12,000 Mile Maintenance

Ssky0078

Ssky0078

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Hi guys,

I am coming up on my 12,000 Mile maintenance. I've done pretty good in the last 3.5 months putting up almost 7,000 miles. I've changed oil every 3-4,000 miles and lubed the chain every 500-1,000 miles. The bike runs pretty well other than my low gas mileage but it seems that can be blamed on my riding style.

I reviewed the service manual and it seems that I am either due for the following or missed some things:rtfm:

1. Spark Plugs - supposed to be done at 8k miles but many posts have said you can go longer (which I went to 12). I will probably do NGK Iridium plugs any reason to not do these?

2. Throttle Body Sync and throttle adjustment: Love my Morgan Carbtune.

3. Repack Steering Bearings - Can anybody recommend a video or something that is easy to see how to do it.

4. Brake pads - I have noticed that my brake lever travel before the brake engages has increased and doing the demo rides this last weekend the bikes with new brakes were a lot grabbier than my brakes (even with SS-lines). How do I know the pads need to be replaced? Are there wear indicators or a warning tab like on car brakes?

5. Brake and clutch lever pivot shafts & Brake and shift pedal pivot shafts & centerstand and sidestand pivots - apply lithium soap based grease. Does anyone have a brand to recommend or just get whatever at the autoparts store?

6. Wheel bearings - it says check every 4,000 but what exactly am I checking.

7. Air Filter - I live in Arizona and it is constantly dusty here. I ride everyday, and have only been through two windy dusty situations so far. Is it worth it to do the air filter early? I looked at it during my 8,000 mile service and it had some dirt on it, but not completely gross. Will replacing with a K&N Filter improve the lag in the bottom end for a better throttle response. I love the growl as the intake sucks in air but I'm sure that contributes to the weak bottom end.


At 8,000 miles I had replaced the coolant (4 years old) and replaced the brake lines (4 years old) with SS-braided lines.

Anything you guys think I should be doing or may have missed?
 
1. I did mine at 9.5k miles and they still looked really good so I think the 8k recommendation is very conservative on Yamaha's part. I don't see a reason not to go with the Iridium plugs. They will last longer and who wants to be changing plugs all the time.

2. Go for it. Certainly can't hurt.

3. Haven't seen a video on it, but I would suspect it exists. Honestly if you're going to go through that trouble it would probably be worth it to "upgrade" to tapered bearing ones. Just not sure it's something you want to tackle on your own.

4. They don't have metal tabs to rub against the rotors like cars do. Brake pads have a slit in the middle of the pad material (top to bottom). Use that as your wear indicator. When slit is gone it's time to replace them. Stock brake pads are not horrible, but not that good eaither. Replace with a set of EBC HH pads (or something similar) and you'll love your improved braking performance.

5. Don't think any particular brand is "best". The whole point is to keep those pivot point lubricated.

6. Wheel bearings are sealed from what I remember so not sure what you're to check either other than to make sure there's no split in the plastic covering the rollers.

7. I would change it, especially if you're planning on going with a hi-flow one. Once you modify the airbox, just changing the filter isn't going to affect it's volume so I don't think you'll notice a difference in low-end power.

Have fun ;)
 
NJFZ1 said:
1. I did mine at 9.5k miles and they still looked really good so I think the 8k recommendation is very conservative on Yamaha's part. I don't see a reason not to go with the Iridium plugs. They will last longer and who wants to be changing plugs all the time.

2. Go for it. Certainly can't hurt.

3. Haven't seen a video on it, but I would suspect it exists. Honestly if you're going to go through that trouble it would probably be worth it to "upgrade" to tapered bearing ones. Just not sure it's something you want to tackle on your own.

4. They don't have metal tabs to rub against the rotors like cars do. Brake pads have a slit in the middle of the pad material (top to bottom). Use that as your wear indicator. When slit is gone it's time to replace them. Stock brake pads are not horrible, but not that good eaither. Replace with a set of EBC HH pads (or something similar) and you'll love your improved braking performance.

5. Don't think any particular brand is "best". The whole point is to keep those pivot point lubricated.

6. Wheel bearings are sealed from what I remember so not sure what you're to check either other than to make sure there's no split in the plastic covering the rollers.

7. I would change it, especially if you're planning on going with a hi-flow one. Once you modify the airbox, just changing the filter isn't going to affect it's volume so I don't think you'll notice a difference in low-end power.

Have fun ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks I stop by my local Yamaha shop today

1. Got the Iridium. I figure I'll plan on changing them every 20,000 miles from now on, unless I get some performance issues.

2. Picked up my Carbtune from my friend I let borrow it.

3. Talked to the guy at the shop, he basically said it should be fine if it turns smoothly up on the center stand, which it does. I'm just going to wait

4. I looked in there and it seems like there is about between 1/8-1/4" in pad left before the metal. I do get some brake drag, so maybe I need to take off the brakes and clean them out.

5. Will just get some Autozone lube then

6. Guy at the shop said to just spin the wheel and look for wobble or clunkiness. I spun it and it seems fine.

7. I will be waiting a little longer. I think for my mods at first I'm going swap my wheels, new chain and sprocket, then replace fork springs and rear spring with weight appropriate ones. I will save the performance mods for my 20,000 mile treat for myself.

Thanks for the feedback NJFZ1, appreciate it. I love learning how to wrench on my own stuff. I've never done it before.
 
Agree with whats been said to date ,,
Head bearings ! I would deffinatly leave these alone unless you have a problem with them .
Just to add to your wheel bearing check , with the wheel off the floor , one hand at six oclock and the other at 12 , gently rock the wheel top and bottom feeling for any free play .
 
Living in the dirt sucks.

1. Spark Plugs - supposed to be done at 8k miles but many posts have said you can go longer (which I went to 12). I will probably do NGK Iridium plugs any reason to not do these?
NGK cr9ir is what I ran in mine

2. Throttle Body Sync and throttle adjustment: Love my Morgan Carbtune.
Me too

3. Repack Steering Bearings - Can anybody recommend a video or something that is easy to see how to do it.
Youtube will be your best friend on this.

4. Brake pads - I have noticed that my brake lever travel before the brake engages has increased and doing the demo rides this last weekend the bikes with new brakes were a lot grabbier than my brakes (even with SS-lines). How do I know the pads need to be replaced? Are there wear indicators or a warning tab like on car brakes?
Look at the rotors head on and look inside the caliper at the pads you can see if they need replaced. If you ride hard and do a lot of hard braking they may need to be replaced. EBC HH work very well and last also

5. Brake and clutch lever pivot shafts & Brake and shift pedal pivot shafts & centerstand and sidestand pivots - apply lithium soap based grease. Does anyone have a brand to recommend or just get whatever at the autoparts store?
That will work just fine

6. Wheel bearings - it says check every 4,000 but what exactly am I checking.
Look at the seals on them if the look worn or damaged replace them. Never use high pressure water to clean the bike around the bearings it will destroy them over time.

7. Air Filter -I live in Arizona and it is constantly dusty here. I ride everyday, and have only been through two windy dusty situations so far. Is it worth it to do the air filter early? I looked at it during my 8,000 mile service and it had some dirt on it, but not completely gross. Will replacing with a K&N Filter improve the lag in the bottom end for a better throttle response. I love the growl as the intake sucks in air but I'm sure that contributes to the weak bottom end.
Change your air filter out sooner than the book says.
I got a bmc filter and cleaned it every 2-3k miles depending on the dirt in the air.
 
Ssky0078 said:
Your kidding right? Please tell me you changed the oil about 4 times at least
Click to expand...

5 times (1,317mi, 4,638mi, 7,024mi, 10,903mi, 13084mi). If it involves anything more than removing the air filter, I'll wait until next winter.

Funny thing, I'm looking through Gas Cubby for the bike: $1,992.54 in service and upgrades, $1281.45 in gas since July 3, 2012
 
Hi guy,

I'm pulling the spark plugs right now.

As the plug covers are coming off there is a fine red dust on them, that kind of looks like rust.

do you think it's rust?
View attachment 14363

There are a couple of signs of rust around the fuel tank ring under the gas cap. It looks like they were scrubbed down prior to delivery and I bought the bike off the internet from a Wisconsin dealership and it had previously been a Minnesota bike. I got it with 5200 miles in January and it was delivered I think July 0f 2009 to original owner.
 
Ssky0078 said:
Hi guy,

I'm pulling the spark plugs right now.

As the plug covers are coming off there is a fine red dust on them, that kind of looks like rust.

do you think it's rust?
View attachment 14363

There are a couple of signs of rust around the fuel tank ring under the gas cap. It looks like they were scrubbed down prior to delivery and I bought the bike off the internet from a Wisconsin dealership and it had previously been a Minnesota bike. I got it with 5200 miles in January and it was delivered I think July 0f 2009 to original owner.
Click to expand...

Yep, thats rust alright, but nothing to be worried about. It's normal to see some. The bike gets washed, the plugs are down deep, so naturally some water sits down around the boots. A spray with some WD and a good wiping should take care of that. Same with the gas cap opening.
 
YZFRiderNY said:
Yep, thats rust alright, but nothing to be worried about. It's normal to see some. The bike gets washed, the plugs are down deep, so naturally some water sits down around the boots. A spray with some WD and a good wiping should take care of that. Same with the gas cap opening.
Click to expand...

Thanks and too late. I got the caps back down which was a PITA. I did take the air compressor to the plug holes (plugs were in) though before seating the caps. There was also like some road salt buildup around the tops of the plugs, so there probably was some wet riding done on the bike up north before I got it

Now, I get to go pick up new tires tomorrow. I picked up a nail in the rear yesterday. I'm going with the Pilot Power 3's figuring I have 2 rides to get in and then a track day in the middle of May if all goes well. I was hoping to wait because there was still probably about 2k miles left on the rear and 5k left on the front. But, se la vie
 
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