Preventative Maintenance - Help With Choices!!

[HD]

Right, I'm currently restoring a bandit as you may have seen in the 'show and tell' section.

Basically my dad has always gone over and above what he should to repair his vehicles.

So this bandit has no engine problems that we know of and the engine seems to be in good condition but the plan is to do rings and top end bearings and just have a look around to check for any other problems.

But father wants to 'lap' the valves and (can't remember what he said it was called) basically sand the sides of the bore to get rid of any buildup. He wants to get new coils and starter relay and thinking about a loom. Also replacing all of the slides and needles in the carbs as well as the o rings etc.

Now I know it is in his best interests to help me have a good bike but when do I tell him to stop? He is lending me the money atm but I will be paying him pack over the next few years (very big bill from last bike too ). His comeback will be if you dont want my help then I wont help you but I do want his help to do the engine and carbs but he goes too far!

I want to do what I want as its my bike but its his money and his experience so what do I do?

Cos fine, if the coils go replace them, or the starter goes, replace them. But they could be fine for however long I have the bike (hoping to keep it for 2 year restriction and a bit more). Its just wasting money IMO and the bike wont be worth that much in the future anyway so why bother going so far?

Just to mention the bike is a 1991 Bandit 400 with 40k on the clock.

Anyone got any ideas of the service intervals?

I want to replace all of the piston rings & bearings, oil, filter and plugs. But he is on about replacing ALL of the seals in the calipers and master cylinders which is about £10 per caliper (3 cals) and £30 for each master cylinder...

Help me out!

What would you do?
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Rusty '02 Vito Camper + CBR600F3

[neil.]

Firstly, assess the age and condition of the things that your father is proposing to sort out or make a best guess if you can't actually get to the component without major disassembly, based on the service history or age/mileage of the bike. Then you can make a decision as to do anything now. Like if the calliper seals are only a year old and the brakes don't bind, you can leave it, or if they're original and the fluid looks like wee and you can only turn the wheel 1/4 of a turn by hand, you'd better not ignore it...

Also break down the list into these categories/prioroties?

If this goes wrong can I crash, hurt myself or die? If so, and you know those things could do with some work, sort it.

If this doesn't get done, will the repair bill be huge if it fails and can it cause other nasty damage with it (engine components)? If so, and the cost of doing the work now is far less than paying for it to be fixed if it fails, then do it.

If this doesn't get done and it fails, can I just replace the faulty component? If so, don't bother until that component fails - BUT be prepared to fork out for recovery costs or get some breakdown cover if you get stuck in the middle of nowhere because of a faulty coil etc.

[Teflon-Mike]

I'm more with your dad, but I'd start at the other end.
Engines only make you move; & carbs, bores, ignition etc only effects how well it moves.

I START with being able to STOP... I'd lt him do brakes, VERY hapily; not just seals; new pistons, pads, rotors & lines.

Then, I'd do the headrace bearings... stopping is all well and good, but sometimes you have to swerve round stuff...

To aid them; fork overhaul; nerw seals, springs & oil. Rear suspension; swing arm bushes as a must; then any linkage bushes, at least strip & service; replace bushes or pins as req. Then perhas shock or shocks...

THEN decent rubber.... none of above any use without that....

SO sorted, then I might think about checking the spark plugs......

But, provided engine sounds fairly healthy, I'd leaver it alone. Engine rebuildfs are expensive & time consuming, so until it broke I'd not worry.

And with decent Brakes, steering, suspension & tyres, wouldn't have MUCH to worry about.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Livefast123]

As Mike said, if the engine is sounding healthy and is not obviously down on power then why mess with it. Give it some fresh oil, oil filter / air filter, fuel filter and spark plugs and that should do it proud. There's no point taking something apart for the hell of it.
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Current ride - Yamaha MT-07

[HD]

[stonesie]

On the sidewall of this rear tyre will be the manufacture date, if it is aincient then I would replace it with the front because the rubber will go hard over time.

M&P do good deals on pairs of tyres, like £142 for a pair of michelin pilot road 1's... Okay, it's an older design of tyre but they are very good, more than a 400 will need and won't shit themselves if you hit some standing water. (tried and tested on my SV650 and my mates Aprillia Falco)
https://www.mandp.co.uk/products/list/Tyres/Tyre-Offers

Chain and sprockets, you mention the chain being rusty? change it! DID and Tsubaki are both way up there, fit IRIS and there will be a BCF book running on when it snaps (not if)


Other than that it's all as Teflon mike said.

[jimspeed]

I wouldn't even take the head off if its running ok and using no oil, why mess and spend money that would be better spent on fuel or insurance?
I would do the brakes and wheel bearings and tyres then get some use out of it.
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Hyosung cruise 125(passed test on, sold) Kawasaki el 252 (better than expected but sold on) Kawasaki GPZ500S first "big"bike.(sold) ZZR600 E5..Z750 2007,ER5, currently on a 2008 Enfield bullet electra x and loving it..
,"Alpha-9: Is there any correlation between dyno rod and dyno kits?"

[Teflon-Mike]

[Bezzer]

I'm with the others don't take the head off and cause yourself more unecessary work, and whatever you do DON'T let your dad lap the valves in. They are 3 angle cut and trying to lap them can cause more problems than you had, they should be OK anyway. To refurbish properly you need the very expensive cutter kit.
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[Kickstart]

Hi

I wouldn't strip the engine unless there is a particular reason for it. That said I have a feeling the 400 Bandit engine isn't that long lived. And a full gasket set won't be that cheap.

Doing that much work and the cost will add up rapidly. Rough costs from Wemoto:-

Gasket set = £91
Cam chain = £38 (doing the top end you may as well do the cam chain)
Spark plugs = £30
Coils = (which I really wouldn't replace unless necessary)
Steering head bearings = £35
Caliper seals = £75 for just the front

So that is £270 or so straight away, without replacing any brake pistons, rear caliper seals (and being a Suzuki the rear caliper will almost certainly need work if the pins are seized), changing the oil, anti freeze, wheel bearings, brake pads, brake disks, etc.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[swiftb]

i cant see the logic in any of that tbh. Why waste time and money carrying out 'repairs' that are completely not needed.

Reminds me of a lad i used to knock around with whose younger brother was always wanting to mess with his car as he was in his first yr at college on a vehicle maintenance course - came in the garage one day to find his younger brother with the cambelt off as he wanted to 'clean' it

SO unless any of these things are being replaced to cure an issue then it sounds like your dad need a project...

[HD]

[Teflon-Mike]