I'm returning from a 10-month deployment to a Monster 695 with about 12,000 miles on it. There was a lot of things I wanted to do to her before leaving but the time got away from me. What do I need to do to her before jumping right back into it? My wife started the bike every other week and it never failed to start right up. I'm thinking check fluids, maybe oil/filter change, check the tires, lube the chain, etc...
Any advice? I have always ran full synthetic oil in it. Thanks in advance
If it's been run every other week there's very little you need to do at all. I'd just check the oil level, check the tyre pressure, give it a bit of a clean (to check for any problems) then go ride it.
Take it for a long ride to evaporate all the water that's collected in the oil due to brief starts. I'll bet it's white in the sight glass. In the future buy a tender, fog cylinders and throw some gas stabilizers and run it through before putting it up. Frequent starts just idling does not allow it to get hot enough to evaporate the water out of the oil that collects in the crankcase as it cools down. Synthetic oil is a good idea. Manufactures put zinc in oil to act as corrosion inhibitors but it eventually get depleted as the zinc reacts with the water. At this point the oil probably has little corrosion inhibiting properties so it would be wise to change it soon.
You about got it. Definitely change the oil. A long ride first or just get the oil warm is a judgment call. Most of the moisture will come out with the oil. I would just warm it up a bit, change the oil and change the oil again at a shorter interval then normal. Add a braked and cluth fluid flush to your to do list. If the timing belts are over two years old, change em.
Thanks guys, will commute m-t-w, then change the fluids on the weekend. I am running a crankcase breather as well, would that make any difference with the amount of moisture I can expect to accumulate in the crankcase?
Quote from: Ranger06 on June 24, 2010, 01:49:16 PM
Thanks guys, will commute m-t-w, then change the fluids on the weekend. I am running a crankcase breather as well, would that make any difference with the amount of moisture I can expect to accumulate in the crankcase?
Do you mean a filter instead of running to the breather box? Either way, the breather is still there (hopefully) so it won't matter. By moisture I assume you mean the famous milky sight glass? Summer is here, so that will go away.