Bringing the beast back to life

Cionn

I am ashamed to admit it but I have not been on my bike since May last year. With the recent spell of good weather I plan to bring her back to life and get her into daily use.

Can someone advise me as to what I need to check before I bring her back on the road.

I know the battery will be dead, I have a charger so I will give that a go to see if that breaths life into it. If not I'll have to bite the bullet and get a new one.

The bike is a 2006 f800st so hopefully hasn't been damaged by the lask of use she's been garages the whole time.


All advice appreciated.

Cionn

JohnnyCrash

Cionn wrote: »

I am ashamed to admit it but I have not been on my bike since May last year. With the recent spell of good weather I plan to bring her back to life and get her into daily use.

Can someone advise me as to what I need to check before I bring her back on the road.

I know the battery will be dead, I have a charger so I will give that a go to see if that breaths life into it. If not I'll have to bite the bullet and get a new one.

The bike is a 2006 f800st so hopefully hasn't been damaged by the lask of use she's been garages the whole time.


All advice appreciated.

Cionn

Id be checking oil and fluid levels,tyre pressures,chain for lube etc.. All the things you would have/should have been checking whilst the bike was in use. Otherwise should be grand;)P.s. Even if i hadnt been on the bike for only a few days,id always give her a start,keeps everything in circulation

Cionn

Thanks or the reply my two big fears are contaminated petrol and brake fluid levels.

Is it easy to replace brake fluid or is it a mechanic's job?

I like using brakes, in fact I use them all the time when on my bike therefore I am concerned that they continue to operate when I get back in the saddle.

C

seanybiker

Simple to do.


Didn't read this link but its so simple they hardly got it wrong lol
http://www.ehow.com/i/#article_4810862

Wossack

as above

paying particular attention to tyres and petrol

Cionn

Ok thanks I can syphon out most of the petrol and give the gyres the once over. They were in pretty good condition when I last looked, there should be a good few miles left on them.

I was going to change the brake fluid, can anyone tell me the best place to buy a brake bleeding kit and brake fluid either in Dublin city or on the north side of Dublin .

Again thanks for the reply's

C

Del2005

Halfrauds. Never used it so don't know how good it is. But bleeding brakes is simple enough, just tedious, so can't be too bad.

Antiquo

Cionn wrote: »

I am ashamed to admit it but I have not been on my bike since May last year.
Can someone advise me as to what I need to check before I bring her back on the road.

As above tyres, all fluids and because the bike has not been used since last year go for a half hour run then change the oil and filter. The petrol in the tank is most likely gassed out most of its octane so yes remove and fill with fresh. Oil, grease and make sure all switches, bulbs are OK inc stop/cut off sw.

Cionn wrote: »

Is it easy to replace brake fluid or is it a mechanic's job?

Cionn wrote: »

I was going to change the brake fluid, can anyone tell me the best place to buy a brake bleeding kit and brake fluid either in Dublin city or on the north side of Dublin

I wouldn't be concerned about the brake fluid (although you're right it does help you to stop ) Unless the brake(s) is spongy it will not suddenly give up on you. Just check that none of the pistons have seized on the brake caliper which can sometimes occur when left lying up.

If you do need to change it then any motor factor will be able to supply it. I have a few bikes on and off road so bleeding brakes is a common enough exercise. It can be and usually is a pain in the ar$e on your own so I got a vacuum bleeder years ago for about €20 makes life so much easier on your own. Up to you but if you used it more than once it would be worth it IMO.

Similar to this one and use like this. TBH the Halfrauds bottle with the one way valve will break your heart as air inevitably gets in behind the nipple as soon as you crack it open.

One thing I would definitely do is take it easy for the first few miles especially at slow speed it takes a day or so to get used to being back on the bike. Also you may not have noticed it too much from the car but the roads are in bloody bits .

E.G. There are a cluster of manhole covers on the old Swords Road at the junction to Crown Plaza both sides of which are dirty great pot holes which would swallow a front bike wheel quite nicely if you happened to be looking at the floosey on the push bike instead of looking where you were going

Cionn

I just thought I would give an update as to how I got on today.

Well the battery was toast so I put a new one in. I tried to charge up the old one but my charger was bust, I had a choice get a new charger €40 - €50 and see if i can breath life into the old battery or just get a new one for €75, I went with the new battery option.

I bled the front brakes, and it was grand, youtube is a great source of information when you haven't an idea. I got a kit with a bottle from Halfords, which although didn't fit the front resovoir the bits it had in the box were grand to do the job.

I did stop one problem in that I am leaking oil from the Heat Exchange unit. Here's a picture


You can see the oil leak here


So from what I can gather, the heat exchange unit works to heat the oil, and cool the engine. There is a seal behind the "sardine box/unit" that connects the pipes to the unit. It is my belief that this is what has given up the ghost.



There are still a number of jobs to do in no order of importance:
Replace seal on heat exchange unit
Change oil
replace coolant
grease up steering and other moving parts
clean the beast from top to toe
Bleed back brakes

Tomorrow I reckon I will get to do the following to keep me on the road until I get the part I need.

grease up steering and other moving parts
clean the beast from top to toe
Bleed back brakes
Top up oil
top up coolant

If anyone has changed a heat exchange unit I would appreciate it if they could let me know if that is a mechanic job or not, I am willing to give it a go once it is straight forward.

I am not going to change the oil until get the seal sorted as I reckon I will have to change the oil when I am doing that job anyway, I don't want to chuck €45 of oil down the drain.

I will keep this updated with how I bring the beast back to its former glory, cheers all.

C