Summer motorcycle servicing

As most people know, owning more than one motorcycle and carrying out most of the servicing work yourself can take several weekends and evenings to complete.

The Aprilia RSV and RST have proven the most challenging, with some difficulty pressing-in new suspension linkage bearings and reassembly. In comparison the two old GSXRs were fairly straight forward, a simple service on the suspension linkages and some minor tuning of the carburettors.

Previous clutch and brake issues now solved

In previous posts I had mentioned the issues with the GSXR1100 clutch, where the clutch wasn’t fully disengaging. The issue seems to have been cured by fitting a new clutch hub and refurbishing the clutch slave cylinder and push-rod. Hopefully many more trouble free miles on the GSXR1100.

The GSXR750 had also been having problems with brake fade and spongy brake lever. I had previously checked the master cylinder, brake seals and pistons with no improvement to performance. Having taken the calipers off for the umpteenth time I realised the throw in the pistons was uneven between left and right within the caliper. Eureka! I had a disk offset problem, which hadn’t surfaced when I had used the wheels on a previous GSXR.

The offset difference was approximately 1.5mm, so I sourced some spacers to eliminate the problem, and now I have good brakes again! Sometimes going back to the basic measurements gives you the correct answer!

Time for riding

We all the major servicing work completed it must be time for riding! The days are ticking by, so I’m reviewing the UK map to plan a week of riding. The NC500 Scotland route looks very appealing, and will get some information from my friend Chris when he completes his NC500 trip.

Always remember to gear-up for riding in the summer, a t-shirt and shorts isn’t going to work if you have a tumble. Ride safe my friends.

Al (Barnfindmotorcycle.com)