Introduction

Good morning everyone!
    Around two years ago I decided to buy a scooter.  When I was younger my older brother had an Iowa Spree that was passed down to me.  After considerable research I picked up a '03 Swing in San Francisco.  I love my scoot, now time for some maintenance.  Thanks for having me aboard!

Welcome to the asylum Wumbology. You'll find lots of help here.

Tim

wumbology welcome to the best Silver Wing forum on the net. How many miles do you have on your scooter? You made a good choice of scooters.
I add the paragraph below for most new members because there's a lot of information in the links and may save you some money and work. You'll find you can do anything you need or want with the service manual and help from this forum.
Here are some links(3 below in blue)that will help you learn a lot about your Silverwing. If you can't find what you need in the links below the search on this forum works good, and if you still need help just ask and someone will do what they can to answer your questions.

Maintenance, Tips and Hints
Maintenance "Pictorials"
Accessories-Modifications

Welcome from o-HI-o.

Model28a,
I purchased my scoot last year with 13,650 miles. Currently there are 16,300 miles on the odometer. We only have 1 Honda shop within 50 miles and they quoted $1300 for a 16k service. The art of tinkering leads to psychological and mechanical zen, so I will attempt most of the maintenance myself. Yesterday was the oil change, next week will be spark plugs and air filter. Thank you for some direction on service information.

-Blair

$1300 for a shop service? That's eff'n outrageous. FWIW I have 97000 miles on my (recently demised) '03 and it is still running strong. I choked at quoted the cost for the initial 600 mile service then promptly bought the Factory Service Manual (FSM), at 1/3 the quoted service charge. I've performed all service and maintenance myself -- in my cramped garage or out in the weather on the driveway ever since. 

For what  reassurance this may be; I have been on the various SW forums since 2002 and have never heard of anyone needing valves adjusted.

+1 on the zen of maintenence.

Tim

"Kindly come to terms with your aśś for it bears you" --Fra Junipero Serra, c. 1769

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

For what  reassurance this may be; I have been on the various SW forums since 2002 and have never heard of anyone needing valves adjusted.

+1 on the zen of maintenence.

Tim

"Kindly come to terms with your aśś for it bears you" --Fra Junipero Serra, c. 1769

Tim, interesting you should say this. I was told last June I needed my valves adjusted. I didn't have them done because I needed my steering head bearings replaced. Couldn't afford both so I chose to fix the steering first. The scooter is running fine. I was just saying to Bob maybe over the winter he could look into the valve adjustment. We have the manual so he can look and see what that entails. He has done it on his BMW's in the past. Maybe we don't need too. Thanks for this info.

I also need to replace the rear shocks. Another project this winter. Our streets here in Chicago are pathetic.

Cathy

wumbology,

With 16,300 miles on the odometer it's time for a new belt which is a good time to put Dr Pulley sliders in. I changed the spark plugs at 8,000 miles. The plugs I took out still looked as good as new but I changed them anyway since I had already bought them. At 55,000 miles the plugs I put in at 8,000 miles still looked good and the scooter was still running great so I left them in.

CathyN wrote:

Tim, interesting you should say this.  I was told last June I needed my valves adjusted. I didn't have them done because I needed my steering head bearings replaced. Couldn't afford both so I chose to fix the steering first. The scooter is running fine.  I was just saying to Bob maybe over the winter he could look into the valve adjustment.  We have the manual so he can look and see what that entails.  He has done it on his BMW's in the past. Maybe we don't need too. Thanks for this info.

I also need to replace the rear shocks. Another project this winter. Our streets here in Chicago are pathetic.Cathy

Mr Bob may be able to check the valve clearance(s) following the FSM procedures but unless he has access to a great selection of valve bucket shims it's going to be an exercise in frustration. That said he'll probably confirm that the valve adjustment is within spec.

Somewhere in the archives you might locate a post I did awhile back on various replacement shocks options. Hopefully that will help you.

Tim

My local Honda dealer tells you to write down the clearance of your valves and bring in your shims, then they sell you the shims you need. I think they wanted around $7. That's a lot for a couple of shims but it's quick and you don't have leftover shims you'll never need.

Tim,
Thanks, for the info. I did find your post on rear shocks. It was back in 2012. All this talk about shims is Chinese to me. I can only picture the wooden ones. Like a door stop. I will show Bob your post about the valves. Thanks again.

Cathy

Cathy the shims are metal disk about the size of a nickle, maybe a dime for the S'wing I've never seen a S'Wing shim. Our local shop used to exchange them for free bring yours in tell them what you needed and swap them.