The first job on my list was to change the chain and sprockets. The set on the machine when I bought it had a truly ridiculous tight spot.
But this was offset by the fact that the back wheel was wonky as I rode away and upon trying to straighten it in the first garage forecourt I discovered that the chain tensioners were seized solid.
So a careful and slow ride home was followed by a complete dismantling of the tensioners and generous smearing with aluminium grease (like copper grease, but silver, due to the aluminium. clever that). Also replaced the nuts with non-rounded shiny stainless ones and attacked the tensioner plate with Autosol.
removed plate, rusty threads!
Clean and shiny tensioner! (and straight wheel!)
So with that done, it was time for the chain and sprockets.
Dirty horrible gears with the worst tight/loose spot I've seen.
I ordered a D.I.D gold chain and JT Sprockets set from Busters for £79.99 but specced it for 2 teeth bigger on the front and 2 teeth smaller on the back. (I drive an old diesel car as well, so it'll still feel PLENTY fast enough, I tell myself!)
While waiting for the chain and sprockets I picked up this bad boy:
So while I had the back wheel off, I also had a Metzeler Z6 fitted (from M&P) at
http://www.ultimatebikegear.co.uk/ in Papworth. for just £12.50 balanced.
Here was the first clanger. The previous owner told me the chain and sprockets were relatively new (i was VERY sceptical due to the aforementioned tight spot) but on replacing the whole set I KNEW he was lying.
No photo (sorry) but the front sprocket had shark fin shaped teeth. And it STILL had the original 9mm thick front retaining nut. So another couple of days wait and the new nut and retaining washer arrived from wemoto (just over a fiver) and I cracked on.
I took the opportunity to remove the swingarm and give it a proper clean, check and re-grease the bearings. Which also allowed me to rivet the new chain off the bike. Much easier on a bench!
All Done!
All shiny and fresh looking!
I gave the wheel a good clean and polish while it was off. Luckily, almost no scratches and absolutely no corrosion or blistering. Looks like a new wheel now!
As for the new gearing, due to the closeness of the gears, I haven't really noticed any large drop in acceleration. And when I get above 8,000 rpm it still feels like someone lit a rocket under my @rse!
The first bonus is that in top gear, the revs have dropped by about 1,000 rpm for any given speed. Im doing about 4k rpm at 60 mph. So the bike is much smoother, which I like (I'm getting old before my time).
But the real win is that I now get at least 200 miles before the light comes on. And I've bravely ridden as much as 50 miles after that. Current highest range is 265 miles. And this is with the 20 litre tank.