Things I have learnt through my own and other people's experiences to save you money

[B0000M]

Step 1 - Ride, unload straight off trailer and into garage, drink beer.
Step 2 - Purchase new bike each year.

beginning to look like a good idea!

[scott411]

Step 1 - Ride, unload straight off trailer and into garage, drink beer.
Step 2 - Purchase new bike each year.

i have a customer who is very much like you, he was at ardmore a few years ago and asked Norm Cobb if he could look at his suspension, Norm walks over and the guy is having a smoke, he looks at the bike in disgust and ask if he has ever cleaned it, he responds that he does not clean bikes as he can afford to trade them every year and they clean them after that, Norm then walks off muttering something, he enjoys telling this story very much

[B0000M]

i have a customer who is very much like you, he was at ardmore a few years ago and asked Norm Cobb if he could look at his suspension, Norm walks over and the guy is having a smoke, he looks at the bike in disgust and ask if he has ever cleaned it, he responds that he does not clean bikes as he can afford to trade them every year and they clean them after that, Norm then walks off muttering something, he enjoys telling this story very much

whats the cost of a new 450 and the the trade in value 12 months later with a non maintained bike done around 50-60 hours?

[Atomic]

i have a customer who is very much like you, he was at ardmore a few years ago and asked Norm Cobb if he could look at his suspension, Norm walks over and the guy is having a smoke, he looks at the bike in disgust and ask if he has ever cleaned it, he responds that he does not clean bikes as he can afford to trade them every year and they clean them after that, Norm then walks off muttering something, he enjoys telling this story very much

All in jest mate, not serious.
I fastidiously maintain my bikes and use only the best oils etc.
I could even sleep with my bike on white 1000 thread count linen.

[barty5]

whats the cost of a new 450 and the the trade in value 12 months later with a non maintained bike done around 50-60 hours?

if it cost 12 guess you might get 9 on a good day 7-8 for somthing not looked after who would want to pay for something that looked 2-3 times it real age.
In saying that my neghbour traded his rx7 ( noisey bit of shit ) on a 07 rm450 at the start of the year had it for a month and sold it for 4500 needed the cash 1st owner had thrashed it for the 3 months he had it. So that was 4500 after less than 6 months alot of $$ lost there.

[clmintie]

I used to have something called "spare time", now I have four dirt bikes to maintain .... We try to ride twice a week with three of them, if I didn't keep on top of it, it could get very costly. Good thread Boooom.

[husky]

Steering head bearings can indeed be greased by the installation of a grease nipple in the frame. You don't even need to take anything apart. Just pick a suitable spot behind the front number board about in the middle between the bottom bearing and the top one. Drill a nice hole in the frame tube and bang in the nipple. You will need to pack a fair bit of grease into the nipple before you will see the grease start to come out at the top and bottom seals (you have to fill up the cavity surrounding the steering yoke). The grease goes through the bearing cones on its way out the seals. Never change a bearing again...

[Coyote]

My best advice is don't crash. Crashing tends to break things, and replacing broken parts cost money.

The more you know.

[cheese]

Ok, I'm off to tighten my 3 loose spokes.

[theblacksmith]

Keep chain addjusted correctly and change sprockets at the same time.

Keep water out of steering head bearing as much as possible (im fitting new set this weekend)

Hmm - I need to do mine as well.

[barty5]

Ok, I'm off to tighten my 3 loose spokes.

about bloody time.

[B0000M]

about bloody time.

he told me me there was 4

[B0000M]

shouldve added this to the original post - all of these things dont need to be done if you dont intend to ever ride your bike.

things more important should be moisture reduction, maybe a day in the sun from time to time and a good rust preventative on steel parts.

thatl keep you out of trouble cheese!

[raglanash]

Radaitor braces will save you $$ as well. Radaitors are made of gold..
And fitting a hour meter so maintainence can be scheduled not done randomly helps too.

[xen]

Good tips cheers! Gonna check my rear shock bump now