Once Every 5 Years? - Maintenance

[Guest]

I do the regular maintenance on the bike ('82 850 G) like oil changes, plugs, brake pads, valve adjustment etc, and ride about 6,000 miles per year. When I got the bike about 5 years ago, it underwent all the delayed maintenance items we go through to get a GS roadworthy -

Carb intake tubes and o-rings
Exhaust downtube header gaskets
NGK spark plug caps
Tachometer seals
Cam chain tensioner seals
New petcock
Honda R/R replacement (Duanage)
Fuel lines
Front fork rebuild
Caliper, master cylinder rebuilds
Stainless brake lines

The question is, what should be done again after 5 years? My guess is new carb intake o-rings, NGK spark plug caps (just because they're so cheap), fuel lines and new fork oil. And also loosen, then re-tighten the exhaust header bolts, just to make sure the anti-seize is still working.

Whats your take on this? This is a minor winter project, but want to cover everything I can.

Thanks,
DPage

[Big T]

Your list looks good

I'd add a brake fluid change

Swing arm and steering head, just to make sure they're snug

[bobthebiker88]

Your list looks good

I'd add a brake fluid change

Swing arm and steering head, just to make sure they're snug

while in them, grease both. use good high grade grease. believe me, you want to do that.

[Nessism]

Well, let see...brake fluid, fork oil, grease or replace the wheel bearings, grease the swing arm and steering head bearings if you have never done it before, plus all the normal type maintenance like a valve adjustment. I wouldn't mess with the intake boot O-rings or fuel line as long as you used OE level parts.

[salty_monk]

Happy new year Dave!
Brake fluid, fork oil, transmission oils. That's all I would do.
Swingarm and head bearings are easier to do when doing a forkseal or replacing sprockets....
There is no real reason to do any more at your mileage in my opinion unless you're riding in the rain or cleaning with a pressure washer.
Wheel bearings are well sealed these days, you can check those on your tyre schedule, they should go at least one set of rubber!
Fuel lines and brake lines should last longer than five years, as should plug caps.

[bwringer]

Personally, I'd at least squeeze and inspect the fuel/vacuum lines and make sure they're still in nice shape.

Definitely flush the brake lines with new brake fluid -- every two years would be better for this, actually.

And replacing the fork oil is a great idea. Again, every two years might be better. If it looks really icky coming out after five years, replace it more often.

No need to bother with the spark plug caps, I think. (You ARE using dielectric grease, right?) And wheel bearings are as-needed -- inspect at every tire change, replace every other tire change if you're paranoid, but they don't go bad just sitting there.

No need to disturb the exhaust gaskets, but I do crack the exhaust header bolts loose and re-tighten every six months or so and re-coat with anti-seize every year or two.

Since it's a shaftie, the swingarm bearings are a much more robust design (tapered roller bearings) than the wimpy needle bearings found in chain drive bikes. Make sure they're greased and adjusted correctly, but there's little need to re-pack them on any regular basis. Do it once and don't worry about it again for a couple of decades.

I'd also add to your list greasing the rear brake pedal pivot. Lubing the cables is probably part of your normal maintenance, but I'll mention it.

But overall, I think the most critical thing to do every five years or so is go through every electrical connector in the wiring harness, disconnect it, clean it up as needed, spritz each connector and all the switches with a good electrical contact cleaner/lube spray (like DeOxit) and reassemble with dielectric grease where appropriate. And, of course inspect all the wiring closely and repair any problems you find along the way. This will eliminate the single biggest cause of GS problems. I do this once every two years, or whenever I have the parts exposed for some other reason.

[DPage]

Thank for the info guys. I replace the brake fluid and gearbox oils every spring, and the wheel bearing were changed at 30K miles, so we're covered there. Hadn't thought about greasing the steering stem and swingarm - maybe I'll fool around with those, although the Clymer manual makes both seem like kind of a major job. And yes, I should have gone through the wiring harness 5 years ago, so I certainly need it now. It has acted up during rain a few times. I have a 5 oz can of DeOxit and DeOxit Gold now, so that will be done this spring too. Happy New Year!

[Redman]

Oh, man, how did this thread go so long without someone mentioning the hub splines in the rear wheel. ... ?

Yah, 82 850G.

THat is not every 5 years, that is at least every time the rear wheel is off fo a tire change. Should also inspect it upon getting the bike if PO had not gave you a status report on the, or even if he did. DO a search on rear hub. (on microfische is called a joint assembly, but that is the only place you will ever hear it called that). Maybe evebody conciders that about the same as maintianing the tires.



.

[DPage]

A fair question, Redman. Some of the early '82, '83 "G's" have a goldish colored rear spline that are soft and wear out quickly. They should be replaced with the older "black" spline or the newer "silver" spline - both are made of harder steel and basically last forever. I replaced my gold one with a silver spline a few years ago, and use Honda Moly 60 lubricant on the spline every time the rear tire is changed.

[Redman]

A fair question, Redman. Some of the early '82, '83 "G's" have a goldish colored rear spline that are soft and wear out quickly. They should be replaced with the older "black" spline or the newer "silver" spline - both are made of harder steel and basically last forever. I replaced my gold one with a silver spline a few years ago, and use Honda Moly 60 lubricant on the spline every time the rear tire is changed.

Okay.
Good.
Then you are well familiar with all that.

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