Should I have a go. Your opinions please.

[Rofbox 331]

In my youth I was quite happy to do work on my bikes. They were simple things then, no disc brakes, sensors, abs or even body panels to remove.  I bought my 750x DCT new and to preserve my warranty and because I thought modern engineering was too advanced for me to understand,  I've shelled out for main dealer servicing at about £66 per hour with the VAT.

 

The bike is now nearly four years old and I've started to believe that perhaps I'm a little too much in awe of modern engineering and it's more simple than I think.  Maybe I should have a go myself and save some money; I'm also nearly 64 so it might help to keep my brain working as well as a bonus.  Just recently I came across some YouTube videos called Nc 750 stuff and to be honest what is shown (fork oil, coolant, brake fluid change) does not seem to be that difficult.

 

My question to you is this.  Is the bike reasonably simple to work on and have I just been a little over cautious? 

 

If you could also suggest jobs that I should be able to do and those which have potential pitfalls and, perhaps, should be best left to people who may know better, that would be a help.  Many thanks.

 

 

[outrunner 4,457]

Now that mine is out of warranty I will be doing all the service work myself. The NC range of bikes are very easy to work on compared to some, they even have screw and lock nut valve adjustment. For all but a major engine strip there should be nothing that a careful owner can not do themselves. As you have noticed, there are plenty of how to videos going about, just take your time and you will be fine, perhaps worth investing in a good torque wrench might be a good idea.

 

 

Andy.

[DPO 93]

I'm not mechanicaly gifted at all but my 1999 Firebade which i have had since new has never been near a garage. Ive changed the oil/filter regularly. Changed the brake pads etc myself. My brother in law who is a retired aircraft engineer has changed all fluids and the chain etc and does it very quickly. When i recently contacted a local dealer they suggested my bike needs their top of the range service at approx £500. As i now have an NC700dct i will treat it the same. Well looked after and i will not try to save money with regard safety however also as an ex Jag car owner i am sick of paying huge hourly rates for simple tasks such as oil changes and topping up my windscreen bottle. Please note this is NOT a disparaging comment against well qualified and competant mechanics, we all have to earn a living and ger paid for our skill sets, but some of these service charges are well out of order. If safety is involved - use the pro's, but for simple stuff - use the intrrnet and give it a go yoursel. 

[CFB 4,602]

+1

Oil and filter change, DCT filter, Valve clearances, brake pads, brake fluid change and fork oil are all jobs that can be done yourself.

The service manual gives all the information you need to do them correctly.

[Andy m 23,658]

This is now a bit jumbled but may help 

 

NC Manual Pooratrek

 

Your only enemy on the basics is air-gunned fasteners  and corrosion (never force anything, buy easing oil etc.). Just take your time and if in doubt know how to put it back together.

 

Andy

[Foxy 4,406]

James, that's a great question, we are all more capable than we think and with the right tools most things we can do ourselves. Clive and Andy are dead right, read the manual and take your time. The satisfaction when it works will more than make up for any doubts you have along the way, I look forward to reading about your accomplishments.

[Tex 36,817]

James, absolutely nothing to be frightened of with maintaining modern motorcycles. In many ways it’s a damn sight easier than the ‘old days’, in fact. Well worth investing in some decent tools (rather than the stuff that comes under the seat  ) but the key is to research the job beforehand and take your time.

 

I would imagine you will enjoy the experience, gain loads of satisfaction and save loads of money. Not many down sides there. 

[Mr Toad 9,022]

I'm another advocate for doing your own work, it's very rewarding and means you can spend the money on something else. As always good advice from the others, start small with the oil and filter change and by the time the valve clearances need checking you'll think nothing of it. Then there's the brake pads, a couple of bolts and a spring clip, after doing that for the first time you'll wonder how dealers dare charge what they do for pad replacement.  

 

For some riders the service is the only time their chain gets adjusted and lubed, if you're already doing that you're well on the way.

 

I look at it like this, my insurance is £100 the money saved on an annual service means my insurance is free.

[Rofbox 331]

Gentlemen, thank you, this is what I wanted to hear and the encouragement I needed.  As for Andy's advice about getting a torque wrench.   AlI I will say is that on the first day, with my first bike, too many years ago, I sheared a nut off by being too ham fisted.  I was mortified.  You can bet your last pound it will be my first purchase.

[Rocker66 34,496]

14 minutes ago, Mr Toad said:

I'm another advocate for doing your own work, it's very rewarding and means you can spend the money on something else. As always good advice from the others, start small with the oil and filter change and by the time the valve clearances need checking you'll think nothing of it. Then there's the brake pads, a couple of bolts and a spring clip, after doing that for the first time you'll wonder how dealers dare charge what they do for pad replacement.  

 

For some riders the service is the only time their chain gets adjusted and lubed, if you're already doing that you're well on the way.

 

I look at it like this, my insurance is £100 the money saved on an annual service means my insurance is free.

But then some of us have other things to do with our time. Also I’m sure that I’m not the only one that due to various physical problems have trouble getting down ( and even more getting back up again) to work on the bike . Not everybody has room for an hydraulic work bench . 

[Rev Ken 6,347]

11 minutes ago, Rocker66 said:

But then some of us have other things to do with our time. Also I’m sure that I’m not the only one that due to various physical problems have trouble getting down ( and even more getting back up again) to work on the bike . Not everybody has room for an hydraulic work bench . 

I must admit I do less than I used to (can't remember the last time I rebuilt a gearbox on a car or bike - but I used to, including an Armstrong Siddeley auto box - that was interesting!) for similar reasons to Rocker. I don't find it too hard to get down, but getting up after crawling around on the garage floor isn't quite as easy as it once was! And my time is getting more precious as I have ever more to do every day and everything takes just a little longer than I think it will. No doubt you will find muscles you haven't used for many a year, but have a go as there is a great sense of satisfaction on a job well done!  

[Mr Toad 9,022]

1 hour ago, Rocker66 said:

But then some of us have other things to do with our time. Also I’m sure that I’m not the only one that due to various physical problems have trouble getting down ( and even more getting back up again) to work on the bike . Not everybody has room for an hydraulic work bench . 

 

Absolutely Rocker, it's a personal choice and as you say not everyone has a warm dry garage to work in. 

 

I do 99% of my spannering in the winter when the weather is bad so I don't feel as if I'm eating into my outdoor time when I could be doing something else.  

[Andy m 23,658]

Its like every other choice, pro's and con's. Time vs money, trusting the mechanic vs not, enjoying it vs thinking it's a chore ..... There is no right answer.

 

I am no fan of torque wrenches BTW. A Chinese bar with a random spring in the neck that's been in a tool box outside over the winter is just a bar with numbers on it. A calibrated device is different. You need a torque wrench to put a cylinder head on. For a drain plug just stop when two fingers won't turn it anymore. If its not enough it'll drip, give a quick nip. Remember a rusty wrench working on a greased bolt can be going over the recommended value before it clicks.

 

Andy  

[Trev 18,853]

4 minutes ago, Andy m said:

Its like every other choice, pro's and con's. Time vs money, trusting the mechanic vs not, enjoying it vs thinking it's a chore ..... There is no right answer.

 

I am no fan of torque wrenches BTW. A Chinese bar with a random spring in the neck that's been in a tool box outside over the winter is just a bar with numbers on it. A calibrated device is different. You need a torque wrench to put a cylinder head on. For a drain plug just stop when two fingers won't turn it anymore. If its not enough it'll drip, give a quick nip. Remember a rusty wrench working on a greased bolt can be going over the recommended value before it clicks.

 

Andy  

 

Andy, have to say I'm with you on the torque wrench thing, after managing for 30+ years without one I took the plunge and bought one year before last. Assuming it's correctly calibrated (yeah I know, assume makes an ass out of u and me ), I've not been comfortable with the amount of oomph it's let me put on a few nuts and bolts, notably the cylinder head and exhaust headers on my old X7 2 stroke, I've done enough of these to literally know it by feel and I wasn't comfortable going up to what the torque wrench was allowing. Fine for Enfield wheel nuts and the like where it doesn't matter anyway but anything into alloy and finer threads I still prefer to 'feel' and retighten if not quite there. 

[TheEnglishman 401]

 

If it moves and it shouldn't there's really good gaffer tape these days.  For everything else there's an excellent 400nm battery powered impact driver available from Ryobi.

 

And should you cock up there's always T-Cut to polish out the evidence.

 

So stop dithering and take the rocker cover off - just to say you did. 

[SteveThackery 3,090]

I would add one more thing.  Now that mobile phones are everywhere, take plenty of pictures as you are dismantling things.  It will help you remember what goes where when you put it back together.

 

I do this when I'm repairing a watch of a type I haven't worked on before.  Likewise when I changed the cam belt on my Honda Legend - there was a lot of dismantling to do, and the photos proved invaluable.

[embee 7,288]

Remember that torque figures are almost invariably given for fasteners in a dry or "lightly oiled" condition, and by lightly oiled it means a trace of preservative oil or residue not wet oiled. If you apply some sort of lubricant, which most of us do on bike fasteners to ward off the dreaded corrosion/seizure, then reduce the quoted torque by nominally 20%.

 

Also never simply set the wrench and go straight up to the click. Do it in steps, half first, then 75%, ad see what it feels like. As Trev rightly says, with some experience you can quite accurately "feel" what is right, a decent mechanic can get very close to the correct tightness by feel. Non-critical fasteners are usually designed to act at somewhere round 80% of yield, no need to get them right up to the limit. It's only critical fasteners like main bearings, con-rods and cylinder heads which should always be done to a procedure (whatever method is specified) because they are designed often to work at yield.

 

If you've not done much mechanicking it's a worthwhile exercise to get hold of a few nuts and bolts and try tightening them until they strip or shear, you then understand the feel you get from them as they reach failure. The length of the fastener will alter the feel, longer = more springy.

Edited April 28, 2018 by embee

[djsb 493]

Also be as gentle as you can. If you have to resort to a hammer there is usually something wrong and it's a good idea to apply the releasing fluid. I also find that state of mind has a really big influence as well. If I'm feeling relaxed the job i'm working on goes so much smoother.

The scariest work I've come across so far on the NC is removing/replacing the panels.

 

PS If only I had a nice warm garage as well. I have to do ALL my work on the bike in public car park surrounded by pine trees that keep shedding needles. I can also only work when it's NOT raining/snowing/blowing a gale. Everything I do has to be planned so I can dash out and do the work between breaks in the weather.

Edited April 28, 2018 by djsb

[Trev 18,853]

1 hour ago, djsb said:

Also be as gentle as you can. If you have to resort to a hammer there is usually something wrong and it's a good idea to apply the releasing fluid. I also find that state of mind has a really big influence as well. If I'm feeling relaxed the job i'm working on goes so much smoother.

The scariest work I've come across so far on the NC is removing/replacing the panels.

 

PS If only I had a nice warm garage as well. I have to do ALL my work on the bike in public car park surrounded by pine trees that keep shedding needles. I can also only work when it's NOT raining/snowing/blowing a gale. Everything I do has to be planned so I can dash out and do the work between breaks in the weather.

 

Hats off to you David, not easy working on a bike outside especially in a public place 

[temp 359]

oh dear, sent a reaction to several comments here, I meant them as well done but came out as haha, apologies all round

[Finlayson99 1,009]

On 27 April 2018 at 10:19, Rocker66 said:

But then some of us have other things to do with our time.

 

That's really interesting.

I'd be more than happy to restart your heart, insert a central line into a major blood vessel, do a lumbar puncture for you or inject one of your joints, but I wouldn't have the time, knowledge or confidence to go anywhere near a valve clearance!

Suppose it's a personal decision when it comes down to how much work you want to do (or have time to do) on your own machine.

Very impressed by those who do and enjoy it but at the mo I'll stick with what I'm best at.

[Andy m 23,658]

Medical stuff is much harder. If you lot are working on cold valves it means you are no longer in a rush. Apply the same principle to metal stuff and you'll be fine. Just don't get used to being able to walk away part way through and go read the book or watch the how-to video again. ☺

 

Andy 

[Finlayson99 1,009]

3 minutes ago, Andy m said:

Medical stuff is much harder. 

 

Not really if you've been well trained and are interested in what you're doing.

Most of it is pretty simple. Just take your time and don't get stressed. No difference to mechanical fettling.

 

Lots of good YouTube stuff if you get stuck too 

[Tex 36,817]

It’s absolutely 100% personal choice. Anyone who doesn’t maintain their own bike, or car, isn’t any ‘lesser’ rider or driver. There’s plenty of jobs at home that I get a professional in to do (domestic wiring scares me shitless) but I don’t, somehow, feel less of a homeowner because of it! 

 

Everyone has something they’re good at and it’s not necessarily valve clearances..  

[Rocker66 34,496]

Finlayson and Tex I couldn’t agree with you more. Years ago whe I worked in Chart Leacon repair depot I had a joke agreement with the mechanic at Geoff Darryn motorcycles which was he didn’t fix flat tyres on trains and I didn’t fix motorcycles.