What do you use and why?

Im new to bikes and learning a lot on the fly and with input from people on this forum. What I wouldnt mind knowing are points that most of you take as a given but may not be so obvious to a newby like me. There are also lots of products found in the USA or UK that are not available here in Australia, well not easliy anyway so any similar products that you may know of would be appreciated too.


Hope to make it easy for replying by using a simple list, please add too if you think of anything else:

Chain
Clean with:
Lube with:
Plastics
Clean with:
Protect with:
Oil and filter
Type:
Changed every:
Air Filter
Type:
Oil:
Changed every:
Tyres
Front - why:
Rear - why:

Chain
Clean with: I dont clean my chain, it can damage the o-rings, maybe a few shots of Super Clean...
Lube with: If I lube the chain, I use Bel-Ray Super Clean Chain Lube
Plastics
Clean with: I just wash the bike with a hose and a wash mit and maybe some car wash soap and Super Clean
Protect with: Protect? Well, I guess it's protected by Smith & Wesson. There is no way to protect plastic other than keeping it out of direct sunlight as much as possible...
Oil and filter
Type: Bel-Ray EXP semi synthetic 20W-50
Changed every: 3000 miles or less
Air Filter
Type: Stock or Twin Air or Uni
Oil: Bel-Ray Foam Filter Oil - Spray type
Changed every: Checked and cleaned before each major riding adventure or at oil change
Tyres
Front - why: Stock
Rear - why: Stock - They are DOT legal and work good on gravel roads and the slab, not the best on dirt, a bit slick...

Chain
Clean with: I don't clean mine, except for when I wash the bike
Lube with: WD-40 / 90 weight oil
Plastics
Clean with: water
Protect with: I've heard lemon pledge works...no, really
Oil and filter
Type: stock filter, Yamalube oil
Changed every: 3000 or less
Air Filter
Type: stock
Oil:
Changed every: oil change
Tyres
Front - why: Both Dunlop D606s, from recommendations here and ADVRider, work great off road and on, IMO
Rear - why:

Chain
Clean with: Kerosene (have a 5gallon bucket of the stuff)
Lube with: Motorex 622 chain lube (love it for the dirt)
Plastics
Clean with: Soap/water (sometimes orange cleaner)
Protect with: Plexus if I ever get anymore
Oil and filter
Type: Yamalube
Changed every: 2000miles
Air Filter
Type: OEM
Oil: Will K/N work? (haven't cleaned it yet)
Changed every: Not yet, slacking
Tyres
Front - why: 606 both (cause shewolf told me to. lol)
Rear - why: Been working very well so far

Chain
Clean with: Kerosene
Lube with: Some spray on stuff from the local dealarship
Plastics
Clean with: soap and water
Protect with: nothing
Oil and filter
Type: Yamalube
Changed every: 1000-1500
Air Filter
Type: stock
Oil: haven't had to yet
Changed every: Look at it every oil change, no reason to change yet
Tyres
Front - why: Stock- I like them, experience no problems that others have...I ride street, muddy, rutted, rooty, single track and forest roads, and have never had a single problem with traction or lack of.
Rear - why: Same as above

Chain
Clean with: Usually just a nylon-bristled brush. Once in a blue moon if it gets unusually grubby, I'll spray it and wipe it with Bel-Ray 6-in-1 (similar to WD-40 but mo bettah).
Lube with: Any quality chain lube that's not claimed to be environmentally friendly and not claimed to be invisible - they're often wimpy. :)

Plastics
Clean with: Spray cleaner like Formula 409 or Fantastik if the bike's not going to get a bona-fide washing. If the garden hose is coming out, then plain ol' soapy water.
Protect with: Honda Spray Cleaner/Polish.

Oil and filter
Type: Silkolene Pro 4T 15/50 100% Syntheitc Ester oil and genuine Yamaha oil filters.
Changed every: 500 miles.

Air Filter
Type: Currently using a Twin Air. Also have a stock one and a Uni Filter I haven't used yet.
Oil: Maxima FFT, the best foam filter oil in the world.
Changed every: Week.

Tyres
Front - Bridgestone M23 (full-on motocross knobby tire)
why: I've used these tires for 20 years. I know them and like them and trust them. Magic on hard terrain.
Rear - Bridgestone M22
why: See above. :)

Chain
Clean with:Kerosene
Lube with:Motul chain lube first, then give it a coat of Chain Wax
Plastics
Clean with:Kleen-Flo truck wash/water with a forestry nozzle
Protect with:Honda Cleaner/Polish
Oil and filter
Type:Wolfs Head 15/40, OEM filter (run the lighter stuff for the winter)
Changed every:3000 km
Air Filter
Type:OEM
Oil:Motorex Spray-On
Changed every:Whenever I get good and dirty
Tyres
Front - why:606's on both. Love the tire, have used others in the past and so far these kick ass on durability/wear.
Rear - why:

Chain
Clean with: Kerosene with tooth brush
Lube with: Bellray superclean
Plastics
Clean with: CT-18 truckwash, Clean brown stains off with (white) turtle wax.
Protect with: Spray on wax.
Oil and filter
Type: Motul 5100 and yamaha filter
Changed every: 6mnths or 2500km
Air Filter
Type: Stock (uni filter would be nice)
Oil: Motul air filter oil
Changed every: Every dusty ride
Tyres
Front - why: Pirelli mt21 rallycross - Coz i like em
Rear - why: Pirelli rallycross - "

[quote="lancek"]Im new to bikes and learning a lot on the fly and with input from people on this forum. What I wouldnt mind knowing are points that most of you take as a given but may not be so obvious to a newby like me. There are also lots of products found in the USA or UK that are not available here in Australia, well not easliy anyway so any similar products that you may know of would be appreciated too.


Hope to make it easy for replying by using a simple list, please add too if you think of anything else:

Chain
Clean with: rinse with wd-40
Lube with: any quality chain lube (alot prefer the sidewinder chain lube)
Plastics
Clean with: soap and water (cleaner wax for stains)
Protect with: a light wax
Oil and filter
Type: Yamalube/motul/ELF ??? FILTER: OEM or K&N (kn 141)
Changed every: 2/3k miles
Air Filter
Type: OEM Wash with hot soapy water and let dry before treating with oil
Oil: I am using Trueflow's foam filter oil (or just masage in a light motor oil) this only to catch small dust and dirt that gets by
Changed every: as needed
Tyres
Front - why:I run a knobby suitable for the terrain I ride (R)
Rear - why: SAME as above

Chain
Clean with: WD40 and a rag
Lube with:
usually Maxima Chain wax, probably going to switch to Sidewinder

Plastics
Clean with: Car wash soap (Meguiars)
Protect with:


Oil and filter
Type:
Yamalube Semi-Syn 5w40, switching to Redline when I find it
Changed every:
2000-3000 miles

Air Filter
Type:
Twin Air
Oil:
PJ1
Changed every:
2000-3000 miles

Tyres

Been through several sets. I liked the stock deathwings well enough. Front and rear Dunlop D606's are nice off road. Front OE trailwing and rear D606 was a fun combo, great on the street and much better than stock off-road. Currently running Kenda K761's front and rear, a little too street oriented for me so unless I plan on an all highway trip I wont be using them again. Next time I need to order tires, I'm going to give DOT "Trials" tires a shot (IRC TR-1 front, Pirelli MT-43 rear). Also going to go with Nutech Tubliss when I decide to afford it.

YZEtc wrote:

Oil and filter
Type: Silkolene Pro 4T 15/50 100% Syntheitc Ester oil and genuine Yamaha oil filters.
Changed every: 500 miles.

Why on earth would you change the oil every 500 miles?

I've always done frequent oil changes on my bikes. :)

YZEtc wrote:

I've always done frequent oil changes on my bikes. :)

But it's completely un-neccessary and wasteful isn't it?

The WR is not an Aprilia or Husky.

Nah.
It suits me just fine. :)

Changed my oil today after 670 Klm's - first oil change at 200Klm's - will do the next one at 1500 - just using all yamaha stuff at the moment
new tyres soon - there is a lot of talk in Oz about the new Dunlop Geomax mx51 but I dont think they are street legal?

More i ride the bike the smaller it gets and the more fun I have - nearly time for a long ride over a couple of days :)

The Dunlop MX51 is a non-street-legal motocross tire.
That's OK for me because I use non-street-legal Bridgestone M22/M23 tires on my WR-250R.

The MX51 looks like the current trend in intermediate terrain off-road/motocross tires, where the center tread blocks are arranged like a soft terrain tire, and the shoulder blocks like a hard terrain tire.

I change my oil often if I'm doing a lot of clutch work in tight stuff. Sand I slip the clutch to get it in the power band. Clutch fiber is rough on the engine. It also will burn the oil quick. I can see the oil in the glass when it starts getting dark I change it, not by miles.

YamWOW! wrote:

I change my oil often if I'm doing a lot of clutch work in tight stuff. Sand I slip the clutch to get it in the power band. Clutch fiber is rough on the engine. It also will burn the oil quick. I can see the oil in the glass when it starts getting dark I change it, not by miles.

A magazine over here put YZ250F clutch plates in their project bike along with firmer springs.

motokid wrote:

Why on earth would you change the oil every 500 miles?

But it's completely un-neccessary and wasteful isn't it?

The WR is not an Aprilia or Husky.

But it still has an engine and a wet clutch. I think their oil change intervals are not that different from Yamaha's incidentally...

If one owner rides like a granny up and down the slab and gravel roads, and the next guy is constantly slipping his clutch through gnarly single track, will the oil in both bikes break down at the same rate? I don't think so. My brother who works as an engineer in the lubricant biz says the VII package in a high revving motorcycle with a wet clutch that carries less than a litre and a half of oil is probably about done by 1500 miles. I have yet to hear anyone argue otherwise.

From my point of view, when oil that went in as a light golden translucent color becomes opaque and dark, there is something in the oil now that wasn't in there when it went in the engine. To the best of my knowledge, nothing in the internal combustion process adds anything good to the oil. It is contamination. And obviously, all of it isn't filtered out by the filter or the oil wouldn't be opaque and dark.

So the choice is simple. For about the price of a Subway sandwich and drink - and about the same amount of time invested as eating that sandwich - I can put fresh clean oil in my bike.

Or, you can consider that to be a sandwich and time wasted and keep running that contaminated oil through the bike. If you believe that whatever has turned the oil dark cannot possibly be harming anything and 3000 mile oil change intervals are fine, then that will probably work for you.

Apropos of perhaps nothing, I bet Yamaha makes more money selling engine parts than they do selling Yamalube. It also occurs to me that while most motorcycle owners probably don't use the branded motorcycle oil sold by their dealer, the engine parts that wear out, seize, etc will almost certainly be distributed and sold by the manufacturer of their bike.

In the end, the neat thing is that everyone is responsible for their own bike. Somebody else's oil change, filter cleaning, etc intervals don't affect my bike or my pocketbook one bit, nor mine theirs.

Chain
Clean with: Plain old water & a Grunge Brush. Orange Cleaner added to water if it gets that mucky. Blow dry with compressed air.
Lube: Often, using up an assortment of left over gun oils right now, applied with a pinpoint applicator.

Once the stockers wear out, will be switching to Sidewinder Titanium II sprocket/countersprocket and 12,000 Smartchain. Probably do their 520 to 428 conversion while I'm at it - while performance gains may or may not be noticeable, strength is about the same as is cost. Reason for going all the way on the drive: I ride alone most of the time for lack of riding partners, a long, long way from where I might run into another vehicle. Had a 70 mile walk out once about 30 years ago; don't want to do that again. I place a lot of value on bulletproof.

Plastics
Clean with: Water, soft dishwashing brush, and patience. The odd shot of Orange Cleaner when req'd.
Protect with: ???????. You mean... like, wax my dirt bike?????

Oil and filter
Type: Rotella T Synthetic 5/40. Very high quality, yet cheap like borscht at Wally World
Changed every: First 20 miles, then 400 miles, then 1000 miles. Now every 1500 or less, depending.

Air Filter
Type: OEM
Clean: 1500 km or less, depending on appearance
Oil: Maxima FFT

Tires
Front - stock: Perfectly fine for my riding around here on hard dirt roads, soft trails, and slab
Rear - same
Pressure: factory - my riding doesn't require airing down and less chance of a pinch flat.

super great thread! very helpful for us newbies..

My question is where do you buy your product, local dealer or online? if online where do you recommend. Local dealer's are a bit far and to be honest I haven't found one that I actually like.

Thanks!

About the only thing I don't get at locally are oil filters, I order them from the ThumperTalk store. I have several stores pretty close by that combined carry what I need, and I'd rather support local businesses.

bash3r wrote:

super great thread! very helpful for us newbies..

My question is where do you buy your product, local dealer or online? if online where do you recommend. Local dealer's are a bit far and to be honest I haven't found one that I actually like.

My stealer doesn't carry Rotella, so obviously that's a Wally World trip. I use OEM filters, so SOME dealer is likely to get my business.

South Seattle Sports advertises OEM parts at 30% off, and they seem to be the least expensive place to shop for me:
http://www.yamahasportsplaza.com/pages/parts/viewbybrand/default.aspx

I like to support local businesses - but not at the prices they're trying to jack me up for.

i hear you, i would love to support local dealers, but in my case, the staff seem like they are too busy or have more important things to do then help a customer get some oil & a filter! really ticks me off.

maybe i'll try again, maybe there's new management nowadays.. cuz its time to for my 20mi oil change :)

Tip of the day from HF - I have been looking at the dirty great brown marks on my side covers where my boots rub - nothing would get it off - until I read HF's cleaning thread and picked up on using petrol on a rag... and wouldnt you know it - clean as new - just magic... now for th enext trick - what do you guys do for really big scratches in the plastic - want to tidy it up so I can apply some new graphics.

Im guessing a really fine sandpaper or similar... planing after this not to drop the bike as often