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Maintenance Day! October 9th, 1999
After much discussion with other SRNE members, it was decided to hold another Maintenance Day. This was a time for SRNE members who chose to attend to get to know their respective machine better. The intent of the day was to show a rider who would be wary of working on his or her own machine hoe simple basic maintenance to a motorcycle can be. All you need is the proper tools, some time and a minimum mechanical ability. Why should you spend $45.00 per hour for the dealer to change your oil, air filter and spark plugs? You would be surprised at how easy most basic service can be.
This class was limited to eight riders, as any more makes for a very hectic day. This event was held on a very mild Saturday and started at 9:00AM. The day ended around 4:00PM. Tony Iannarelli and myself were to guides fro this event and it was put on at Tony's home in Springfield. Big thanks to Tony and his wife Renee' for putting up with us! I supplied all the tools, all fluids and a BBQ lunch. All the rider was required to bring was his / her bike, an oil filter and $55.00 cash. They also had to bring dirty clothes as they were going to get filthy, not me. Tony and I were there to guide, not actually work on the bike. We both ended up working on certain things, but why not? Motorcycles are fun!
The riders who attended were - Lisa Wikar on her MuZ Skorpion Cup, Paul Duval on his Ducati M750 Monster, Daniel Murphy on his Kawasaki ZX-11D, Craig Reichenbach on his Suzuki GSXR-750W, Matt Westfield on his Honda VFR750F, Mike Fratoni on his Honda CBR600F3 and Steve Douville on his Kawasaki ZX-6R. Each rider had different area's of maintenance that they wished to focus on and that was fine. We would try to tackle what they wished to do. Steve wanted to do some suspension work. Mike wanted to synchronize his F3's carbs. Craig just wanted to check out his recent GSXR purchase and Lisa wanted top see what was under all that orange bodywork of her new MuZ.
All the riders just parked their bikes and got right to business. A couple of riders were a little familiar with their machines, and a couple had no idea where to start. Tony and I did our best to tackle any item you wished to check out. Note that this was not a day in which to perform a valve adjustment on a CBR600 or replace second gear on your ZX-11. This was a basic maintenance day. Oil changes, bolt and bearing inspections, brake pad replacement, coolant change, etc. No serious mechanical work was involved. That is the time in which a good shop or dealership's service dept. should be called in to make sure your problem is dealt with by skilled, factory certified mechanics.
After working most of the day, lunch was picked up by Tony and thrown on the grill. We had chicken, hamburgers, chips, soda, etc. All the essentials of a well balanced diet! All of the days participants were tired and the bikes were just about finished. What most of them did finally realize is that you should not be afraid of your motorcycle. It is a complicated machine, but can be made to last forever with just some simple, basic maintenance performed along a regular schedule. Catch a problem early before it becomes a potential catastrophe. You only have two wheels keeping you off the road so make sure everything connected is in good working order!
Well, that's it! By 5:00PM, everyone was headed home and Tony and myself picked up the mess. This was a very smooth running day and the participants went home happy, smarter and full. See you next Spring at the Third running of the SRNE Maintenance Day!
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