maintenance (how far do you stretch it)

[He Man]

I checked my logs today because i recently did an oil/spark plug change.

Oil change:
Royal Purple 5w-40 9000 miles since last change

Spark Plugs:
15,000 miles (i did not mention in my log that i changed it at the 18,000, if i did, then the plugs only ran for 8,000 miles, i cant honestly remember)

Pilot Road 2ct Rear tire
15,788 miles on my tire (its flat as a pancake but the cords are not showing yet!) and ive got according to my records, 4 patches in my tire. 

Talk about stretching the maintenance.

How far have you guys stretched it?

[rata911]

Pilot Road 2ct Rear tire
15,788 miles on my tire (its flat as a pancake but the cords are not showing yet!) and ive got according to my records, 4 patches in my tire. 

No way.
Half of that, tops. But ~16k miles on one tire, even on a long-lasting Pilot Road 2... I don't buy it.

[He Man]

Its the truth. I rode out with El Matador on the same tire 2 years ago when my bike was at 14k. Put the tire on at 10kish, now at 26k

The road conditions really do make up for it. NYC roads have very smooth surfaces because so many cars drive over it. Plus ive put on over 6,000 mles riding in weather under 40degrees and half of that was probably in the rain which drastically reduces wear anyway.

[rata911]

If you say so.
Even if your roads are indeed tire-friendly and you've just been riding under perfect tire-life circumstances - that's massive. And impressive  
16,000 miles equals 25,750 kms. I'm using the Road2 as well and I consider myself lucky if I achieve about a FOURTH of that mileage, err kilometrage.  [moto]

[rata911]

Speaking of maintenance... how often do you change your timing belts? Or do just flip them over / turn them inside out and use them again? 

[Langanobob]

He  Man,

Thinking that the original owner of my 650 Elefant had changed the belts I waited until about 26,000 miles to change them, only to find out the first owner had never changed them.

I had a friend, a very competent tech and Ducati dealer who changed the belts on his 500 Pantah exactly twice in 25 years.  His view was that it's miles, not time, that necessitates belt changes and he clearly did not believe the story that belts will stiffen and crack if not changed every two years even when the bike is rarely ridden.

Bob

[booger]

I changed my belts after 2 years, around 7k miles. There wasn't much difference between them and the new ones. Could have run them a lot longer but I'd already bought the new belts so off they went. 

If you put 9k on Royal Purple, you're probably OK since it's a premium oil and you run a dry clutch. Wet clutches soil the oil fast. My wet clutch bike gets the oil changed every 3500 with some premium brand, whatever's readily available. A friend gave me a case of Yamalube ester-based fully synthetic that I'm still using up.

I don't change the plugs until they're worn. If merely fouled or dirty I throw them into an ultrasonic cleaner and reuse them.

I put 9k on a set of Pirelli Diablos once, threads were showing.

[bikepilot]

I've gone past 20k miles on tires twice now (both avon sport touring tires). Neither was to the wear indicators when I replaced them.  ST tires last quite nicely and last really long if most of your riding is in cold weather I find.

[ducpainter]

I've gone 4 years on OEM kevlar belts. My bike had 4 year old OEM non kevlar belts in it when I bought it.

The kevlar belts were, believe it or not, more like plastic than rubber at that point. They didn't have any cracks. The non kevlar belts were still soft and pliable.

[He Man]

Why do we change spark plugs anyway? They just spark and as long as there is the right distance between the electrodes then it should be okay right?

They sell spark plug cleaners and you can do it by hand so im assuming they dont break in anyway, they just get dirty.

[ducpainter]

Why do we change spark plugs anyway? They just spark and as long as there is the right distance between the electrodes then it should be okay right?

They sell spark plug cleaners and you can do it by hand so im assuming they dont break in anyway, they just get dirty.

The electrodes do erode over time.

[mooshichoctaw]

this all makes me feel a lot better about myself. leaving your bike outside uncovered all winter is kind of like cryogenically freezing it... right?

[J5]

Why do we change spark plugs anyway? They just spark and as long as there is the right distance between the electrodes then it should be okay right?

They sell spark plug cleaners and you can do it by hand so im assuming they dont break in anyway, they just get dirty.

over time plugs req more voltage to fire correctly so dont work as well as they once did

how long does it take ? dunno

[Howie]

over time plugs req more voltage to fire correctly so dont work as well as they once did

how long does it take ? dunno

Used to be about .001"/1000 miles.  Fuel injection and better electrode materials have reduced wear greatly over the years though.  The insulation also goes over time.  Cleaning plugs?  Except first aid situations, IMO, a little like rinsing out your toilet paper so you can reuse it.

Back to maintenance intervals.  This is preventative maintenance, which means changing parts fluids and making adjustments before the end of the service life to avoid problems.  Yes, your belts might last 3, 4 or even 8 years, but I would hate to be stuck on the road in Kansas in cell phone dead zone with smashed valves because I didn't want to change my belts at 12,000 miles.  

[Speeddog]

~37k miles on these OEM Champions.