madbiker
Well travelled
- Location
- United Kingdom
I bought the bike 18 months old with 2,500 miles on the clock. It is a 2018 UK BS4 spec bike.
I change the oil every 3,000 and the oil filter every 6,000. I tend to use 20W50 oil as I can never find the recommended 15W50.
Air filter has been cleaned with a high pressure air hose once, at 16,000 miles and is slightly dirty.
I replaced the OEM Pirelli MT60 tyres with Mitas E07's at 10,000 miles. The MT60 rear was bald in the middle (no tread left) at that mileage. The E07 rear has done 9,000 miles so far and there is still a lot of tread left, although it is squaring off now.
I changed the brake fluid at 10,000 miles (2 years old) and this made a big difference to the braking. much better.
I also replaced the standard seat with a RE Touring version, it is very hard, almost as bad as sitting on the very soft original.
I replaced the spark plug with an iridium one, NGK CR8EIX, at about 12,000 miles and I have noticed a slight increase in power, the bike can now sustain long gradients without dropping down a gear. I do not know if this is due to the spark plug replacement or just the engine getting better as the mileage increases. I ride it hard, 6000 rpm, when needed but genrally I like to sit somewhere between 4000 to 5000 rpm during normal riding.
At, 16,000 I eventually gave up with the OEM drive chain. Despite having an automatic chain oiler fitted, water had gotten inside the o-ring seals causing corrosion, which in turn was causing tight spots etc. Not wanting a catastrophic chain failure, I replaced the 520 with a DID 525. I put the replacement chain on to the original 520 sprockets as I could not get 525 width replacements. Seems fine.
At about 12, 000 miles the bike developed a small oil weep from the rocker cover, new gasket paste solved that issue. Apart from that no other mechanical issues. The compass is all over the place. I tried re calibrating it but it did not work. Worse than useless.
The bike has been ridden on all types of roads and surfaces. Motorways, fast A class roads, back roads, off road on rocky dirt tracks, very poorly maintained roads with lots of repair patches, potholes, lumps, bumps, fully laden at all times and no problems for the suspension.
Overall, the bike has performed better than I thought it might.
Value for money? Absolutely no question.
Economical? Again, absolutely no question.
Robust? Absolutely.
Reliable? Absolutely (never failed to start and never broken down)
Powerful? No
Comfortable? Sometimes
Overall it does what it says on the label.
Goes anywhere cheaply and reliably as long as you do not want to go there quicker than at 70mph (110 kph)
I change the oil every 3,000 and the oil filter every 6,000. I tend to use 20W50 oil as I can never find the recommended 15W50.
Air filter has been cleaned with a high pressure air hose once, at 16,000 miles and is slightly dirty.
I replaced the OEM Pirelli MT60 tyres with Mitas E07's at 10,000 miles. The MT60 rear was bald in the middle (no tread left) at that mileage. The E07 rear has done 9,000 miles so far and there is still a lot of tread left, although it is squaring off now.
I changed the brake fluid at 10,000 miles (2 years old) and this made a big difference to the braking. much better.
I also replaced the standard seat with a RE Touring version, it is very hard, almost as bad as sitting on the very soft original.
I replaced the spark plug with an iridium one, NGK CR8EIX, at about 12,000 miles and I have noticed a slight increase in power, the bike can now sustain long gradients without dropping down a gear. I do not know if this is due to the spark plug replacement or just the engine getting better as the mileage increases. I ride it hard, 6000 rpm, when needed but genrally I like to sit somewhere between 4000 to 5000 rpm during normal riding.
At, 16,000 I eventually gave up with the OEM drive chain. Despite having an automatic chain oiler fitted, water had gotten inside the o-ring seals causing corrosion, which in turn was causing tight spots etc. Not wanting a catastrophic chain failure, I replaced the 520 with a DID 525. I put the replacement chain on to the original 520 sprockets as I could not get 525 width replacements. Seems fine.
At about 12, 000 miles the bike developed a small oil weep from the rocker cover, new gasket paste solved that issue. Apart from that no other mechanical issues. The compass is all over the place. I tried re calibrating it but it did not work. Worse than useless.
The bike has been ridden on all types of roads and surfaces. Motorways, fast A class roads, back roads, off road on rocky dirt tracks, very poorly maintained roads with lots of repair patches, potholes, lumps, bumps, fully laden at all times and no problems for the suspension.
Overall, the bike has performed better than I thought it might.
Value for money? Absolutely no question.
Economical? Again, absolutely no question.
Robust? Absolutely.
Reliable? Absolutely (never failed to start and never broken down)
Powerful? No
Comfortable? Sometimes
Overall it does what it says on the label.
Goes anywhere cheaply and reliably as long as you do not want to go there quicker than at 70mph (110 kph)
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