Hello forum members! Sorry for my english in advance.
I am from Russia, I think I'm ready to start saving money for next bike, hopefully I will have enough on the next august-september. I have 4 years of experience riding FZ6, it is also sport-touring bike; I liked riding it so next one should be from same category, but more about tourism than sport. So I found several suitable models and GTR looks better than others. I have several questions about techinical problems that I managed to google around russian internet community and youtube videos, but I want to know if they are present outside of Russia too
(ordered as they are concern me from most at the top)
1. Air filter is "loose" in the case, or the case is "loose" in it's place and sand can go around filter and get inside engine. Guy in the video talked about some custom air filter gasket and recommended looking at air intake to check if there is sand on it.
2. Cylinder cover gasket leaks oil and has to be frequently replaced. I read about using special copper washers and that if you change big gasket, you also have to change several smaller gaskets; and it leaks on regular basis.
3. Timing chain tensioner is operated not by spring; but by oil pressure. I googled a lot about it, so what is the result solution? Change it to spring-based one (whats the pros/cons)? Do not care about sound on engine start? Is there any fixed mileage when timing chain should be checked/changed? Shoud I replace timing chain guides too? Could you link example video with sound of "chain needs to be changed" ?
4. KIPASS system. I heard that it mostly reliable, but I'm not going to buy new (or even recent) bike; so what about maintanence of this system in used bike? Let's say, it was made in 2008 and I am buying it in 2022, what should I check/replace?
5. Does it have fuel filter? Is it replaceable?
6. Is there any web-site or any other resource with photos of stock GTRs, listed by year and color made ? It is very suitable when checking the condition of used bike.
6. Tyre pressure sensons, is bike fine without them working? (I found how to fix them already; just what about when they are not working at all)
7. I had trouble finding crash bars (engine/frame/cowling) protectors or even crash sliders. Bike is heavy, I'm afraid of falling on ~0 speed and braking all cowling, which costs much money. Does it have central stand by default?
8. One guy said that wheel discs are soft, he bent both discs in one year and had to fix them. Roads in Russia are very bad, so I think its 50/50 (bad luck)/(getting in big pothole on speed).
9. I saw front brake discs from Aliexpress on several used bikes, it's wierd for me. Usually it's a signal that bike was in a crash and was fixed with cheap parts. I think it's hard to estimate how long brake disc will last; but on general estimate, do people change front brake discs often?
10. General advices what should I check on used GTR 1400 when looking on it; are there some unique things? I heard about weak subframe(underframe? back piece that that holds cases and 2nd rider); if it was already broken and then welded back, how bad is it? Should I take off front cowling to check frame/engine condition?
Regards, Michael