Old boi.......buys a 2010 GSX/FA

Kia ora from New Zealand

Traded my Triumph Street Twin on a 2010 GSX/FA on Tuesday...expecting pickup and delivery next week sometime as the dealer is in Auckland and I am in Napier, Hawkes Bay.

After no riding for forty (yes forty) years I bought a Triumph street twin. After twelve months and 9000kms of riding I wanted something that offered better performance, more luggage capacity and some wind protection. 
I initially looked at Ducati monsters but the videos I saw showed me the riders were twats and I am too far gone to be like that.

I like to do what I can maintenance wise on my own machinery so I will be searching for some tips.

The bike has a 50% worn set of Michelin Pilot 2's on it so any suggestions for a fresh set of tires would be welcome as would any other advice.

Regards and thanks in advance
Uncle

Hi & welcome,
Heaps of knowledge here, can't help with tyres (using what mine came with). Enjoy

Hi mate, I find these bikes are pretty sensitive to tyres, though maybe less so than the earlier 1200 chassis.

Mine had a mix of PR2 and PR4 on it when I bought it and I've gone with a set of Metzler M9RRs. They're on the 'sporty' side I guess, but they seem to be wearing well.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the forum

SRAD_Pitt wrote:Hi mate, I find these bikes are pretty sensitive to tyres, though maybe less so than the earlier 1200 chassis.

Mine had a mix of PR2 and PR4 on it when I bought it and I've gone with a set of Metzler M9RRs. They're on the 'sporty' side I guess, but they seem to be wearing well.

Enjoy!

Thanks, I have ordered a set of Michellin Pilot 4's....not the newest but suited my budget.

Welcome to the forum

Thanks, Paul.

Hi Uncle,

    welcome to the forum. Ex pat Kiwi here having had a set of Pilot Fours, of which I got 20,000 k's out of with 42/40 psi in them. You have to watch the feathering on the front if you run lower than 40 psi. Admittedly you may compromise front traction a bit if pushing really hard, but it is a heavy beast. Being non steel belted they heat up pretty quick too which is what you want in Aotearoa. I have now gone to Pilot Fives and they're going well too. I by no means ride like an old lady either, lots of twisties around the Sunshine Coast.
   As far as maintenance goes, 2-3,000 km oil and filter changes. Chain and sprocket lube and cleans. Recommended Radiator Coolant changes. I think we all have fuel pump issues at 40-60,000 kms and ICS ( idle control ) issues around the same kms. Easy fixes for which you will find the info on here. Apart from that hopefully we all get 275,000 kms plus out of them, like someone just posted on here. Go the 1250.

Thanks BigboreSuzuki....lots of food for thought there.

The bike was delivered today and I have had a good ride...it handles/corners better than the Triumph street twin but that non turning fairing is disconcerting at slow speed. No doubt I will get used to it.

How do I get that old sticker off the tank?

Uncle wrote:How do I get that old sticker off the tank?

try heating it with a hairdryer to soften the adhesive, then peel. If you have any adhesive left on the tank you can try some of that citrus based goo remover. I had some adhesive baked to the frame rails (they get super-hot from the engine) on another bike and had to resort to 'goof off', but it's 60% acetone and can be rough on paint

Thanks for the advice SRAD_pitt

I used a hot air gun and a hard plastic scraper.....then some solvent to remove the residue from the sticker.
There is still an edge of some sort but I will leave it for now.

Eucalyptus Oil is non threatening to paint work. I used it to get white paint off a motor cycle seat too.