Hello, here are some rookie questions.

[AlexTheAcrobat]

Hello, very new here but loving the site!

Just got back home from my first MC trip, got my bike license early june and then a day after I got it went on a 7 week tour of Europe. Would have gone on for longer if it wasn't for retarded spanish doctors, enough said, I'm gonna do a write up about it all in a few days.

Well I've absolutly fallen in love with my 96 Honda xl600v Transalp. Only have one MC shop here where I live and they are crooks so the plan is to learn how to take care of her on my own.

Here we go;

Regarding all the nuts and bolts on the bike, do they have to be bought in a MC shop or could I go to an ironshop and just buy pretty much any screw that will fit? I guess the question is, is there anything magical about the screw and bolts they have in the bikeshop for their prices to be 10 times what they are in a hardware shop ?

I wanna remod my transalp black and I wanna do it all by myself, currently searching the web for old fairing parts that I can start training on(don't wanna mess up my original parts). I've searched through fleabay dozens of times and well spent hours doing it. Does somebody have a better sugestion?
I found a rather nice looking boano mod but very pricy and the thing is a wanna do it myself...

Does anybody know if there is a better manual than the Haynes AT/TA manual? I find the discriptions in it not always so well worded.

I keep on getting different answers from different people/webpages so what are your thoughts on taking off the chain and cleaning it with cloth then soaking it in (what substance?) people tell me different things on how to treat the chain after 10000km of riding(a lot of it offroad). My chain is completly black from a think layer of dirt on it. Though i've kept on putting on chainwax every 600-1000km.

Here is a really imbaressing one, was going to do an oil change today, first time ever and I couldn't for my life unscrew the bolt. I got a cramp in my arm I pulled so hard. I clearly didn't have good tools enough. It's a 17 mm bolt, but it was stuck so hard on there it felt like I'd need a 2 meter spanner and a sledgehammer to get it loose. I'm getting back at it tomorrow.

Holy **** this is turning in to an essay longer than the documentation of my travels. Hope a few of you had the energy to read it all..



Me and my baby and my two mates ofcourse on the top of the world!
Big thanks to Phil and Mel who I met at the Horizons Unlimited meet in La Molina who directed me to this site!

[Kjell Lindberg]

Tjena Alex!

7 weeks of touring in Europe, with a day old license
Well done!!!

1. Bolts and things, as long as you buy them in the same size, and choose hardware with the same strength, you might as well buy them in the local hardware store.

2. Plastic parts, since the Transalp is quite common in Sweden, I would try Bike dismantlers like Spinnin Wheels or Bike in Trollhättan.
Have you checked ebay.de?
Yes, Boano is pricey, just as Touratech, and others riding on the wave of "Adventure riding" Doing the mods and parts yourself is not a bad idea at all.

3. Chain lubrication, get a Scottoiler



You can even build your own simple system, simillary to this:
Manual Automatic Chain Lubrication Oiler System by Mister Chain Lube, for all chain driven dirtbikes, motorcycles, ATVs, bicycles
Some use ATF-oil or Chainsaw oil in their homebrewed systems.
There are some threads on this forum concerning this matter too.

So, all we are waiting for now, ist a lot of pictures from the trip,,,

//Kjell

[Savak]

This link might help. its a 43mb pdf file for 1990-1999 Transalps.

Honda transalp repair manual 1990-1999.zip -> Service Manual -> Honda -> Motocicleta mea | My motorcycle -> Downloads

or

Honda XL600|650V Transalp XRV750 Africa Twin Workshop Manual (87 – 02) | Owner and Service Manual Review

or

Honda XL600 Transalp 86 01 Service Manual ENG - Download from mediafire.com - Filestube.com

All located with a simple Google search.


Graeme

[phil w]

Yes Alex Told you you would get sense on here
Keep backflippin Dude

[veodoble]

Hi Alex, about the oiler I can tell you that, as far as I've tried it, homemade oilers are quite useful, mine is made with that dripping system like this http://www.drinkstuff.com/productimg/22125_large.jpg and works out pretty well; you gotta rememeber to turn it on and off manually since it's not vacuum operated.

Also, what the hell happened with Spanish doctors? Spanish Health System is known for a good ratio of success. Tell me what went wrong!

Cheers

[SILVALP]

Regarding all the nuts and bolts on the bike, do they have to be bought in a MC shop or could I go to an ironshop and just buy pretty much any screw that will fit? I guess the question is, is there anything magical about the screw and bolts they have in the bikeshop for their prices to be 10 times what they are in a hardware shop ?

Does anybody know if there is a better manual than the Haynes AT/TA manual? I find the discriptions in it not always so well worded.

first time ever and I couldn't for my life unscrew the bolt. I got a cramp in my arm I pulled so hard. I clearly didn't have good tools enough. It's a 17 mm bolt, but it was stuck so hard on there it felt like I'd need a 2 meter spanner and a sledgehammer to get it loose. I'm getting back at it tomorrow.

Alex - in order of appearance...

Nuts/ bolts from other sources usually fine for general fixings but some on the TA may be "High Tensile" & yr average bolt not the same strength (places like caliper mounts i believe are High Tensile bolts) You can tell by "tapping" the bolt with something like a spanner - you will find a different "ring" to them !

Try checking Fleabay for Genuine Manual on CD - ive bought same for my other bikes & very good/ cheap (not looked for TA version yet but hopefully available) Haynes manuals teach what my mates call "Hammer & Screwdriver technology" They are responsible for more butchering of bikes than the A##hole that works at my Local Honda dealer !!

If yr still stuck with the sump drain bolt.... have you ever seen a "Impact Driver" ? This device gives amazing rotational force (has to be hit with hammer & creates rotational torque on the nut/ bolt). Available for around £15 here. used one to release a nut on friends 1966 Lambretta he bought recently that he had sweated over hours. I think it was tightened in 1966 judging by the hammer blow i had to use to free it

Another tip is to heat the bolt before you use the impact driver (with blowtorch) - but be careful not to set the bike on fire/ heat the oil too much This method really does help to shift stuck bolts. Good to practice on a friends bike For places where you can do it squirt WD40 on too when the bolt/ nut is hot (but not when you are using the blowtorch - its very flammable !!)

Good luck

[SILVALP]

If yr still stuck with the sump drain bolt.... have you ever seen a "Impact Driver" ? This device gives amazing rotational force (has to be hit with hammer & creates rotational torque on the nut/ bolt).

Thought i should add ... if you do ever buy an Impoact Driver just remember to think about what the nut/bolt is attached to !

In the case of yr sump plug just dont go hitting it with a 500lb Hammer ! My example of the Lambretta concerned the main nut on the rear cast alloy hub - i still had to give it a hefty wallop with the hammer and didnt do any damage to the casting (Phew !!) In theory it should transmit the force to turn the nut but some pressure must be transmitted directly to the surrounding area.

Just didnt want tears on the forum

By the way.. are you English ?

[AlexTheAcrobat]

I can't thank you guys enough for all the help.. Sorry I've been slow on replying but I'm sure you'll be sattisfied with the reason that I'm spending all days out with the bike pulling it apart and putting it back together again doing things I would'nt have dreamt of dareing to do before the trip =).

Also I've been working on the writeup, should be done by tomorrow =).. I'll then give you the details on all the **** that went down with the crazy doctors and so on haha, no need to bore you with that stuff twice =).

Big thanks to Savak, them links helped me like crazy! Had some downers when I thought I had messed up the bike but that helped loads.

I'll pop in a quick question here. For some reason almost all the water in my cooler is gone, I'm sure it was still almost full before the oilchange, but after setting on the new filter and new oil etc etc and well I didn't notice until right now but it's almost drained, gonna refill it now. Can the one have anything to do with the other ?

Thanks Silvalp, I actually managed to defeat the bolt, but in a newly bought one now hehe. Might invest in one of them tools you sugested though, should save me a lot of time! And btw, I'm halv english half swedish. Best of both world .. I live in sweden now though..

Orite time to enjoy friday eaving.. Peace