Steve

Are you filling it up only to the point where the nozzle stops? If this is the case you can get almost another 1/4 - 1/2 gal in usually. I always place my bikes on the center stand when filling, sometimes that's a bitch when it's loaded though.... or when I loaded too.

Just don't loose them "man teets"... My wife (now ex-wife) lost 40 pounds AND my two best friends when she dropped weight...

I have heard that from MANY sources, incluing Amway people themselves. A few years ago Amway, knowing it's name was synonomous for deception, decided it was best to form a side company which sold the same products under a diferent name, also trying to shun the reputation it had... this I know due to several people calling me trying to recruit me (and, of course, my wife at the time). Ask Amway people, or those who sell it and they MAY tell you, or they may wish to not assume association with Amway by divulging. I have several people from teh ST forum that have ofered to seel this to me but I will stay with Mobil 1, not because I believe it's the best but because it works fine and it's simple to change out every 5K.. I wouldn't hesitate in using Rotella, Castrol Syntec, or others once my Mobil 1 runs out. AMSOIL - "Amway's oil". Supposedly a great product, many think better than Mobil 1 or equivalents, but I am again told that it is a product of Amway so I have NO interest in supporting even if it is the cure for cancer, world hunger, and swarms of locust.

Fork seals replcement: I wouldn't unless tehre is any signs of leakage. IF there is any signs then replece both. I would recommend feling the tubes to see if there are any imperfections, if so then hit it with some emery cloth or very fine sandpaper to smooth out. After rides it's a good idea to spray a little WD-40 on the tubes as well. Oil, oil filter, fork oil (use distance measure NOT quantity to ensure right amount), coolant (sicia-free shit - I like the stuff found at Honda car dealerships), air cleaner, plugs, clean electrical connectors, oil chain (should be done @500 miles) brake fluid clutch fluid, replace CCT, check chain tension... that should about do it.

I looked into Amsoil after heairng good stuff about it's quality... once I found out it was a product of Amway I walked away as I boycott ALL "multi-level marketing" companies.

I did mine yesterday. The bike has 14056 miles and they looked like new with no noticeable wear on the electrode or discoloration. Mine is also an '01 so you already SHOULD have the better plugs. The interval is said to be 16K

Only if there were none to begin with OR the wrong ones.. .the stock plugs are fine and deliver the best overall performance.

Motionpro makes a great set of tuning sticks, very easy to use. With 14K miles on it I would defintely tune it, I do my ST every year and find it's of by a bit, especially true if the dealer has ever messed with tuning. I find the bike idles and transitions MUCH better after synch'ing the carbs... as for my Bird, got me an FI version so YMMV. Steve

Change the brake fluid (both brakes), clutch fluid, and definitely your fork oil. Another good thing to do is go through all the electrcial connectors with a good contact cleaner to insure their clean (I do this one a year). Steve

For all those who profess the atributes and shortcomings of their choices in oil here's a bit for you: My Acura is now going on 283K miles.. I've always run Castrol 10-40 in the winter and 20-50 in the Summer. NEVER has this motor missed a beat nor has it had ANY work on it (except for the timing belt and water pump at it's usual intervals). I keep hearing how awful 10-40 is, especially in Dino and how using it will cause famine, locust swarms, people to grow tails, etc. I have YET to hear or see ANY proof of oil causing a caastrophic failure in cars or motorcycles except in ultimate racing situations. This all being said I have been running Mobil one in both my Bikes (couldn't be happier). Many of the LD riders will run Synthetic oils (brand doesn't really matter much) for durations iver 10K without changing and under tough conditions. Bottom line, we may have our preferences but almost nothing in terms of anything scientific to back our claims of one being "better" than another. Use what you want but IF you're going to soapbox bring some proof.

You can still get a lobster and Margie in Mexico for about $12... someone likes our $$$.

Shit, if Mobil 1 becomes extinct I'll stop unning oil alltogether!

I'm a "righty" (Not a Bush backer though...) and I think that... Steve

Looks like it's back to massage oil for me...

To oil that trans it would be like "shakin'bake" just add the oil to the bag and shake it.... After looking at it I think it's clearly a trans for the '99 model though.

Is that a left side or right side clutch cable ? My bike is a US model so I need a left side thingy. With a litle Armour-all it'll look like new!

You should always Amour-all your tires... it keeps them looking good and the rubber soft. I also do my seat and sometimes my grips... they all look showrom condition. BTW - Tire does looked cupped. Lastly, try some Del-Taco hot sauce to get that penny shiney too!

I've got to ride the SuperHawk and found it fun but not all that refined. It has BEAST power but this hurt me when facing facing as the front wheel would come up all too easily. Fun bike for playing around town adn showing off but the Bird is FAR beter engineered, refined, easy to ride for distance, and more unique (at least on this side of the ocean...) Now to your questions: CCT - it's not a big deal at all. I chose to replace mine, for nothing more than piece of mind, and it cost me about $55 and took all of about 10 minutes to replace. It should never be a consideration whether to purchase the bike The bars - I try to frequent them when I can. I try to go to the ones where there's both men AND women unless it's a football play-off game then it's better if it's all fans, with the exception of large breasted hoochies serving me brews. I also try to go during happy hour as the prices are much more to my liking, I hate waking up the next morning with a bad hang-over plus seeing the tab of +$100 for the drinks. As for the Bird bars - I have a bone stock bike, purchase about 2 years ago. Since then I've put on 14K miles (I know it's not enough). I am 6'3" tall (don't know how many stones that is) but I've found this bike VERY comfortable with not a thought of changing it's comfort. The only thing I've done was to raise them a bit and bend them back and this has been fine for daily rides up to 10 hours. FI versus Carb - That was very easy for me. Here in S. Cal we ride at varying altitudes often... from sea-level up to 9K feet. I only wanted a FI bike for these reasons. FI gives you better performance at differing altitudes, it's far easier to maintain, often gives beter gas mileage (usually about the same as a tuned carb Bird on this bike) and requires zero tuning. Hope this helps some... Steve

Keep the fluid AWAY from all paintwork and also kep a bottle of water handy just in case it splaters. It's an easy one-man job... use DOT 4 fluid. This should be done every year or so along with your brakes as well.

Mobil 1 15/50W changing it every 5K, makes it REALLY easy to remember "when" as I change it on the 5K mark (ie 5K, 10K, 15K on the odomter). I have seen absolutely NO scientific backing to change oil any earlier only people feeling guilty... Steve I might try using massage oil next but Mobil 1 works for now...

Remind me never to play Scrabble with you!

It's actually unobtainium if I remember correctly.

IMHO the price is second to knowing it's done right. At 150+ mph I won't trust my bike in the hands of ANY bike mechanic I've met yet! PS: We use the Harbor Freight jig (ran us about $90) which is bolted to the floor using lag bolts, then I made up a very simple balancing stand (out of 2x4's) that works perfect... so well it proved that my last set of newly mounted tires (and newly scratched rims ) were WAY off in their balance when I returned from the local Honda Stealer (Kolbe Honda).

It's cheap and easy to do it yourself and YES the harbor freight mounting station does the job quite well. There is no need to buy the above recommended item as it runs @$100 (you can use the axle and two older wheel bearings, bought mine from CBR bearing co for $6 total). If you want more info let me know, my buddy and I have mounted our tires (about 6 sets) ove the last couple years with great success. Steve

Check the archives...this subject has been beaten to death along with which oil, sprak plugs, seats, windshield, chroming, power chips, pipes, etc.. PS: I am on my 3rd set of Avons and LOVE them! Getting about 7K out of each set, some hard canyon, some slab riding