Brake pads

Yeah.

They senior riders with tell you not to stinge on tires and brakes.

I was keen on easily available sbs brake pads but it was $20 a pop.
Not far from the 24 usd ebc hh.
When i saw the good reviews of the volar brake pads from d2moto at $10 a pop I had it debating in my mind.
Have not read a single negative review on them.

Had ordered them from a buddy and I really liked them.

My brakes sucked when I got the bike.
 EBC HH was on my shopping list.

 I got the vesrah green organic kelvar pads because it was that urgent. It didnt make much of a difference.

I got the EBC HH and despite the caliper wash, bleeding and cleaning the brake disc it felt acceptably better but quickly deteoriated over time. Brake dust was alot.

A stainless steel brake line made the world of difference. I had to replace it once because I had improperly routed it. It punctured during a U turn. Dont bother with the expensive branded lines. I got mine from china and it worked just as well. I believe its because it doesnt flex as much and more fluid gets pushed as the line is thinner.

After all the effort, actually, in JB, it cost me only 30rm to service my caliper!
Which made a world of difference!
Ill add this to my yearly to do list!

Nufinish

As a detailer

I am always in search of a better product.
It sucks and it rains too often here.I was doubtful for nufinish but it had too many good reviews to ignore.
Meguiars gold class sucked and turtle wax was too much work.

Well, in short this is a monthly wax.
It beads water like a mofo in that whole duration
Bike is easier to wash
Shine and depth is 8/10 of the turtle wax but it does not attract dust.

EBC PRODUCTS

I always love EBC products.
It started with their top of the range EBC HH brakepads.
In Singapore, traffic is heavy and me being impatient, a quick bite brake pad suited my needs best.
They are costly here for $85 a pair.

So lately i burned my clutch because I attempted climbing gunung brinchang hill with my bike. The stealership wanted $200 without oil(and their crappy oil range). The Oem Distributor wanted $100. I Imported mine for $70.

It was a fairly simple job.
But if you dont have the right tools, you will mess up.
First to come off was the aplenty 8mm bolts after the clutch cable.
From there, You have to use a  27mm straight on wrench to remove the housing basket.
From there, is the screws holding the spring.
There on out, its straight forward but you have to remember that there is one plate that is different.

The 400cc version used 4 instead of 6 springs and 6 instead of 8 plates.

First impression was the bike was more responsive to the throttle.
Finding neutral was difficult but after a day it was fine.

I didnt soak the plates because it was inconvenient.
It might be an old wives tale anyway.
The mechanic felt it wasnt necessary.

Idemitsu

I remembered Idemitsu being in the costly range for cars and was always keen to try it. Since my riding buddy Jes had reccomended it, I tried it. I choosed the semi synthetic version which cost 28 MYR and made in vietnam. The fully synthetic costs 45MYR and made in Singapore.

Jes was right. It was ridiculously smooth.

Starts up cold easier than rotella t6.

Downside?

I could hit 140kph on rotella t6 during my trip to cameron but with this, Max was a disappointing 120kph!

Great oil and I like it.

Just struggles during touring.

My touring fc was 19kph with this oil.

Editors Update 4 october.

I thought oil is oil but this could only bring me 120km/hr

I changed to rotella t6 and immediately could go beyond that.

Leave semi synthetic to small engines and short oil change intervals.