Work work work…

When i started riding i also liked working on bikes a lot.
The last years i’m more about riding but the upgrades are expensive enough so sometimes i have to work on the bikes to do maintenance and/or installing the upgrades to save the hourly rate at the dealer.

Last week my handlebar came in after a long wait and also the suspension had arrived so i took an hour off of work to pick those up at #JJSuspension in Mill to start work this weekend.
Thursday i already took down the link system so i could the press drill at work to put a grease nipple in and have some 1mm release holes.

From work it was an hour ride to the suspension specialist but if i had let them send i would have it somewhere on Saturday at best but most likely next week.
This is what i’m so exited about.

A 4 way adjustable closed cartridge front suspension, a big advantage of a closed cartridge is that the suspension oil and lubrication are separated. That means when i blow a fork seal the suspension is not compromised and so also not my trip when it happens on a trip.
It’s not that you can ride thousands of kilometres like that but you can continue until you get to a town with a #Touratech service point somewhere along the route.
The rear is also a 4 way adjustable with a hydraulic preload adjustment and i linear spring that is 5Nm stiffer to compensate for the luggage on the big trips. Linear because the standard link system makes it already progressive and double progressive can be useful when you’re a heavier rider but i lost 15 – 20kg’s over the last couple of years and manage to maintain my healthy weight.

Saturday was all about getting the suspension done. I started with installing the rear suspension which was easy because the OEM was already out and Sporherre is a very easy bike to change the rear suspension unlike Ecstasy or Ragnarok.
After that it was time to disassemble the front and take out the OEM open cartridge.
After a good drip to get the old oil out while catching up with a friend from the VFROC who had a job close by over coffee it was time to give the forks a good clean.

Even though the seals and dust caps where just fine they also are changed for SKF low friction ones (the dust cap on the left was out of the picture, that’s the old set).

I had a bit of a fight getting the old cartridge out and went out to get myself a power impact driver but it was not stuck so that didn’t help either but find a cheap one cost some time.
Looking deeper into the matter did give me an idea to solve the problem and i did get it out after all but it was getting late and i started making mistakes having me taking the forks apart a couple of times. Time to call it a day and continue fresh the next day.
I did get them done so Sunday i could start on the other jobs.

One thing on the to do list was checking the lubrication of the steering stem bearings because motorcycle manufacturers (nit just Yamaha) are very conservative with the grease usage, the link system was a small job and already done and the steering stem was even worse but i was waiting for the new handlebar to check that because with removing the old handlebar i am already halve way to the rest.

At least they went with conical bearings from the factory.
When it was time to install the new handlebar i put them together to see how far off the old one was and it was worse than it looked in my initial check, no wonder why it felt so off and i couldn’t get it to work.

Another problem that came across the T700 forum was rust on frame and the under side of the fuel tank, the frame seems to be okay for now but the tank shows the first rust too.
Not as bad as the one on the forum.
That was a newer bike with less kilometres and only ridden in good weather so i guess i’m lucky after mud, rain and salt but it needs to get addressed.

The tank is a light grey and at work we have rattle cans with 2K paint in RAL 7001, a light grey. Not the same but it’s just the bottom so i will ask if i can take a used can to solve this problem now i have it off anyway.
Also had a smart turn system bought that was on sale at Louis, also had a refund ticket when i bring in my old battery that i took out of Ecstasy.
I don’t want to much gadgets on Sporherre because the simplicity is one of the strong points but i tend to forget the indicator often when i turn into a dirt track from the pavement.
After installing and setting up the handlebar and the Barkbusters i made a start with installing the STS but it was already 18:00h and i still had to make diner.
Mondays is a long day so Tuesday after work i will continue with fixing the bottom of the tank and wiring up the STS.
Wednesday he should be ready to race.
Just some work in progress pictures to end this blog.

Untill the next one….