60,000 kilometers - what would be sure to do?

[Fiat Lux]

My 2001 Standard has been mine since 2013.
I have done nothing to it for years and even though the Avon Cobras have lots of tread, they are 8 years old with tiny tiny signs of cracking and cupping. So I am spending money: new Avon Cobras, grease the splines in and out of the final drive, new bearings fore and aft, plugs, and straightening the exhaust mount which got bent before the bike was mine. Synch carbs if they need it and service with synthetic oil.

So, two questions:
1) What else ought I have done while the bike is still on the lift?
2) What should this work cost me?

As always, thanks for sharing your experience.
Fiat Lux

[Tfrank59]

Well have you been changing the oil and oil filter?  I'm guessing yes. How about the air filter that should be changed about every 20000 km. I do mine about every 12,000 miles. I don't think you needed to change your wheel bearings unless they were worn. ( I'm coming up on 90000 miles on my Valkyrie and I'm curious if there's anything I should be doing besides just normal periodic maintenance I guess the only thing I might consider is changing my U-joint but  probably won't unless it starts acting up.) One other thing to check would be your final drive dampers those rubber things inside the rear hub – are they worn out turning to dust?

[Lyle Laun]

Fiat Lux:
Nice to see you on the board again. I use a great shop in Black Diamond that is very good with Valks. They'd do your tires, bearings, fluids changes, etc along with checking & fixing any other small items. I wouls estimate they'd charge you between $1,000 - $1,300.   
These guys actually know what they’re doing and you don’t have to worry about if they understand pumpkin service procedures, etc. it’s not a bad ride from Lethbridge to take your bike there and leave it with them for a week or two to get the work done.

Regards
Lyle

[Tfrank59]

Fiat Lux:
Nice to see you on the board again. I use a great shop in Black Diamond that is very good with Valks. They'd do your tires, bearings, fluids changes, etc along with checking & fixing any other small items. I wouls estimate they'd charge you between $1,000 - $1,300.   
These guys actually know what they’re doing and you don’t have to worry about if they understand pumpkin service procedures, etc. it’s not a bad ride from Lethbridge to take your bike there and leave it with them for a week or two to get the work done.

Regards
Lyle

Sorry but there's no way I would pay a $1000 or $1,300 for the work you described. That's just me.

[gordonv]

I would be more concerned if the mechanic knows what he's doing, but if Fiat Lux can recommend them, then your most likely good.

There is a lot of info here, along with support and how-to on doing the job yourself.

I used to get a local shop to do my tires, they only charged about $550 for the tires, installed. Bridgestone. But with the city development, they closed and a high rise is going up.

It isn't really very hard, along with the recommended service required when the wheel gets removed, lubrication. The rest is inspection. If you don't have any noise, then most likely not anything else required at this time.

Safe riding.

[vanagon40]

I also have a 2001 Standard. Mine has 83,000 KM (technically 51,500 miles). I have had mine since 2006. Unless there was some problem, I would not worry about the bearings, spark plugs, or carburetors. Put on new tires, service the rear splines, and ride the hell out of it. Have metal (chrome) 90° or 45° valve stems installed with the new tires (if metal valve stems were not previously installed).

I would recommend removing the wheels yourself and servicing the rear splines yourself. I understand not wanting to change and balance tires, but removing the wheels and servicing the rears splines is not that difficult.

As previously recommended, routine maintenance would include the air filter. I would also recommend (if it has not been recently done) changing the brake/clutch fluid, coolant, and final drive oil.

Good luck, your three weeks of summer are just around the corner.

[A guy who owns a convertible in Wisconsin is an optimist and hopes summer falls on a weekend.]

[Fiat Lux]

Thanks for the advice. Well, I wanted to support a local small business. Apparently I have been generous! (BTW, I normally change filters and fluids myself!)

Two more questions:

The shop left a 3 x 6 inch pressure sensitive label centred squarely on the contact area of my brand new Avon Cobra front tire. I did not see this until I got home and it has now been ridden on so much that it is no longer legible --it looks like tire branding information.  Would this have been done deliberately by the shop to show the specs or was this an oversight? I tried to peel it off but it is now so abraded that it would be very difficult to remove.  Do you think it is OK to ride on this and simply allow the miles to wear it off?

The shop tells me that it was extremely difficult to extract the final drive from splines because the previous service had used some sort of paraffin in lieu of the normal lubricant. As a result, all the pins fell out which added to service time though I was not charged. Making allowance for my imperfect recollection, does this sound reasonable? 
 

[Tfrank59]

Their comments about your rear drive sound fishy to me. I hope they inspected your wheel dampers. I hope they knew how to do that and I hope that they used the correct lube for your rear splines and your drive shaft. It's actually a different Lube for those two things.

[gordonv]

Well, I wanted to support a local small business. Apparently I have been generous! (BTW, I normally change filters and fluids myself!)

Two more questions:

The shop left a 3 x 6 inch pressure sensitive label centred squarely on the contact area of my brand new Avon Cobra front tire.

It isn't so much that we don't appreciate the support of local businesses, it more their ignorance of the job at hand, and doing it correctly.

Your second comment, about a label being left on the new tire, reinforces our recommendation of staying away from a dealer. It should have been removed and cleaned properly. In fact, the mold release agent should be cleaned off all new tires, but most just give the recommendation of ride carefully for 100 miles.

As for those pins on the hub, they should have been in dry, no lube at all. Another reason, I wonder how your rear drive was serviced by them? As said, 2 different kinds of lube, one for the splines and one for the pinion cup.

[Fiat Lux]

Thanks folks. I appreciate the advice.

The repair shop in question is actually an independent bike repair shop that leans towards cruisers and tourers.

I called the owner and discussed your concerns. Two kinds of lubes were used, one was a molyXXXX.
I told the owner that detailing is a very nice extra but you need to remove ALL of the white powdery polish residue, not just 99%. He called back to advise they had found the missing M5 screw that holds the brush rails on the side of the hard bags. He wants to buff out the residue. So they are trying but perfection eludes them as it does me!

I would send a photo but photobucket is comatose these days!

[gordonv]

Thanks folks. I appreciate the advice.

The repair shop in question is actually an independent bike repair shop that leans towards cruisers and tourers.

I called the owner and discussed your concerns. Two kinds of lubes were used, one was a molyXXXX.
I told the owner that detailing is a very nice extra but you need to remove ALL of the white powdery polish residue, not just 99%. He called back to advise they had found the missing M5 screw that holds the brush rails on the side of the hard bags. He wants to buff out the residue. So they are trying but perfection eludes them as it does me!

I would send a photo but photobucket is comatose these days!

It's actually wonderful hearing that the shop is trying to make your last experience better. Trying to improve on a few short comings, and was whiling to a sure you that the job was done right by knowing that 2 different lubes should have been used.

They might be a keep after all.

This was just brought up about pictures.

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,111145.0.html