[om28]

Went to hook up a trickle charger and discovered somebody installed a mouse's nest in the storage area under the seat. I was a bit freaked out so I didn't think of getting a pic until after it was cleaned up, sorry. Must say it's my least favorite farkle ever.

Exact thing happened to me one year, the nest was made of pink insulation and the 2 residents were sleeping peacefully until I scared them out of their slumber. I now always take the seat off and bring it inside when I store the bike. This is good for the seat too since the cold temps can lead to the vinyl drying and cracking.

 

[slovcan]

While she's apart again for the driving light and horn wiring I also put in a couple of extended vacuum hoses for the TB Sync that she may need someday (running perfectly at the moment). I see here that people are using 3/16" (4.8mm) so I went and bought a length of 3/16" fuel hose. I always use fuel hose for vacuum - sturdy and will last forever. WELL, 3/16" is too big. It very easily slides onto the vcuum nipples and I really think that will create a vacuum leak. What I did was put a skinny 4" cable tie around the end of the hose a pulled it as tight as I could without tools before putting the hose on the nipples. This made the ID small enough to require needlenose pliers to push them onto the nipples. Now I just need to pick up a couple of 3/16" vacuum caps and put the "TB Sync Rear" and "TB Sync Front" labels on the hoses.

So, note for others - do what I did for the better hose material OR get 5/32" (4mm) hose which is the correct size.

When I took her apart days ago, I saw that the air filter was pretty dirty - mostly debris and bugs. It is still reasonably white and is an original Suzuki filter so I'll blow that out before re-assembly. I don't have any metal fly screen material on hand and not sure the nylon/polyester/whatever mesh I do have will stand the heat, so I'll sort that out the next time.

Seeing she's fully exposed I did spray some Gunk Engine Degreaser everywhere yesterday, let it soak, rinsed and then repeated with Simple Green and a brush and more rinsing. Looks much better now.

Today (or, I should say next) I will plug in the new horn relay, see if I can remember how to put the airbox back on and put the rest of her back together.

 

[DesertBike]

Yep, 5/32" hose works pretty well for the vac extensions Slightly smaller than 4mm, so you get a very snug fit.

I have the colorful Dorman vacuum caps on my vac extensions. The vinyl has held up a lot better than some rubber vac caps I tried before. Those would dry out and crack fairly quickly. I don't think they actually got to the point of leaking, but didn't want to take the chance.

 

[theayn]

Added an SW Motech Evo Tank ring, for use with the City tank bag. The tank bag came with the 07 Yamaha FZ6 I bought in October, and I like the bag enough that I had to add a ring to the Strom. Seems like a much better place to carry small things you want with you than the top case.

 

[slovcan]

I am reassembling mine again. I got the new vacuum hose extensions labelled Front/Rear and cable tied neatly together and in behind the frame out of the way.

I found the Suzuki air filter had lots of crap and dead bugs on it so blew it out from behind and made it mostly white again. Hoping to get a K&N to put in soon.

Lastly, I got the horn relay put in so now she can be buttoned back up.

 

[nvr2old]

Just wrapping up my winter maintenance. 47K and the last one was at 15K. All the valves checked the same as when they were last time(After ck. & adj.) except the LF exhaust .003-4 in. tighter. Reset that one and am going to keep an eye on that by checking sooner. New coolant . 20 mm bar risers(About max without lots of extra work). Changed out air filter. Snowed 4-6 in last night, so a test ride is out for a while.

 

[Bamm-Bamm]

Ordered a set of Heed crash bars for my Vee. They are still in Poland, with no idea how long shipping will take. Good thing I'm not in a hurry.

I've been looking at these. I like the appearance of them, for sure.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[eagleeye]

I walked past mine today--Noticed that it's that it's still there.
My list keeps growing

 

[DesertBike]

I've been looking at these. I like the appearance of them, for sure.

I did too, but I'm not sure you'll ever be able to get any.

I ordered my Heed crash bars before Thanksgiving. They shipped from Poland within a few days, but have disappeared. The last tracking update was on 5 Dec. I am going to ask Heed tomorrow whether they would like to file a claim with USPS, or what.

 

[om28]

I checked my valves at 94K miles and as I predicted no adjustment needed. Also changed radiator fluid and checked my air filter. Here's my valve adjustment history for any one that may be interested.

15,300 miles - 3 needed adjustment (and I moved 1 from the tight to the loose side of in spec while I had the camshaft off)

30,000 miles - 1 needed adjustment (and I moved 1 from the tight to the loose side of in spec while I had the camshaft off)

41,500 miles - No Adjustment ( I moved 5 from the tight to looser side of in spec)

62,000 miles - No Adjustment (one exhaust valved tightened a bit)

94,000 miles - No adjustment (another exhaust tightened a bit)

 

[ZagiFlyer]

I added a "glove box" to my 2020 650XT:

The "small" one is wide enough get my hand into and I think the big one would be bigger than necessary and could get in the way.

 

[Craig Jackman]

I ordered a Madstad bracket, mounting plate, and windshield for my '03. Plus ordered new locks for my Givi bags, and handlebar muffs to help keep my hands warm in spring and fall.

 

[slovcan]

I did the final little job on mine today - a simple 1 minute plug 'n' play. I put in the newer flasher unit so now have hazard flashers to go with the 21W front signals and 18W rears.

That's it. Job done. Crash repairs (and a few mods) finished.

Now to get her off the lift and the Trophy up onto it.

Cheers,
Glenn

 

[D.T.]

Took the starter off and went through it. Cleaned out the dust and lubed.

Removed the front cowling and cleaned up the motor a bit. They cowling had a dull spot from the front tire dirt. So I cleaned and clear coated that.

Removed the oil filter and checked the oil.

Like to clean up the front header. It looks like sh*t. Not sure how to clean that.

 

[nvr2old]

Like to clean up the front header. It looks like sh*t. Not sure how to clean that.

"000" steel wool and a metal cleaner.

 

[nvr2old]

Changed out both brake fluids and the clutch fluid. Clutch was the dirtiest, but none were terrible. Less than 3 years and 47K old.

 

[SteadyHorse]

Recently replaced my headlamps with Auxito LEDs. They arrived on a Saturday, but I decided to go for a ride rather than install them, since the weather was nice. Got home after dark, really wished I had those LEDs, the stock lamps are not great. The Auxitos are a bit of a pain to install, you have to trim the rubber dust boots. I understand the Sealight LEDs go right in, no trimming needed.

 

[V-Tom]

Recently replaced my headlamps with Auxito LEDs. They arrived on a Saturday, but I decided to go for a ride rather than install them, since the weather was nice. Got home after dark, really wished I had those LEDs, the stock lamps are not great. The Auxitos are a bit of a pain to install, you have to trim the rubber dust boots. I understand the Sealight LEDs go right in, no trimming needed.

Before you add the LED's make sure your headlights are adjusted properly and the right and left headlight are "synced" together. All 4 of the Stroms I've owned had the headlights adjusted improperly.

You will likely find a huge improvement just adjusting them as they are very good headlights.

Once you have them adjusted properly it will be easy to put in the LED's and re-adjust them so they don't' blind oncoming cars.

..Tom

 

[DesertBike]

Removed skidplate, removed old highway pegs, noticed my Enduro Guardian skidplate is actually cracked where the old highway pegs attached. Lovely. The cracks go into circular holes, so it could be worse. Recently got a used set of the proper EG highway pegs, which use a different set of holes for attachment.

Aluminum welding is tricky stuff. Thinking I might be better off drilling a few holes & setting up some kind of mechanical reinforcement where the cracks is at.

The cracks didn't come out of nowhere btw. That section of the plate took a beating when I went down on a dirt road a few years ago. Suspect the aluminum was torqued and work-hardened, thus the cracking over the last several thousand miles.

I also have an apparently new oil leak, FML. Could be such a slow seep that it only recently dripped onto the skid plate, which is what I noticed that prompted me to take off the skid plate to have a look (oil and captured dirt near the rear bracket).

Spent a good hour or so on my back, cleaning up the bottom of the engine. There was so much gunk everywhere that I have no idea where the leak is. Sure hope it isn't a leak from between the crankcase halves - that'll be a "time to buy a different bike" situation. Could be my stator cover gasket leaking again. I have one stator cover bolt that could be the culprit. TBD.

 

[booghotfoot]

So, I guess this doesn't count, but I made an appt to have my valves checked and adjusted if needed. To the best of my knowledge they have not been checked with odo at 47,000. I am 2nd owner, got it with 18k miles in 2016.

I have clumsy hands and don't trust myself to not mess up this job. Plus its only 25°F in my garage for the next 3 months.

Runs fine, but I'd like peace of mind.



Relax and have a homebrew

Autocorrect is my new enema