Work to do while Fairing lowers are off on a K75RT?

[atarifan2600]

I've ordered the bits and bobs for the annual checkup, and am planning on
checking valve clearance
renewing the plugs
changing the air filter
replacing the fuel-pump damper
Replacing the fuel filter
crankcase breather tube


Anything else on the "to check" list up there that's easier with the tank and fairing apart?  I didn't see anything in the maintenance schedule that jumped out, but I want to make sure there's not something I'm missing.

brakes, forks, oil, etc I'm not including in this list, because they're easy enough to get at otherwise. 

Thanks.

[johnny]

coolant change... fan check... throttle sync...

[atarifan2600]

Coolant was on the list, forgot to itemize it.
Fan was just checked independently, with a bunch of arm twisting.

Will look into the throttle synch.  Most of my wrenching to date has been on single cylinder two strokes, so I haven't picked up a carbtune or whatever.  I get the concept between the DIY solutions, but I'd rather have a tool I know I didn't screw up.

Thanks.

[jakgieger]

Real good time to make sure no air leaks on the rubbers below the throttle bodies...

[TimTyler]

After you remove the air filter, easily unscrew the bottom half of the airbox from the engine block and remove it. Clean out all the crap, dirt, pebbles and creatures that have been forever baking on the engine under the airbox. I've used a flat-head screwdriver to scrape the engine top and a vacuum to suck the crap out.

Check the condition of the fuel and vacuum hoses at the fuel pump regulator. Make sure the FPR hose clamps are very tight.

[atarifan2600]

Turns out my quick tune up isn't so quick.  I discovered that I was pretty much expecting the valve clearance checks to be a formality, but half of them need to be swapped out.
Intake:  .08 (?!)  .15 .15
Exhaust: .25 .20 .20

So I'm sidelined while I wait for my tools to show up, and then order replacements.  The #1 intake really concerns me, enough that I've re-checked it about 5 times.  When I rotate the cam with a wrench, it settles at an angle that might not be EXACTLY perpendicular to the shim- but a few degrees here and there isn't going to magically find me .07mm of clearance, is it?

When I bought the bike several years ago (12k or so) , I had a good tech give it a full service -  I'll have to see if he made any notes about the valves then.  He fixed and explained a lot of other issues to me, so I have no reason to think he did a substandard job. 

[Laitch]

but a few degrees here and there isn't going to magically find me .07mm of clearance, is it?

Don't worry about it; just shim it to a gap that's in spec.

[atarifan2600]

Only thing I'm worried about is that at 42k, I'm already down to two valves with shims at 205, which doesn't leave a lot of room for future adjustments.


Had to wait for the tool, and now I'm waiting for the shims to show up.  Lots of waiting, which makes me think I should have done this over the winter.  Repair by mail-order is a trial in patience. 

[atarifan2600]

Got my shims in today, and instantly realized that I'm a moron.

I'm not sure how I got to this point, but between dealing with shims labelled 265 and a feelers labelled .20 and .25...
I ended up mis-aligning my decimal points.
I tried to correct a .05mm gap in the shims by ordering a shim .50mm smaller.

D'oh.  I was left-justifying my numbers.  I can't even imagine how I found myself in this state, as the calipers vs. shims vs. feelers should have had me realizing the perspective of what I was doing, but... oh well.

Last night I put the first shim in, and was aghast at how big the feeler gap was until it slowly dawned on me. 
I'm less peeved about the wasted money than I am the turnaround time to order new shims.
But I'm now back up to shims floating at 250-255, which gives me TONS of room for future adjustments...


Airbox and surrounding surfaces are good and clean again; that was quite the rock garden.  Fuel pump damper, filter and hose are all renewed.  New coolant and replace the shims are the biggest outstanding tasks.

[Martin]

People who don't make mistakes don't do anything, live and learn. :2thumbup:
Martin.

[atarifan2600]

Because I know you were all losing sleep at night-
Finally got all the parts in the mail, and had some free time-  bike's buttoned back together and running like a champ.
Other than waiting for the parts and tools to show up, I think the most frustrating bit was dealing with the plastic rivets holding the 'cup' on behind the front fork. 

I was awfully cavalier about destroying them on the way out, figuring they were cheap enough and easy to replace.  Getting the pin back in sucks.

Thanks for the advice.

[Laitch]

  :clap: Thanks for the update and clear explanations of what you encountered. It'll be great to catch up on sleep.