YZF600R Thundercat Service - All at once or maybe in stages.

T1Cybernetic · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Karma :

I always do my own service on my cars Wink

Easy enough most times (Excluding a stuck bolt or two)

Anyway I plan to do my own service on the bike but what's it like? Easy or hard on a Thundercat? I would imagine it's not too different on any bike really.

On a separate note - My water is horrible looking brown /almost rusty looking. Is it something to worry about? I'll hopefully change it tomorrow Very Happy

and give it a clean through with the hose if that's ok?

And last but not least, What should I put on my shopping list? Coolant first Wink

but what do you lot use? or recommend?
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Hong Kong Phooey · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Apr 2016 Karma :

Getting fairings off and on can be a pain in the arse, so you might want to just do it all in one go. Be prepared to order new fasteners from ebay etc.

Once you start you'll probably find other jobs need tending to.

If it's your first time then use a Haynes manual, otherwise there's probably a Yamaha manual knocking about for download.

Rusty water means it's probably been neglected. Change it, preferably flush through. Check coolant spec for your bike, I used Prestone ready mixed in my CBR - apparently it's compatible.
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~~'81 CG125, '97 FZS600~~ : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8

strikeforce · Two Stroke Sniffer Joined: 19 Mar 2015 Karma :

Do it all in a 1er
Did my r6 the other day, sparkies, oil + filter, air filter, coolant flush and new fluid.
Even cleaned up the header pipes whilst all the fairings were off. Not hard to do really and i enjoy knowing its been done.
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Yzf-r6 5sl
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J.M. · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Karma :

The biggest pain about servicing the Thundercat is if you need to remove the carbs to do the valve clearances; the screws are really awkward to access, and you need a long allen key really.

On mine, a fair few of the fairing bolts had seized to their fasteners. That's a 1-time annoyance to deal with if you replace the offending bolts, but hopefully one that won't really affect anything.

Overall it's not too bad.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

T1Cybernetic · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Karma :

Yeah I figured it had been neglected too Sad

The book says I need 50/50 distilled water and 50% corrosion inhibited ethylene glycol anti-freeze.

I normally use euro car parts (red/Pink) stuff in the car Triple QX Red.

From a quick google should be fine but I thought I would ask first Very Happy

I don't want to break anything.
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iwaldo · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 23 Dec 2015 Karma :

I just used premixed Halfords own coolant on mine, works fine Smile

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MT-09 / YZF600R Thundercat '02

yen_powell · World Chat Champion Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Karma :

pompousporcup... · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Apr 2015 Karma :

as already posted, do it all at once. the fairing is alright to get off imo (bar a couple of mullered allen heads) but an absolute bitch to get everything to line up again..new fastener kit can be had off ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-YZF600R-THUNDERCAT-1998-YZF-600-R-STAINLESS-STEEL-FAIRING-BOLTS-/161582271889?hash=item259f0dcd91:g:GE4AAOSwm8VUzfNH

OR below as you may need to metal clips.. i couldnt be arsed to source it cheaper

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-Thundercat-YZF600R-Full-Stainless-Steel-Fairing-Screen-Bolt-Clips-Bolts-/131050000301?hash=item1e83304fad:g:Z2YAAOSwdrRXG6YO

Wemoto for oil and filter, air filter and plugs works out pretty good value.

I use the blue triple QX premixed coolant from eurocarparts.. £6 for 5L you can't really go wrong Thumbs Up

there are two 10mm bolts on the front of the block for draining.. use a smaller bucket or a bit of card to direct the flow of coolant coming out as its difficult to get a bucket where it needs to be... the pipes are in the way and the coolant flies out, hits the pipe and goes everywhere.

whilst you're at it, get the sprocket cover off and clean the inner side of that off. you'd be surprised how much crud collects there

T1Cybernetic · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 08 Jul 2006 Karma :

Nice one cheers Wink

And those fixings will definitely come in handy!

To be fair I only want to do the water first as like above it looks like an after thought and seems neglected so it really does need doing. The old owner said it's not due a service until after November and as it runs perfectly fine we didn't go into specifics.

The oil and brake fluid and pads all look good Wink

I haven't checked filters or plugs but I will mull it over today! We have space to tear the bike down and it gives me an excuse to tinker Very Happy

So doing it all at once is preferred even by myself, But I do love to tinker Razz

Do any of you know where to get bike parts near south kirkby WF9 area Very Happy

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weasley · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Oct 2010 Karma :

el_oso · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 May 2008 Karma :

depends on what you want doing.

I recently sold mine and had done over 70k miles on it.

Getting the carbs off is a pain in the backside. The allen keys are really awkward.

blue spot callipers seized frequently and really are not easy to re-bleed if you take the pistons out to clean.

Suspension is really soft, both front and rear.
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