I am going to put in different battery this yr, a lithium one. The hog virates so much the connection to the terminals aer always lose.

it's the cost of owning a hog i guess.

Question about brake pads. ‘05 gsxr 600. Doing a full brake refresh. Already have spare calipers I’ll rebuild. Ordered new levers, braided lines and rotors front/back. But I’m not quite sure what to do for pads.

I’m not an aggressive rider, but I’m no slouch on the s2s TT. Not planning to track, but I’d like to keep the option open. If i doubt I’ll go back to OEM Suzuki pads. One of my biggest worries is consistency. Bike has no tcs or abs. I’d like a pad that once warmed up a bit will feel the same when I pull that lever. What I don’t want is a massive difference between cold and hot bite points.

You can't go wrong with OEM pads, what didn't you like about them?

They were fine. Just replacing them due to age, and I’m refreshing the rest of the system. If you look online everyone has a different opinion, but it seems pretty unanimous that the gsxr pads heat fade pretty bad. Though I’m not blasting around a track.

For track I run Galfer + High temp brake fluid.

For your regular HWY cruising OEM is fine, but I still run Galfer. S2S is to open to heat up your brakes to notice any fade.

Who are you guys insuring with this year?

I'm usually go through Beacon for my extra insurance, but I just noticed Guardian offers $2500 on replacement gear while Beacon only covers $1000.

Since I'm looking at two bikes, I'm wondering if you guys deal with any other providers?

Been fucking busy with work and moving but parts slowly coming in. Got my new front and rear rotors. Did a quick respray of the wheels and got the new pilot powers installed with 90° metal valve stems. First time it’s been off the stands in at least 2 years

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As you can see from that last picture the stanchion has some spot surface rust and the fork seals look dried out, so that will have to be sent in for a service. Probably never been done before so should also take the rear in too

Also the rear of the parts started trickling in. Brake lines, levers, rear sets, solo seat cowl. Still waiting for my fairings.

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Now with the borders closed I guess I can’t pick anything else up for a while. Still have to order new mirrors, spools/sliders, chain/sprocket, brake pads and a few other misc things.

So I have a 2005 gsxr 1000 header to swap on. There are about 6 model years 1k’s that you can swap onto the 600/750. The 1K is titanium from factory and larger than the stainless stoc k ones. Cheap mod to lighten the bike up a bit.

I sourced one years ago that’s been in storage. I dug it out for the move and started cleaning it up. Just using some wd40 on a scotch brite pad and it seemed to do well. Didn’t spend too much time on it just in case it didn’t work. Needs to be gone through again and some sand paper on the welds and corners

Before
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After 1 session of cleaning
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And that’s where I’m going to stop with that exhaust. I will sell it and get rid of it.... because I scored a brand new in box NOS exhaust system. A Sato exhaust from Japan. The jdm news print in the box is from 2003. Full titanium exhaust (headers + midpipe) and full carbon slip on. Finding brand new titanium exhausts for a 15 year old bike for an insane price is just fate.

Not 100% sure if I will run the carbon can or pick up something like the SC Progect GP can

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selling my suit
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rds...095612255.html

ordering parts has slowed way down due to the border being closed, but i kept up the work.

now that we have some nice warm sunny days, i wheeled the bike out and gave it a bath. it was extremely dirty and covered in cobwebs from the years of storage. foamed it and went at it with a large paint brush to get it more manageable. i did notice a shocking amount of spider poop though. those pesky white marks can mostly be hidden, but in a few places its super obvious... not sure what to do about it

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...65ebd944_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ddb331be_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr
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got it back on the stands and out of curiosity popped the airbox. there was a bunch of oil inside the box and some on the filter. the butterflies were clean as hell. a friend tipped my bike over when he borrowed it years ago and after that i just brought it home and stored it. so im thinking it was oil that traveled up the PCV system. i'll clean it out and regularly inspect when its up a running.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...dabe80a0_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9cb2d0e5_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

that night i started tearing down the spare calipers i had. the rear was near new, even the bleed screws were still nickle plated. but i was not happy with the front calipers. they had different brand pads, they were dirty and gross, and even had different size pistons, so clearly they are not from the same bike. :/

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...064d190b_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr
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so i put them aside and kept tearing down the bike. pulled out the fork tubes and that was pretty pain free. took off the headers/exhaust. i planned ahead and soaked the bolts in PB blaster a few times over the day to give me a fighting chance. once they broke loose i could undo them with the fingers. very surprised with that.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e39c16b7_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr
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i pulled all the brakes and lines off the bike. all went smooth, but the rear was disgusting. i dont think the brakes have ever had a fluid swap in its life. the sludge that came out of the line smelled vile... so at this point i went to princess auto and just bought a parts cleaner. ended up tearing down those calipers too and cleaned them all up. should have bought one of these years ago.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1c08f697_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...158597a6_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5e5038e5_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

to be continued.

got the ohlins steering damper installed. shame the fairings are going to hide it.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...70c231d1_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

then decided to install the titanium exhaust fit was amazing, and actually takes a slightly different route than OEM

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7b487d71_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cae6c4f9_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

after that last shot i noticed just how oily the underside of the motor was. covered the headers in plastic and went at it with a brush and brake kleen. after that i got the rear shock out. drained the oil, put on a new oem suzuki filter and also drained the coolant. oil was dark but very clean. no chunks, no water. the magnet on the drain plug was clean

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...815cf14b_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4a48a3e7_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

then installed the new rearsets. damn what a 3d puzzle. come disassembled and no instructions, but it was enjoyable to build. then put in the new levers.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bcd7cf01_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...43acaaf7_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cb48a395_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

thats pretty much everything i can do on the bike until parts start coming in. went back inside and cleaned up some of the wiring for aftermarket signals and such. put on some fresh solder and heat shrink.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6691526f_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

Must be nice to know how to wrench. I am jealous


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with the invention of youtube, theres almost no excuse to learn and try (same applies for cooking). that being said even though a motorcycle is often easier to work on than a car, the fact that *if a single thing fails* you could potentially die.

but yeah, great time to start working on a project and practice! stuck inside anyways

Any feedback on the steering damper? Pros/cons/why you got it etc? Been curious about getting a steering damper for my bikes, but end up selling them before I can even buy them. I think I'll be holding on to my Monster for a while, so I may highly consider it based on your feedback.

@racerman88 - Adding to 320icar's point about wrenching, the tolerances on motorcycles are a lot tighter than say opposed to a car, so yes, not paying attention to repair specifications could lead to one's ultimate demise lol :D I wrench when/where I can, but if it involves specialized tools and/or experience/training, I leave that to the professionals.

I personally suck at wrenching so I let the professionals do most of the work. Lol


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99.9% crime of opportunity, 0.01% I actually need it. My bike has ~22000km on it and was worn out a bit, and I got it at 30% the cost of new (and it was brand new) so I jumped on it

How are you going to repair the stanchions or front forks? Is the chrome pitted or is it porous? Is it worthwhile to get them rechromed or just buy new ones?

Extremely surface. Going to take them in to RMR suspension in Abbotsford when the time comes. Still trying to figure out what to do for specs though so time will tell

#jelly

P.S. - Had good experience with suspension work @ RMR. Good shop. Just far lol

I went with Guardian this year, I have heard of a few guys that had good feedback from them when their bikes got stolen on a road trip and they covered all their gear. Also, there was no additional cost for me to have Business use added to my policy and the policy is good for 12 months, including storage insurance.

I've always insured through Beacon, but didn't know about Gaurdian. Any referrals to an agent who sells Gaurdian? (Thanks in advance.)

I used Westland in Squamish, but they have other offices in the city.

Thanks, Zedbra. I see they've got an online portal for a quote. I'll consider them for my 2021 renewal as I've already committed for the full year through Beacon.

You guys getting out much? I've already put on over 10k this season already; was over on the Island the other day and there is some great riding over there. I wish it was hotter for my family to enjoy summer, but these temps are perfect for riding and not scorching.

Any recommendations for companies to order bodywork from?
No luck finding OEM replacement or for a decent price.
China plastics I have seen look good from a distance but there are gaps when up close.


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