Winter Updates

[the_Journeyman]

So, winter is coming, a lot more weekends that aren't good for riding.  So, I'm thinking about a few things to freshen up my M750

Bike:  1999 Monster 750 Dark (no longer painted with dark, but it still has the non-adjustable suspension from the dark.)

Item #1
Front brakes are pretty much OEM aside from pads.  After an incident on a very steep twisty road, I'm needing a little improvement.  The single disc brake has plenty of stopping power, but gets hot.  I had good brakes, but suddenly two turns later, nothing from the front.  They cooled down and worked fine after that.  I did flush & bleed when I got home though.  However, I don't really want to repeat that incident.

I'm thinking I should replace the rubber with braided lines, and when I do, go to a higher temp fluid.  I'm just using basic DOT 3 or 4 from the auto parts store.


Item #2
Frame touch up.  Due to a loose battery drain hose and a leaking battery, I have paint damage and corrosion on the left side of the frame.  I'm wanting to touch it up so at least the metal is protected and it look halfway decent.  I'm decent with a rattle can, and I was thinking of lightly sanding the affected areas and hitting then with a black metallic.  With it's proximity to the engine and heat, I suppose I should look for a paint with a decent heat tolerance?  I plan on covering the engine & masking off surrounding areas I don't want the paint on while I'm doing it.  Keep in mind, this is temporary as I'm not wanting to strip the whole bike down just to touch up the frame.

Item #3
Suspension.  I don't think there is much I can do on the cheap I've not already done.

Front:  It's got the non-adjustable Marzoochi forks.  Currently, they've got heavier springs, heavier oil, and some pre-load shimming.  Aside from replacement, is there much to be done?  Also, are there any "drop-in" fork replacements from similar models that are better or more adjustable?  I'm not wanting to change out the whole front end (triples and all) unless it's necessary.  I would rather just be able to slide the old fork legs out and slide some new fork legs in and bolt back up.

Rear:  Sachs (I think) with only the damping adjustment and pre-load adjustment.  It's been resprung, but nothing more.  Any thing I can do there for not a huge amount of cash?  Any drop-in replacements from other models that are better?

That's all I can think of for now.

JM

[Speeddog]

1) Braided lines will give you a firmer lever.
Higher temp rating fluid can help, but needs to be renewed more often as it's more hygroscopic.
Jeff Gehrs at BrakeTech recommended a particular fluid when I asked him that question. Long time ago, I've forgotten which fluid it was.

Check the thickness on your disc, many of the single disc bikes I get in are under spec.
Jeff makes some very nice rotors.
You can get brand new Snowflake rotors for pretty low money.

Some pad materials conduct more heat into the caliper.
I'd ask Jeff about that as well.

2) That sounds like a good plan.

3) Both the adjustable and non-adjustable Showas can be re-valved to perform well.
Carefully inspect any of the ones you may purchase for pitted chrome.

Some M900's came with a fully adjustable Ohlins shock, try to get the reservoir bracket with it. Ohlins has a moderately priced single-adjust shock, not sure if they make one for the gen 1 bikes.

[the_Journeyman]

Thanks for the input!  I'm attempting to not spend a fortune, but do need to do some little things here and there.

JM

[Slide Panda]

Ohlins makes a model that fits the hoop Monsters. It's a little different than the one that came on the 2000 900S only in that it has a longer hose and comes with rubber blocks + hose clamps to attach it to the frame. The 900S version has a pretty short hose, and has a separate stamped sheet bracket to support the reservoir  can.

If I recall correctly, it's about $800 for a BNIB version of that shock for Ohlins USA

As speed dog mentions, I bet that better fluid, pads and possibly rotor will do for you on the front brake. I've been running the Motul BRF 600 on my Sumo that I take to the track which has a single 320mm rotor. Though it goes to a tight course it's still a road course (summit points Shenandoah course) and I push that brake pretty hard - like Ow ow ow make the beast with two backs that's hot hard (what happens when you accidently touch the edge of the rotor when checking hot tire temps fresh from the track). For a vague sense of scale, that bike on *that* track I'm running in the top of the intermediates.

If you rotor still has enough meat to it - a bottle of posh fluid and set of nice pads will probably run you $70-80 as an off the cuff guess.