What you did to your Tenere today??!!

[RCinNC]

I'm changing the fork oil and replacing the spark plugs. The valves were checked a little while ago. That's the one maintenance task that I leave up to the shop to do.

That stand has come in handy. It's made from a single 2x4 and a 2'x2' piece of 3/4" plywood. The tops of the upright parts have notches in them for the crash bars. The crossbar is bolted to the uprights, and makes it all very stable. This is a better view of it:

 

[liquidsmile]

Definitely a useful stand. I saw a guy do fork seals on YouTube and he talked about using a ratchet strap ran through rafters to hold up the front of his bike. Your stand is definitely trick. Thank you for sharing.

 

[RCinNC]

I've seen that method. It always looks a little sketchy to me, though you have to make do with whatever's available to you. I'd rather support the bike from below. When I set mine up, I put the bike on the centerstand, then jack it up from underneath using a floor jack under the skid plate, and I push the bike back onto the rear wheel so the wheel's touching the floor. Once I slide the uprights under the crashbars, I lower the jack so the crashbars are resting on top of them, but the rear wheel is still making contact with the floor. It makes a pretty large support triangle for the bike, and it's really stable, even when I have to start reefing on a nut. I loosened the cap nut on the steering head while the bike was on the wooden stand, and the bike didn't shift around at all.

 

[Fennellg]

I don't want to “again” introduce a discussion about the lubricant… just say that JASO DH-2 is not even similar to JASO MA/MA2. Still, it's good to know that wet clutches run for many miles with any other good quality lube, even if it's not the JASO MA standard.
Rotella T6 5w40 is JASO MA/MA2…..and T5 10W30, too?

Good to know. Could they make it more confusing! It’s running fine. Use to run car mobil one in my Harleys. Put over 250,000 miles on them. I will probably switch back to T6 5w 40 when it’s available.

Fresh clean oil is much less damaging then old dirty worn out oil. I know there can be slip problems with the clutch depending. I have never run into this. As far as oil It’s kinda like religion pick one. The manufactures 1 don’t know all that much, 2 have a different agenda. Emissions and mandatory gas mileage requirements win out over longevity and carbon build up issues, as well as oil consumption issues. People look at their requirements as dogma don’t realize their goals are opposed To your goals. I don’t know anyone who would willingly sacrifice. 20 to 50 % of an engines life, put up with carbon build up or oils consumption, just gain 1 or 2 mpg or slightly improve emissions.
Besides there is a another environmental cost not even regulated or considered. If the useful life of a motor is cut Dramatically. 2 thing occur. A vehicle goes to a junk yard and a new one is put into service. This is also a strain on our environment.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Definitely a useful stand. I saw a guy do fork seals on YouTube and he talked about using a ratchet strap ran through rafters to hold up the front of his bike. ...

I've done that but usually use a lift. Agree that a solid stand from below is much better and more solid.

 

[Jlq1969]

Good to know. Could they make it more confusing! It’s running fine. Use to run car mobil one in my Harleys. Put over 250,000 miles on them. I will probably switch back to T6 5w 40 when it’s available.

Fresh clean oil is much less damaging then old dirty worn out oil. I know there can be slip problems with the clutch depending. I have never run into this. As far as oil It’s kinda like religion pick one. The manufactures 1 don’t know all that much, 2 have a different agenda. Emissions and mandatory gas mileage requirements win out over longevity and carbon build up issues, as well as oil consumption issues. People look at their requirements as dogma don’t realize their goals are opposed To your goals. I don’t know anyone who would willingly sacrifice. 20 to 50 % of an engines life, put up with carbon build up or oils consumption, just gain 1 or 2 mpg or slightly improve emissions.
Besides there is a another environmental cost not even regulated or considered. If the useful life of a motor is cut Dramatically. 2 thing occur. A vehicle goes to a junk yard and a new one is put into service. This is also a strain on our environment.

On the engine side, with the T5 there would be no problem. For the gears of the gearbox, there would be no problem with the T5 either. But for wet clutch discs, if the T5 isn't MA or MA2...you'll probably cook them.
I have not read (always through internet photos or the shell page), that the T5 is MA/MA2….so in principle “it is not indicated for wet clutch). The T6 (in photos and on the shell page), apart from being DH-2 (diesel), further down the list of standards adds MA/MA2.

 

[Fennellg]

 

[Sierra1]

I don't want to “again” introduce a discussion about the lubricant…

Too late. . . . .

 

[Jlq1969]

Too late. . . . .

 

[Fennellg]

“On the engine side, with the T5 there would be no problem. For the gears of the gearbox, there would be no problem with the T5 either. But for wet clutch discs, if the T5 isn't MA or MA2...you'll probably cook them.”

The gentleman speaks of what is probable. Yet he has never run the oil. Much less do a Google search To see if anyone else has run it in a motorcycle. Such predictions are reckless and fear mongering not based on experience or research. He wants to follow the dogma of oil recommendations, who am I to argue. I just know the manufactures have varied concerns that are necessary aligned with the consumers. I do not recommend I am just saying what I did because of supply issues.

 

[RCinNC]

And here's what I did today....

 

[TenereJourneyMan]

And here's what I did today....

Niiiiice

 

[NJGreg]

Today tested out the no-mar tire changer that came yesterday by putting the stock sneakers back on the bike, removing the trailsmarts in anticipation of our road trip sept down the blue ridge parkway and dragon territory.
Rear kicked my butt and got to do it twice since I did not line up the tire dot and valve stem so woulda took a lot of weight to balance. Front went smooth as can be, maybe it was getting over the learning curve.

 

[Fennellg]

Love those things. I cheaped out and went the Harbor freight route.

 

[RCinNC]

I finally finished my marathon maintenance session today. First I changed the spark plugs, that's so much easier to do when there's no front end on the bike.

This is (I think) the second plug change I've done after I started using that O-ring method to help seal the coil stick (it's described here at https://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?threads/water-in-plug-wells-prevention-a-possible-solution.23850/ ). This is what my old plugs looked like when I took them out:

The Number 1 plug is the one on the left side of the bike, where a lot of guys have issues with corrosion. It's right at 12,000 miles since my last plug change, and I've ridden a lot in the rain.

The coil sticks are still looking good too. These are originals:

This is a tool I made to help me install the plugs. It makes it a lot easier to tell if you've cross threaded the plug when you're screwing it it. The tubing allows you to retain your manual dexterity so you can quickly feel if the plug is binding, and the tubing will start to slip to keep you from continuing to try and tighten the plug if it's cross threaded:

It's just a piece of 5/16" ID vinyl tubing with a piece of aluminum tubing inserted partway into the vinyl. The aluminum tubing gives the vinyl some rigidity, which makes it easier to get the plug threaded. I wrapped some tape around one end of the tubing to give my fingers more surface area to grab.

I find it best to leave myself little notes around the bike to remind me of stuff, especially when some maintenance tasks (like headset service and fork service) overlap each other:

Once the plugs were in, I reinstalled the front forks, tires, etc, aligned the forks, and took it for a test ride. The steering was right on the money, and nothing exploded, so I think I'm good to go. Barring routine maintenance like oil/tire changes (or something actually breaking on the bike), I won't have anything major until next year, when the clutch and brake systems and the radiator will be due for service.

Man, am I glad to be done!

 

[Jlq1969]

I finally finished my marathon maintenance session today. First I changed the spark plugs, that's so much easier to do when there's no front end on the bike.

This is (I think) the second plug change I've done after I started using that O-ring method to help seal the coil stick (it's described here at https://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?threads/water-in-plug-wells-prevention-a-possible-solution.23850/ ). This is what my old plugs looked like when I took them out:

The Number 1 plug is the one on the left side of the bike, where a lot of guys have issues with corrosion. It's right at 12,000 miles since my last plug change, and I've ridden a lot in the rain.

The coil sticks are still looking good too. These are originals:

This is a tool I made to help me install the plugs. It makes it a lot easier to tell if you've cross threaded the plug when you're screwing it it. The tubing allows you to retain your manual dexterity so you can quickly feel if the plug is binding, and the tubing will start to slip to keep you from continuing to try and tighten the plug if it's cross threaded:

It's just a piece of 5/16" ID vinyl tubing with a piece of aluminum tubing inserted partway into the vinyl. The aluminum tubing gives the vinyl some rigidity, which makes it easier to get the plug threaded. I wrapped some tape around one end of the tubing to give my fingers more surface area to grab.

I find it best to leave myself little notes around the bike to remind me of stuff, especially when some maintenance tasks (like headset service and fork service) overlap each other:

Once the plugs were in, I reinstalled the front forks, tires, etc, aligned the forks, and took it for a test ride. The steering was right on the money, and nothing exploded, so I think I'm good to go. Barring routine maintenance like oil/tire changes (or something actually breaking on the bike), I won't have anything major until next year, when the clutch and brake systems and the radiator will be due for service.

Man, am I glad to be done!

I would not like to create "another" controversy, now with the spark plugs. I know that many things work, even when they are not recommended by the manufacturer, but... why did you decide to put a grade 6 spark plug?

 

[RCinNC]

Beats me. I ordered some spark plugs for the bike at (I think) O'Reilly Auto, and those were the plugs I put in. I don't recall ever checking the plug itself, just the box it came in. It wasn't a conscious choice; I wouldn't know a Grade 6 plug from Batman. The plugs I ordered back then would have been CPR8EB-9, just like the ones I just put in.

Next time I'll check both the box and the plug.

 

[Fennellg]

Love the sign about the nut not tightened

 

[RCinNC]

@Jlq1969:

Out of curiosity I went back and checked the other plugs I'd pulled (I'm glad I hadn't tossed them yet) and found that three of the four were the correct plug ( CPR8EB-9 ). Only that Number 3 plug was the wrong one. Good lesson to me, though...always check what's in the box.

 

[RCinNC]

Love the sign about the nut not tightened

Whereabouts in NC are you, anyway?