service - just a bit more than basic

[illvibetip]

I live in asia and the guys at the bike shops dont seem to make any money off of repairs except the profit they make from selling the parts. So, they dont make any money from fixing your bike. The problem with this is, they dont really do a 'service' because they wont make any money off it. Ive had my bike for 5 months and Im doubting it has ever had its standard 4000k service checks and its impossible to find someone who will do them for me (usually I just get the oil break pads changed rather than checking them every few months for example).

I dont really know what Im doing with mechanical or anything at all technical but Im thinking its time to learn (for obvious reasons).

Question - (a bit convaluted...).

How difficult is it to change the break fluid? and could I learn to do it myself with the bike service manual (which I downloaded with the help of a thread from this site by the way - top stuff!).

Is it very difficult to clean the carburetors and would/could I potentially frick the bike by playing around with them (dismantling the required parts)?.

Is there anything else I should be periodically doing to service the bike? (like I say, every now and again I just buy new bits to save the hastle...)

oh, and one more thing. I went on holiday last week and some kind citizen decided to push all 180kgs of my bike over and leave it lying on the ground for 4 days. Is there anything I should be checking for (I cant see anything obvious but Im going to check the steering today)?. I took the tank off and checked the air filter and it wreeks of petrol. Is that normal? should I change it or will it help the filtration? what about battery acid/break fluid leaks?

any answers to any of the questions will be gratefully recieved.

Thanks!

[eastanglianbiker]

if bike is only 4 months old leave the brake fluid alone and the carbs wont need touching either changing spark plugs will bee good start and if air filter smells that badly of petrol it might be worth changing it as for the battery you need to have a look and see if any acid has come out of it if it has then use plenty of water around area where battery sits to dilute the spill or it eat through anything it has spilt onto

[illvibetip]

sorry, what i meant was 'Ive' had the bike 5 months. Its a 2002 model.

cheers still, ill change the filter. I have a spare in the house somewhere.

[Guest Hodgy]

Ideally brake fluid should be changed every 2 years, if it's a 2002 model when you next do it I'd think about changing the flexible brake hoses too. Unless it's not running properly I would leave the carbs alone, stripping and cleaning them could easily make matters worse! For now I'd do oil filter and oil, air filter, plugs and if it has a fuel filter change that too, check over the brake pads, you can see by looking usually how much meat there is on them, check chain tension, clean it and lubricate it, and go over all the bike checking for any loose bolts or anything looking worn or damaged.

[illvibetip]

ive checked and done most of that already this week/weekend. Ill check the bolts and nuts tomorrow when i check for chain stretch.

So how difficult is it to change the break fluid? If i do that will it be a pain trying to get air out and is there a possiblity i could knack the breaks?

what about clutch/break cables - they get some hammer (especially the clutch cable cos my clutch is useless going into neutral). How often do they need to be changed?

[Guest]

for cables get a cable oiler, and you only need to change them if they are out of adjustment posibilities or have snapped.. (seized, rusted etc)

brake fluid is simple enough, but corrosive so if you spill any get it cleaned up or flood the area with water to dilute it, it even eats rubber, so tyres inc..

follow a haynes manual and you'll need some brake fluid, a bottle in which to catch the old fluid and a length of hose about 15-20 cm should suffice..

youtube probably has a video.

youtube.com/results?search_query=brake+fluid+motorcycle&aq=f

[illvibetip]

thanks

[j4ff]

Why dont you offer the bike shop a bit extra so they actually make some cash?Ask them how much to make it worth their while

Dont understand how they dont make any money.Surely they charge you for the parts and then for the labour.If your not willing to pay the labour charge they ask then do it yourself.

[Ricco1]

I'm In Asia too; Indonesia. Where are you?

I've found a similar thing, the shops just charge for the parts, and not very much at that! You can certainly ask them to do other things though, as long as you have a grasp on the language...

[illvibetip]

(ricco 1) im in south korea. yeah the language barrier is the big thing really. Im lucky here though cos a lot of things mechanical are english like oil (oil-uh). Is it the same in indonesia? they seem pretty helpful folk on the whole though.

usually here they just help you out if they like you - its a cultural difference you cant just offer them money, this is not england.

I usually build up a rapour by giving them rice wine or watermelons if they do a bit extra work for me, so next time theyll do it again! genius... Otherwise, if you take youre bike in and ask them to fix it, theyll either tell you theres nothing wrong with it and refuse to fix it, or fix it and then fix a whole load of other things that dont need fixing and tell you they were broken (actually, now that I think about it, it isnt a whole lot different to when I used to get my car fixed in England...).

hence the fact that my original post was asking how I go about fixing things myself (j4ff).

[Ricco1]

A few words are similar or the same, here in Indonesia. Oil is oil, lampu is a light, petrol is benzin (benzine yeah?). Most words are completely different though!

What I do is give the guy who fits the parts a small tip each time, no matter how small the job is. 5,000 Rupiah is about 40 pence but he's very happy with that. I'm the only white guy for miles around so I'm easily remembered. Now, when he does an oil change for me he cleans the filter, blasts out the empty sump with high pressure air. Indonesians who don't tip just get the standard oil change.

I'm sure I could ask him to do some more bits for me, outside the remit of the shop, if I asked him. The shop probably wouldn't care, nobody sems to care too much about most things in these parts.

Are you a teacher by any chance?

[illvibetip]

yeah, into my 3rd year (teaching) now in asia. Koreas a great place as home base for travelling around asia. actually rice wine costs about 50p so thats usually what I pay for my service too!

Teachings ok, but i could never afford to do half the shit i do here back in the uk. I can pick up a 650cc bike 700 quid and run it for nothing! and the roads out here are great. monsoons a bit shitty sometimes though...

actually, sometimes i get my girlfriend to translate for me but its usually easier to explain in my broken korean than it is to explain to her hehe.

what about you? you teaching too?

[Ricco1]

Yeah; aku guru bahasa inggris. I'm 4 months into my first teaching job here in Jakarta.

I earn about 2/3 of the national minimum wage back home but with a cost of living here being about 1/6 of what it is in the U.K., it's not a bad life. Running the bike is ridiculously cheap. Petrol 35p a litre. I had new front pads fitted: £1.50. Insurance is non-existant and like many people here, I don't bother with a license. Tax costs £15 a year.

Actually bikes themselves are relatively expensive; my 5 year old 160cc Honda cost £700. Cars here are ridiculously expensive, and no way would I like to drive one on the roads here. Bikes over 250cc aren't allowed, unless you bribe the local police.

I wouldn't say biking is a great pleasure here, more a necessity. A few weeks on hot overcrowded buses, stuck in unbelievable traffic, sees to that.

This city is so big, this part of Java is so crowded, you have to ride for 3 hours to get any quiet roads. Those roads are worth the effort though; deserted, winding, up to 6000 feet, tea plantations all around, with the promise of barrelling 10 foot waves at the quiet surf beach, after an hour of biking bliss.

Not a bad life!