Fixes and Lockdown Maintenance.

Well lockdown life continues. Other than a few commuting days between teleworking, I haven't ridden much. Our military lockdown rules are a bit strict. Violators of the lockdown policy face charges. Not something I want to do so close to finally hitting the magic 20 and retiring with a nice little pension for life. The best I can do is find different ways to get to and from work and try my hand a some basic maintenance projects. With my commuting and the rides I was able to get before the pandemic, I finally managed to put 1,000 kms (about 620 miles) on the XJR. Since I don't know the bikes history, I decided I want to change the oil as if I was doing some break-in maintenance. Doing work like this is a little different here in Japan so I thought I'd show you how I did it. Enjoy!

The first thing I did was fix the broken rear turn signals. If you remember from my last post, my bike fell over thanks to a quick storm and smashed the left turn signal among other minor damage. A few days after I got the bike running again, I found some used turn signals on an auction site for a good price and snapped them up. They are stock units and a bit big and floppy as is Yamaha's way of things. They look fine to me and better yet they work! I didn't get too many pics of the process as it was a straightforward job of about an hour's time. I need to find some matching front ones. The ones I have are aftermarket, fake carbon things that are out of place on the mostly stock bike. Finding a stock XJR400 here in Japan is tough. They are cheap, plentiful and Yamaha made thousands of them. That is one of the reasons why I wanted one. Easy to work on and easy to find parts, both new and used.

Now on to the maintenance. The XJR400 has a decent service interval after the initial break in period. It is 6,000 kms or 3,750 miles between oil changes. There were 31,477 kms on the clock when I started this meaning when I bought it, it was time for its 5th oil change. The condition of the old oil filter indicated that it had been a few kms since it was last changed. Being an oil and air cooled engine, regular oil changes are a must for best longevity. The sun was out and the temps were starting to get summer-like so I set up my good old Harbor Freight 10'x10' canopy. I also laid out a tarp to ensure I don't stain my driveway with spillage. It is a rental house after all and my security deposit is worth a couple of thousand dollars! I had just enough room for the canopy and I'm glad I remembered how to set it up. Thanks to the small confines of my closets and lack of outdoor storage, getting all of my tools, tarp and canopy outside was one of the harder parts of the job. I miss having a garage!

Here is some of the fun stuff new to me. On the left is the motor oil. Three, 1 liter cans of the proper weight. The cans are metal, kinda cool. The best thing about them is that I went to the local home center and picked them up. I didn't have to find a motorcycle shop to get them. Getting motorcycle oil, especially name branded oil like Yamalube, at a home center is very convenient. I have said it before, but the way things are done here in Japan is just different enough to make even the most mundane task a bit more interesting. Speaking of interesting, the coolest thing I found was the box on the right of this picture. For those that can't read Japanese it is called a "poi pack". "Poi" in this case means to though away. I picked this up with the oil at the very same home center mentioned earlier.

Since my Blogger stats tell me I have readers from a wide range of countries, I guess some explanation is in order. In America, you can't throw away your used motor oil with regular trash. Usually you have to save it and take it to a recycling center or an auto parts store. Depending on your state, you may have to pay for the recycling. Some auto repair shops will also take your old oil. I am sure that the motorcycle shops here in Japan recycle old oil, but I'm not sure what you are supposed to do when you do it yourself. That is where the "poi pack" comes into play. Trash in Japan is separated into burnable, non-burnable, and various recycled materials. With the "poi pack", I can throw the old oil away with the burnable trash. Since Japan is a small island with very little flat land area, most waste is burned. They use the waste heat from burning trash to heat public pools and produce some electricity. The ash is also recycled into block products for construction. The "poi pack" is a box with a plastic bag inside full of some type of gauze like material. The gauze absorbs the oil making it easy to transport to the incinerator with the other burnable trash. It even comes with a zip tie to seal the bag! The packs come in varying sizes based on the amount of oil you change. I got a 2.5 L pack for my planned 2.4 L oil change. Next time I'll get a bigger one. The oil soaked gauze felt like jelly when I touched it, but I was able to empty my crank case and oil filter with no issues. The trash guys didn't blink am eye when picking it up. Cool!

Now that's what I like to see! Bright, clean, clear oil at the right level. Other than my lack of a full tool box and the continued pain of working on the ground (I swear when I return to the U.S. I'm buying a lift for my garage!), it was like any other oil change. I need to get a crush washer for my oil plug. My assortment of spares didn't have one big enough. I also can't seem to find my oil filter cap wrench that I swear I brought with me. I rode the bike to work the next day. In typical Japanese motorcycle fashion, the oil filter sits right above the exhaust headers guaranteeing that you smell burning oil for the first 100 miles following an oil change. There were no leaks in my driveway or my parking spot at work, always a good sign. I consider this a successful job.

Well, lockdown and quarantine are still the name of the game. I have plenty of projects planned for the XJR. Hell, by the time the lockdown ends, I may have fully restored the bike. I'll go through my service manual and see what other maintenance is likely required. I also want to change out some parts back to the OEM ones. In between jobs I'll keep commuting for my riding fix. If you can get out and ride, I hope you do. Ride safe friends!

Mat