Dr. Splinelube…or How I stopped worrying and learn to love the bike…

[repoe3]

to all...i am glad i could provide the phots and write-up, but really, i was no way in a position to do this kind of project on the bike without wswartzwelder's help. in fact i got in the way he employed a nasty little trick to get me out of the way by flicking or spraying gas in my eyes...i caught onto him pretty quickly though...i am not that dumb

repoe3

[wswartzwel]

Originally posted by repoe3
this is the best way, besides, with all the fuel lines and other stuff running around, having the two as one unit would make it very difficult to reinstall. bill s., feel free to add anything to this.

repoe3

you left out the part where I squirted gas in your eye to get you out of my way
regarding the subframe, rear frame being removed as one piece.... there are alignment issues when reinstalling the rear frame, wiring harness on the left and fragile fuel injctors and lines on both sides... trying to wiggle things into place with the extra weight could be quite difficult... the four bolts needed to remove the tail section just takes a moment and makes things easier to handle.
The clutch push rod was rusted and stuck in the input shaft requiring a smack with a mallet to remove.... I believe this was the cause of most of his trouble. Glad that everything is working fine for you. Enjoy.

[rm]

Repoe3,

Just out of curiosity, your bike must be under warrantee......why did you not let the dealer handle this for you?

Did you just want to learn how to fix this yourself?

BTW, I wish I was as mechanically knowledgeable about the S.

Robert

[repoe3]

Originally posted by wswartzwel
you left out the part where I squirted gas in your eye to get you out of my way
regarding the subframe, rear frame being removed as one piece.... there are alignment issues when reinstalling the rear frame, wiring harness on the left and fragile fuel injctors and lines on both sides... trying to wiggle things into place with the extra weight could be quite difficult... the four bolts needed to remove the tail section just takes a moment and makes things easier to handle.
The clutch push rod was rusted and stuck in the input shaft requiring a smack with a mallet to remove.... I believe this was the cause of most of his trouble. Glad that everything is working fine for you. Enjoy.

lubing the splines and our subsequent ride help put me back in the right frame of mind. tara was commenting on how i was being a bit more comfortable on the bike with her riding as well.

repoe3

[repoe3]

Originally posted by rm
Repoe3,

Just out of curiosity, your bike must be under warrantee......why did you not let the dealer handle this for you?

Did you just want to learn how to fix this yourself?

BTW, I wish I was as mechanically knowledgeable about the S.

Robert

good question. i very well could have dropped it off at my dealer and said have at it. the thought did cross my mind. however, as with many people out there, i have had both good and bad experiences with shops and their techs. (aside from the dealer i bought the bike from in NC) most of the techs do a helluva lot more than i do when it comes to working on the bike. however, i was tired of having to readjust/balance my idles and throttle bodies or some other little annoyance and that fact that shop rates are crazy expensive. i chose to start learning about the bikes that i own and do the work myself. made me much more comfortable with the bike even when riding. it can be a logistic headache for me to drop off the bike in NC for the service, although i know they would have taken care of me and the bike. but they would also tempt me to ride a new bike and then just take mine and sell me a new one or soemthing...they are devious like that in fact i thought hard about a used kawi Z1000 to add to the stable just for ****s and giggles. but yes, ultimately it is about learning about how things work and being abel to tackle future challenges.

my knowledge is still at a basic level of servicing and maintenance. this was the first major project i have ever tried and could not have done it with the help of others and their willingness to help. if, well more like when, i need to do this again...i think i could do it on my own, but having a helpful hand and the great riding...i may just have to go back to arkansas to do it again

repoe3

[motoman]

A Truly Stupendous post! My impression is, the patient had to be killed first in order to survive. If I ever take my bike apart to that level, I'll just part it out...

[wswartzwel]

Repoe, you are quite capable mechanically.... give yourself some credit!!! The truth be known... repoe wanted an escape from his everyday work. Disassembling, working on, and riding is fun for some people. I think repoe was looking for an adventure over the holidays... Thanks for allowing me to participate Repoe.
Motoman, I feel that way about computers...I hate working on them, there comes a time to replace something if it is more trouble than enjoyment.

[repoe3]

Originally posted by motoman
A Truly Stupendous post! My impression is, the patient had to be killed first in order to survive. If I ever take my bike apart to that level, I'll just part it out...

no way...if we had tackled this as our one and only task for the day...4-5 hours and we would have finshed the afternoon off if a ride.

repoe3

[jweicht]

Great post. I've been in to this area several times on R1100RSs, and FWIW the job looks even easier on an S. Being able to remove the rear subframe and wiring so easily is a big plus. I also encountered the stuck/rusted clutch pushrod problem on the gearboxes I pulled. I just want to know how you kept the front of the bike balanced so nicely on the workstand???

[wswartzwel]

The stand has holes that allow the bike to be bolted down to the stand.

[itchybro]

Dudes, that ***** was HARDCORE!

Thanks for the insight. Having my hand held at a Tech Daze for the RT was about as much as I could handle. (Never had really worked on anything like that. Wound up doing a fuel filter replacement and alternator belt replacement. OY, it was pretty intense for someone who's never really wrenched on anything.)

As it is, I do good to change my oil.

[JonyRR]

good documentation, Repoe; mine is gonna look like that shortly (I went on a nice ride yesterday; got the oil warm for draining). Now it's time to rape brunhilda right down past her knickers and hoist that frikkin' getrag box onto my workbench.....then, it's input shaft removal. Depending on what Moybin finds out about making one outta good ol 'merikan chrome-moly is whether or not I will have my OEM shaft microplated or have the NEW one plated, but I WILL be coating mine with some sort of dry antifriction coating...

[repoe3]

i wonder if PAM spray would work...spray it on and bake it a bit...they make a PAM for grills now that can handle heat and fire. maybe thats the ticket what is the shaft made out of, anyways? would a different shaft material change its operation if its weight is different, etc? throwing out wild questions to better understand how sensitive, or not, these things might be. wonder if TiNi would work or if that is just for stiction reduction. i have a writing pen and had a knife that is coated in it or Ti oxide and nothing scratched it. the knife survived my last crash even after being pulled from my pocket, opening in the road and being run over by cars. kershaw sent me a new one coated in black teflon or something more like gun kote or the k-kote on sig sauers. seems to wear like my pistols do goin in and out of holsers.

repoe3

[lemec]

Thanks, repoe. That's going to be a useful reference, maybe for me this winter as a prophyfreakinglactic measure.

[bikpaintr]

Repoe, if you liked MIG, wat till you try TIG; like 'electric oxyaceteline'...all the best frame builders use a TIG machine; nothing else even comes close....

How is the TIG for welding sheet metal? Better then a Mig? Less heat/distortion?

[Jim March]

Just a comment here: it looks to me like, if you didn't have this sort of stand, you could strap the front tire/rim down TIGHT to the floor and use an engine hoist to lift nylon strap run around both cylinder heads to lift the whole rear end off the ground. Only problem is, you'd have to pull the gas tank first before hoisting.

Still, you'd be able to do that level of work without the specialized engine mount.

Any idea how different this would be on an R1150R/Rockster?

[JonyRR]

Bikepaintr:
I'm still of the opinion that TIG is better than MIG for almost anything. As with most things in life, experience counts; the specalized frame builder I know, wasco frame service (and he's a true magician; built frames for most of the OEM race teams at one time or another, if you saw the HRC honda 'CB900F' superbikes of the freddie era, some of 'em came from his shop) exclusively uses TIG. Of course, the price of admission is much higher; as with everything in life you get what you pay for. A cheap MIG is about $300.00...a 'cheap' TIG (if you can call it that) is about $2000.00 and goes up fast from there; I personally want a miller 2500 'square wave' TIG to do all materials; stainless, aluminum, ti, etc.....but once up to speed, you can write your name on a piece of sheetmetal with TIG...there's nothing else like it, and all the SERIOUS hot-rodders I know have a TIG machine stashed somewhere in the shop.

[Rapid Dog]

Great stuff repoe, this is what makes this INFORMATION forum worth while.
Furthurmore it is PROOF that the mark is what it's always been (at least in the boxer's case), something that you can ride, work on, and ride some more...I'm lovin' it.
It's like ISDT stuff...why this must be why those Hollywood Brit Boyz rode boxers around the word "Long something'er other"....except don't weld the ABS brakelines and don't get gas in yer eye....

[JonyRR]

Except you have to rip the whole frikkin' bike apart to do clutch work; you can't do this on the side of the trail with the tools in your fannypack....

[Rapid Dog]

mmm...Maybe!....