600 service.. Why didnt you warn me..lol - Motorcycle-Journal Forums

zonian · 07-19-2008, 02:52 PM

JK...
Howdy, Its good to find another forum with liners! Now if we could only get all the liners together in one forum we could learn so much more about our bike and how do more stuff to it...
Anyways, yes I decided to do my own 600 service cuz Im a cheapskate and those kids in the dealer dont give a crap about my bike and who knows if they do any of the things that we are paying them to do...
So if you have alot of time and your a patient person, go for it!
Well I had the time but dang was it fustrating!!! It is a serious learning curve and next time will be much better. Really the hard part was getting to the drain bolts and getting the filter off they welded on... well it felt like that anyways.
And as for the transfer care oil, WOW make sure the kids arent around cuz there was a time or two i wanted to take a hammer to the rear exhaust. (Honey, now i have to get pipes, these are broken somehow...)
I looked and looked on all the forums I could find to try and find pics or clear instructions for the best way to get this task done. Well I saw one pic of the transfer case telling which bolts were what but later I forgot where I found it. Ohwell.
I read where one guy modified his tools so he could do it without taking off the exhaust..(easier said than done) I even had to run to the store midway thru to buy a set of hex tips for ratchet.(helped alot!)
So I was not looking forward to taking the exhaust off, I started to take the rear section off than realized i could get my tool on one of the bolts cuz the rear brakes are right in the way.(A dogbone wrench slid onto the hex bit works almost perfect for this) Anyways while sitting there staring at the bike with hammer in hand,(not really) I thought why cant I just loosen the clamps on the exhaust and remove the rear header bolts and swing it down??? Not really removing anything?!?! AWESOME! Just do it slowly and notice the 02 wires. Then you can get to the big bolt.
OHYEA, and why, please explain why an engineer would make the drain plug A star bit fitting???? When almost all the bolts on the freakin bike are hex... Is it cuz we are too stupid to figure out which one is hte drain? Dang make it a diff. color or something.... As you can see this was another glitch in my slow progress, and some time lost. Luckily my uncle has a whole set of star bits for a ratchet.( just one more set of tools I have to buy I guess)
The only problem was I couldnt get to the little bolt under the big one which I think was the bolt your suppose to fill to and let it drain out to know when to stop. But I drain it as long as i could stand then read that the transfer holds .55L So i just filled it with half a liter of gear oil... I hope it didnt mess it up.... But so far its been no prob.
Well thats my story and yes a few times I was really thinkin it might be worth it to pay my stealer all that money less the pain and fustration.
Now i know, and Im glad I did it.
By the way two seperate times, two different guys in the service department where I bought the bike told me that if i didnt have them do the first 600 service I would void my warranty... hmmm
In the manual with the bike it says. Any qualified mechanic can do any and all of the scheduled maint. and not take it to a dealer. Not any cert. mechanic. I think if im smart enough to work on mulit-million $$ jets in A.F. I should be qualified to change oil in a 13000 bike.
Sorry this has been so long but I just wanted to try to help someone else out there who is looking for any info on this like I was...
By the way I took off the rear exhaust to listen for a moment..WOW

Now i cant wait to gey my RH slip ons...