It's the 5th of December as my fingers make the clicking noises pressing the keys to get this Repair Report done.  Much of the time between then and now was spent waiting on parts... though I did find a deal on a European-spec fuel tank on eBay, so somewhere during the repairs, that was also installed.  So here we go...

It kind of breaks down into routine maintenance and repairs.  Let's start with the routine maintenance... I'll weave the repairs in as we go... 

I changed the oil, oil filter, and fork oil to begin with.  The chain also received a well-needed cleaning and lubing.  The front brake pads looked pretty thin, so I changed them... Galfer greens.

Next it was on to the valve check and repairs.  Basically the bike ended up looking like this...

And my makeshift work table looked like this...

I had to replace two intake shims.  Went ahead and installed a new spark plug as well. 

Somewhere in the middle of the service I noticed my steering head bearings had a notch, so I replaced those too.  If you've ever changed your SHBs, you know it is a pain in the ass to get the lower bearing in... so I came up with an idea.  To hammer in the new outer race of the lower bearing, I duct taped the old race in place below the new race so I could tap it in without smashing my fingers.  Duct tape rocks!

Next it was on to the lubing the needle bearings in rear swing arm and linkage...

What a mess huh?

That pretty much summed up all I could do until the cam chain tensioner arrived.  

This picture from the FAQs on F650.com shows the tensioner...

On the left is what the cam chain tensioner should look like.  The right shows it disassembled.  Mine had seized up.  Basically the inner piston has fused itself to the out barrel. In other words, it was stuck (and it wasn't coming apart... I tried).  Looked like this...

Since my bike has ABS, getting the old cam chain tensioner out is another pain in the ass.  I've solved the problem by making my own wrench.  Looks like this..

And works like this...

Next task... wash the bike!

As I was disassembling everything, I was also cleaning.  But a thorough cleaning was definitely needed.  

While cleaning I found the my fairing crash bar had cracked.  I'm assuming the vibration took it's toll on it since the bike has never been dropped on the bar.  I took it off, and my buddy welded it back together... 

I gave it a good cleaning and a few coats of paint and reinstalled it.  Yes, I could have sent it back to Touratech, since it was under warranty, but it was easier to simply fix it myself.

Then I found this...

Another vibration crack in my newly installed bash plate.  Crap!  This one I did return to Touratech, and they promptly sent me a replacement.

Now somewhere in between all of the wrenching and waiting for parts, I found a European-spec fuel tank on eBay... $75!!!  And that price included the fuel pump and a fuel filter!

This tank does not have the carbon canister like the American versions do, and as a result, the capacity is increased by just over a liter and a half.  I also dropped the float in the tank that causes the low fuel light to illuminate.  The light doesn't come on now until 4 gallons have been used... and with the capacity of the new tank, I am left with just over half a gallon as reserve.  Nice!

The final task was the thorough bath...

Done!

And that's that... until next time anyway.

The End.