Just a quick update on my partner in crime, as they say things come in three's, well to happily coin a phrase, “No shit Sherlock”.
The side stand first off has been stretching, (or bending, however you want to view this annoying phenomenon), allowing the bike to have a quite alarmingly unsteady looking rest angle, but in all fairness was sorted on warranty, only to have it start to happen again! I think this is a battle that won't be won, so I have resigned myself to the inevitable nature of a tall relatively heavy bike on a relatively lightweight prop.
Secondly, the front pipe decided to crack all the way around the point where the collector clamps up to the silencer and completely separate itself from the silencer/catalyst resulting in some amazing noises that I thought a relatively sober twin could produce in a million years. Asides the usual panic every time I saw a police car or bike, there was a definite improvement in top end power, plus the bike produced some amazing misfires and even more entertaining flame-outs when shutting down in the dark. This also has has been sorted on warranty as this is an apparently common weak spot in the original ER6's and Versys models. Although the next time it decides to let go I think I will change it for a complete system, such as the rather gorgeous Akropovic I've currently got my eye on.
Thirdly, the bike started to run hot on one cylinder, which I investigated, only to find that both of the coils are looking pretty nackered, plus a slight air leak on the offending cylinders lower inlet rubber mounting (just below the throttle body.). These coils are luckily also being honored by Kawasaki which is a relief, as these each are just within the order of £100 each!
Some shots of the old coils that came off the Versys, nice! The second and third pictures obviously show the cracks caused by water forcing it's way down past the sealing rubbers and boiling away on to the plastic insulating sleeves making them split. At roughly £100 A pop each, the new ones have been thoroughly packed out with the magic grease to stop moisture getting in and causing the same failures again. (Well at least for the time being anyway)
The other delights (yes, it is actually more than three things!), are the tyres which have been ditched thanks to being slightly on the wrong side of illegal, in favour of a pair of rather lovely looking, and more reasonably priced Continental Road Attacks. There should be a report coming up soon on these wee pup's, as well as a conclusive report on the last two sets of Bridgestone BT021 sports touring tyres, so keep your eyes peeled.
There is some silver lining to be had, as the bike has still got a considerably large proportion of it's original brake pads left, and I am still in love with the Versys, despite it's lack of top speed, and even bigger lack of long distance pillion comfort, and child scarring ugliness. (Not me smart arse, the bike!)
So, far so good? Well in short, mmm, ok I suppose, although I am disappointed with the durability of the ignition coils and the front pipe on the exhaust, as these items are usually seen to be high mileage items on most other bikes. The crux I suppose is the fact that the humble motorcycle is a modern machine with higher stresses imposed upon it than most average road vehicles, with the obvious exception of high performance sports cars. The problem also added to this is that my bike, like undoubtedly many others is used daily, all year round, and maybe justifies the shortened life of some componentry, but with correct maintenance surely should keep most annoying failures at bay?
Well hopefully soon before the winter sets in there should be at least a Fender Extender winging it's way if not also a rear hugger in readiness to catch the worst of the salty, muddy minging shite that has wreaked havoc on the underside of the Versys for the last two winters.
Something that I have always managed to find time to do is make sure all the exposed electrical connectors are packed with grease to seal out the damp and stop things fusing together. It always happens at some point that you need to get something electrical apart to get to something else, and to find that the connector has invariably corroded together, or alternatively have the connector or cables badly damaged after disassembly. Both are a pain in the arse if and when it happens. This can be put at bay if you are prepared to spend some time with a pot of grease (not copper based!), and go round popping each pair of connectors apart and smearing in a small blob of grease, and pushing them back together. Simple.
Just the job! Silkolene's workshop quality RG2 Red grease, is so flexible, and ideal for pretty much most bike jobs requiring a damn good lubing, (er, quite). Whatever you decide to use though, don't sod about, go for a tub of the stuff, tubes split, aren't as clean to use, and don't last as long as you don't get so much of it, stupid! Also being a funky colour doesn't really make a huge difference, except for being a funky colour, and oddly slimy, like grease is usually. GREAT.
The ER6F and N, and the Versys have their voltage rectifier/regulator unit positioned out in the open air, which is great for keeping the unit cooled (as it dissipates a lot of heat), but what is not so great is where exactly it's placed. Positioned below the riders seat and main frame of the bike, it is in the direct line of the spray off the rear tyre, and has no protection except for the sealing of the electrical connector between the main loom and the unit, which is pants. These can fail thanks to water working it's way past the connectors joint and shorting out between the copper connection pins eventually causing the unit to stop working altogether. Expensive, and annoying, as it means having a bike that will run until one day when literally nothing happens! Lovely.
Shots showing the view from the top of the bike looking down the left hand side, and clicking on the right hand picture gives away a glimpse of the greased and re-assembled connector.
Even this can be prevented to a reasonable degree by popping the big multi-pin connector apart, freeing it from the main unit, and smearing in a small quantity of grease in the units socket and carefully squeezing the two parts of the connector and electrical assembly back together. In the case of some bikes like the Versys, it is easier to remove the one (or in this case, two), 8 or 10mm AF mounting bolts and carefully remove the unit to the extent the connector can be more easily accessed and removed/reassembled.
Voila! Clicking on this picture shows close up the cleaned and re-assembled regulator/rectifier unit, and the unbelievable accuracy of the spray from the tyre in line with the connector. This is just one of the areas of most modern bikes that tend to suffer as many electrical components are literally placed anywhere if there is a shortage of room anywhere else.
It's sounds like a pain the bum for sure, but for the sake of 30 minutes of fumbling and some elbow grease and care (don't go dropping the regulator/rectifier, as they are easily damaged!), you will have some peace of mind at least that you have helped prevent an inevitable failure. If you have no inclination for the dirtier side of owning a bike, (or worried about losing out on the next high profile hand modeling contract), then your local dealer can check this out, along with a recommended winter check over, for not a huge amount of money. At least you will benefit from having the knowledge that there is more chance of having a reliable bike over the winter months.
Ooh, get you.
Gordie.
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