^^ nope no grease. Its gonna kill your chain and your sprockets.

At best, after washing with kerosene/diesel and drying, a little gear oil is ok, but nothing else.

Pre-delivery check ups

Folks,

What Pre Delivery Inspection should i do before taking the delivery.

What all things should i check at the time of delivery?

Yes the rx 100 stand is a direct fit for r15. Don't know if rx100 and rx135 have the same stand. I bought the rx100 stand day before yesterday( for Rs 265/-). Actually I coudn't find the original stand from any of the showrooms here, so got it from a spare part shop (Not the original one though).

Now the jugaad job( I used this method before I got the stand).
You will need a car's jack for this.Put the bike on side stand and place the jack just below the suspension. Now slowly lift the jack untill the rear tyre is a good 5-10 cm above ground level. Remember not to put too much weight on the bike as it's inclined in one direction. Now you can carefully clean/lube the chain. After lubing remove the jack. Job done!!!

About the speedo, I'm sure its slowly conking off. Either its a loose connection or its not working properly. Get it checked and replaced (if need be).

About the fuel it happens with me also. Because when you tilt the bike, the fuel meter is tricked into believing there's more fuel. So even though initially it triggered the reserve fuel tripmeter, when the bike's parked on the side stand for a long time, the tripmeter resets. If you don't take the bike off the side stand, it won't even show you're in reserve. So don't worry. The accurate fuel reading is when the bike is positioned vertically, and the fuel is absolutely still in the tank.
A temporary solution I followed before I got my stand was to place two bricks (absolutely perfect in shape) with newspaper packing under the swing arm. It was sufficiently sturdy to do chain cleaning.

And yes, the RX100 and RX135 stands are same. I heard even the RD350 uses the same stand!
Yes. Valve clearance and tappet adjustment is the same (for our bike).

We have a rocker arm actuating both the valves (either inlet or exhaust). So the rocker arm 'taps' the valves open and the valve springs push it back to close.

The gap between the rocker arm end and the valve stem is adjusted. If the gap is large, you hear the loose marbles sound (where the arm taps the valve stem noisily), indicating the 'tappets are loose'. And if its the converse, the clearance is tight, at higher rpm's a phenomenon called valve float occurs*, because the valve isn't allowed to seat properly. So it remains for more than the stipulated duration, losing compression, causing performance and efficiency loss.

Also thermal expansion plays a role, because once things get hot, they expand and fill out the clearances.

*(valve float occurs even when tappets are perfect, because at 6000 rpm, there are 600 revolutions of the crankshaft happening in 1 second. Divide 600 revolutions into cycles of 2 [one for intake valve opening, and one for exhaust valve opening] and roughly both valves have to open/close 300 times a second. That's mighty fast! This necessitates better valve springs and other mechanisms in race engines which need to rev frequently, and in a much higher range)

@svj : I beg to differ. AFAIK, valve clearance is the gap between the inlet/exhaust port and the valve seat. It cannot be the same as tappet clearance. And ideally, the rocker arm should not tap the valve stem, but just push it. If this gap occurs, then you get the marbles sound. However, in a purely linear sense, the rocker arm travel/ valve stem travel should be equal to the valve clearance

Is anybody using any other engine oil apart from Yamalubes and is satisfied?
Please mention cost/grade/make etc.
Thanks

@hifisharu - there cannot be any clearance between the valve and the valve seat, else there will be a loss of compression.

Tappet adjustment/valve clearance refers to the same thing.

A correction - 6000rpm = 100 revs per second. Then both valves open/close 50 times per second.

(Using present tech, 600 rev per sec (36000rpm) is physically impossible)

Valve clearance adjustment and tappet setting adjustment mean the same. Like JD666 here says, you loose your compression if there's any gap between the valve seat and the valve lid. Gap between the valve stem and rocker arm is wantedly left, to allow for thermal expansion(this gap is not present in hydraulic valves which do not require valve clearance adjustments). If there's no gap between the rocker arm and valve stem, the stem and rocker arm's tapping head will expand due to engine heat and the valve will never close completely, resulting in loss of compression and eventually might make your piston bang into your valves too!

@svjhinds, hifisharu, jd666, & digislayer: Thanks for picking up the discussion! Though there seems to some difference of opinion, I'm sure all of us will gain some knowledge through your discussions. As you'd have figured out, I'm a noob at this & wouldn't be able to comment.
However, I can share a couple of pics from my bike's servicing that I got done today.
Area on bike where tappet adjustment (done today) & vlave clearance adjustment (not done, as it is a very time consuming process & invloves stripping down the engine completely it seems) are to be done
(click to enlarge)

Tappets up-close
(click to enlarge)


Got 7th Service (1st Paid) done today, at 13,400 Kms, at Bangalore Wheels, Rajajinagar
Details of work done & charges:
1. Paid Service - Rs. 350
2. Yamalube Semi-synthetic Oil 15W50 - Rs. 415
3. Air Filter - Rs. 237 (bought & stocked about 6 months back due to availability issues )
4. Spark Plug - Yamaha NGK CR8E - Rs. 78
5. Radiator Assembly - Rs. 0 (replaced FOC by Yamaha)
6. Tappet Adjustment - Rs. 250
7. Coolant top-up due to change of radiator 550 ml (filled only in radiator; reservoir was already full) - Rs. 180
8. Front brake fluid top-up - Rs. 40

The front brakes still have life (still running stock), so continuing with them. Rear brakes are rarely used, so no issues at all here.
Valve clearance wasn't done as it involves stripping the engine & is time consuming.
There was roughness in my bike, & the problem was diagnosed to be the links in the chain:
(click to enlarge)

As you will notice in the above pic, the chain isn't straight & is bent at many links.
The mechanic was suggesting & insisting on replacing the chain (Rs.2,200), & I told him to check if there was an alternative as 13k was too short for a chain replacement. He oiled the chain & let the bike run in 2nd gear on center stand for 5-10 mins. Most of the bad links smoothened out, & the chain is much much smoother now.
1 tip & suggestion to all of you here is to keep the chain well lubed at all times. I was sometimes lazy to lube it, & delayed it several times. These bad links are definitely due to that.

The mechanic did a good job, but Bangalore Wheels did not.
Their billing system is weird. I was charged 300 bucks for coolant topup of 550ml, when a litre costs 330! I argued with them over this & finally brought the balance coolant in the bottle home. Brand used - Motocool.
I replaced old sparkplug with conventional NGK CR8E.
I was charged 176 for this , & the price on the sparkplug box had been scratched out . It was evident the price on the box was 78. I fought over this with them, & paid only 78 for the part.
Its a shame how such a big showroom/ SVC would resort to such dubious methods of fleecing the customers.
Guys going to BW, beware of their billing.

Had a chat with the Area Service Manager, Yamaha, B'lore, & he mentioned that the radiators are being replaced FOC for all R15s with frame no. beginning ME120P01 & manufactured between Jun-08 & Jun-09. I forgot to check if there is a time period within which this will need to be done by R15 owners from the above batch.
However, coolant will be chargeable as the new radiator will need it. Mine consumed about 550ml.

well it was worth a try thats all

is there any special way or process in cleaning the chain or just the kerosene and a brush and lot of water?

my bike is a year and 2 months old and have done 9000km. finished the 6th free service a month and a week ago so should i top up the coolant coz i am takin the bike to a trip on monday total ridin abt 1200km for the trip

yeah i wanted to get the rx stand also but i took one from a shop and tried it well it did not fit. so i got the orignal r15 stand yes cost 750 and just for temporary usage in city and ill just fix it perm when i am takin the bike for any trips and i would not trust my bike on an rx stand some where out on the road.. better safe than sorry just my thought

I just changet my oil to motul semi synthetic 5100T 15W-50.I think its better now i mean the gear shifts a much smoother.

i got my bike on may 09 but the svc guy said that there was no replacement for my bike should i go and check with him again?

PLEASE HELP
and @all: Guys am a little bit tensed coz am goin a trip on mon abt 1200km. My bike was last serviced at 5/6/10 which was my 6th and last free service. Now PLEASE tel me what r the precautions that i must take, any thing specific that i need to check or do. Any thing that i must carry with me for the trip, please help guys am a lil freakin out here

The manufacturing date & serial number are both important.
In case they match the specification I mentioned, you might want to check with another SVC. The first SVC I checked at, said there is no replacement for my bike (after checking frame no.)!!
The 2nd SVC did the change without saying a word.

40 days since last service is not too long man!
Since your trip is of a long distance, you should check engine oil level, coolant level, brake fluid level, condition of the tyres (including nails that might be embedded), brakes & all electricals.
Do also carry a puncture repair kit, spare clutch cable, and a spare fuse (if possible; its not too necessary). There is a thred in DIY section on replacing the fuse.
Wear proper riding gear, & Ride Safe!


EDIT
So is mine.
If you have got the coolant topped up recently, there would be no need.
I ride my bike within city 95% of the time, & have had to top up coolan tonly at around 3k Km IIRC. Done 10k without top-up, & level is full right now.
Since you already have the center stand, just check the level once. So long as it is not below the 'LOWER' mark, its ok.

@tibby to check valve clearance or what they mean by stripping the engine, would be to open the head and to check whether all valves are seating correctly or not on their valve seats. Generally checked by shining light thru the intake and exhaust ports and checking for any leaks, Also checked by filling the port with water or anything else suitable.

if your bike is idling correctly, and there is no loss of power, you do not need a valve seat check so soon.

Other way to check would be to do a compression test of the engine ( depending on the condition of the rings )

It's too pricey out there!!!
Here in cuttack (grand automobile) the labour charge is Rs.150/- and I got the Yamalube Semi-synthetic Oil 15W50 for Rs 368/-
Can anyone tell the price of the rear tyre??? Has it increased now??? MRF showroom guys are quoting 1650/-.