A place to share tips on doing maintenance yourself.
I always like a chart of wrench sizes and torque values on the wall of my garage to save time trying different wrenches and hunting down numbers.
Here's mine, so far, for the Empulse R:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KcXffl9-nzZkZ1bkN0QzE3SFE/edit?usp=sharingLUBING THE LEVERS
Today something spoke to me to lubricate the clutch and brake levers. The bike has 6600 miles on it and I've never done this task yet. (Oh the shame!). Turns out it was way past time: Both pivot bolts were bone dry and the clutch pivot had wear into the metal.
So, not knowing what the factory interval is, I'd say to lube them with every transmission oil change, that is, every 3000 miles. Next time, if they're dry at 9000 miles, I'll shorten the interval to 1000 miles. It's easy enough to do and should take about 15 minutes.
Another thing I don't know: which lube is specified by Brammo for these parts. In my garage I had two choices: some clear Phil Wood Teflon bicycle bearing grease and some Honda Moly 60 paste. I chose the latter for no good reason; I may try the Teflon stuff next time to compare their longevity.
The lever axle is retained by a thin, springy washer on the bottom, which takes a 19 mm wrench. It was barely tight, which is all it needs to be: the spring tabs on the washer function as a lock washer, and the head of the axle has two flats that secure the axle from turning as they mate with a slot in the top of the lever housing.
I removed the lock nut, and nudged the axle upward by using a piece of wood tapped by the handle end of my socket driver. A rubber or plastic mallet would work too. Once the head was above the housing, it was easy to pull the axle free.
On both levers, there's a ring between the lock nut and the bottom of the housing that supports a switch to monitor the engagement of the lever. I just left this in place for both disassembly and reassembly.
I cleaned up the axles and the holes in the lever (of totally dry residue of the old grease) with some of my Dupont chain degreaser and a rag. Since one of the axles was scarred from lack of grease, I sanded that one with some 2000 grit emery cloth until it was free of burrs. I was careful to wash the grit clean.
A dab of grease smeared on the axles and into the lever holes, and the top and bottom surfaces of the lever around each hole, as well as a very tiny amount into the small indent where each lever contacts the clutch and brake activating parts, and I was ready for reassembly.
The axles were a bit fussy to get aligned with the lever holes, but nothing a little wiggling and shoving couldn't solve. It didn't even require any bad language.
I was very careful not to overtighten the spring retaining nuts: they were practically finger tight to begin with and the metal is very thin, so they'd be easy to strip. They clearly don't need to be tight, just gentle snug.
Now both levers are as happy as when they left Ashland.
Tools used:
19 mm socket and driver
Block of wood (or plastic hammer)
Degreaser
Grease
Vinyl gloves
Rear track stand (if you're paranoid about the bike rolling of its side stand)
