Category: Maintenance

Fazer Maintenance Day – Carb Balancing

Post author By Arthur
Post date July 30, 2016
No Comments on Fazer Maintenance Day – Carb Balancing

Today has been a productive day finishing off my regular servicing of the bike. The big downside of tackling routine servicing yourself is finding the time, and so I was forced to split the work across to free weekends a couple of weeks apart.

First the oil change, air filter and rear brake service (which included a new Hel brake line). Today finishing off, front brake service, carb balancing and other remaining checks etc.

The Morgan Carbtune tool makes easy work of balancing. The most difficult thing on the Fazer is finding the adjustment screws buried deep between the carbs. They’re almost impossible to see and you just have to poke a long screwdriver down into the engine and guess where they are!

Tags Servicing

Maintenance

MOT Time @ Burwin Motorcycles

Post author By Arthur
Post date July 6, 2016
3 Comments on MOT Time @ Burwin Motorcycles

That time of year again – MOT. No matter how confident you are the bike is all fine, there’s always a little worry in the back of your head, just in case it fails for some reason. Certainly been a well used bike with 9k gone on the clock since last MOT.

After a prior bad experience at my usual MOT garage, I decided to give Burwin Motorcycles over in Islington a go. Had heard a few good reports and they open at 8am. Big bonus, as I couldn’t afford much time off work. As it happened, they started even earlier and I was done and down the road by 8:30am – that’s what I call service. Barely had chance to drink a coffee in a nearby swanky pre/post drinks artisan coffee shop cum off license specialising in gin…

Maintenance

Thumbs Up: Squire SS65CS Padlock

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 27, 2016
No Comments on Thumbs Up: Squire SS65CS Padlock

Last week when my wife tried to take her bike out she discovered the Squire padlock had seized, leaving it chained to the ground! Neither key would unlock, we tried dousing it in WD40, GT85 and Halfords Shock’n’Unlock spray, even after been left to soak for a day or two. We tried tapping it with a hammer, but nothing would make the key budge in the lock.

Upon contacting Security For Bikes who we purchased it from, they informed us it was covered by a 10 year warranty and put us in touch with an engineer at Squire. They got back to very quickly with some advice, mostly what we had tried already, but as a last resort suggested applying pliers to the key to force the lock. This worked and the padlock opened, however it wouldn’t unlock again subsequently.

As per Squire’s advice we sent it back for repair/replacement. A couple of days later a brand new padlock arrived through the post with a cheque to refund us for postage. So, a big thumbs up goes to Squire, for their top customer service, prompt responses and a warranty that really is worth the paper it’s printed on.

You can purchase a Henry Squire SS65CS padlock from Amazon here.

→ Check out our full Motorcycle Security Guide

Tags Security

Maintenance

Hel Braided Brake Hose

The front brake on Mary’s CBF500 had been feeling a bit spongy since we bought it and just didn’t inspire much confidence. At first, we dismissed the poor stopping power due to a single disc and two pot caliper with some basic organic pads in. But no, it was most definitely spongy with either old fluid, air in the system or duff rubber hose.

Since I was planning to drain the brake fluid, replace and bleed the system, I picked up some Hel braided hose to fit at the same time. With just one line to one caliper, replacement hose would be cheap and didn’t make it worth my while not changing them at the same time. With some forum discount codes floating around, they came delivered directly from Hel for £23 – bargain! Although I was a little boring and just opted for basic black lines with default silver banjos, rather than any of the multitude of other colours they are available in.

The hose fitting was a doddle, all bolts and banjo joints fitted perfectly. Bleeding took a little more effort and some persistence, to finally expel all the air bubbles out of the system. The results were much better though, brakes with a nice solid bite

Hel braided brake lines definitely get my recommendation. I’ve been using them on my Fazer for the last year and now they’ve vastly improved things on Mary’s CBF.

Tags Brakes

Maintenance

Honda CBF500 – Shock Rebuild & Lowering Kit Fitting

Post author By Arthur
Post date January 14, 2016
5 Comments on Honda CBF500 – Shock Rebuild & Lowering Kit Fitting

Mary is a little vertically challenged, which can make most motorcycles a bit tricky to ride. At 5’1″ she is only just on tip toes when sat on her stock CBF500, so lowering was essential. Lowering a bike can be achieved by reducing the seat and/or lowering the suspension. Mary’s CBF500 needed both!

Suspension Lowering

Lowering the rear suspension of a bike can be achieved either swapping on longer ‘dog legs’ – the struts that go from bottom of shock to swing arm; or by shortening the overall length of the shock. The CBF500 rear shock mounts directly to the swingarm, thus the latter approach was needed. MFW sell a number of lowering kits including a replacement lower shock linkage for many Honda’s. This replaces the stock linkage of a standard Honda Showa shock, shortening its entire length. The linkage came in for £65, however similarly parts by other brands sell for £100-120. Alternative approaches involve replacing the spring on the shock for a shorter one.

Tags Suspension

Hardware Maintenance

Fitting a Honda CBF500 Givi Rack

Post author By Arthur
Post date January 12, 2016
No Comments on Fitting a Honda CBF500 Givi Rack

When it comes to hard luggage and top boxes, the name Givi is synonymous, with this leading Italian brand make some of the most popular luggage on the market. As a London commuter hard luggage is incredible useful for carrying stuff; the essential security chain, work clothes to change into, packed lunch, laptop, books etc. A top box will carry the lot with ease, whilst keeping it all dry and secure. In the event of a spill, you really don’t want to carrying all that stuff on your person.

Tags Luggage

Maintenance

The Wrong Grip Glue

When we bought Mary’s CBF500 it came with a cheap set of heated grips fitted, very handy for the winter. However, their installation was critically bodged. The grips were glued on using a rubber type grip glue, which although fine whilst the grips were cold, when hot the glue became tacky and no longer adhesive. Thus when twisting the throttle, the grip would slip round, and not rotate the throttle! To address this, I consulted internet wisdom and opted for the double side carpet tape method.

Maintenance

Servicing the Honda CBF500

Honda-CBF-500-Service-Balance-Carbs — Balancing Carbs

After buying a second-hand bike it’s always best to give it a thorough service to ensure it’s in tip-top condition and there are no ugly surprises. The seller had informed me this CFB500 was due its yearly service, so I set about completing all the usual chores: new air filter, oil change and new filter, new spark plugs, cleaning brakes, checking clutch/throttle play, checking chain tension, emptying breather tubes and generally greasing everything as needed. I like the Haynes manuals for jobs like this, both as a checklist of jobs and for info on bike specifics.

I also gave the carburettors a balance and doused the bike in ACF50 whilst I had the tank off. Being a twin, balancing the two carbs was a doddle. A quick whizz round the block confirmed everything was running sweet and a well-deserved cuppa was in order.

Tags Servicing

Maintenance

Motorcycle Maintenance Month

Post author By Arthur
Post date October 19, 2015
No Comments on Motorcycle Maintenance Month

Following the summer, things haven’t been terrible exciting around here. Kids have gone back to school, work has been busy and this month has mostly been spent catching up on essential maintenance chores. The trusty Fazer has done 6000 miles since Feb, so I’ve done the regular oil / filter change, cleaned the K&N air filter, greased, checked everything and gave the bike a good covering of ACF50 ready the winter ahead.

Tags Brakes

Maintenance

7 Motorcycle Storage Tips for the Winter Months

Post author By Nathan
Post date September 7, 2015
No Comments on 7 Motorcycle Storage Tips for the Winter Months

When you buy the motorcycle of your dreams, whether it’s a high performance superbike, statement Harley or a lovingly restored Triumph, you’ll naturally want to protect your investment. Of course, not all of us have the luxury of a garage or a dry spot where we can store our bikes throughout the year. But don’t let the threat of rust, dirt, crime and careless drivers keep you awake at night. Instead, as the days start to draw in and the mercury drops, think carefully about your storage options and put the essential preparatory work in place.

Here are a few top tips…