How To: Clean/Change Air Filter on 2009 V-Strom

So you know how to change your bike’s oil, maybe you know how to change your tires, but what about that pesky air filter? Well, it turns out you have to take your V-Strom halfway apart to get to the darn thing. Here’s the process:

1. Take off the little black accent pieces under the side of the fuel tank. The front screw needs a size X Allen wrench to take off, the back two attachments just pop out. 



2. Take off the little piece of cowling at the front of the fuel tank. It’s pretty easy: use the Allen wrench you have in your hand from step 1, or use the point of a Phillips screwdriver, to punch the center pin of the two attachment tabs out. Don’t lose the center pin, though - you will need to put it back in when you reassemble later!


3. Remove the front, bottom cowling piece - the one with the two little air intakes that don’t actually go anywhere. There are seven more of those little center-pin connectors on the bottom of the panel and then your first two Phillips screws are recessed back into the air intake areas. 




4. Remove each side cowling piece by taking off six more screws on each side: one Phillips, five more size X Allen bolts. 












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To: replace a BMW F650CS instrument cluster / circuitboard

Image
Since I have read that this is a relatively common repair on this particular bike, but a moderately complicated one at the same time, and not well documented in my service manual, I thought I would post this how-to. Background: my wife’s newly acquired 2003 F650CS had problems with the instrument cluster from the get-go. First the speedometer and the tach died, then the clock and the odometer. We tried cleaning contacts and the like, but the only likely diagnosis was that some component in the PCB (printed circuit board) that controlled those items was fried. Given the poor weather sealing around the board, it’s probably a miracle that it had lasted 17 years here in Texas heat and humidity.  So, without further ado… Step 1: acquire a new PCB and instrument cluster.  You want item 5 on the following diagram / list of parts:  Build in an appropriate amount of waiting time for this step. The item ships direct from Germany.  Step 2: take off the windshield and disassembl...
Read more

How To: install the Touring windscreen for the Zero SR/S

Image
If you have used your Zero SR/S for any sort of real touring use, like riding at freeway speeds in anything other than a full tuck, you have surely noticed that the wind protection is, well, lacking somewhat.  Fortunately, Zero makes a touring windscreen for the SR/S. Unfortunately, it is somewhat hard to come by and ships with no installation instructions whatsoever.  To help you with the first problem, here is the shop I got mine from: https://www.nyaparts.co.uk/shop/accessories/screens/zero-sr-s-tall-touring-windscreen/ To help with the second, here is my illustrated guide to installation… Equipment: You will need a T25 torx wrench and a size 4 Allen wrench.  Procedure: First, remove the four torx screws holding the front nosepiece onto the body.  Pry the rear ends of the nosepiece out of their moorings and then simply slide the nose off the bike.  Now, remove the four torx screws holding the existing windscreen in place. Save these screws - you still need th...
Read more

How To: remove the wheels on a BMW F650CS

Image
I read somewhere that BMW actually bragged about how easy it was to take off the wheels (to enable a tire replacement, for example) on their F650CS motorcycles, which were, after all, aimed at people who were less hard-core riders and more dabblers in or utter newbies to the sport.  Let’s see if BMW were right about that… Step 1: find the hex nut. I’m not kidding: this is the first vehicle I’ve ever owned where the manufacturer decided to hide the rear axle nut behind some fancy plastic.  Simply pry the plastic shield off with a screwdriver, however, and you discover… …a metal retaining clip holding in place the biggest-ass hex nut I’ve seen in my life. My calipers measured it at 54.5mm.  2. Use that same screwdriver to take off the retaining clip 3. Now you need to get that pesky muffler out of the way. For this, you will need an external  torx socket, that is a socket version of the torx wrench instead of the star-shaped Allen wrench that I use for all of the other...
Read more