100,000 miles and counting...

[tubebender]

Hi Trevor,

Great to see still out there enjoying your retirement. I've got to say that's the cleanest I've seen your bike!

Yes, we used a Mityvac to suck the brake fluid through.

One of the things I do is periodically exercise the ABS system. Always good to know it's going to work if you need it.
Easy to do in the dirt. Grabbing a handful of front brake is scary the first time, but how else will you know what it feels like. Stomping on the rear is easy.
I also hooked up a jumper to do the hydraulic tests in the manual. Not as scary!

Where to next?

 

[Cycledude]

Very helpful report ! The rim story is kinda disappointing but still good to know.

 

[dcstrom]

Yes disappointing to me... but bear in mind, 90,000 miles of that total has been fully loaded, over some pretty rough roads. I'm guessing most S10's won't have a problem. The original wheel cracked at 83,000 miles, I'm not going to count the second one as it was mis-spoked!

Very helpful report ! The rim story is kinda disappointing but still good to know.

 

[dcstrom]

Thanks Carl! So since we did that brake fluid change with a Mityvac, we should have gotten nearly all the old fluid. The techs in Germany were surprised by how much water was in the fluid, they asked me if it had ever been changed! That water killed the ABS unit.

It's not really clear to me how they figured the ABS was bad. As you say, it's good to activate every once in a while, just so you know it's there I usually do it with the rear brake, since there's not going to be any dire consequences if it doesn't work! I'd last done it maybe 1000 miles before I took the bike to Yamaha, and it was fine. Given that the fault wasn't showing up on the on-board diagnostics, I'm not sure how they found it. But they are good guys, I trust them and there would be no motive to try to screw me over since they weren't making any money out of me!

Hi Trevor,

Great to see still out there enjoying your retirement. I've got to say that's the cleanest I've seen your bike!

Yes, we used a Mityvac to suck the brake fluid through.

One of the things I do is periodically exercise the ABS system. Always good to know it's going to work if you need it.
Easy to do in the dirt. Grabbing a handful of front brake is scary the first time, but how else will you know what it feels like. Stomping on the rear is easy.
I also hooked up a jumper to do the hydraulic tests in the manual. Not as scary!

Where to next?

 

[dcstrom]

Bob, Home is where the bike is...

Won't be stuck for much longer, weather here is not too bad right now, and by the time I leave in a few weeks should be even better. I think it will be Macedonia refugee camps for a while, depending need (flow of refugees has almost stopped at the moment). No plans to go back to the US at the moment. I would need a visa to get back in! Can you believe that? Because I've been to Iran... You'll need to check your status on that too I guess, it applies to citizens as well, AFAIK. There are exemptions for certain professions, but even if you are covered you would have to prove it in advance I guess?

Enjoy Bulgaria and as always, thanks for bringing us along.
Going to pay a visit home while stuck for the winter?

 

[Checkswrecks]

Well, I'm honored you still think of here as home.
Even though you were there not too long ago, I was thinking that this would be an opportunity for another week or two in Perth.

 

[Mark R.]

Excellent write up. Many thanks. Did I read it correctly that Yamaha picked up the tab for the entire service, just to know how it had fared in all your travels?

Mark R.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[dcstrom]

Yeah Mark, they did, except for the ABS unit, which I got a cost price. They did way more than I expected, asked for, or would have done myself!

Excellent write up. Many thanks. Did I read it correctly that Yamaha picked up the tab for the entire service, just to know how it had fared in all your travels?

Mark R.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[stutrump]

Lucky guy. A dealer near to me said mine was the highest mileage S10 he had seen and they'd be very interested to see it in detail. Then they said it would cost £850 for a major service. Doh!!