30K Service

[BMCfaz]

My gen1 has just got to 30000 miles, so time for the first service I'll have done on it. A couple of questions for those who've worked on these before;
1. does the oil filter come out easily without removing downpipes? I presume it does, but it looks pretty tight for space.
2. any particular oil recommended, or any of the usual suspects OK?
3. I've never bothered with iridium plugs before, but does anyone else? Are they worth the extra?
Thanks in advance.

[Falcon 269]

Oil filter comes out easily enough, although it's a good idea to loosen it slightly before you warm the engine.   Some folks put tin foil over the headers to keep the oil off them. 

Any semi-synth that meets the viscosity rating will be fine.  Halfords as good as any.  I use a diesel oil rather than bike-specific because it's a lot cheaper where I live but in the UK, I'd say stick with bike-specific stuff.

If you can get iridium plugs on special offer (check ebay) they work out almost the same price as regular plugs.  In that case, worth fitting for the longer life but otherwise, I noticed no difference when I put them in mine.

[BMCfaz]

Thanks, Mike. Think I'll save a few quid and stick with the standard plugs.

[PieEater]

Thanks, Mike. Think I'll save a few quid and stick with the standard plugs.

Standard NGK plugs are £17 a set on ebay including delivery, NGK iridiums are £22. I went with the iridiums on the basis that they'll last longer and potentially give a small beneift to fuel economy so should more than make up for the £5 difference.

If you're doing the valve check save yourself a lot of time & stress and don't follow the Haynes manual instructions to remove the carbs, it's not neccesary, I only found this out after the fact and a lot of sware words.

[ghostbiker]

On the Iridium plugs, with the fazer i noticed no diff at all but on other bikes i have noticed a diff on pickup from low down.
On my old ZX10 for instance it used to stutter a little from closed throttle to 3k i replaced the plugs with std ngk and it still stuttered. a friend said to try the iridium plugs (this was when they first hit the market with huge publicity) well it solved the low down reluctance.

i have had sim results on a rf900 and a zzr 600 as well.
but noticed no change at all with the fazer or other bikes i have used them on.
i now use them on all bikes i own. they do have a longer life but as the plugs get replaced anyway at a service this isnt realy a plus unless you plan not to regular service.
the fuel bonus claimed i have never realy noticed on any bike, but dont normaly pay much attention untill recently.

if you can get a deal then i highly recomend but if every £ counts then its not a big enough bonus to bother with.

[PieEater]

........they do have a longer life but as the plugs get replaced anyway at a service this isnt realy a plus unless you plan not to regular service....

Not really sure wht you mean by that, service intervals are 6000 miles, Yamaha recomend changing the plugs every 2nd service. The NGK Iridiums should certainly last for 18000 so could be done every 3rd service - so there is a saving to be made although admittedly it only works out to be 20p every 1000 miles in terms of cost, not sure about how much value to place on skinned knucles though