I've worked on cars since I was 16 years old, and began working on bikes for the first time last year. Everything is so much easier, innit

I just replaced the rear brake pads, and while I was at it thought I'd clean up and grease the important slidey bits. Time taken , including getting the tools out of the shed and carting them downstairs to the bike (which is in the garden), stripping and reassembling the brakes, going back upstairs cos I'd forgotten the copper grease, and packing all the tools away again - 30 minutes! :D

I replaced the front forks recently with good second-hand ones, and that only took me a couple of hours, working slowly and carefully!

Next jobs are an oil change, cleaning and repainting the exhaust headers and installing heated grips.

I might even tackle the valve clearances while I'm at it!

kewl bud, ye i did my rear one for mot cus it was binding... rly surprised how easy it was.. front ones span me out a little at first cus of the twin pistons but got tehre in end.. loadsa crap in the pistons but sliding nicely now. think im gonna do hoses next tho on front as rear is better than front atm!!

I had zero experience mechanically when I got my bike and from doimg bits here and there can pretty much service my bike now (although there are points where I would just not start and go and see a prefesional ). Have also just taken my girlfriends crashed SV650 apart piece by piece and now there is nothing left but the frame, took a while but was great fun! :D

Well, I chickened out on the valve clearances this weekend

But, I changed the oil and filter, cleaned & gapped the spark plugs and installed the heated grips along with a relay connected to a 12V feed that's only live when the ignition's on. That way if I forget to turn the grips off when I switch the engine off, I won't flatten my battery!

Took me a whole day though, in between tropical rainstorms!