[If it's a long read, skip over to the end where i've got some brake-related questions i need help with at the moment.]
I've made a post or two about my black 2001 n and what i need to do to it and as today was a day of tackling a few things i figured i'd do a write-up.
I bought the bike last september and discovered a few issues immediately. The most pressing of those was getting the (presumably fall) damage to the swingarm fixed which i've had sorted by now. I got to ride her around 500km last season before it got too cold, but the start of this season has been terrific so far. I've already put close to 2000km on her in around a month and a half. Hence, today i had three jobs to take care of: a season start oil change, tensioning the chain and changing the front brake pads. These might be trivial jobs to most of you, but i'm very much a beginner when it comes to anything mechanical and this is my first bike so it was the first time for me to attempt any of these.
I started with the chain tensioning, which went reasonably smoothly. I guess the fact that the tensioning nuts were both 12mm on one side and 13mm on the other is a good indication of what to expect with this bike. Looks like previous owners have just made do with what they've had a lot of the time. There was no sign of the castle nut or pin either. Instead, the axle is fastened with a regular 20mm nut. Hey, at least i wear a helmet, right...
Choosing to forget the slight safety concerns, i moved on to the oil change. Had to fashion my own drain pan as many of you have, i'm sure.
Apart from the drain plug having been fastened by superman and taking a while to get loose while laying on my back on the ant-covered grass, everything went ok.
I made sure to stay hydrated throughout the process. I hear that kind of thing is important.
(Also note the 20mm wrench which i found in the sea in a local harbor last year. It was the only thing i could get the 20mm axle nut loosened with)
And then on to the brake pad job at which point things got a bit more interesting. Long story short, one of the caliper retaining pins is so badly worn and stuck i couldn't get the left side caliper off the bike. And even if i could, i'd have nothing to replace it with so i'm leaving it on while the new one arrives. The other caliper i managed to get off but i almost wish i hadn't.
After cleaning some of this gunk off with brake cleaner, i can only surmise that some of what's sticking out from between the piston and caliper is the seal. This would also explain the pad rubbing issue i've been having as the messed up seal stops the piston from retracting properly. Looks like i'm going to be replacing the seals as soon as i can get them.
Now, questions would appreciate help with:
1) Does anyone have experience with non-oem seal kits for brake pistons? Is this one of the areas i should only go OEM? I'm looking at this one specifically.
2) It seems she idles around 200-300 rpm lower (down to around 1100 from 1400 or so) than before the oil change. Is this something to address? As far as i know, ive replaced 10w40 with 10w40 if the previous owner filled her with what he says he did.
Still to do on the bike: get a new right hand mirror mount. Check valve clearances.