The last service (a 24,000km) was fairly major and pre the big trip, so I had it done by a Honda dealer. This time, being only a minor one due (30,000km), I did it myself.
We did 7,000km over the 4 weeks away 2-up, fully loaded, around Tassie, at the Mildura Ulysses AGM, then back via Broken Hill, Cobar, Dubbo etc,. This is 1,000km more than the normal service interval and the bike was certainly in need of a good clean. Out at Silverton (west of Broken Hill) we'd done 25km on a dusty gravel road to the old Day Dream Mine (worth a look and we went underground there), so there was also a lot of dust to get off.
Well I purchased a new air filter element, oil filter, Motul 5100, sump plug washer etc, plus a new set of Oxford heated grips to install. My first ST13 had OEM heated grips and whilst they gave me a little grief, I missed the warm hands last winter. So I stripped all the fairings off to really get amongst it.
I tried out a new oil filter removal tool I'd purchased online from the USA. It needed a small grind job to fit easily between the sump and the filter, but did the job. Without this, or the socket-style Honda removal part, removal would be very difficult. The oil was black and I was a little disappointed at its condition. Anyway the new stuff looks good.
In the last service, I didn't have the air filter element replaced, only blown out, as it was apparently in reasonable nick. Well when I pulled it out it was filthy and full of shit. Here is the new one beside the old one, with the crap on the paper that I tapped out of the old one:
This is what I had to vacuum out of the air box before I fitted the new element:
I know this was all clear before the trip, as I'd pulled out the air filter a week before the trip to loosen up a sticking throttle cable. Now all this dirt etc may seem pretty normal to some, and in hindsight maybe it is; but it just confirms the need for regular maintenance.
I have now almost finished fitting the Oxford heated grips - just tying up the wiring remaining. I decided to run the power from the front where I have multiple spare ports for power (rather than weave another set of wires back to the battery terminals). This allowed me to mount the Oxford unit up front, rather than under the seat. This pic shows it above the back of the right headlight (the small black square box with 2 wires out the bottom) using the supplied double-sided tape. This also allowed me to shorten a few of the wires too.
I'll finish the cleaning and putting all the tupperware back on during the week, ready for a run next weekend; maybe in time for a dawn service on Wednesday - hope it is fine :)
Cheers
