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| huskie69 |
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huskie69
Spanner Monkey
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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 Posted: 09:44 - 02 Sep 2011  Post subject: On the road again! |
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Not been on the bike for the last 2 weeks (I was getting seriously twitchy. Withdrawal really kicking in big time!). I scraped through my MOT last month with 1.1mm tread left on the rear tyre. 5 days later there it was completely bald through centre - oops. Had a nightmare of a time trying to get a cheap tyre but managed to find an Avon Storm Ultra 2 for £60 with only 200 miles on it. Got the bike into the mechanics yesterday for the tyre fitting, new gold x-ring chain and sprockets and a dreaded and costly fork seal replacement. It turned out the seals I'd bought off fleabay were the wrong size so I got charged for a set of OEM seals (£30 compared to £6 fleabay).
Bit pissed off but glad to be back on the road again even if my wallet is a lot lighter than it was yesterday morning!
Weather was great yesterday so took the afternoon off work, picked up the bike, and notched up 150miles around the mountains up here - massive grin when I got home. Amazing how much difference a new tyre makes. You don't notice these things in a car.
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'10 Skyjet SJ125-23 - Crashed  > '09 YBR 125 > '53 Suzuki SV650 - Died > 2010 Suzuki VanVan 125 > '87 Yamaha FZ750 Sold > VTR 1000 FireStorm - Sold > Honda CB1000R |
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| P.addy |
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P.addy
Red Rocket
Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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| Posted: 09:52 - 02 Sep 2011 Post subject: |
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I cant see how you ordered the wrong size fork seals for an SV650..  They havent changed sizes since they started making them..
Could you not have done the forks yourself? I'd never done forks, and I did an upside down set as my first ones. Literally took an hour for both.
Glad its back on the road though 
If you dont mind me asking.. How much was the whole bill? Tyre fitting, chain and sprockets + fitting and the forks?
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| huskie69 |
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huskie69
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| P.addy |
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P.addy
Red Rocket
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| Posted: 10:59 - 02 Sep 2011 Post subject: |
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| huskie69 |
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huskie69
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| Posted: 11:09 - 02 Sep 2011 Post subject: |
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Just labor. I've read most people pay around the £90 mark to get their fork re-sealed.
It doesn't help that I live in the middle of nowhere so there's no much in the way of competition with other bike mechanics - which I think means they get to charge pretty much what they want. They must have upped their hourly rates too - when I first went to them with my 125 last year it worked out they were charging £30 per hour. If the rate hasn't changed, the forks took them 3 hours!
Thanks for the suggestion but you're over 300 miles away!
I'm still learning the in and outs and getting a bike has been a real eye-opener both in terms of how little I knew about any sort of mechanical things, and also how people get majorly ripped off if they don't know what's going on. I know a guy who's basically allergic to picking up a spanner - he'll take his NSR to his local Honda dealer for every minor problem (i.e. indicators not working properly, flat battery etc). He spends on average £60 per visit. I've told him to try it himself but he's a pussy.
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'10 Skyjet SJ125-23 - Crashed > '09 YBR 125 > '53 Suzuki SV650 - Died > 2010 Suzuki VanVan 125 > '87 Yamaha FZ750 Sold > VTR 1000 FireStorm - Sold > Honda CB1000R |
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| MarJay |
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MarJay
But it's British!
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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| P.addy |
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P.addy
Red Rocket
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| Posted: 11:17 - 02 Sep 2011 Post subject: |
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Shame about the distance.
USD Forks took about an hour once they were off the bike.. and probably an hour n half to remove and put back.
Never done right way up forks, but I assume its easier... Still the seals you bought should have been fine  But if he says they are different..
Take it he gave you the seals that didnt fit back.
Grab a Haynes, they arent fantastic...but you'll be able to do the jobs you listed here. |
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| huskie69 |
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huskie69
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| Posted: 11:33 - 02 Sep 2011 Post subject: |
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| MarJay wrote: | So... let me get this straight.
You're concerned about fork seals costing a lot, but then you get a mechanic to change them for you? You're concerned about the cost of a rear tyre, but you pay £60 for a second hand Avon?
Here's how I would have dealt with this:
1.) Bought the fork seals from Wemoto. I can be fairly confident that they will fit. I'd also have bought fork oil too, and probably fork bushes.
2.) I'd have replaced the fork seals myself, saving £130. I'd then spend the money I saved on a brand new Pirelli Diablo, possibly two. If I were very short of cash I'd buy a set of Minitwin race scrubs, usually Pirelli Supercorsas. They'll be fine on the road as the only wear is right at the edges.
3.) If I was short of cash I wouldn't be worried about having an X ring chain. they are a bit gimmicky IMO. I'd go with a DID O ring chain and steel sprockets.
Some people have very strange priorities when it comes to bikes... |
I wasn't really begrudging the amount of money spent on it, just glad to be back on the road.
MarJay, you come across as technically competent in your posts. I'm on the other end of the scale which is why I rely on the mechanic for anything I can't do.
I'd originally budgeted £60 to have the tyre, chain and sprockets replaced (labour) which I found quite reasonable. I found a Pirelli Angel ST for £30 that had about 100 miles before getting a puncture. I won the auction but the seller decided he didn't want to let it go for such a small amount and I ended up having to find another tyre. I've skimped on the tyre this time round as the last one cost me £150 and I only got 3k out of it. I've read reviews on different brands and I can't see myself getting more than 4-5k out of a diablo (which was my next choice). When I'm feeling a bit more flush I might get a better tyre - I've found a site which sell sets of 3 - 1 front, 2 rear for a decent price. The chain and sprockets were picked up for £80 (DID chain).
I've never heard for Wemoto but I'll check them out later.
In the mean time, my forks developed the seal leak problem. I hadn't budgeted at all for this and had a bit of a panic trying to find out what was involved as I'd read it was a pretty complicated job. It doesn't really mean anything to me when people say it's fairly straight forward - if there's any risk in me taking it apart and not being able to put it back together again, I just won't touch it. It's not worth my hassle. That doesn't mean to say I won't attempt it at a later date, it's just that the bike was going to the mechanics anyway so I thought I'd have it all done at the same time.
Priorities were basically getting it back on the road and making the most of the little good weather I get up here!
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'10 Skyjet SJ125-23 - Crashed > '09 YBR 125 > '53 Suzuki SV650 - Died > 2010 Suzuki VanVan 125 > '87 Yamaha FZ750 Sold > VTR 1000 FireStorm - Sold > Honda CB1000R |
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| MarJay |
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MarJay
But it's British!
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
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| Posted: 12:16 - 02 Sep 2011 Post subject: |
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| huskie69 wrote: | I wasn't really begrudging the amount of money spent on it, just glad to be back on the road.
MarJay, you come across as technically competent in your posts. I'm on the other end of the scale which is why I rely on the mechanic for anything I can't do. |
I too rely on mechanics to do stuff that is beyond my current level of technical expertise, and yes I am able to rebuild forks and have done on many occasions.
However, there was a time when I wasn't able to rebuild forks, and I had to learn! The Haynes manual is your friend in this situation! There are some jobs that I accept that I don't have the time or inclination to do myself, but in those cases I have to accept that I need to pay someone a lot to do it. I do also like to increase my "Number of bike jobs that aren't scary" factor very slowly. Nowadays I'm at a level where I'm happy to do most brake, driveline and suspension work, and a fair amount of minor engine work too. I don't think I'd want to attempt a gearbox rebuild for example.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a grumpy bar-steward, but I just found it odd you worried about paying out for OEM seals when you paid the mechanic to replace them anyway! If it makes you feel any better, OEM seals are ALWAYS better than pattern, even very good pattern ones.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another. |
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| huskie69 |
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huskie69
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 15 years, 29 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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