Getting my bike back to great condition

[Flyinace1]

Howdy guys,
I've been riding for about 2 years now and had my FZ6 for 1.5 years and about 30,000 miles. Most of what I have learned about riding and maintaining my bike was from a friend's dad who also rode. He taught me about lubing, cleaning and replacing the chain and sprockets, oiling the cables (do these every need to replaced or just kept oiled?), changing the oil and checking the tires and that was it. And I keep all that in good shape

So I have only recently learned about other things, like valve checks and replacing fork oil and seals, head stem bearings, swingarm bearing and such. I had the valves checked, spark plugs and air filter replaced and brake fluid flushed about 7k miles ago when the bike was in the shop but that's it.

While checking my front tire and the head stem bearing the other day(by shaking the forks) I noticed that my front wheel doesn't spin freely which I'm guessing means a rotor is slightly off. I know the bearings in the head stem (I hope I'm calling that the right thing) needs replacing and I have no idea when the fork oil or seals were last replaced but I don't see any leaks. I've read that I should probably flush the coolant as well.

I'd like to get my bike back to a well cared for condition, and running like top is there anything else that I should do on it? I'd like to do the work so that I can learn how for the future and other bikes but the forks and head stem are very daunting. Can someone walk me through the process or possibly a local who may be willing to help me out. Also what type of parts and special tools will I need to take care of all the maintenance? I'm pretty good with tools and figuring stuff out but I have done little mechanical work.

Thanx guys

 

[FIZZER6]

Sounds like you are on the right track.

One thing you didn't mention is the brake fluid! You should flush and bleed the brake fluid every 2 years, maybe more often if the bike sits outside in the dew/rain often.

Fork oil and seals should be replaced at least every 5-6 years or 30K miles. The oil degrades over time, it's petroleum based after-all.

Coolant is way over due to be flushed if it's never been done. I flushed mine at 15K miles and it was brown! Now I change it every 2 years.

Have you ever had the throttle bodies synchronized? That needs done on pretty much every FZ6, sometimes even after 5,000 miles if the factory didn't adjust them. It makes a huge improvement in the smoothness of the engine!

 

[Flyinace1]

Brake fluid was flushed last summer when I got the spark plugs and air filter replaced.
I've had the bike since about 43,000 miles and its now around 73,000 miles so I have no idea if the throttle bodies were ever done but I know I haven't done them. Is it something that I can do myself?

 

[erburtt]

The likely culprit to your wheel not spinning is the brake caliper seals, they harden up over time and do not allow the pistons to retract as they would if they were fresh, its very well documented on the forum, should be easy enough to change out if you've already done the brake fluid once.

The throttle body synch is also very easy and again there are a number of threads here on the subject, some people buy the measurement tool for this (carbtune) and others (myself included) have built their own manometers to do the synch. If you look in the "How To" forum section there should be a thread stickied for the build and use of a manometer for a throttle body synch.

 

[Flyinace1]

The likely culprit to your wheel not spinning is the brake caliper seals, they harden up over time and do not allow the pistons to retract as they would if they were fresh, its very well documented on the forum, should be easy enough to change out if you've already done the brake fluid once.

The throttle body synch is also very easy and again there are a number of threads here on the subject, some people buy the measurement tool for this (carbtune) and others (myself included) have built their own manometers to do the synch. If you look in the "How To" forum section there should be a thread stickied for the build and use of a manometer for a throttle body synch.

It spins partial way freely but not the whole way around which is why I was thinking rotor

 

[FinalImpact]

It spins partial way freely but not the whole way around which is why I was thinking rotor

Good observation ^^.
So at 40 mph applying the front brake, does the bike shake?
For inspection; throw a block of wood under the headers so the front wheel is hanging. Loosen the caliper bolts and rock the calipers to retract the pistons and remove. With something like an unsharpened pencil, rest it on a fork tube and just touch the rotor. Hold the pencil firm to the fork so it doesn't slid in or out. Spin the wheel and in the ideal sense the pencil will stay in contact with the rotor a full 360° of rotation. If it pushes the pencil away leaving gap, check the bearings for play and if they have no play, its a good indication the rotor is bent.

The best way to measure it, is to use an actual dial indicator. It would clamp to the fork tube and the pointer to the disc. Now you can measure actual run-out.
Dial indicator w/useless magnetic base:

If the rotor exceeds 0.10 mm // 0.0039" of lateral deflection, it needs replaced. As you can see its a very small amount. Some will suggest cleaning and spinning the mounting rivets but bent is bent.
Just make sure the bearing are good. If the wheel has any movement, it could show up at the disc as deflection/runout.

Front disc brake
Disc outside diameter × thickness 298.0 × 5.0 mm (11.73 × 0.20 in)
Brake disc thickness limit 4.5 mm (0.18 in)
Brake disc deflection limit 0.10 mm (0.0039 in)
Brake pad lining thickness (inner) 4.5 mm (0.18 in) Limit 0.5 mm (0.02 in)
Brake pad lining thickness (outer) 4.5 mm (0.18 in) Limit 0.5 mm (0.02 in)
Master cylinder inside diameter 16.00 mm (0.63 in)
Caliper cylinder inside diameter 30.20 mm (1.19 in)
Caliper cylinder inside diameter 27.00 mm (1.06 in)
Recommended fluid DOT 4

Rear disc brake
Disc outside diameter × thickness 245.0 × 5.0 mm (9.65 × 0.20 in)
Brake disc thickness limit 4.5 mm (0.18 in)
Brake disc deflection limit 0.15 mm (0.0059 in)
Brake pad lining thickness (inner) 6.0 mm (0.24 in) Limit 1.0 mm (0.04 in)
Brake pad lining thickness (outer) 6.0 mm (0.24 in) Limit 1.0 mm (0.04 in)
Master cylinder inside diameter 12.7 mm (0.50 in)
Caliper cylinder inside diameter 38.10 mm (1.50 in)
Recommended fluid DOT 4

 

[Flyinace1]

The bike does shake when braking but I know it also needs the steering bearing replaced so I'm not sure about the front wheel bearing. Is there a way to check that while stopped?

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[FinalImpact]

The bike does shake when braking but I know it also needs the steering bearing replaced so I'm not sure about the front wheel bearing. Is there a way to check that while stopped?

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Yes its pretty much the same as above. Block the nose up and hold a fork and either from the bottom below the fork or right under the fender grab a spoke and forcibly push and pull on the wheel ( side to side ). You should feel no movement. IIRC the FSM listed a spec of 1mm of lateral deflection at the wheels lip. IMO if you get any detectable movement from this test I'd remove the front wheel and inspect the bearings for roughness. Each bearing should be smooth when rotated by hand with firm pressure applied. If the inner seal is damaged, it feels gritty or not smooth, replace them.
Post up if you need more info...