Maintenance - schedule or whenever?

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Gas Man

I hear ya Derf...

hell really for the most part the average person is still overkill on regular oil changes. I think I saw something on your oil breaks down mostly in the first 500 miles. Than it really doesn't do much less. The biggest important part is the oil filter cause once they get gunked up they just go into bypass. But the oil itself can go much longer than we run it.

heh i told fred this when we rode saturday but after i resurrected the 450 i rode it for about six months on the 26 year old oil. No shards at change either.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Gas Man

I use to change them on my 9R every year. Way over kill but there was no way I was going to pull them and not just replace them.

The recommended interval for a check, clean, regap, or replace on my bike's spark plugs is every 6 months or 6,000 km. I haven't been good about this and I suspect the previous owners weren't either.

[Rider]

Originally Posted by racedoll

Do you follow the owner's manual schedule or just do your maintenance whenever?

I always follow the schedule except I do oil changes more frequently and on my 2 stroke dirt bikes I did not replace the top end every 25 hours as recommended.

[Particle Man]

Originally Posted by Rider

I always follow the schedule except I do oil changes more frequently and on my 2 stroke dirt bikes I did not replace the top end every 25 hours as recommended.

the whole freakin' top end every 25 hours?!? WTF

[MILK]

I planned on following the maintenance schedule. But then I rode Lucy to the beach the first week I had her and blew the initial mileage checkup.

When I came back for my 'first oil change' 2 weeks after buying the bike the guy that sold it to me asked if I was back because I wrecked. Whatever.

I do follow a loose schedule of my own. I also quiz the mechanic when I'm in to make sure I'm not forgetting something important!!

[Rider]

Originally Posted by Particle Man

the whole freakin' top end every 25 hours?!? WTF

Yeah OEM recommendation. I let my Wiseco pistons go 50 hours though.

[derf]

Originally Posted by Dave

heh i told fred this when we rode saturday but after i resurrected the 450 i rode it for about six months on the 26 year old oil. No shards at change either.

You need to check the chain on that thing, I could see and hear it flapping against the swingarm or frame or something from where I was riding. There was probably 4 to 6 inches of vertical movement in it.



Gasman, 6k miles and the forks needed to be freshened up? I suspect they might not have been assembled correctly to begin with. Unless someone is using their bike way outside its design limits (stunting) I wouldn't even think to check my forks until around 20k mi or 5 years. My last bike went 26k and I never even looked in the forks, although I did check the valves at 19k because I thought I heard a ticking, which turned out to be 1 valve at the very limit of being servicable (still good), so I adjusted it back to the middle of the recommended range and closed it back up.

I also totally agree with you that the filter will break down well before the oil does.

Really what I'm trying to get at is that if something needs constant maintenance (like a chain) then I look at it alot, if something needs periodic maintenance (oil change) then I do it when it needs getting done, and if something needs very little maintenance (forks) then I look at when it tells me to look at it. Also realize the fact that when I look at my air filter I also change out my spark plugs, if they need to be looked at or not, just because I'm already in there and it only takes a few extra minutes to get to the spark plugs. Common sense really drives my maintenance.

Keep in mind though that I'm just some dude, not an expert of any kind

And lastly yes i would stretch the service interval on the ducati's way out to 150 miles, I totally understand that the manual says you should inspect and adjust them at every stop light but I think 150 miles is close enough.

[marko138]

Originally Posted by derf

You need to check the chain on that thing, I could see and hear it flapping against the swingarm or frame or something from where I was riding. There was probably 4 to 6 inches of vertical movement in it.



Gasman, 6k miles and the forks needed to be freshened up? I suspect they might not have been assembled correctly to begin with. Unless someone is using their bike way outside its design limits (stunting) I wouldn't even think to check my forks until around 20k mi or 5 years. My last bike went 26k and I never even looked in the forks, although I did check the valves at 19k because I thought I heard a ticking, which turned out to be 1 valve at the very limit of being servicable (still good), so I adjusted it back to the middle of the recommended range and closed it back up.

I also totally agree with you that the filter will break down well before the oil does.

Really what I'm trying to get at is that if something needs constant maintenance (like a chain) then I look at it alot, if something needs periodic maintenance (oil change) then I do it when it needs getting done, and if something needs very little maintenance (forks) then I look at when it tells me to look at it.

And lastly yes i would stretch the service interval on the ducati's way out to 150 miles, I totally understand that the manual says you should inspect and adjust them at every stop light but I think 150 miles is close enough.

I'm glad you'd be vigilant to explosive valves if you owned a Ducati.

[derf]

Originally Posted by marko138

I'm glad you'd be vigilant to explosive valves if you owned a Ducati.

I'm sorry, I love their bikes, they look great, sound great, ride great. I would even venture to say that they are probably great in bed too. But their maintenance is just too much for me. Everyone I know that has one is always talking about doing something to adjust or tighten or check the ellusive whochamawhatzit.

[Gas Man]

Originally Posted by Trip

My Bavarian master piece also has 3 that have to be changed. Motor, Tranny, and Final drive. Tranny and Final drive are the same type of oil though.

aND DO YOU CHANGE THE OILS EVERY SERVICE REGARDLESS WHAT THEY TELL YOU AT THE MOCO?

Originally Posted by goof2

The recommended interval for a check, clean, regap, or replace on my bike's spark plugs is every 6 months or 6,000 km. I haven't been good about this and I suspect the previous owners weren't either.

gOOD THING IS THAT ON MY BIKES i CAN DAMN NEAR CHECK THE SPARK PLUGS FROM THE RIDERS SEAT.


rEPLIES TO DERF BELOW IN BOLD

Originally Posted by derf

Gasman, 6k miles and the forks needed to be freshened up? I suspect they might not have been assembled correctly to begin with. Unless someone is using their bike way outside its design limits (stunting) I wouldn't even think to check my forks until around 20k mi or 5 years. My last bike went 26k and I never even looked in the forks, although I did check the valves at 19k because I thought I heard a ticking, which turned out to be 1 valve at the very limit of being servicable (still good), so I adjusted it back to the middle of the recommended range and closed it back up.

wELL WITH THE CHOPPER ITS A MATTER OF 10" LONGER THAN STOCK hd FORKS SO THERE ARE A GREAT MORE FLEX AND WEAR IN THEM.

I also totally agree with you that the filter will break down well before the oil does.

uNLESS YOU GO k&p LIKE i DO.

Keep in mind though that I'm just some dude, not an expert of any kind

aGREED AND SAME WAY FOR ME.

YEP!