i recently took my bike to the shop in belgium in nossegem to replace the hard to get to shock absorber before the alternator
usually i do all my light and medium maintenance but this is major
i showed them the way to do it without splitting the engine but they wanted to do it the traditional way ( much more expensive)
when i get the bike back
1 immediate problem seen, they didint connect the throttle return cable up
so it was dangerous and i corrected it once i got home

2 tappet cover gasket was ill fitted and oil was leaking into the nr 3 plug hole ( fouled plug as a result )

3 i started to have difficulty to start up when cold , when hot starting was not difficult
it seemed that the bike was way too lean
so i checked the petrol **** and disassembled it , it seems to work , no gunk on the filter either
i tested the flow by sucking on the suction line to open the valve
about 200 cc would come out then the flow would stop
i opened the tank filler and the flow was normal again
then i checked the air breather tube and they had put in a small dowel in the tube end which blocked the replacement air entry causing a vacuum and then no more flow!
now its corrected
why this was done i can only guess was to get me to call back for another repair
so wierd !
now still 2 issues
the usual 5 year cam tensioner replacement

the repair of the metal fatigue crack in the gas tank front mounting
( already tried gas tank epoxy liner from inside but lasted 6 months only
now trying to use epoxy from the outside
a 2nd hand tank is about 160 eur and difficult to find in red and black 92 colours ( plenty of full black ones around )
i am going to try to make a foam support for the tank at the front to reduce the force on the tank support

have fun
cbr paul

 

Interesting.
I'd be pizzed off at the shop for not knowing any better.

 

bike runs much better now thanks , more powere all through the range
but :just now found play in the fornt wheel
had replaced the bearings 3 years ago and hardly any miles since
now have to do it again , argghhhh!
the bearings are simply too small for the stresses imposed

 

cbr1000fl
1 the tank has been epoxied from the outside
the leak is now tiny, still from a small bubble in the epoxy, will correct it

2 the front wheel bearings are replaced by generic skf ones
the mechainic had left some water in the hub and this had rotted out the spacer and the seals
now i sprayed everything with sticky chain lube so its good for some years

3 ordered the f--- ing cam chain tensioner ( 3rd time round)
anyone got a way to rejuvinate the tensioner so i can re use the old one ?? saves me 140 euro!

now its getting better
one other trick i need to know about
the lower race in the head is pitted ( common as its basically a bicycle bearing on a 250 kg bike! )
the problem is that the inner dia of the outer race is almost the same as the diameter of the tube
so how to drive it out???
any clues gratefully appreciated!
cheers cbr paul of belgium