The oil is clean, but time has passed, so I’ll go ahead and change it.
Operation and condition are both excellent.
The bolts are showing rust. Since they’re black oxide coated, they offer almost no corrosion protection. And lately I’ve been thinking—after cleaning the caliper, I haven’t applied any rust protection, so corrosion will continue to progress.
The pad wear is no problem.
With axial fixing, the contact with the disc changes depending on how you install it.
Even more so with a worn disc. Ideally “in the outer radial direction,” but I reposition it to “where the rolling action is smoothest right now.”
The pads have worn to match the disc, so adjusting them together gives better operation.
SKF bearings are only good without lubrication at first. They do get stiff. Lubrication is necessary.
You can feel the difference in operation right away by comparing unlubricated and lubricated.
Paint the non-stroking top-to-stem area with rust protection included, then wipe it off. It rusts surprisingly easily, so do “cleaning and rust protection.”
I’ll replace the bolts. They’re electroless nickel. The finish is clean and I quite like it.
We have a good stock of bolts, nuts, and washers—at least some of them. Having them on hand versus not makes a difference in the fine details of the finish.
Remove the pedal once in a while and lubricate it.
If the rod end has a grease fitting, add some for even better results.
Same goes for the shift side.
I’ll lubricate the side stand too.
The easiest way to make it lighter is to weaken the spring. Be careful not to overdo it—I’ll tackle that another time.
The Brembo pins rust surprisingly easily. Apply grease here too for rust protection.
I’ll clean and lubricate the throttle as well.
Huh? What? That color looks odd? That’s not good…
For a moment I thought the water pump’s mechanical seal had failed again, but it doesn’t appear to be oil. Ah, I see—some of that old coolant I put in ages ago must still be lingering.
I’ll keep replacing it until it comes out clean.
Occasionally removing and cleaning the tank is effective too.
Fluid change. Everything looked clean overall.
Just to be safe, I’ll change the oil and we’re done.
