Yearly maintenance items

[VirginiaJim]

Not necessarily per the manual.

I was going to wash the bike but I'm not feeling that good and I feel like I'm running a temp at the moment.  Just my luck as it's really the best day we've had here so far to do anything outside.   Just as well, I guess.

So I'm going to start a list and please reply with what you normally do in the spring to get the bike ready for the rest of the year.

• Pull the battery out and check the terminals for corrosion and tightness.  My positive terminal was not tight.  Also cleaned the outside of the battery and wire brushed the terminals and connectors.
• Install those farkles bought during the winter....I have a few to go on myself.
• Check out the brakes...bleeding, clean the rotors, check the pads.
• Change the oil and filter
• Check the tires
• Check the air filter, change if necessary, clean it if it's cleanable.
• Lube the throttle cables
• Make sure your nuts and screws are tight
• Clean the radiator
• Change coolant (every two years)
• Lube the clutch and brake levers

[ZG]

2. change bodywork color. 
 
 

[connie1]

3.  Install and check all farkles purchased over the winter.

[jamiemac]

I give the brake rotors a good scrub with brake clean, and a scotchbrite pad. Helps strip the brake pad deposits off the rotors, and keeps them operating smoothly.

[C1xRider]

5.  Change the oil, filter, and tires, then ride!   

[aspire61]

I always change the oil and filter before i put it away for the winter. I don't like the idea of my engine sitting over winter with contaminated oil. I simply re-install the battery and go. The air filter gets its annual inspection in the fall as well.

mat

[clogan]

Lucky to be able to ride 12 months a year here in the southeastern corner of Tennessee. Gets a bit brisk from time to time, but heated gear is a good thing. 

[Riverszzr]

 The list is going to vary widely depending on each individuals riding habits, how much they ride each year, and even how much maintenance they do themselves...

 I change the oil, clean the air filter and flush the brakes etc all in the fall when riding season is over. I remove the battery most years and bring it in the house (although the garage is heated all winter)  so come spring about the only thing I need to do is install the battery and go.

 For me I always hope that a valve adjustment and other "major" items fall at the end of the seasons mileage, but I'll do those whenever I need to. My ZZR interval is every 7500 miles, so it is about 3 times a year on getting to them anywyas, air filter service etc all gets done then too. But I do have the chain/sprockets wearing out about every season now, so that has been a winter option the last couple seasons.

I did add heated grips about 2 winters ago. that is about my only "farkles" on the bike.

[Cuda]

Shure glad we DON'T have

WINTER

[booger]

and flush the brakes etc all in the fall when riding season is over.

Riverszzr, you make me feel bad.  I flush the brakes every, well, never.

But I am curioius why you do it every year.

[maxtog]

Riverszzr, you make me feel bad.  I flush the brakes every, well, never.

But I am curioius why you do it every year.

Me too

[VirginiaJim]

I do as well.  Why, I don't know really.  It's recommended to be done by the manual (not sure if yearly but every two years for sure).  Brake fluid attracts moisture and our brakes are a bit more finicky I've found than my cars.  It just seems to be the right thing to do and I feel good doing it.  The clutch side gets more trash in it than the brakes and that definitely needs doing every year.  The clutch side isn't bad to bleed as long as you don't empty the master cylinder.

[Conrad]

Not necessarily per the manual.

I was going to wash the bike but I'm not feeling that good and I feel like I'm running a temp at the moment.  Just my luck as it's really the best day we've had here so far to do anything outside.   Just as well, I guess.

So I'm going to start a list and please reply with what you normally do in the spring to get the bike ready for the rest of the year.

• Pull the battery out and check the terminals for corrosion and tightness.  My positive terminal was not tight.  Also cleaned the outside of the battery and wire brushed the terminals and connectors.
• Install those farkles bought during the winter....I have a few to go on myself.
• Check out the brakes...bleeding, clean the rotors, check the pads.
• Change the oil and filter
• Check the tires
• Check the air filter, change if necessary, clean it if it's cleanable.
• Lube the throttle cables
• Make sure your nuts and screws are tight
• Clean the radiator
• Change coolant (every two years)
• Lube the clutch and brake levers

I always change the oil and filter before i put it away for the winter. I don't like the idea of my engine sitting over winter with contaminated oil. I simply re-install the battery and go. The air filter gets its annual inspection in the fall as well.

mat

+1 I always do this stuff in December when I put the bike up for the winter. Letting your bike sit with contaminated fluids is not a good thing.

[cablebandit]

Letting your bike sit  is not a good thing.

I pull off the bodywork and remove all the gravel stuck in between/behind the panels.  There was easily a pound worth in there this time around.

[martin_14]

• Make sure your nuts and screws are tight

and the bike's

[C1xRider]

I don't change the oil in the fall, unless the mileage indicates it's due, mainly because the bike gets ridden during the winter, and rarely sits for more than a month without getting used.  However, the proper thing would be to change it twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall (to be truly anal).

I figure it's better to start the heavy riding season on fresh oil, rather than oil that's been sitting all winter with occasional use.  Perhaps this is a topic for an  'oil thread'.       

[Son of Pappy]

What is this "Winter" of which you speak?

[C1xRider]

What is this "Winter" of which you speak?

We call it "The Rainy Season".   

You know, from October to July?

[Riverszzr]

Me too

I actually flush the brake fluid atleast twice a year. I ride about 20,000 miles a year and we have huge temperature swings, so condensation could be an issue.
 I find there is always moisture, sometimes alot of it on top of the rubber diaphram in the master cylinder, plus the color change of the fluid to me means flush it.
 I find that when I do tire changes I quickly run a q-tip or 10 around the brake pistons that are out and exposed, then pump them out slightly to clean the rest, push them all the way in and then pump them up once the wheel is back on and they are rock hard once again and I didn't force and road grime or brake dust past the dust seal into the fluid seal.... I have seen several (especially 6 piston calipers) that have water actually standing under the very bottom piston that is very hard to get out once there, I have tried turning them upside down and only working that bottom inside or bottom outside at a time to force it back near the bleeder, and with a complete seal kit running nearly $180 for my bike, I don't really relish having to take it apart and replace all those if I don't have to, far easier and less expensive to spend 10 minutes each tire change and clean them up and then flush them a few times a year for perhaps $6 of brake fluid for the entire year...

 The service manual doesn't say anything about flushing the fork oil but I do that yearly as well, and there is always the thick crud stuff in the bottom of the fork. Since the springs physically rub on the fork inner there is a constant barrage of metal getting added to the oil, plus the bugs that get on the fork tube inner, well no doubt some of that crap gets past the dust seals and oil seal....the valves and seals can't like this at all... So I try to keep them clean(er)

[ZG]

We call it "The Rainy Season".   

You know, from October to July?

   PNW indeed!