Makes sense doesn't it? Especially when plans for a mega trip are ahead (more on that on a later post).
Here's some bike nudity at the privacy of my mechanic's place:
I didn't go there just for an air filter change, that's something I do on my own. I'm here so we can synchronise the throttle bodies. This is also something I could attempt on my own but lately I no more have space suitable for such a thing. For the ones lacking knowledge on what a Throttle Body Sync is, think of it as a procedure during which you adjust the amount of air each cylinder sucks in order to mix in with fuel (so it can burn in the best way possible). If you do things right you get an even vacuum on both cylinders, even air/fuel mixtures and a happy engine which results in a driver's smile from ear to ear. Unless he/she is not petrolhead enough to tell the difference 🙂
Since I knew we'd remove the tank which allows access to the air filter I brought the spare filter you saw above to replace the old one. Every single time I open the air box I am pride of this fine piece of Japanese engineering that manages to keep it pristinely clean. Ladies and Gents, here it is looking like it did on day one 147.000km later and 16 years:
You might say "big deal, that's how it should be" and I won't argue, it should be like this indeed. Now go see how many guys complain about oil in their air boxes and revise.
We took off the air box in search of the culprit of a minor symptom I had lately which I related it to wrong fuel mixture. Kinda complicated to explain you the "issue", some could just live with it letting it go unnoticed but I knew something was not right and in the vast majority of the times I think so there's something wrong indeed. In the first minute of search my mechanic spots the bad guy.
It's this little hose:
Looks OK until you turn it around and...you spot a crack:
This thing connects the throttle body with a sensor called MAP so the latter can measure the vacuum of the cylinder. This means that one thing I had for sure was wrong MAP readings on one cylinder plus vacuum leak on the same one.
We connected vacuum readers to adjust the throttle bodies and after a while we brought it to the desired balance. Too busy during the whole thing so sorry for the lack of images - not that I am sure you'd like to see any anyway :) Unfortunately it's raining dogs 'n cats outside so I can't try the bike so I order some food at the spot in the hope the weather gets better as my stomach gets fuller. It does not so I decide to leave the place anyway after I put my rain gear on.
This thing wasn't just rain but had some very good amount of dirt too. See how my tank and mirrors looks like as I arrive home after 50 km:
Bloody muddy rain.
The good think though is that now not only the bad injection symptoms are totally gone but my bike runs PERFECT. Seriously, I don't know how it could get any better, I don't remember it running any better though I do remember it running that good. Its impressive to have an engine of that age and mileage that dares to be compared with its brand new condition. Now I am curious to measure the fuel consumption which will tell the whole story as lately I had a slightly increased one.
Next day is much better so I take the chance to change the oil too. I'm always happy to see that the thread of the drain plug is still doing great due to the oil of course but also my care taking hands. You see, I love to use a torque wrench on all sensitive bolts while most guys don't.
Here's the poser I am talking about:
And here's my DIY oil catcher:
I found this at the sea many years ago and cut it open for that use. It's very convenient like this cause you take the cap off and empty it easily even in a bottle with small opening:
Over the last couple of oil changes I have developed a technique that allows me to both drain the oil and change the oil filter without taking the engine guard off. Not that it's something hard to do, I just prefer to leave bolts in peace unless necessary. A bit of a struggle to reach the oil filter in this mess:
And it is as much of a struggle to put in the new one but I can do it so...why not? 🙂
I bought myself an oil pump recently and since I am in this oily situation I gave it a try:
I expected it to be slow but not THAT slow. I got it mainly aiming to use it to drain my car's oil but I am afraid it will take ages so kinda regretted it already. Not something too expensive to cry about it though.
So, bike's happy and so am I at the end of the day, stay tuned for the adventures to come!
Safe rides to you all 🙂