I think we caught it in time

I was looking forward to today.  It is the start of a 3 day holiday weekend up here.  The weather wasn't great but I decided to roll out my Vstrom

For many years I have been going over to Victoria for the scooter rally and last year we met up with DAR who was an excellent group leader.  It was my plan to go again this year until, Mrs Skoot had her operation and I have to stay home with my household duties.   I wanted to test out my camping equipment before my trip.    I usually meet the guys on Saturday morning for breakfast but not today.

I stayed home and made breakfast for Mrs Skoot before heading out to do my errands.

It started to sprinkle but I was only headed to see my insurance agent so I could get my Beemer insured for the summer

My plan was to bring my BMW to get some maintenance items completed which were not done last year.  Here I am riding home in heavy traffic

Last September when I purchased my new to me R1200R, I asked the Previous owner for "THE FILE".   You know, the BMW maintenance file.  I know that I keep a file for each of my vehicles and all of my repair & parts invoices are kept there for future reference.   Anyway he said that he didn't have one.    This is why the first thing I did was to have an Oil/Filter change.   I was going to get new tires in the Spring, (and delay the expense) but they were so bad with the chicken strips nearly worn to the threads and the sides were nearly new, that I had no choice but to buy my tires immediately.  I settled for the Michelin Pilot Road 2's.  They are still nearly new with less than 100 kms on them.   I didn't ride my Beemer that much and I thought that I had taken care of everything

I park my Vstrom on the street in front and then I roll my Beemer out to the rear laneway.  This is the first time I had ridden it this year.   It feels so different, like a sports car whereas my Vstrom feels like a Jeep, a top heavy Jeep

I forget something so I roll around to the front and take a few photos of both bikes

How stupid could I be ?   Last year my intention was to do all the service on my BMW so I could start fresh and know what had been done.   Without the "File" I have to presume that nothing was done.   Now I have always had WET clutches and when you do an oil change, that's all you have to do.   During the Winter I had lots of time to read the various Beemer forums and then it struck me that I had a DRY clutch.  This means that I need to do a transmission flush, then there was the problem with the rear drive/differential and the splines on the drive shaft.  Then there was the ABS failures so last year I did a brake fluid flush

I arrive at my Mechanic's and he knows that I am going to observe and watch him change these fluids.  I asked ahead of time if I could do this so I change into more comfortable Crocs© .   I have already purchased all the crush washers, O-rings, special oils and Honda moly 60 and bring them with me

Here's another photo of that female sassy mechanic making faces again.   I feel right at home here, just like one of the gang

My bike gets loaded onto the lift and soon enough the rear tire is off, the exhaust is dismantled, the speed sensor is removed and the rear calipers are unhinged

The transmission fluid is drained and here's TED  refilling with new oil

The rear diff takes 180 ml and the transmission takes approx 800 ml before it reaches the top level and starts to seep out.   All input and output plugs have O-rings and these are all replaced.  The old ones feel very brittle as they are probably original and never changed before

This is where you fill the 180 ml into the differential, at about the 10 o'clock position behind the rotor.  O-rings here to including the drain plug below (out of sight)

A new happy customer.   This is Arthur the proud owner of a Triumph Street Triple with tires just installed.  This is the first time he has had his bike serviced here, and I know he will be back

There is a beverage fridge in the customer area which accepts "donations" .  I was getting a bit thirsty so I wanted a soda; coke or something like that, but it was full of something else

I wanted to drink something non-alcoholic so I had to wait

Now comes the moment of reckoning . . .   we break open the driveline to SEE . . .

DRY SPLINES . . .  boy was I disappointed and angry at the previous owner.    It looks like nothing has been done since new

and all my mechanic TED can do is to make faces and laugh . . .   This is no laughing matter

. . .  to be continued