Giving the bike A decent service.

[L-Jam]

So, I've rode the CBR for about 1500/2000 miles now, and decided since I have about a spare £100, I want to clean it a bit more etc., just for the banter really.

I've already bought A K&N air and oil filter, iridium plugs and new oil, and will fit these over the weekend, but since I have some money and time, what else do you recommend doing? Nothing is really 'wrong' - the bike is flawless in terms of paintwork but I can sense the oil/plugs etc need a refresh, and I really want to clean up the swingarm/under the shock area. What shall I use?

/Stupid question.
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Skp 50 --> GS 500 --> CBR600F with custom HRC paint jobby --> GSX-R 750 K7, beautiful!

[supZ]

apart from a good clean i think you've got it covered.

thing i use to clean the swing arm (if im giving it a good going over i'll take off the rear wheel) is muc off bike cleaner and muc off degreaser for any stubbon 'deposits'. i have a tech 7 brush set i use that helps lift any stuck on crap

works wonders.

after last winter my 600s swingarm looked like this..

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2682/4452806392_06eba4d4a7_z.jpg

then some cleaning later

https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4452033183_7eb8fe06c6_z.jpg

makes the world of difference
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CBR954RR - Daily toy
CBR600RR - Trackbike

[L-Jam]

Haha that is literally the exact effect I want to achieve. Cheers for the input

EDIT: That wasn't the end of the thread BTW BCF. MOAR ideas!
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Journalist, student, egotist.
Click here if you're a young biker, wondering what to do after a moped/125!
Skp 50 --> GS 500 --> CBR600F with custom HRC paint jobby --> GSX-R 750 K7, beautiful!

[ajbsmirnoff]

Autosol metal polish for any metal you'd like a bit shinier. Does require elbow grease, which Halfords don't stock.

Autoglym plastic polish is pretty good at making plastics (but not painted plastics) go back to black if they've faded a bit or need a clean.

I'd not bother with a MagicTree air freshener though.

[Howling Terror]

Pair of socks?

https://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m174/howlingterror_2006/DSCF0478.jpg

They serve no purpose.
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[Suntan Sid]

If you do have any black plastics to clean, and want to get them back to black, use some of that black, plastic, bumper/trim restorer available for cars.
Works a treat!

[spetom]

[Gazz]

[DrDonnyBrago]

What is the total mileage now? Check the valve clearances if they are due, change the fork oil, grease the shock linkages and swingarm pivots, grease the headstock bearings, change the brake fluid, change the coolant, clean out your caliper seals if they could do with some work, get everything clean in and around the sprocket cover.

Then polish some stuff with autosol, clean the crap out of everything and give it a healthy dose of ACF50 or spend your £100 on a used endcan that doesn't look like a chromed kayak or pay a pro to set your suspension up properly.

The list of bike things to spend £100/lots of time on are endless .

EDIT: Cleaning the swingarm/sprocket area etc, use a spray degreaser or something like paraffin and a spray bottle to loosen the crap and degrease then wash with soap and water .

EDITEDIT: brakes are always worth cleaning if you have the time, get the crud and crap off the pistons and grease/red rubber grease/copper grease (each grease serves a different purpose) all the pins, pistons, rubber parts etc that you find in there.

[supZ]

[Robby]

If you're getting down to that level of swingarm cleaning, then I would take the arm out to check/grease/replace is necessary the swingarm bearings. If they are a bit knackered then this will make a huge difference to the handling. Also strip, clean and regrease the shock linkage.

The bits of servicing above basic home servicing aren't really the sort of things you spend money on, they're mostly time and feelr guages or a grease gun.

With £100 spare I would:
Change the coolant.
Replace the wheel bearings (about £15 in all)
Replace the swingarm bearings (about £30 all in)
Possibly replace headstock bearings (£30)
Change fork oil (£15).
Change brake fluid (£5).

[mr.kris]

do ur valve clearences wont cost alot just get it done buy the new shims u need if any
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[The Tot]

Grease up all your terminal connectors. Being a honda, the electrics WILL eat itself over the winter from the inside out. If you have a spare £100, put that aside for when your regulator rectifier goes pop.

Other than that, anything that robby said is valid. Prep her up and get it ready for winter (or storage).

I wish I had the time to do stuff like that in my own time, but bike gets used 24/7 - 20k miles last year pretty much killed it!
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[swiftb]

[L-Jam]

Thanks A lot for the replies guys, karma where it's due..

Donny, the mileage is 22,000ish. Average?

I will definitely be taking the back wheel off at the very least.

Cheers Robby, I will probably end up doing most of these things. I'll speak to my Dad (ex bike mechanic) about doing the valve clearances, see if it's worth it/if he's willing to help me.

Tot, my bike gets used 24/7 and will be eating the winter too, but I have set aside about 3 days in which I can really work on it so that the winter shall be survived and I can make the most of what's left of the summer.

I haven't just got a spare £100 haha, I just did A bit of overtime in order to be able to spend some money on my bike

Cheers , and I will add any progress to my HRC CBR thread in show and tell, considering I haven't done much recently.
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Journalist, student, egotist.
Click here if you're a young biker, wondering what to do after a moped/125!
Skp 50 --> GS 500 --> CBR600F with custom HRC paint jobby --> GSX-R 750 K7, beautiful!

[craigs23]

[The Tot]

It was pretty much parked outside in all weathers - snow and rain. Washing the bike down every week in the freezing cold is NOT an option for me

I was going to say you can treat it to some ACF50 BUT it's way too early for that stuff.
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The Tot 2007 Yamaha R1 4C8 2002 Yamaha FZS1000 Fazer &
www.youtube.com/Titot182 for your bike gear reviews and pop punk covers
Earl Of Easycore Pop Punk Will Never Die!