2 yrs 20k service

[Guest Jarrod]

It's time for service. My bike have 20k however I bough this bike year ago after full service.

Since then I've made 8k miles.

I have changed oil + filter, both sprockets + chain (endless - good decision), air filter (real challenge), brake fluid (front+rear) and finally coolant.

all above was DIY so I bought top brands all the best available.

I decide to change front socket from 16T to 17T (manual) - that was good decision. I think my ODO shows now real distance and speedometer real speed. From calculations looks like speed is decreased by 5% (from ~84 to ~80 mph) after change, so that is good think as now shows the truth.

I have change oil from 10w40 for top brand (in my opinion) 5w30. Just before that, changing the gears wasn't that smooth. Just after, I have noticed huge improvement.

Brake fluid was never change in this bike - little bit disappointing as bike have full service history ('had history' - up to now )

Finally I have changed the coolant however where is another 0,7l ????? I bought 2l coolant but I have manage to drain only 1L.

One more think with respect to the coolant. On Motul website they advise to use this one:

https://www.motul.com/gb/en/products/oils-lubricants/motocool-expert?f[application]=702&f[range]=21

However this is not silicate free so be careful and use:  MOTOCOOL FL (if you like this brand and your bike).

I did not check valves as engine sounds like music but maybe I should? anyway next time so after 2 more years or 8k miles whichever comes first .

[Guest dentonlad]

Re the valves. I have a 700X. Valves were checked at 8K miles and again at the recent 3 year 14 thousand and a bit service. They hadn't budged. The head tech at my dealer doesn't reckon they are are worth looking at again until they've done 32 thousand miles.

[Guest bonekicker]

Jarrod good on ya for doing your own servicing and repairs 

[matt28 401]

I'm going to do the same next year, as warranty just ran out.

Oil, filter, brake fluid.

Chain and sprockets seems to be fine, air filter replaced with K&N one, no need to look at it for quite a while.

 

[Guest Jarrod]

Thanks Michael and thanks Keith  I will not touch valves then.

I still wonder if I did something wrong with draining coolant. Only 1L?, that means 0.7L left somewhere in the system?

Maybe that's normal?

[Tex 36,817]

Relax, Jarrod. It's perfectly normal

 

Not sure I ever managed to re-fill a cooling system with the specified amount. Which accounts for all the half used tins of anti-freeze on my shelf..

[embee 7,288]

Did you drain and refill the expansion bottle as well as the engine/rad circuit? Where did you drain it from, the drain plug in the front of the cyl block or the bottom rad hose? Just thinking aloud.

[Guest bonekicker]

Jarrod changing some is still better than changing none--forget about it---it's all part of learning-- keep you bike well oiled all over--any signs of rust or corrosion--treat it straight away. 

[embee 7,288]

True Boney. I rarely bother to completely drain a system. What you're really doing is topping up the anti-corrosion package which gradually deteriorates, so changing 75% of it every now and then works fine. The glycol doesn't change so the antifreeze aspect is just the same.

 

The only time it's probably a good idea to flush it clean is if it has become neglected and got dirty.

[Guest Jarrod]

Thanks, you all are right. Just checked this and there is ~0,5 l inside the system, which is not possible to flush, so worst idea is to put water into the system as there is no chance to remove in one change. Is like change oil in automatic car gearbox. You can drain only 50% without special tools. 

 thanks again. 

[Guest gameboer]

One more question about the coolant. Assuming you can only refill 1 liter, is it a bad idea to mix the original honda coolant with a different brand? I'll be using Castrol Radicool SF, which is silicate-free so it should be safe I guess?

[Guest Jarrod]

On 11/8/2016 at 20:48, gameboer said:

One more question about the coolant. Assuming you can only refill 1 liter, is it a bad idea to mix the original honda coolant with a different brand? I'll be using Castrol Radicool SF, which is silicate-free so it should be safe I guess?

That is exactly what I did. I used different brand however I did mix with original and so far so good. (and I did 3k miles already

[Guest Captainbeaky]

When I'm changing coolant, I flush ( and also reverse-flush) out the engine cooling system with fresh water, to remove the old coolant.

I then add half the total coolant volume of neat coolant, and top up with water ( assuming a 50/50 coolant mix)

this way, I know I have all the old coolant out, and have the right mix in the bike / car.

 

It's messy, but flushing out the system is a good habit.

 

You can only do it with concentrated coolants though - not pre-mixed!

( and is why I only buy concentrated coolants)

 

[djsb 493]

Last time I flushed out a cooling system (on my MZ Skorpion) I used a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and distilled water. Forgot where I read this but it didn't seem to do any harm. The cooling system is easy to drain on the NC.You just remove a drain plug and let it empty, no special tools required.

[embee 7,288]

I definitely wouldn't recommend putting anything clearly acidic nor alkaline into the cooling system, even as a temporary flush. There's a good reason you don't see vinegar in aluminium bottles in the supermarkets.

 

If you want to flush a system use tap water. Unless your water is horrendously hard it'll be fine with a small residue of tap water.

 

A neighbour thought it would be a good idea to flush his power washer with caustic soda to "clean it out". It seized solid.

[djsb 493]

I didn't leave it in there for long and did do another flush with distilled water (and of course ran the engine both times)so I'm hoping no damage was done. I'm NOT going to try it on the NC.