![]() ![]() A lot of the maintenance has been preventive rather than reactive, the bike starts first touch of the button, has never let me down and purrs along like a kitten. When I write it all down it seems to add up to quite a lot of maintenance but my impression of the bike has been mile after mile of hassle free riding. Next time I’ll do the filter bypass modification and use an external filter rather than replace the OEM filter which is ridiculously expensive. I don’t think this would have been necessary if it hadn’t been for a particularly dirty tank of fuel I picked up late one night from a remote fuel station. The internal fuel filter and strainer was replaced at 82,000km. Note to self, take some photo’s and post as this is a neat trick to share. ![]() The wafers are made out of brass and wear pretty quickly, especially with the key jiggling about on rough roads. The rear sprocket cushion rubbers were repacked with rubber spacers at 64,000km after experiencing excess chain wear, I replaced the carrier bearing at the same time, just in case.Īt 75,000km I dismantled the ignition barrel and removed some of the wafers which were making the key difficult to turn. The steering head bearings were replaced at 56,000km, mainly because I had the forks stripped for a fork setup change and I’d read of problems with the standard bearings so decided on a pre-emptive strike. I replaced it with a Motobat gel type which has given no problems so far. The original battery died when it was about 7 years old, I guess minimal use by the original owner in the first four years of life may have helped it on it’s way. The fork seals have been replaced once, I think it was at around 45,000km. I’ve changed the fork oil a number of times but mainly due to experimentation with different setups, viscosities etc. The pattern seems to be new front sprocket every 25,000km, new chain and rear sprocket every 50,000km, I keep an eye on the riveted link and replace it if it appears to be getting tight, so far this is once per chain at around 23,000km.Īt 50,000km, a beautiful day on the West Coast. The current chain is now up to 42,000km and going strong. The second chain only managed 17,000km, mainly due to wear in the rear sprocket cushion rubbers allowing the rear sprocket to ‘wobble’ a little. The original chain lasted just short of 46,000km at which point it was replaced, along with new sprockets. I’ve never had a problem so have no reason to change plus they are relatively affordable in NZ compared to some other brands.Ĭhain and sprockets. I’m using Bridestone Battlewing front and rear, the front seems to average around 20 – 24,000km, the rear around 14-17,000km, all run at standard pressures of 33psi front, 36psi rear (I hardly every take a pillion). Most of my runs are relatively long ones which I guess is another factor in the long pad life. I’m pretty light on the brakes, generally adapting speed to the road conditions and making use of the engine braking. The brake pads have never been replaced although they are now getting close to the wear limit, particularly the rears. I also fill the Tutoro chain oiler as required, this is usually every 1,500km or so. Adjustment is usually pretty minimal, sometimes the chain would need a tweak, or maybe the clutch a slight adjustment. I give the bike a good clean every 2,000km and check/adjust/grease anything which needs it at the time. The brakes fluids are replaced at the same time. When checking valves I also remove the radiator, back flush it with clean water then replace the coolant. See my tutorial DL650 Valve Check & Adjustment if you want to learn how to do this yourself. I checked and adjusted valves at 17,500km, since then they haven’t moved and are still in spec at 100,000km. I can do a complete service on the bike – plugs, oil filter, air filter, oil change, valve check (not adjustment), coolant change, brake fluid change, general grease and adjust – in around 3.5hrs, this includes removal/replacement of all plastics. I’ve always used genuine Suzuki air and oil filters, Spectro 10/40 mineral oil and NGK CR8E plugs. The fuel consumption has gone up marginally as the mileage has increased but I’d put this down more to ‘enjoyable’ riding on my part rather than engine wear. I can’t really explain this variation other than the usual factors such as speed, riding style, weathers conditions all playing their part. The consumption has varied with each tankful ranging from a low of 3.76 to a high of 5.27 lt/100km. The bike has averaged 4.52 liters/100km (62.5 mpg UK, 52mpg US) over the last 95,000km. ![]()
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