it was real easy to see that I'd lost one
of the center stand mounting nuts. I put a new nut on the bike, but
didn't have a wave washer in that size. I used a regular washer for
now, adding wave washers to my shopping list. That's all for today.
I'll keep the bike this way until the tire arrives and I can re-mount
the rear wheel.