SWM RS300R Oil And Filter Change

 While almost two years has passed since we bought the SWM RS300R, it doesn’t feel like we have done much riding with it. But with a ride day coming up next week and the “we have had this bike almost two years” in mind, I decided it was time to do an oil and filter change on her.

I took her for a quick spin along some power line easement near home to get her nicely warmed up (and to have some fun) before I dropped the oil. 

Pulling the sump plug saw the hot and very black slippery stuff dump into my catch pan. 

Hmmmm…..that is very dirty looking oil. How many kilometres has this bike actually done? Checking the odometer I was surprised to see exactly 1300km indicated!! We bought the bike with just 560km on the clock and I must say I was surprised to see so many kilometres. Thinking about it though, Will brought the bike down to Forbes last year when Dad passed away. At the time I thought it would be a way for him to stay in a good head space while dealing with such an upsetting situation. I know he rode it a lot at the time but never actually checked the odometer. It does hold a healthy (for a dirt bike) 1.8 litres of oil but if I had checked, I would have done this oil and filter change 12 months ago!

The bike has a couple of mesh filter screens on the left side of the engine. I carefully fished them out taking care not to damage or lose the O rings in the process. 

The screens looked completely clean but I washed them in petrol, hosed them off and dried them in the sun as per the manual.

Next came the cartridge oil filter. It was easily done but I was a bit dismayed at the colour of the filter that I removed!

Yes, these are actually the same size, just a bit of perspective error.

Draining the oil pan I was a bit concerned to see quite a few metal flakes in the bottom.

 Fcuk, not good! 🫤

Many of the shiny bits in the photo below are just the way the light is reflecting off the oil covered clutch/gasket particles but there are quite a few bits of metal in the top centre of the pan. I’d didn’t get a photo of the magnetic sump plug but it also had quite a bit of very fine metal filings stuck to it.

I have moved to Maxima synthetic oil as my go to these days which might be overkill this time around as I will give the bike another oil and filter change in the next five hours or so of operation to try cleaning this crud out of the system.

Clean and clear….. for now. Let see how it looks after Tuesday next week. 🫣

I did tip a little more oil in after this photo was taken to take it to the top mark.

While I was at it she got a precautionary air filter clean too. Not because it was dirty but because it had sat since last October or November and I didn't want to find out the hard way that the filter oil had dried out.

Now she really is ready to go again!

Cheers.

Tracking Towards The Track

W.T.F. am I babbling about now I hear you ask?

 Well, as regular readers would know, both of my kids have been riding motorcycles for the last year or two. I can’t understand why because I certainly didn’t encourage it while they were young…… mountainbiking, yes but not motorcycles. I’d  like to think they are keen on the challenge of using a mode of transport that requires the use and the co-ordinated use of both feet and both hands - both of them seem to be interested in how to do it better, not just how to be “proficient” - and I think they have seen the fun and satisfaction that Steve and I have derived from riding over the years.

Will especially seems to like going fast (as any young bloke does) so I have encouraged him to take that pursuit away from our crowded and run down roads to the track where at least everyone is going the same way. We did another track day about a month ago and Will had a ball. In fact, so did I. 

Adding to the fun factor is the fact that everyone we have come into contact with in the pit area has been super friendly and helpful. Not something that we have encountered in all of our hobbies/pursuits unfortunately.

So, Will has been on the lookout for a dedicated track bike for the last few months. We have looked at a couple but thought they were a bit suspect, having been crashed and to our eyes, bodgily patched up. So when he initially showed me a Triumph Daytona 675R that was advertised with some crash damage, I dismissed it. Not to be deterred, Will phoned the seller and found it was an older gent who was getting out of track riding and so selling all of his track gear with the bike. Even better, he sounded genuine and honest about the bike.

We went to have a look, with a strategy to maybe talk him down on price. Once we looked at the bike, spoke to Ian, the owner, and saw all of the gear he was throwing in, all thought of trying to squeeze him on price evaporated. It was a steal as it was!

So, “we”* are now the owners of a 2014 Daytona 675R with a mere 29 000km on the clock!

It has had a low side but the damage is limited to a scuff of the right fairing panel and the tip of the exhaust pipe. 

The “R” version of the 675 comes standard with Ohlins suspension front and rear plus Brembo brakes. The 2013-onward model 675 is the 3rd generation Daytona and has fixes for earlier model issues like overheating and oil cooler failure, so we are hoping for a trouble free run.

As I said earlier, the previous owner threw in all of his track gear which included tyre warmers, a generator to power said tyre warmers, various extension cords and power boards, GB Racing engine covers, front and rear race stands, a front wheel chock for the trailer, two GoPros with tethered mounts and all of the road gear just in case “we” want to put it back on the road. All up, at least $3000 worth of extras.

We have ordered a set of race bodywork through  Ian Moore Track Toys and will get it decalled up by Hawtt Decals (his wife) who does some amazing work. I have it booked in for a suspension refresh at Ride Dynamics (who did my Tuono suspension refresh) next week. We will need to sort some tyres too as I don’t think either of us are up to doing justice to the Pirelli Corsa SC1 slicks that it is currently fitted with.🤨

It is a sexy looking bike that has the bark to match and Will can’t wait to ride it. In the mean time he can’t wipe the grin off of his face. 

This should be fun……

Cheers.

*Will really - but I’m hoping he will let me ride it.