ST 18K service questions

[Fire-Limey]

Hey lads! The Sprint has done a little over 18k miles now and I need to take it in for service. As I've only owned the bike for 3 months (put 2k on it) I was wondering what I should be asking/telling the dealership when I go there. (they do not know this bike) Basically, I don't want them to tell me I need a whole bunch of stuff that I actually don't. (I was going to use the fact that I wanted to buy a Triumph for the wife as a reason to keep them honest, but bought her a Harley) The bike has a carbon fibre covered muffler with "not for use on road" stamped on it. Is that a TOR? Should I have them check the "tune"? (I'm just referring to what I've read on these pages) Does that mean the engine computer mapping? I am going to stipulate that they do no work without my approval; that way if it is something serious I can run by you guys on this forum. Thanks for your help. BTW, do you think I should ride around on Dawn's Harley while the sprints in for service?!

[SR1]

Well, it's time for me to do the same, and you know what? I'm gonna do the oil change myself and call it good. You go to the dealer if you want.

[steventhechef]

If they haven't already looked (through known history of the bike) - the lower headstock bearing & rear wheel bearing can be issues,

The valve shims should have been done at your 12K mile service.

I would ask if the recall items - fuel connectors and one other that I can't bring to mind have been done too. Mine had just had the first service by a reputable dealer and the recalls had NOT been done. Worth the question I guess.

Your C/F can is a TOR if it runs rough get them to check the map but you would probably notice if it wasn't remapped TBH

I'd ride the Harley but probably wearing your wife's clothes so no one recognises you..

Good luck :-D

[rodneybrown]

If you know for an absolute fact that it had a complete 12K service, then 18K is pretty much an oil change. If you don't know and it's an 01, I would give it a good check, like the 12K that it may not have had, but that's me. The items for each service check are spelled out in both the owners manual and service manual and can be found online.

As far as riding the Harley, I wouldn't, don't need any bad Karma rubbing off on my nether regions :-D

[SR1]

Haven't heard of a Sprint yet that needed a valve shim at 12k. If your dealer does anything but gaze in the general direction of your headstock and then signing off on the bearings, I'd be amazed. Hence, I don't have an interest in taking mine to a dealer anymore.

[Trip]

Here! Here! Less tinkering with a good thing. Not sure I will want anyone messing with the shims at 12K.

[JR57]

My '01, RS needed 11 shims at 13k miles, two of the intakes would not take a .04mm gage. Most of my miles are mountain roads, 1st and 2nd gear, and often at the upper end of the power band. NO way would the valves have made it to 18k miles, much less 24k miles. If you ride easy, keeping revs3-4k rpms,mostly commute or hi way miles at lower revs, 12k miles and 24k miles might work for the valves, if you ride it on the motor on tight roads, 6-8k miles will keep the valves in spec.

[DaveM]

I have spoken to more than one Triumph mechanic and two Triumph service dept managers and all say they seldom have to replace shims.

I havent had any in mine replaced in 30000kms of fairly hard riding.

Davem

[Stlakid]

The pre '02 955i motors were much more prone to needing valve adjustments. The up side is it's a lot easier to do them. If you're not sure of the complete history I would at least get after them with a feeler gauge and see where they are. If you're careful you won't even damage the gaskets, but a little silicone will make for a leak free seal with the used gasket.

Like Dave said, my '02 needed nothing in the way of valve adjustments at my 12k service. It's due for the 24k service now and I'm betting only one or two will need attention now, but I have to remove the cams to adjust mine, your '01 can be done without cam removal with a little tool that can be made with common hand tools. There is even a drawing of it on this site, but I can't remember where. Don't worry someone else will know where it is.

[soonerfan85]

I recently found myself in a similar situation when I purchased my Daytona this past summer. The seller had traded his 600 GSXR to a friend for the Daytona. The friend had purchased it from the original owner about a year earlier and had put quite a few miles on her in that time. The seller assured me that both he and his friend were on top of all general maintenance on their bikes and they did appear to be well taken care of. Probably better than I currently do myself. However, I could never get comfortable about whether all of the 12K mile service had been completed or not, so I called the seller's local Triumph dealer, gave them the VIN # so they could check their service records. Not only was their no record of the 12K mile service being done, but also no record of the recalls for the fuel fittings and fuel clamps being done. Always good to know before the cash changes hands exactly what you're getting. Having said that, after a 20 minute test ride, I'd have paid the seller's original asking price if he'd pressed hard enough!

Anyway, your local dealer should be able to tell you what recall work has been done (or not done), and if you know where the previous owner had the bike serviced, that dealer should be able to tell you if any of the 12K mile service was done. BTW, the service tech where I had my 12K mile service done said it looked like the engine had never been opened, and that the inside looked like new. All the valves were still within specs so no adjustments were needed. They also did the recall work, which since it involved removing a lot of the same parts that needed to be removed for the 12K mile service, I asked them to do the recall work first, and cut me a break on the shop time for the other service work. In addition to the normal 12K mile service (valve check, throttle body synch, new air and fuel filters, replaced fork oil, flushed radiator etc), I had them mount a new front tire (supplied by me), mount new front and rear brake pads (supplied by me), clean the caliper pistons and replace the seals, load a new TOR tune and install a 17 tooth front sprocket. I had recently done the oil change so they didn't do that. All this set me back just under $400. I do wish in hindsight that I'd asked them to record the valve clearances just to have as a reference for next time, but no big deal I guess. Whew, it must be Friday! Good Luck.