Basic Upkeep

[zappalives]

Hello friends... a few quick questions.

A friend and I are in Chile, and have just purchased 2 Xt 600 e, years 99 and 04. Let me first say that we both know nothing about working on bikes. We are going to be traveling in remote areas on rough roads, and I would like to keep my bike in good shape so I can avoid problems. I am wondering if anyone can advise me on the basic daily weekly, monthly things I should do to keep the bike runnin well. Im thinking about basic upkeep. What pressure should I run the tires at, how often should I fill them, when do I put on chain lube, etc. etc. I am going to be changing the oil every 3000 to 4000 km´s but I am trying to get an idea about what I can do in between to help out. The bikes didnt come with a manual so I am kind of at a loss. Specific questions Im wondering:

1) I weigh 210 lbs and will be carrying roughly 75 lbs on the back... what is the proper tire pressure? How often should I check this?

2) How often do I need to put in new brake fluid, coolant, etc??

Basically, if you can give me advice on what to keep my eye on while travelling this will help a lot. Im gonna be riding this beast around south america until about may and dont want to get bogged down by little problems that can be avoided. Thanks so much

[mollydog]

Hey Zappa-man!

A lot of what you're asking depends on the current condition of your bikes.
First off, what tires have you got on now? How many miles on the bikes?
How many miles on the chain and sprockets? How old is the battery?

Patrick's Holy Grail of Survival
Three things that you must have right:
1. Tires
2. Chain & Sprockets
3. Battery

If you leave with worn chain and sprockets (and it sounds like you may not
know a worn chain from an Empanada) or a weak battery then THESE things will cause you problems down the road. Deal with them NOW.

If the chain is even looking slightly knackered, change it now while you have access to parts..... and BE SURE to fit new sprockets as well. Don't cheap out on this, please. Get the best chain you can find/afford and only STEEL sprockets. I prefer DID X ring chains. (VM if possible) Yamaha stock sprockets are fine.

Battery:
If there is any doubt about the current battery.....then
I would go with a NEW Yuasa battery, hopefully a sealed, MF, glass matt style
battery. Cheap insurance. Get the best you can afford.

Tires: The Other bugaboo.... Hopefully your tires are fresh? If you're running knobbies then your tires will wear fairly quickly on pavement. Tire pressures
(depending on WHAT tires you've got) should be adjusted for either dirt
or pavement riding. So this means you need to carry a bicycle pump. Check your tire pressures EVERY MORNING, right after you clean and check the chain. EVERY DAY!

Some rough psi guidelines for that bike with your load:

Dual Sport tires
Pavement: F 27 R 32
Dirt: F 20 R 26

Street tires:
Pavement: F 30 R 34
Dirt: F 22 R 26

Be sure to carry plenty of spare tubes and good patch kits and irons.
Flats will be one of your most challenging delays. Have you practised
changing tires? You know how to do this I hope?:confused1:

Maintenance:
Chain: I hate chain lube. I only use it in rain. Otherwise 90 wt. gear oil (available everywhere) will do. Keeping a CLEAN chain is the key to long life.
Never run any sort of lube when riding off road. If fact, stop and wipe down
all oil off your chain before you enter dirt. Run you chain dry in dirt, it will last
longer. A Daily wipe down with only light oiling on the street is the way to go. DO NOT over oil, its just not needed. In heavy rain, you will need to oil every 100 miles or get a Scott Oiler or use chain lube. Keep it adjusted too. Get help
with this, its critical and must be set to be correct when the bike is fully loaded with you ON IT.

Maybe someone else can detail chain adjustment?

Air filter:
Keep an eye on it. If your bikes' have been modified there is a chance the airboxes may be "opened up". Look to see if this is the case. If the air boxes
are open then in dusty conditions your air filter will get dirty much more quickly. An air filter can get dirty is a short time in very heavy dust. Wash out
with Diesel (wear rubber gloves), wring carefully, oil lightly, re-install. Your filter (if oiled properly) can stand quite a bit of dirt. You can wait till its pretty much covered in dirt before cleaning, but not too much.

Suspension:
If you can, make sure the fork oil is fresh and correct level in the forks.
Check rear sag with all your gear on the bike. Let the bike stand loaded.
Measure from center of rear axle, straight up to frame or seat. Note this #.
Now SIT on the bike with feet on pegs. Full weight on the bike. Have your buddy measure same distance. If its more than about 3 inches difference between two figures, then you need to crank in more preload or get another spring (unlikely). So crank up the threaded collar on the rear shock until you've got about 2.5 inches of sag if possible.

Carb:
Get to know and love your carburator. Get down there and just stare at it.
Learn it. Find the litte screw at the bottom of the float bowl. This will allow
you to drain the float bowl if you get water or crap in the fuel, which will end up in the carb. Install an inline filter. (Auto type is fine)

Learn where the idle control is. Learn how the throttle cables route and how
they hook onto the carb. Keep area clean.

Brakes:
Look at the color of your brake fluid. Is it dark? If so, change it out. Buy a
NEW, sealed can of brake fluid with the correct Dot rating (DOT lll or DOT lV
most likely)

Pump all the old fluid out as you add new fluid. Never let fluid resevoir get more than half way down. Use bleed bolt on brake caliper. Do NOT crank down
too hard on this bolt. Open and close bleed bolt to pump out old fluid. Do front and rear systems.

Coolant? I thought XT600's were air cooled? 660's water cooled.

Electrics:
Look for bodged or mickey moused wires or connectors. Make sure everything
works. Carry spare fuses. If you are running heated gear make sure you don't kill your battery. Don't leave key on with headlight burning when you stop.
Its culumative. Turn off ignition...always. (man, so many guys screw this up!)

I would start pulling off the headlight fairing and getting familiar with whats
behind it. Take your time. Learn it. In the pitch dark, on Ruta 40 with a
50 knot cross wind and rain is not the time to learn your wiring layout.

Que le via bien,

Patrick

[Mark]

Hi Zappalives,

Not everything that Patrick suggested is widly agreed on, though I'm not necessarily saying he's wrong.

However, I was supprised by his suggested tyre pressures, for my 1991 XT600E Yamaha say Front 22psi, Rear 28 psi both in the hand book and on the sticker on the swing arm. When we were travelling heavily loaded through Asia we experimented with increased pressure but it made the steering very vague so we went back to factory reccomdations, and had no problems.

The air filter is a pain on the XT600e as it is a disposable paper type, not the washable oiled foam type that Patrick describes servicing.
If you don't want to carry a supply of these bulky, delicate parts investigate aftermarket alternatives, we used a K & N oiled cotton filer that could be serviced on the road, but I would now be tempted to go for the Australian Unifilter system for better filtering, easier servicing/ ease of carrying a spare filter which could be swapped over part way through the day rather than having to stop and clead one and wait for it to dry.

There are various opinions on chain lubricating. Run it dry off sealed roads. many people use aerosol chain lube every 400 - 500 Km / daily. While lubing he chain, check that both chain rollers are in good condition - carry spare ones.

During our 45000Km trip we had no carb' or electrical trouble with the 600E, except for clogging up air filter when riding in sand in Australia, and a vapour lock in the fuel lines, cured by covering the after market in-line fuel filters we had fitted, to keep the sun off their transparent bodies.

We fitted a larger fuel tank. I don't know if your planned route will mean that the small tank on the 600E will cause you trouble.

Good luck and hoe the above is of some help

Mark

Oil level should be checked daily, ideally at the end of the day, imediatly after switching off engine. See earlier posts for details

[mollydog]

Originally Posted by Mark

However, I was supprised by his suggested tyre pressures, for my 1991 XT600E Yamaha say Front 22psi, Rear 28 psi both in the hand book and on the sticker on the swing arm. When we were travelling heavily loaded through Asia we experimented with increased pressure but it made the steering very vague so we went back to factory reccomdations, and had no problems.

Hi Mark.
Lots of variables on tire pressures. Were you riding two up?

The vague feeling most likely was caused by the rear of the bike being too low (overloaded) and out of balance with the front. A stiffer spring or more preload may have helped with that vague feeling. How much rear sag did you have? Did you ever measure it?

Stock reccomended pressures are a very good guideline but even Yamaha will telly you to INCREASE pressures if you are going two up or carrying a very heavy load. So your bike may have been "squatting" (technical term!!) Just a thought.

Originally Posted by Mark

The air filter is a pain on the XT600e as it is a disposable paper type, not the washable oiled foam type that Patrick describes servicing.
If you don't want to carry a supply of these bulky, delicate parts investigate aftermarket alternatives, we used a K & N oiled cotton filer that could be serviced on the road, but I would now be tempted to go for the Australian Unifilter system for better filtering, easier servicing/ ease of carrying a spare filter which could be swapped over part way through the day rather than having to stop and clead one and wait for it to dry.

I didn't know the XT used a paper filter. Is this true of more modern XT's made in the last ten years as well? I don't own an XT, just offering general mechanical tips mostly good for any dual sport bike.

The US made K&N are good for high performance but are notorious for ruining engines. No one here I ride with would go with a K&N for dirt riding. We've known about K&N for 20 years or more. If you clean and oil them religiously
you may get by, but tests have proved they let pass a lot of fine dirt particles. Would be my LAST choice as a RTW item. Its a racing product.

UNI is also an American company that make excellent foam filters. If you could
do a conversion to a foam filter, this would be a great idea. I sometimes carry a spare oiled foam filter in a zip lock baggy as a spare on serious dirt rides where we expect a LOT of dust....or.... a simpler solution.

We also have an interesting product here called "Filter Skins". These are oiled thin, breathable fabric elastic covers that easily slip over the air filter and allow the motor to breath yet trap dirt and keep the filter fairly clean, thus extending filter removal and cleaning intervals. They can be washed out and re-used and only take a moment to remove/replace.

Originally Posted by Mark

Oil level should be checked daily, ideally at the end of the day, imediatly after switching off engine. See earlier posts for details

Good tip. This is when I always check the oil. Keep it topped up!

Patrick

[zappalives]

Hey, thanks for all the great tips. Im doing my best to try to get everything figured out. I had just a couple quick questions. 1) I guess it is advisable to check the oil level daily?? If i start doing this, what should I look for? Do i want the level to be completely full all the time? Is this essential? A little advice would help....

2) It seems liks a lot of people are advising me to do something about my air filter. I am riding on A LOT of dirt roads and am going to be doing some servicing soon since i need new tires, oil change, etc. Would it be wise to update my air filter somehow. I have no idea how to clean / replace one, so if I had a problem somewhere remote, it could be trouble... What can I do to avoid future problems. I am going to be riding on and off road for about the next 6 months and if I can do something now that will help me avoid a future mishap?? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Other than that, thanks for everything, Im learning something new about my biek every day. Safe riding guys, and thanks for the help

[mollydog]

Originally Posted by zappalives

Hey, thanks for all the great tips. Im doing my best to try to get everything figured out. I had just a couple quick questions. 1) I guess it is advisable to check the oil level daily?? If i start doing this, what should I look for? Do i want the level to be completely full all the time? Is this essential? A little advice would help....

Nah, no worries mate, have a , forget the oil till next week!

Originally Posted by zappalives

2) It seems liks a lot of people are advising me to do something about my air filter. I am riding on A LOT of dirt roads and am going to be doing some servicing soon since i need new tires, oil change, etc. Would it be wise to update my air filter somehow. I have no idea how to clean / replace one, so if I had a problem somewhere remote, it could be trouble... What can I do to avoid future problems. I am going to be riding on and off road for about the next 6 months and if I can do something now that will help me avoid a future mishap?? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

(Did you read any of my or Mark's previous posts? I get the distinct feeling you missed a few things. See end of this post for a "re-print" of my first post....with some "Golden Rules". Course I'm sure the boys down the pub
know better, eh? eh?)

Air Filter, Bottom line: Better get busy and learn how to clean the filter, how to replace the filter. Bring a spare or two with you. It ain't vaginal surgery. Or a shop can do this for you in 5 minutes. Can you easily buy replacements in
Chile?

Mark's idea of converting to a UNI type foam filter would be good if you have a mechanic who gets this concept and can help do it. I get the feeling you guys don't care much about mods or maintenance though, so I doubt this is gonna happen, right? Either that or your reading comprehenision isn't stellar.

If your XT's have paper filters (Mark suggests they are) you can take them out and tap them firmly or blow them out with compressed air. Thats about all you can do with a paper element to "sort of" clean it. Replacement is best.

Originally Posted by mollydog

A lot of what you're asking depends on the current condition of your bikes. First off, what tires have you got on now? How many miles on the bikes? How many miles on the chain and sprockets? How old is the battery?

Patrick's Holy Grail of Survival
Three things that you must have right:
1. Tires
2. Chain & Sprockets
3. Battery

If you leave with worn chain and sprockets (and it sounds like you may not
know a worn chain from an Empanada) or a weak battery then THESE things will cause you problems down the road. Deal with them NOW.

I assume these other points are A OK, eh Sparky? I never heard one way or the other. You guys have fun, don't worry, the bikes will make it, just donate them when you're done screwing around with them!

[Lone Rider]

Have you ever owned any type of motor vehicle?
If yes, were you ever aware with it's need for a certain level of oil to be in the motor?
Do you know what an air filter does? And where it is on your machine?

I ask these questions only based on the questions and concerns you've expressed.

[Bill Ryder]

Go easy on these guys. From working in motorcycle shops for the last 30 years I have come to the conclusion that most bike owners don't have a clue and don't really want to know. They also don't want to learn. ( I have one customer that still doesn't know how to adjust his chain after 2 years and being shown how 5 times.) But somehow the great bikes out there now hold together, loose chains, quart low on oil, dirty air filter. The up side of this is I still have a job doing maintenence and major overhauls.

[mollydog]

Sorry Bill if my inpatience is showing. Us "old guys" are starting to thin out some. Glad you are still making a living cleaning up other folks maintenance messes! I did that too for a while!

I mean well and try to help these kids without sounding sanctimonious or
preachy. But its getting harder.......

Like you say, the damn bikes are just so good now they can tolerate so much
abuse and neglect it is, to me a near miracle!

Having grown up on knackered old Triumph Tiger cubs, Bultaco's and
other "junk" I learned the hard way how to keep these things running....
which a lot of the time they didn't!

Cheers!

Patrick

[zappalives]

To all those who have attempted to help me... Thank you. To those who are frustrated with me... sorry. Im only 22 and this is my first motorcycle. Im gonna be travelling for the next 6 months and just want to get it right. Thanks anyway for the advice, im going in for an oil change in about 2000 km, and Ill just have the guys there show me how to clean the air filter so I can do it on my own in the future. Thanks for all the help, and maybe someday I wont ask such stupid questions. Until then, que te vaya bien....

[mollydog]

No worries Zap, we're just a bunch of frustrated old farts who wish we could be in Chile with you and be 25 years younger! Hey, any kid that knows
about Zappa and the Mother's can't be all bad. (hopefully you actually understand some of what he was doing and how complex some of the music was?)

BTW, long ago, in another life I got to hang out with the Mother's in Topanga Canyon (L.A. area....circa 1968) and their bass player jammed with our band.

We attended a few of their rehearsals and even attempted to "cover" one of their tunes. Not easy. Our guitar player's sister was dating the bass player at the time. This same guitar player went on to play with Oingo Boingo
(Danny Elfman of movie music fame) and has written a book on Django Reinhart. Now he records "easy listening" elevator music covers of Beatles,
Cream, et al. No Mother's stuff there.


Patrick

[zappalives]

Wow man, i cant believe you had the chance to hang out with some of the Mothers. Get a chance to meet FZ himself?? To answer your question about whether i really understand the complexity of the music.,.... I think i could spend the rest of my life listening to songs like ¨ocean is the ultimate solution¨ and still not have any idea what it really means. But as long as I enjoy it right? I do my best to get a grasp on his music, but being how i only have been playing guitar for like 5 years now, my music chops are still not quite up to snuff to play any real songs he wrote. I do love it though. Im fortunate enough to have something like 13 various live / studio albums on my ipod down here, so i have no shortage of my zappa. Cheers, and caio

[mollydog]

Yes, I met Zappa on a couple of occassions. I have to say, he was never
thrilled that we kids (I was 18 years old) were hangin around while they were trying to get work done. Zappa was a serious task master but as you may know but also had a wicked sense of humor....which I never saw....but only heard in the music and lyrics. Actually I was more of fan of Zappa himself than the music and the Mother's, although some of it is very interesting.

No drugs were tolerated and the musicanship of the players was pretty impressive. The only reason we were tolerated at all was because our Guitar player, Stan, was such a prodigy and Frank recognized this so put up with us.
Stan later, played with the Mother's (sat in). (our band broke up after one album)

We could not talk or distract the rehearsal in any way. Afterwards we might
get a few words or a nod....and they were gone. I did see the Mother's live and ended up doing "roady" duty...which I was happy to do. Also, the Bass player came to one of our gigs and "sat in". (he replaced me, as I was playing Bass in that band) Great memories....worlds away now.

Zappa was a super intellectual. A very bright guy. Few really ever got him,
let alone the music or songs. Zappa could have gone into politics if he'd had
the stomach for it.....which he didn't.

Cheers,
Have an Emanada and a nice Chardonay for me.
And if you think Chilean women are beautiful (which they are) just wait till
you get to Argentina and mix a bit of Italian blood in there.

Patrick

[bacardi23]

I know I'm kinda late on this but putting a kickstart on the XT's ain't also a bad idea.. as I'm trying to figure out myself what I have to buy to put one in my 1990 XT600E...Any help on this would be nice! keep it up

[XT GIRL]

Originally Posted by mollydog

Hey Zappa-man!

A lot of what you're asking depends on the current condition of your bikes.
First off, what tires have you got on now? How many miles on the bikes?
How many miles on the chain and sprockets? How old is the battery?

Patrick's Holy Grail of Survival
Three things that you must have right:
1. Tires
2. Chain & Sprockets
3. Battery

If you leave with worn chain and sprockets (and it sounds like you may not
know a worn chain from an Empanada) or a weak battery then THESE things will cause you problems down the road. Deal with them NOW.

If the chain is even looking slightly knackered, change it now while you have access to parts..... and BE SURE to fit new sprockets as well. Don't cheap out on this, please. Get the best chain you can find/afford and only STEEL sprockets. I prefer DID X ring chains. (VM if possible) Yamaha stock sprockets are fine.

Battery:
If there is any doubt about the current battery.....then
I would go with a NEW Yuasa battery, hopefully a sealed, MF, glass matt style
battery. Cheap insurance. Get the best you can afford.

Tires: The Other bugaboo.... Hopefully your tires are fresh? If you're running knobbies then your tires will wear fairly quickly on pavement. Tire pressures
(depending on WHAT tires you've got) should be adjusted for either dirt
or pavement riding. So this means you need to carry a bicycle pump. Check your tire pressures EVERY MORNING, right after you clean and check the chain. EVERY DAY!

Some rough psi guidelines for that bike with your load:

Dual Sport tires
Pavement: F 27 R 32
Dirt: F 20 R 26

Street tires:
Pavement: F 30 R 34
Dirt: F 22 R 26

Be sure to carry plenty of spare tubes and good patch kits and irons.
Flats will be one of your most challenging delays. Have you practised
changing tires? You know how to do this I hope?:confused1:

Maintenance:
Chain: I hate chain lube. I only use it in rain. Otherwise 90 wt. gear oil (available everywhere) will do. Keeping a CLEAN chain is the key to long life.
Never run any sort of lube when riding off road. If fact, stop and wipe down
all oil off your chain before you enter dirt. Run you chain dry in dirt, it will last
longer. A Daily wipe down with only light oiling on the street is the way to go. DO NOT over oil, its just not needed. In heavy rain, you will need to oil every 100 miles or get a Scott Oiler or use chain lube. Keep it adjusted too. Get help
with this, its critical and must be set to be correct when the bike is fully loaded with you ON IT.

Maybe someone else can detail chain adjustment?

Air filter:
Keep an eye on it. If your bikes' have been modified there is a chance the airboxes may be "opened up". Look to see if this is the case. If the air boxes
are open then in dusty conditions your air filter will get dirty much more quickly. An air filter can get dirty is a short time in very heavy dust. Wash out
with Diesel (wear rubber gloves), wring carefully, oil lightly, re-install. Your filter (if oiled properly) can stand quite a bit of dirt. You can wait till its pretty much covered in dirt before cleaning, but not too much.

Suspension:
If you can, make sure the fork oil is fresh and correct level in the forks.
Check rear sag with all your gear on the bike. Let the bike stand loaded.
Measure from center of rear axle, straight up to frame or seat. Note this #.
Now SIT on the bike with feet on pegs. Full weight on the bike. Have your buddy measure same distance. If its more than about 3 inches difference between two figures, then you need to crank in more preload or get another spring (unlikely). So crank up the threaded collar on the rear shock until you've got about 2.5 inches of sag if possible.

Carb:
Get to know and love your carburator. Get down there and just stare at it.
Learn it. Find the litte screw at the bottom of the float bowl. This will allow
you to drain the float bowl if you get water or crap in the fuel, which will end up in the carb. Install an inline filter. (Auto type is fine)

Learn where the idle control is. Learn how the throttle cables route and how
they hook onto the carb. Keep area clean.

Brakes:
Look at the color of your brake fluid. Is it dark? If so, change it out. Buy a
NEW, sealed can of brake fluid with the correct Dot rating (DOT lll or DOT lV
most likely)

Pump all the old fluid out as you add new fluid. Never let fluid resevoir get more than half way down. Use bleed bolt on brake caliper. Do NOT crank down
too hard on this bolt. Open and close bleed bolt to pump out old fluid. Do front and rear systems.

Coolant? I thought XT600's were air cooled? 660's water cooled.

Electrics:
Look for bodged or mickey moused wires or connectors. Make sure everything
works. Carry spare fuses. If you are running heated gear make sure you don't kill your battery. Don't leave key on with headlight burning when you stop.
Its culumative. Turn off ignition...always. (man, so many guys screw this up!)

I would start pulling off the headlight fairing and getting familiar with whats
behind it. Take your time. Learn it. In the pitch dark, on Ruta 40 with a
50 knot cross wind and rain is not the time to learn your wiring layout.

Que le via bien,

Patrick

MOLLYDOG --- seems whereever you are, you're an absolutely invaluable resource... Again -with your permission, I'm nicking some of your wise words to add to our (this time XT) prep list!