| Author | Message | ||
     Whistle |
Last night I thought to myself, "Ok here we go, this is the big one, this is where we either become lifelong friends, or our blazing romance gets doused to smoldering ashes." Like meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time...things may go simply beautifully, or you may inadvertantly admit to Pop that his sweet little girl has been ridden hard and recklessly by you, indicating a short meaningless relationship that is sure to end with his daughters heart being smashed to smithereens. So I sweep out the garage, load my favorite band into the CD player (metallica-great to wrench to) drag the tools out and open up the big book of Buell. Being familiar with big twin H-D's, I wasn't expecting any surprises, but was curious as to why I've heard stories about techs not wanting to work on our beloved little bikes. Can't say I found out why they dislike them. Everything went nice and smooth and easy. Clutch adjustment AND Primary chain adjustment is actually easier on the Buell than it is on H-D's. A pleasant surprise. I even sorted out a couple of tricks for less mess when changing fluids-you guys that do this all the time probably do something similar, but there are so many new Hooligans here, that I wanted to share... When draining the old oil out, The oil drain plug is right over the muffler tip. If you read on in the service manual it says to wipe off any spilled oil. The hell with that. I cut a plastic grocery bag in half then cut the handles off. I used some tape to secure the handle-less half-bag over the end of the muffler & tip to keep it clean. NOTE: This may not work so great if you get the bike HOT before you change the oil! I used the same approach when taking off the old oil filter. Taped the other half of the plastic bag up behind the filter and to the block and covered the muffler. This was a little harder to execute and I ended up getting a couple of drips on the muffler, but it was not the deluge that would have gone everywhere had I not done this. The last little trick I did was I cut up one of the empty oil cans until it looked sort of like a slide so the tranny lube could easily be poured into the primary. Didn't seem like just pouring straight from the can would work too well... On my commute home before I did this service, I had noticed that my front brakes had become a bit squishy. When I checked the brake fluid level, it was down about 1/4 of an inch...I'm still scratching my head on this one. I checked over the brake system very carefully and found no leaks anywhere. Unfortunately I only had DOT 5 brake fluid in the garage so I was not able to top it off-note to self, buy some DOT 4 brake fluid-but it was not so low that the brakes wouldn't work. After all the fun was over everything was cleaned up and put back where it belongs. Glad to say everything went well, and it was a joy to service my Buell. In a week the race kit arrives and I get to dig a little deeper! I can hardly wait. Ride safe and wrench lovingly! Nick | ||
| Rageonthedl |
when i do the services on XBs i use an old oil bottel with the side cut out to set on top of the muffler when i drain the oil so i dont get it all over. | ||
| Cyko_bob |
Nick...thanks for the input. I know we all find our little tricks in servicing our bikes, but I am wondering what you did when you put the oil in the swingarm? I found a funnel that has a plastic tube about a foot long or so. I screw the tube off of the funnel and put it directly on the plastic oil can; insert outlet with the nice little plastic tip that just fits the Buell swingarm. It works good too for pouring oil in the primary. I bought mine at a military gas station overseas, but I think I saw it in Wal-Mart when I was home last November. I bet some of you other guys have found it too, but I am wondering if there are some other neat tricks or ideas. Share? I love doing maintenance on my bikes...just wish I had my garage and tools, but I am overseas right now. Let's hear more! Oh yes Nick, loved your analogy of doing the first maintenance to the sweet little girl; pure poetry: "Like meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time...things may go simply beautifully, or you may inadvertantly admit to Pop that his sweet little girl has been ridden hard and recklessly by you, indicating a short meaningless relationship that is sure to end with his daughters heart being smashed to smithereens." Cyko Bob  | ||
| Got1nut |
I wish I knew how to do all the maintenance myself  Im not very mechanically inclined but I would like to try. As for tools all i have are the basics, what tool set do you recommend? | ||
| Whistle |
Rageonthedl-Funny you should mention that. As I was typing I was pondering what to do with a HOT exhaust pipe. The cut up oil can was the best I could think of as well. I usually just sit there on the floor and look around the garage at what I could sacrifice...hmm cardboard is another item that would work nicely, or aluminum foil...neither one would be bothered too much by the heat. Cyko-You're most welcome for the input! At some point I had one of the little plastic screw on the end bobbers of which you speak, but it always seemed to leak at the inappropriate time and between brads the neck size of bottles varies greatly...compare HD oil to Amsoil to mobil 1 to redline...all different. I have a big ol' long funnel I had used on my Harley that tapers to a nice thin end that I used to fill up the XB with oil. It's maybe 2 feet long or so. It sticks into the swingarm from the back, behind the passenger peg bracket, and the top of it comes out just a couple inches above the rear turn signals. To make my bike level (don't have a way to lift it...yet) I simply used a block of wood under the kickstand that put the bike *almost* level, leaning just enough so it wouldn't fall over. While filling the primary I could fill it up with some oil, then push the bike the inch or so to being straight up and down, check the fluid level in the bottom, then lean it over again and fill more if needed. You comin back to the great state of Tejas soon? I know whatcha mean about no garage...I used to do oil changes in a gravel parking lot and one time installed an entire stereo system in the middle of the night in an underground parking garage (it was raining) while I was in college. Got1-We were all at your place in life once man. I know there have got to be a decent number of folks in Jersey who could help guide you through how to work on your bike...you know be there to help ya while you get your feet wet. Ya start with simple crap like adding brake fluid, changing a battery, inflating your tires, changing your oil, changing your brakes. Before you know it you'll be building stage 3 heads in your garage! (Or lusting too anyway...) If you do not already have a service manual for your bike, go buy one. $50 My first tool kit was a 99 piece craftsman tool set that came in a black plastic case. Had just enough tools that I could do most things, until I started doing all kinds of crazy crap. $100 Guys like tools though, tools are cool. When you start a project and find you need a particular tool that you don't have, go out and buy it. Most handtools (ratchets sockets attachments etc) are not that expensive and even as a broke college kid I could find the money to buy what I HAD to have. Most run from a couple bucks to 15 or 20 dollars. You will need a good set of Torx bits for your ratchets. I bought my latest one from some Auto store-you know auto zone or whatever. The most common size you will use is T27. Make sure the set you buy has that in it. Last time I went to Sears I couldn't find a set with a T27 in it. Another little set you will need is allen bits. Your tool kit will probably come with allen wrenches, but in general, they suck. Get some allen bits you can put on your ratchet. You'll need some pliers, a razor, some needle nose pliers, good set of screw drivers, and some adjustable crescent wrenches. Zip ties and electrical tape are always handy. For changing the oil you will need either oil filter pliers or an oil filter strap wrench. You will need several different types of loctite. Really all you need is loctite blue (medium strength) and loctite sealant (white pasty goop for sealing threads on oil plugs). You will also need some anti-sieze for spark plugs and other connections that are prone to galvanic corrosion (aluminum bolt in steel part or vice-versa). On top of all that you will need an oil drain pan and some oil funnels. Good stuff to keep around are paper towels, brake cleaner, newspaper (Whhoooops, I spilled oil AGAIN!) etc. I like to keep a piece of scrap carpet in the garage to set on while I wrench on the bike (down low) or a stool to sit on if I'm wrenching high. I've got a crappy back and this helps tremendously. As someone who is new to working on vehicles you should pay close attention to how much you tighten screws, bolts, nuts, etc. The best way to do this is to purchase a torque wrench. Not the cheap azz bend-o-meter kind, the sort that clicks when you reach your desired torque. You will need 2 torque wrenches. One in Ft-lbs, and one in In-lbs. For starting out doing the simple stuff I would just get the one in in-lbs, as it is used on the more delicate parts and you will use it more often. This is one of the more expensive tools to buy. Figure on spending $70-$100+ on it. It is your friend. Take good care of it and it will take good care of you. Always store it on the lowest setting. So service manual $50, general set of tools $100, misc hand tools $50, torque wrench $75. Just buy the basics, read through the manual BEFORE you do ANYTHING, look to see if you have the tools you need, post up here to ask us any questions if you need help with anything, then venture forth into the land of wrenching. The biggest keys to success are to know your limits, and to be patient. Highly skilled technicians are usually very patient and THINK a lot before they DO anything. Sorry if I rambled on too much or was condescending to anyone-I don't know what kind of skill levels I'm dealing with here, so I tried to start with the basics...I'm pretty passionate about working on bikes, so I tend to get a bit carried away and love to help folks get started getting grease under their fingernails...oh yeah, don't forget the orange soap and a fingernail brush!!! ;D The tools I listed above will cost you about as much as one service on your bike. If ya don't brake anything and ya do it all right, your next service is free apart from the fluids, etc...and the dreaded TPS reset! ha! later, Nick (Message edited by Whistle on March 02, 2005) | ||
| Stealthxb |
Awesome post Whistle...thanks. | ||
| Stealthxb |
Buell Mechanics Tool Sets | ||
| Bcordb3 |
Has anyone tried to use a vacuum pump to pull the oil out of the oil tank? I used to change the oil in my boat with one. I am thinking it would work on my Buell. | ||
| Toomanytoys |
Very helpful post indeed  . Not at all a ramble either. I think anyone can benefit from others suggestions, even those who have a lot of experience. Those who are just becoming familiar such as myself tend to appreciate all the free advice, and would be thrilled to have any one of you walk us through the basics. Wish I had access to some of your tool supplies though. Just another poor college kid trying to maintain his ride, and enjoy it at the same time. Thanks again guys.  | ||
| Whistle |
Stealth-GREAT link. Most anybody that wrenches does it because they enjoy it, and a LOT of the guys on here wrench so there is a lot of good advice to be had. One last thing I forgot to mention, but was mentioned a lot in Stealth's link...DON'T BUY CHEAP TOOLS! OK, honestly a lot of us buy cheap tools when we're poor-in college I HAD to get a cordless screwdriver, but the best I could afford was a cheap-azz $25 7.2V Ryobi...needless to say it has been replaced! Now that I've got myself a job, when I go out to buy a tool I buy a quality tool. For me Sears seems to be the best, anyone in the country can find a damm sears! They have good tools and good prices with a good warranty. If you go cheap for some tools, at least make the tool set you get-the very core of your tool collection-a good quality tool set. If any of you noobs would like pictorial how-to walkthroughs, I'd be happy to post up some detailed how-to's with pics and everything. There might be somethin like that in the KV already...if not, it could be added! later ya'll, Nick |
