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JoeKahno · 11-23-2023, 10:18 PM

I just passed 3,000km and had to deal with some additional issues. First was replacing a busted headlight. While stopping to close a gate at the apartment complex I picked a spot that turned out to not be as level as I thought. The bike rolled off the side stand. I could maybe have gotten away with replacing the lens and trim ring but the entire headlight assembly was in stock at the dealer for $10. The OEM part was available online for $5 but I didn't want to look at the results of my dumpf uckery for a week while waiting for it to arrive.

A more serious issue was the clutch. I have shifted US standard pattern for half a century. Instead of one down four up this machine uses five down and repeat. If you go past fifth you are back in neutral. Several times in the process of retraining my foot I found myself in a much higher gear than traffic required. Attempting to slip the clutch and come up to speed anyway started glazing the clutch disks. While I rapidly became slightly less stupid, once the glazing was started it slowly progressed until I replaced the disks as a preventive measure. A set of OEM friction disks was less than $5. As an unexpected benefit, the usual sticktion that would happen after leaving it parked a few days was greatly reduced. You still want to free the clutch before the first start of the day but it's less of a problem if you forget. Also slipping the clutch for smooth starts became much more controllable. It was well worth the trivial expense just for the improvement in driveability.

So, it seems to be holding up to a reasonable amount of user error fairly well. We have a month or two of tropical rainy season left and it's been spending considerable time under a bike cover. Normally I avoid these but around here it doesn't chill enough at night for condensation to be a problem and the UV levels this close to the equator will fade the paint and make the plastic crispy in nothing flat.

11-23-2023, 10:18 PM	#4
JoeKahno Join Date: May 2023 Posts: 14	Further update I just passed 3,000km and had to deal with some additional issues. First was replacing a busted headlight. While stopping to close a gate at the apartment complex I picked a spot that turned out to not be as level as I thought. The bike rolled off the side stand. I could maybe have gotten away with replacing the lens and trim ring but the entire headlight assembly was in stock at the dealer for $10. The OEM part was available online for $5 but I didn't want to look at the results of my dumpf uckery for a week while waiting for it to arrive. A more serious issue was the clutch. I have shifted US standard pattern for half a century. Instead of one down four up this machine uses five down and repeat. If you go past fifth you are back in neutral. Several times in the process of retraining my foot I found myself in a much higher gear than traffic required. Attempting to slip the clutch and come up to speed anyway started glazing the clutch disks. While I rapidly became slightly less stupid, once the glazing was started it slowly progressed until I replaced the disks as a preventive measure. A set of OEM friction disks was less than $5. As an unexpected benefit, the usual sticktion that would happen after leaving it parked a few days was greatly reduced. You still want to free the clutch before the first start of the day but it's less of a problem if you forget. Also slipping the clutch for smooth starts became much more controllable. It was well worth the trivial expense just for the improvement in driveability. So, it seems to be holding up to a reasonable amount of user error fairly well. We have a month or two of tropical rainy season left and it's been spending considerable time under a bike cover. Normally I avoid these but around here it doesn't chill enough at night for condensation to be a problem and the UV levels this close to the equator will fade the paint and make the plastic crispy in nothing flat.
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