Haven't posted for a while... been helping a lot of people lately even a forum member who is living in the far north where nobody wants to ship to anymore! Right Lovinmycbr!
But sit back and grab some popcorn cause I got a story to tell!
Loved the Quad-lock wireless waterproof phone charger so much that I put one on my wing now too. My truck also has a Quad-lock wireless charger in it now.
So I have a 23 yr old son and he acts his age... He lives in SE Idaho 90 miles from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
I gave him my ST1300 as a wedding present.
They use it and he thought he could go 400 miles round trip on a pretty bald rear tire last August. (Like I used to do and think at 23) He made it 100. Pulled into a spot where you can look at the Buffalo. He got back with a trailer and he moved it up to the trailer and put the sidestand down. 5 steps away and he hears a crash. The bike had tipped over completely on its right side. He gets it home. Smashed mirror and plastic housing, scraped up side bag.
So it sits... I shipped two tires to his place. I planned on being there for Thanksgiving and I would change the tires with my NoMar tire changer that mounts in my hitch... but then my 17 yr old sons football team had the audacity to keep winning in the High School football playoffs! They won state... on Thanksgiving weekend. So I never made it to Idaho. So to surprise the 23 yr old I call the dealer 1 mile from his apartment... Rexburg Power Sports. I recommend you don't go there... here is why.
They come pick up the bike and I tell them to give it an oil change, put the tires on and fix the mirror. How much to bleed the clutch... $75. Ok, don't bleed it. He got air in it when it was on its side as the clutch wasn't working.
So they do that and with parts and labor I figured $800 to $900. Nope $1275!
I ask how... Oh, it needed a battery so that was $70 and $90 to put it in! Now it's only three easy accessed bolts to remove the side panel and the battery is right there. Wow! Then it gets delivered back to him. He tries to take the battery out and he can't get 2 of those three bolts out. Should be about 6# of torque on those... hand Allen wrench, nope, socket Allen wrench, nope... small electric impact with Allen socket... yep stripped out the head. He calls me and I called the dealer and tell them to fix the problem they created. So they did and the bike is back. My son said the bolts looked different... Send me a picture! Sure nuff, two stainless cap bolts with washers so it would hold the panel... and the heads were two different sizes to boot! What! Now I was irritated that they replaced a battery without telling and then charged me 90 dollars. This was to much. I get on the phone and talk to the service manager and he doesn't understand why his guys would do that... Neither do I, now order correct OEM bolts with a shoulder. Please send me an email with the itemized bill too. Okay, he does, a week later no call about the bolts. Meanwhile I find they charged me for bleeding the clutch which they never did and every line item has a $5 charge for shop supplies and the environment. I know they didn't bleed the clutch because I sent my son a full set of speed bleeders and he bled the clutch and sludge came out the first two pumps. Then dirty fluid.
They said the fork seals needed replacing and the Clutch Master cylinder needed a rebuild. How much? $450 for the forks and $215 for the clutch. Nope, don't touch it.
I'd had enough so I hopped on my wing in Illinois and rode it out there in two days. Visited for a day then rode the ST back home in 2.5 days. I began wondering... WHY did I ever give this sweet bike away!
I got out there and I stopped by the shop and they had the bolts but never called. I had them reimburse me for the clutch bleed which they did after I told them they didn't because sludge shouldn't have come out of the slave cylinder and then dirty fluid. They said... oh, and gave me the refund.
Working every night after work for a week and a half the following has been accomplished.
Oh my goodness the forks were puking oil and had been for a while... everything was coated in a layer of grime and grunge. So I cleaned the forks, calipers, every body panel came off and was cleaned. Engine scrubbed and cleaned, two large connectors got sprayed down with contact cleaner, the front wheel was disassembled and the rotors were bathed in Brakleen, the rim in Simple Green and then reassembled. Every bolt had to be cleaned as I took it off or put it on. The grime up front on the forks and calipers was at least 1/8" thick or more. Once I got it cleaned and that took a while...
-Forks rebuilt and springs replaced with Traxxion Dynamics Spring kit.
- New Stock brake pads
- Clutch Master cylinder rebuilt and bled/flushed, speed bleeder in place.
- brake system flushed and bled. All bleeders replaced with speed bleeders.
- batteries replaced on the TPMS
- removed, cleaned the K&N air filter and installed it.
- Coolant changed out and engine burped of air.
- removed an old radar detector power source. Put liquid electrical tape on the wire where the tap had been. When it dried I wrapped the wire and bundle.
- tried chasing the parasitic draw on the battery. Couldn't find any. Removed the negative lead and put my voltmeter to amps and then connected it between the post and the negative lead or the two other things connected to the battery. Nothing, so I swapped to the positive post and reconnected everything on the negative post. Still nothing! Anyone know a better way?
I did leave the negative lead unattached over night and checked the battery the next day... and it was down to 12.5 V???
Maybe just a cheap bad battery???
- had two extra keys made. I will keep one of them for emergencies.
- oiled the side and center stands. Both much better.
- lubed all locks and hinges/pivot points.
- lubed the secondary master cylinder pivot point bearings and the pivot bolt and bushing.
- lubed the clutch lever pivot bolt and replaced the bushing.
- lubed the brake lever pivot points and oriented the lever angle a bit to make it easier to grab.
- and cleaned and cleaned. I did mention I cleaned a lot, didn't I?
- now trying to put some Goldwing rear crash/tip over bars on it to prevent messed up bags or worse the next time it gets dropped... you know it will happen!
My new to me Aluma MC10 trailer just got new tires. Now to take the old chock out and put my beloved Condor Chock on it!
