The bike ended up coming with three seats. A Seat Concept was the third. I was examining it the other day and it had some little dents in the cover from something left sitting on top of it. It was sunny so I set it on the trunk of my car to heat up the cover and remove the dents. You guessed it. My wife asked me to run to the store and the seat didn’t return with me. I retraced my path but no joy.
Met a guy who had taken his Rebel 500 to Florida and back. Not on original seat. His was quite wide and a lot more comfortable than the skinny original.
Not familiar with that technique. Are you able to describe?
YIKES, about once or twice a season I will spray something on my bike, hose it down and let it dry in the sun. The windshield gets cleaned more frequently. But the bike, nope; I just ride it.
To be honest I hadnt washed it in 2 years because it lives on the sidewalk now. But when I had a garage I washed it every few months mostly for fun on a nice day.
Wow, that's a sharp looking bike. I've always loved the red color. I like the color matched hugger, the black windscreen, and the aluminum swingarm. Was the swingarm an easy bolt on?
Check out this forum. https://advrider.com/f/threads/bent-brake-lever-what-to-do.583878/
I like the rim treatment too. Is it paint or stick-on pin striping?
I use ACF50 on my bike; good to protect the metal work from rust, but does a nice job of bringing the plastics up too
nc700-forum.com
When you wash a bike you have to get up close and look at stuff and maybe notice stuff that needs tending to. The ST1300 hands out this lesson on a regular and expensive basis.
Good for you, and that reminds me that my brake fluid is due for changing.Flushed and replaced the brake fluid this morning. If you don't replace brake fluid on time/mileage or ever......... I was reminded why Honda (and others) recommends brake fluid replacement on both time and/or mileage. This eight year old 2013 only has 7600 miles on it but when I removed the rear brake fluid reservoir cover the normal accumulation of moisture under the aluminum cover and on top of the diaphragm had begun to corrode the unfinished underside and edges of the cover. It was only a matter of time before the corrosion of the machined edge of the cover began to let water in, thrown up by the rear wheel, and hasten the march of corrosion. When the diaphragm does not seal properly due to the machined edge not sealing it against the top of the reservoir the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid pulls moisture into the fluid where it softens the peddle and corrodes the inside of the master cylinders and calipers. All on a garage stored bike with less than 8000 miles. The fluid in the rear circuits was abnormal in color compared to the front circuit fed by the handlebar master cylinder. I will order and replace the rear master cylinder cover and just for good measure the rubber diaphragm. The NCs rear brake is not that effective to begin with and many of us complain about it but I wonder how many bikes are out there with half the problem cruddy fluid from neglect of this easy job.
The good news is that the brake lever and pedal are restored to a firm feel with no sponginess which the pedal had no doubt due to moisture in the fluid. Just a 1 hour job taking my time. I wrote a short DIY post on this when I did this job on my 2012 for the first time. My 2013 has an extra step because of the linked brakes but it only adds a few minutes to the job.
12,000 mile Brake Fluid Replacement
I recently completed this service and took a few pictures along the way that might help another DIY mechanic. Brakes are a critical system and if you are not comfortable doing work on your brakes I urge you to take the bike to a Honda dealer or trusted shop. For this job you will need 1...
