Archive for Servicing
12,000 mile service
Posted by: | CommentsI’m looking at the weather forecasts with a somewhat nervous eye at the moment. I have booked a 12,000 mile service for the Goldwing at Doble’s on Wednesday and there is a possibility of snow that day according to a couple of the forecast sites I use. Another says nothing about snow, so as usual, “You pays your money and takes your choice”. Of course, I paid no money to any of these sites, so can’t really complain if their prognostications are wrong. Either way, I am not a fan of riding in snow.
Doble’s unfortunately don’t operate on quite that principle – a service for free - and as the 12,000 mile service is a major one for the Wing, I can expect a big bill 
However, I see from a recent flyer that they are offering 25% discount on everything apart from bikes over the coming weekend. The trouble is I don’t really need anything from them at present and a 25% discount isn’t enough to persuade me to buy stuff that I don’t need. Although, having said that, there is quite a decent range of Honda branded clothing (Joe Rocket stuff in actuality) that includes a Goldwing jacket that would look better on the bike than the BMW Rallye 2 Pro jacket I often wear..
F800 Updates
Posted by: | CommentsI took the BMW over to South London Motorrad yesterday for a set of factory mandated checks and updates. These involved re-routing the ABS connections, checking various fasteners on the brakes, replacing the fuel pressure sensor and a software update.
Not unnaturally, I have not noticed any difference as the bike was running fine beforehand anyway. What I did notice was just how different the 650 GS loan bike I used felt (I had to leave my bike there for most of the day, and I needed transport). It seemed very low in the seat, rather underpowered, or at least lacking in the torque department and contrary to my expectations, the steering seemed very slow and the bike reluctant to tip in at corners. I didn`t check the tyres closely but they were road tyres, not TKC`s like mine – how much and what kind of difference this makes, I don`t know. I do know that I vastly preferred my own bike to the 650. Perhaps this had more to do with familiarity than anything else but the difference surprised me, I had thought the two bikes would feel much the same.
The weather was absolutely dreary and in the morning, cold with it. The heated hand grips are great but particularly my thumbs get cold even with them on. I guess it`s time to don winter wear.
8000 mile service and new tyres
Posted by: | CommentsOn the Goldwing that is. I bought it just a year ago when I started this blog and it has performed beautifully during the time since then but I guess part of that is getting it serviced regularly and so I took it into Doble’s yesterday for the scheduled service. I reckon a 4000 mile service interval is pretty horrendous in this day and age but subtracting the tyre costs left me with what I thought a reasonable bill for a major service.
8000 miles isn’t a huge amount for a year’s biking but to that I must add the mileage of my two foreign trips on other bikes (Patagonia 2700 miles, Italy at 1800 miles and a further 1000 miles for the GS) and we end up with a respectable total of 13,500 miles for the year. Not surprising that my woodwork has taken a back seat!
Weird Weather!
Posted by: | CommentsThis was the scene chez moi last Sunday before the snow really came down and the bike went back into the garage! Since then we have had a couple of lovely days and I rode both bikes (on separate days! 
)
Tomorrow I am taking the bike to South London Motorcycles to get a set of knobblies fitted as on Saturday I shall be doing a bit of greenlaning – provided that the snow doesn’t come back in earnest..
I have ordered a set of tyre irons and a bead buddy – still neeed a bead breaker probably and a couple of other things, so I can change the tyres back and forth as I need. This is the best site I have found with advice on changing tyres on wheels like mine
4000 Mile Service
Posted by: | CommentsI was early this morning at 21st Moto in Swanley to get this service done – a couple of hundred miles over the 4000 mark but not too bad – it’s basically an oil and filter change plus inspection of brake pads etc. but I wanted to ensure the warranty was not compromised. If it weren’t for this, I would have done it myself. In any event I am now in good shape to head off to the British Treffen in Carmarthen on Thursday and after that for Yorkshire where I have an appointment to get fog lights, rear lights and a GPS wired in to the bike’s electrics – this is a job I definitely would not attempt myself! The problem being that as a UK spec bike with airbag, none of the USA stuff fits and it all has to be spliced into the bike”s harness using made up sub-harnesses. I continue to feel aggrieved that Honda have short-changed the UK market so badly compared with the USA.
Re the GPS, I have decided to get a Garmin 2820 unit fitted as I really do want the ability to pre-program routes etc. on the PC. It is not impossible that some future update of the bike’s system may allow that but neither Garmin nor Honda have promised or said anything at all on that score, meanwhile the bike system is great for simple point to point navigation.
Servicing
Posted by: | CommentsI have a 4000 mile service due. Basically it’s just an oil and filter change and I had intended to do it myself but other Goldwing owners have warned me that I risk my warranty unless a dealer does it and stamps the service book. I really wouldn’t want to compromise the warranty so I am going to get it done by 21st Moto in Swanley – it’s ten days away and I will have rather more than 4k on the clock by then! 21st Moto are a dealer new to me and I shall be interested to see what sort of job they do.
Before I learnt of the potential warranty issue, I had a look at what it involved by removing the lower front cowl. There I discovered that on the 2007 models there is an unhandily placed Bowden cable running right in front of the oil filter (the cable operates the foot warmer vents) and it would need to be (re)moved to have enough room to remove the oil filter. I stopped at this point but it seems a bit daft to route the cable like this.
YeeHaa!
Posted by: | CommentsWell, I got the service done and without getting wet – which considering the forecast was a minor triumph. Now I am all set to do some serious riding except that the next few days are taken up with various obligations that will prevent me from getting on the bike at all. I got the dealer to fit an Optimate charging lead during the service, this should ensure that even when I am not able to ride the bike for a few days, I will be able to keep the battery in good condition.
Another maintenance thing I want to do is to apply the tankslapper vinyl I ordered and have now received, to the areas of the paintwork likely to get scratched. One such area is the engine cover just above the brake pedal where the leg zip of my Roadcrafter suit seems to rub.
Six Hundred Mile Service tomorrow!
Posted by: | CommentsI did a few miles in some rare sunshine yesterday but limited by the need not to go much over the recommended 600 miles before the first service – I don’t wish to vitiate the warranty by ignoring the service recommendations!
So – it’s off to Doble’s bright and early tomorrow morning where I shall then spend an hour and half waiting for the bike to get done. As I live some distance from the dealer’s it is better to wait and collect the bike there and then rather than making my way back home, only to jump in a cab back to Doble’s. They do have courtesy bikes but there isn’t one available tomorrow.
After that, I look forward to a few days of decent weather so that I can head off for the Yorkshire moors and dales to really stretch the Wing”s legs..
Add-Ons
Posted by: | CommentsEven before I have taken delivery of the bike, I have ordered a couple of things I am pretty sure I will know I want for it. The first of these is some protection for the new paintwork in the form of clear plastic patches to be applied to areas that get scuffed, such as the sides of the tank and corners of the trunk. I am getting these from The Tankslapper – although why they chose such a name I don”t know, I only ever had one and it was a really horrible experience.
I have also ordered a set of DVDs on maintaining the bike from Fred Harmon. I am not much f a home maintainer these days if the truth be told and I don”t want to sepnd a lot of time on it but eading various forum posts it seems likely that I shall want to understand a but of what goes on under the skin, even if only to add a bit of farkle here and there.