I get down and dirty. Don't go there, dirtbag, I went to a basic maintenance seminar for my bike.

I'm trying to make this blog in order chronologically or at least have some sort of methodology…I FAILED. Oh, well.

WHY AM I INTERESTED IN THIS STUFF?
* I want to know what I'm driving, all the ins and outs of what it needs to be driven
* Want to talk halfway understandibly about parts, tools, crap that can go wrong, etc
* Save money by doing it myself, i.e. I take a hair under 3 qts with the filter in-I don't want someone charging me for 4 to 'just make sure' because all the other larger V-Stars take 3.2!
*I LIKE doing things with my hands and feeling empowered and the satisfaction of doing it myself.
*I'm not afraid of looking around my bike because I clean as many spots as I can, but I'd like to be able to take off more parts and clean under there before it gets REALLY grody.
*I DO have a fear, however-the fear that my bike will fall over when I'm on that side, even though the sidestand would be holding it up

QUESTION: has ANYONE looked at their owners' manual at the page that has the period maintenance and minor repair info??? GMAB! It's almost all 'starred' meaning that it is recommended that a Yamaha dealer perform an airfilter element cleaning???

This seminar was offered thru Women on Wheels, Spiritrider OC chapter and happened at Bob Taylor Motors 17662 Metzler Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 (714) 841-5522, great place, techs are extremely knowledgeable about most bikes and treated us wonderfully. Cost was only a $5 donation plus WOW had a BBQ.
Before the event I got anal and looked up how to do it, what tools are needed, etc. BUT looking stuff up, reading it, even eyeballing pictures just isn't the same as physically getting in there, getting’ dirty and doing it. I familiarized myself with nomenclature, i.e. names of the parts, names of the tools, names of the areas of the bike and what they do.

To the left, Christine from Women on Wheels is just getting thru with her bike. This is the shop where all the action took place.

I read the some of the manual directly pertaining to this seminar and even printed out the parts with the oil change and air filter, because you never know if the mechanic who is helping you knows specifically about Yamaha cruisers; Justin the tech at BobTaylor Motors had me check the manual pages I had print out and check my info. HE KNEW, but he wanted to make sure I KNEW.

Barry helped me a bit on the tools (they said bring tools, but turns out I didn't need to), but I brought some wrong ones-the long-handled allen wrench set that he gave me didn't fit, even though they were metric. I needed 4 and 5 size allen wrenches, and he had 4.5 and 5.5. Weird.

We measured out the oil I'd need (it was confusing since the manual said 3.0 with filter, but 3.2 total) and put the oil into a 5 qt container. It was easier to carry in my old workout bag and that spider bungee came in HANDY! Yes, I can put it on myself, Mr. W, it's not a 2-person job. So there.

It wasn't all women there, some guys came by also.

I checked my specs and it said 10-40 was perfectly fine, could use 20-40 or even 15-50, but we figured that since The Wrench used 10-40 on Bub's bike, why not with my bike.

Got an oil filter and a crush washer from a local dealer, $12 total. Barry's lucky in that he has that conversion kit for his 1100 and so can us a regular canister oil filter from WalMart. BTW, this is from Gregg Tchick-
Crush" washers "crush" and seal the drain bolt against the case. When you tighten up the drain plug the washer flattens out and seals. Keeps oil from leaking and also keeps the drain plug from loosing up. They should be replaced every time. Thanks, Greggy!!!

STUFF I NEEDED (for the seminar)

-Metric ratchet tools -they let us use theirs, I guess...what are they? (I probably know by sight, just not by title)
-oil filter wrench (if needed-I didn't need it)
-oil (I used synthetic 10-40)
-oil filter (gasket comes with it-mechanic mentioned that the gasket goes on bulgey side up)
-crush washer for the oil drain plug (I believe he said that the flat part goes on the outside and not up against the bolt head, must check
-hand wipes
-shop towels
-latex gloves-I'm glad I brought a lot
-old clothes-I actually DIDN'T get dirty (except for my face-the WOW women took a pic of me, I thought it was because I was so pretty, but it was because I had a streak of dirty and oil across my face like an Indian)

STUFF THAT I WANNA GET/ALREADY HAVE:

-Ball allen wrenches that are long, with a ratchet:
-Some box wrenches (unless Barry has them)
-Locktite 520 (the blue kind, for all the bolts and screws, will explain why later)
-Spray degreaser for the bolts/screws, inside the oil filter area, inside the oil pan covers,and to clean off places where the oil dripped, like pipes, floor boards, stuff
-A telescoping magnet - good for grabbing my inside oil filter element cover's deep screws
-Funnel
-A motorcycle wheel chock to keep my bike upright

QUESTIONS I HAD PRIOR TO SEMINAR

-What else can we do besides oil change?
-Air filter cleaning
-Find out abt. this final drive shaft lubrication
-T-CLOCS, but I'd like someone to physically go over T-CLOCS and show me exactly what some of that stuff means…I don't know where half the bolts and screws ARE to even be able to tighten them or check for screws missing

PROCEDURE FOR SEMINAR

Went thru a small orientation re: how go thru the seminar; we'd do the work ourselves with very little interference by techs. Photo to the right. Above, Lambie is ready for her closeup, Mr. DeMille.

When it was my turn, Justin my tech pushed my bike up onto a lift and put the front wheel into a wheel block then operated the lift to bring my bike up to about waist high.

Got all tools out-allen wrenches, box wrench, oil filter, crush washer, lots of latex gloves, shop towels, degreaser crap, etc.

My bike had been sitting for about 1/2 hour, so it was still warm but not burning up.

I put the oil pan underneath the drain plug, below.

Went to the left side of the bike, put the box wrench around the drain plug, used my weight to 'start' it and noticed that it was a bit of a pain because of limited range of motion to unscrew the bolt underneath, even with the bike on the lift, so had to do it with smaller range of motion (note to self-when I do this in the garage, it's gonna be a pain, lying down next to a slightly-tilted bike. ) Photos above.

Oil sloshed out, surprised me a little (SEE what I mean re: "Doing" vs. "Knowing"? Ya gotta get the hands dirty!!!)

Fished out the drain bolt from the oil pan where I dropped it & changed gloves (not for the last time). Photo to the right.

Cleaned off the drain bolt & placed the crush washer on it. (why do they call it a 'crush washer'?)

ARE CARS THIS FRIKKIN' HARD TO WORK ON???

When the oil was draining, started opening up the outside cover & inside cover of the oil filter element on the right side of the bike.

Below, no, I DIDN'T get my hair in the oil pan, below.

Dropped a screw into the oil pan. Fished it out, changed gloves. Again.

Took out the oil filter, cleaned out the opening, cleaned out the inside of the covers, cleaned the screws with the degreaser.

Went back over to the oil drain plug, made sure all the oil had come out, REPLACED THE OIL DRAIN BOLT, tightened it.
To the right, thar she blows! (not me, the oil, stupid) Above, whatinthehell are YOU lookin' at?

Went back over to the oil filter element, cleaned off all the screws.

Went back over to the oil filter element, started putting things back together. Again, ball allen wrench/ratchet came in handy.

Each time I put each screw back in, put a little blue locktite around the threads.

I had been taught to put the top screw in first, just enough to 'hold' the cover, then put the others in 'snugly', not tight, then go back around to tighten.

Justin told me a trick to check the tightness of an allen screw-when using one of the thin regular allen wrenches, tighten it until the allen wrench very SLIGHTLY 'bows' with the pressure. That's how you know it's tight enough. The Wrench was telling me that most newbies tighten shit too tight (his words).

I put the top cover oil filter element on.

Fished the small allen wrench out of the oil pan & changed gloves. AGAIN.

MOVED the frikkin' oil pan AWAY from me.
Cleaned off everything that oil spilled on; exhaust, outer cover, floorboard, my hands, etc.

OKAY-now I actually remembered that I had to put oil in the engine, so I got the oil and a funnel.

Justin told me to put it in until it covered the view window, which surprised me, but he said that the oil would circulate and the oil would go down. We'd then start it up, see where the oil ended up (was supposed to be between these two maximum and minimum level marks marks at 8 & 10 o'clock) I did so, we did so, it was a-ok.

Then went back over to the right side of the bike and took off the air filter cover. Took out the air filter, Justin said it was in great shape, just bang the outside on the workbench to loosen up some of the stuff in there, then blow it out using the compressor on a low setting, blowing from inside to out.

I guess these things don't have to get replaced very often, just cleaned out. Somewhere I was reading that someone cleaned it in a cleaning liquid, then rinsed it in water, then used the air compressor to dry it. Justin said mine wasn't even close to being dirty.

After all was said and done, Lambie went back to the parking lot and I had a burger. Blew the diet, but it was for a GOOD REASON. I feel SO EMPOWERED NOW.

STUFF I LEARNED WHILE DOING THIS, OR KINDA ALREADY KNEW BUT DIDN'T REMEMBER UNTIL TODAY:

*Good shop habits-clearing the area I'm going to work in of everything except what I'll need
*Having all the tools I need handy vs hunting for them in a tool box with oily hands/gloves
*When taking out screws and bolts, place them in the position that you found them on the unit. A good idea to place them on a white shop towel
*After draining the oil, put the oil drain bolt (with crush washer) on so that you DON'T forget to put it on when you put oil in!
*After draining the oil and putting on the oil drain bolt, MOVE THE OIL PAN. I dropped the oil drain bolt, an allen screw and an allen wrench into it. I think Justin did that on purpose, to see if I'd learn and when I'd finally get the idea to move it. I didn't. He moved it.
*Wipe down all the bolts and screws and inside pieces with degreaser
*Use the BLUE Loctite on the bolts and screws for that add'l seal. It won't dry out and act like crazy glue, but just maintain enough of a seal to avoid leaks and set those bolts and screws more securely. This is especially important because my bike, being a 650, vibrates ALOT. THANKS WRENCH. Your advice noted and now seated in my brain.
*After unscrewing the oil drain plug, the oil WILL be hot, so instead of holding that bolt there, drop it! (Again, THANKS, WRENCH, I DID DROP IT, so I don't feel so badly)
*Bike must be warm in order to change the oil-ensures the most oil comes out. Oil will still be in part of the engine, but you want as much as possible to empty out.
*It will be more of a challenge i.e. HARDER to do it next time because my bike will be on the floor slightly tipped on the side stand, so even less room underneath, plus I'll have to lay on the floor to get to stuff.
*Those longer ball allen wrenches and the ratchet came in handy, because without the use of those for the screws by my floorboard, it would've been a LOT harder to get to those suckers. As it was, I had to move the brake lever up to get to 2 of them on the inside oil filter element cover (yeah, I had two covers, go figure)
*WRITE DOWN everything I do, because I'll have to do it again withOUT a lift, on the floor.
*Write down the date and mileage & keep the info in a folder or with the registration/insurance info on the bike. Put a projected date (based on riding habits, summer, winter, etc) into my PDA. *To get rid of the old oil, we use a gallon milk jug. I don't know what Barry does with the oil, but The Wrench takes it to Jiffy Lube for free. (Again, thanks, Wrench. You ROCK)
*Make sure that one of the areas to wipe down/clean with degreaser is the exhaust pipes, unless you LIKE the smell of burning oil.

MORE STUFF I WANT TO DO / HAVE TO DO/ FIND OUT ABOUT / GOING TO DO SOON:

-Detach my seats, JUST to see what's under there
-Change out the final driveshaft gear oil BUT find out how to drain it since the drain plug isn't, kinda, 'facing downward' , so do you just drain PART of it out? anyone? anyone?
-Adjust the shocks (and understand why I want to! I may not need to, but I want to learn how and why)
-Check my brake pads/shoes and understand when I need to replace them-what to look for
-Understand how and why I may need to adjust my clutch cable
-When, why and how to lubricate the control cables
-What to look for if I do or don't need to lubricate pedal pivot points
-How to replace a fuel filter, if I can do it myself (it's not yet, but it's coming up in December)
-Uh, oh! Looks like I have to replace my spark plugs! Owner's manual says it's time! So now I gotta learn how to gap 'em (SHIT, do we even have a gapper?) PLUS the instructions say that the correct tightness (if I don't have a torque wrench) is 1/4 to 1/2 turn past finger tight-is that ALL???
-What is a swingarm and what does it do? (Yeah I know, Johney, you told me once before, but hey, I'm blonde, remember?)



More to come as I tackle more and more things, and OF COURSE with pictures.