maintenance schedule

Wash the bike when it's dirty.
Clean the chain when it's dirty.
Lube the chain after cleaning it.
Change the oil according to the booklet. Change filter when changing oil.

i wash my bike every two weeks lube the chain cables and pivits after the wash
change the oil and filter every 2-3k hope that helps

Wash bike when it needs it.
Clean and lube chain when I wash, when it rains, or every couple of weeks (whichever comes first).
Oil is a tricky one, every 1500km oil change and 3000km for filter approx.

Felix

thank you all for the input!

One thing I did after cleaning my chain was take off the front sprocket guard. I found alot of gunk in there. (like a half inch worth of road grime). I sprayed it with wd-40 and brushed with a toothbrush, wiped it off and looks good as new. I also clean under the rear chain guard too. Maybe I just have OCD!

I was wondering how you guys clean your air filter. Today I cleaned mine for the first time and man was it dirty. I washed it out with water, rung it out, let it dry for a few hrs, and then lightly oiled it with 10w-40 motor oil, popped it in, closed her up, and took it for a ride. Throttle response was better than it being dirty. It's not a significant amount of improvement bc it's only stock, but the bike runs much better now.

Does anyone know when they recommend the 1st service?

What kind of oil do I use to grease the pivot points? I use wd-40 everynow and then but would like to switch to something that's good for the bike. And how often do we need to change the coolant? Also does anyone use synthetic? My next oil change I'd like to run synthetic through, but I'd like to know what you guys recomend using.

BigJT said:

Does anyone know when they recommend the 1st service?

Click to expand...

First service is 600 miles. I took mine in at 666! haha weird cuz I drove it all the way to the dealership and that was what was on the odo when I got there. I saved $50 by financing the 1st service through kawasaki. I paid 150, they really rake you over the coals. I'll never take it back for a service, but 1st service is needed. They dynoed it and gave me the printed out results. Pretty sweet

I bought the extended warranty and they told me my 1st service was free. We shall see I guess. Why I bought that damn thing I'll never know???

FREE!!! you're lucky. I bought the 3 year extended warranty and all they did was knock $100 off my helmet, and $50 on the service. My dealership also wants $70 to MOUNT a damn tire that I buy from them with the tire at $130+. But after your first service you'll have no problem maintaining the bike yourself.

Maintenance here at 1000 km, as the booklet prescribes. I did change the oil and oilfilter after 300 km, because I prefer the oil to be nice golden yellow :]

For a small service, I pay around 80 euros, a "big" service (change plugs, ....) is around 100-120 euros.

It's also common here to have the first service for free (manhours, not hardware like filter and oil) allthough I happily payed my very honest dealer

I'm retiring in Thailand... figure it would be a good base to live in between travels.

Felix

eric,

everything is more expensive here... The price of an oil filter is about 2.5 euros, which is cheap. But the dealership also has to make a living (buy food, gasoline at 1.25 euro/l, pay for his garage/house/'land', ...)
I also suppose there are a lot more motorcycles in Thailand than there are in Belgium meaning they have more work. In winter, it freezes alot; in summer, it rains alot.

Oh... and lets not forget taxes... The dealership has to give 50-60% of it's earnings to the government.

so because rain is very common in this area,
ive been really concerned about my chain.

i do wash my bike and clean the chain every 2 weeks or so..
but should i be applying lube just every 400 miles or so?? thanks.

I wash it every time it gets dirty, I change the oil every time it gets dark and I lube the chain once a week.