Pleasant surprise--waste of time

[offcenter]

Way back when I got my 1500, more than 40,000 miles ago, I opened up the air filter to find that mice had been in there.
I installed a new air filter and put a screen over the intake snorkel.
So today, while doing my winter service work, I figured it was time to take another look at the filter.
After removing the seat and plastic parts, I worked my way into the filter housing.
To my surprise, the filter still looks brand new. Not a speck of dirt to be found.
So, I just closed it back up. I'll check it again in another four years. LOL!!

I'm guessing that because the bike lives and runs in a clean environment, and because the air intake is buried in the fairing, it doesn't ingest much dirt.

[FM-USA]

Never a waste of time when taking 'X' apart for service & find nothing wrong. It's an opportunity to look around & check other items that might need attention. Especially vac hoses.

I always wondered why on wearable parts there isn't an inspection hole, similar to the front brake & clutch masters.
With the Wings interference engine design, simply remove the lower center fairing cowl, pop off two 1.5 to 2 inch caps and inspect the timing belts for wear and tension. Otherwise it's a 1/2 day job getting to them belts (sorta) by the book JUST to look at'm.

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[Rambozo]

At least for the air filter, you could run a hose to a tattletale gauge that shows the peak vacuum between the carbs and the filter. They have these on tons of trucks and industrial equipment.
Yeah, lots of timing covers have pop out plugs for inspection. Wouldn't be that hard to add them if you wanted. While you could see obvious damage, bad belts can look fine from what you could see.

[WingAdmin]

Never a waste of time when taking 'X' apart for service & find nothing wrong. It's an opportunity to look around & check other items that might need attention. Especially vac hoses.

I always wondered why on wearable parts there isn't an inspection hole, similar to the front brake & clutch masters.
With the Wings interference engine design, simply remove the lower center fairing cowl, pop off two 1.5 to 2 inch caps and inspect the timing belts for wear and tension. Otherwise it's a 1/2 day job getting to them belts (sorta) by the book JUST to look at'm.

.

Mainly because the timing belts don't wear or get loose. You can't check them just by looking at them. The only indicator of required replacement is mileage and age.

[FM-USA]

With the Wings interference engine design, simply remove the lower center fairing cowl, pop off two 1.5 to 2 inch caps and inspect the timing belts for wear and tension. Otherwise it's a 1/2 day job getting to them belts (sorta) by the book JUST to look at'm.
.

OK, should have just said tension.

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[offcenter]

When I got my bike, it was 17 years old with 70,000 miles and still had the original belts on it.
I changed them shortly after I got it. That was about 40,000 miles ago. Replaced them with genuine Gates belts.
Should still be good for a while. I'll probably change them again in a year or two.

[John K]

As the shirt that the Mrs got me says ( see attachment )
I am the luckiest man in the universe
The belts & tensioners weren't replaced on my 1500
Until it was 23 years old with 77,782 miles

Not the reason she had shirt made for me but I think it applies

With new parts costing alittle over $275 in 2021 why did I wait so long
Thanks to Scott & this website I was able to do the job ( thanks Scott )