New 2005 silverwing owner with many questions

Hello..
I'm a new owner of a 2005 silverwing with a bunch of questions,, just graduated up from a 250 cc scooter
1. Still can't get the center stand to work .. I keep stepping on it (I'm 180lbs) .. And I only goes partially .need a ton of strength to get it working . Any advice?
If I just use the kick stand ..any ideas on keeping it stable .. If the ground is not .. Eg like resting the stand on a piece of wood?
2. What the best place and make/model for a cover for it.
3. If the oil light goes on when I turn the key to on.. But then goes off when I start the engine is this okay? What type of oil does it take and where do I pour it in?
4. Sometimes if a press the left brake the engine switch doesn't always turn on.. Likes it's some sort of delay .?? ( kick stand is up)
5. Do I really need to use the parking break?
6. I assume it doesn't come with a dc power source


Thanks in advance

Do you have an owners manual? If so start there. Most of your questions can be answered by reading it first. If you have one it should be under the seat. Dave

    Welcome to the forum. Wow, that is a lot of diverse questions.   The best place to start is the search box on the upper left corner of the main forum page. Just type in key words and most of these questions have been discussed.

     The brake lever has a double click before it starts. Make sure you pull it all the way in.

     It does not come with a DC power source, but a previous owner may have installed one. Look in the left dash pocket. This is the usual place.

     The oil light should work as you described it. The oil checking and filling is done on the right hand side. You should see it quite easily to the rear of your footrest. The type of oil has been discussed many times.

     Again, as Silver Dave K said, the owners manual will help with these questions. If you don't have one, I would look on ebay or amazon for a new one.  

     Check out that search function. There is a lot of information available.

The parking brake is useful when parking downhill. On a motorcycle you can leave it in gear, the SW is always in neutral when not running so could roll off the kick stand. With the parking brake on it won't. Getting the bike on the center stand is actually pretty easy. Use you left knee to nudge the bike upright off the side stand, press down with your right foot on the center stand and rock the bike slightly to make sure both feet of the stand are on the ground. Then put your weight on the center stand lever and the bike will come right up. If you don't quite have the bike vertical with both center stand feet on the ground it will be difficult if not impossible. I prefer to get the bike off the center stand by sitting on the seat and rocking the bike forward. Do it with the engine off until you get used to it because you don't want to drop it off the stand if you accidently twist the throttle when doing it.
The headlight is supposed to go off when pressing the start switch. That allows all the battery power to go to the starter. Most scooters/motorcycles do that.
There's a spot in the left glove box that will take a 12v Socket. The box is easy to remove and you can simply wire a socket back to the battery with an inline 10A fuse.
I'd recommend you order a service manual from Helm Inc. they reprint the original Honda manuals. Not cheap but well worth the money.
Honda manuals

Here's a .pdf file of the Silverwing owner's manual if you don't have one:

http://campaigns.hondampe.com.au/Motorcycles/manuals/FJS600SILVERWING.pdf

Welcome to the forum.Like what has been previously said many of your questions would be answered by searching the forum topics.
The most obvious one is the use of the left brake lever when trying to start up.If you apply the lever firmly it will start.
If you have not realized,always release the parking brake when raising on the center stand.Try grabbing the left hand rail and lift with your right hand as you push down on the center stand.And last but important, check  your under seat lite and make sure it goes off when latching down the seat. I think most have taken the bulb out or changed the lite assembly to one with a shut off switch.   Howard

what about the best tires? I recently had a problem on a smaller scooter where the valve stem broke off and almost caused a serious accident when my rear tire deflated.. How can I prevent this from happening from my 2005 silverwing? As the tires appear firm with treads.. but beyond that.. how can I be better prepared?

Boating123 wrote:

what about the best tires? I recently had a problem on a smaller scooter where the valve stem broke off and almost caused a serious accident when my rear tire deflated.. How can I prevent this from happening from my 2005 silverwing? As the tires appear firm with treads.. but beyond that.. how can I be better prepared?

We have a pair of Roketa Bali 150's and the valve stems on those deteriorated rather quickly from new and had to be replaced because they started leaking air. Have not had that problem with our Silver Wings but they get more miles (we put on 20,000 miles last summer on each of them).

We currently have IRC's on both our bikes. I don't know if they're the best tires or not. It is what our Honda dealer is handling at the moment and we've been happy with how they wear. We rode to Alaska late last summer. The tires were new when we left and the rears on both bikes were about 50% when we got back - a little over 7,000 miles. We did the Great Lakes Circle Tour on them and they were worn out after that. We put a fresh set of tires on both bikes this spring - IRC's again.

We rode all last summer without changing belts. I put new belts in both bikes this spring too.

How long the tires last depends a lot on riding style, speed and temperature, no matter what brand they are. Riding at 70-80 mph on The Slab at 100 degrees in the shade will take more life out of the rear tire in 2,000 miles than our entire trip to Alaska took out of them in cool weather. We tend to prefer riding to cooler places in the north in the summer time, and the only place we go where it's really hot is Sturgis in August. So we get pretty decent tire life and the IRC's have worked good for us. We haven't taken any trips yet this year. But leaving in two days for the first ride of the season, making a lap around Lake Superior and spending some time exploring some places in Canada.

Boating123 read through some of the topics at this link. CLICK Here found 63 matches for tires

I forgot to mention, pertaining to Boating123's question about valve stems, that I inspect them when replacing tires. I bend the stem to the side (the rear one is a metal 90°) and look at the rubber on the base of the valve stem where it goes thru the wheel. If the rubber shows signs of starting to deteriorate and has cracks starting in it I put a new valve stem in.

FWIW, you should replace the valve stems with the correct OEM valve stems. We had a member on the other Silverwing forum who had an incorrect valve stem installed by his Honda dealer and it caused the tire to deflate within 20 miles or so. Even though the dealer supposedly used a Honda valve stem, the fit wasn't correct and it could have caused disastrous results.

Also, be sure that the right angle valve stem holder is reinstalled on the rear wheel.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Also, be sure that the right angle valve stem holder is reinstalled on the rear wheel.

Yes! That little holder is an important thing on that 90 degree valve stem! Without it the centrifugal force will actually cause the stem to bend in towards the rim, stress the rubber on the base of the stem and cause it to fail. A tire that holds air fine at low speeds suddenly goes flat at freeway speed. You air it up to find the hole to plug it, look at it and can't figure out where the hole is because there is none. It only leaks if you happen to bend the stem in towards the rim slightly.

BTDT

not being nasty-----didn't your MSF course cover putting bike on centerstand?? There is more to it than stepping on stand lever---SilverWing is near 600 lbs---put right foot on lever, right hand on right passenger hand rail---move bike a little forward and then to rear, at same time step on lever and then with a little lifting bike should go up. Make sure stand pivots are well oiled on older scooter

Welcome aboard the board!

Regarding your center stand issue, I find the key is to ensure both "feet" of the center stand are touching the ground.  If only one is touching, it can be a heck of a job due to the physics being all wrong.

In addition to reading your owner's manual, I'd recommend getting a Factory Service Manual.  Lots of great information in it even if you do not service your own machine.  

Ride safe ... all-ways! ~ BugJr _

2 more questions
Unfortunately my bike got dropped on its right side .. Was able (with some friends ) to stand it up and it rode fine. .. Should I be concerned ?
Apparently it was in the kick stand and the cheap cover I had acted like a sail .. So the wind was able to push it down..
Does anyone know where to get a strong cover to fit the silverwing with givi box ?

Thanks again

So, you put some gravel/driveway markings on your SWing. Not serious, it will go just as before. When that happened to me, I made sure my next dump was on the other side to keep everything symmetrical. Just kidding !
Always park your SWing on the centrestand, specially if the weather is unpredictable or if it is going to be there awhile. The sidestand is for short term only.
A good big bike cover should be easy enough to find. If you are close to a Walmart, you could pick up a heavy duty cover. That's where I got mine.

As for putting the bike on the centerstand, you should do a search here.
A quick tip, though. If you know a welding shop, get them to weld a piece of steel on the centerstand footpeg. It could be 2"x2", and it will make your foot very happy to step on the larger surface.

cotetoi wrote:

As for putting the bike on the centerstand, you should do a search here.
A quick tip, though. If you know a welding shop, get them to weld a piece of steel on the centerstand footpeg. It could be 2"x2", and it will make your foot very happy to step on the larger surface.

Nice tip! Happy feet!

another question.. @45 MPH.. having difficulty getting the bike to move a bit left when driving.. Should I lean into it more? I checked the sterling at lower speeds.. moving handle bars back and forth and it didn't seem to be an alignment related.. Any ideas to this issue?

This has to be a wind up. Kirk is that you having a laugh?.You had a bike before but,don't know where to put oil? you can't put the bike on the centre stand, does the oil warning light go out, your bike blew over in the wind, do I need to lean further over to correct the steering. I'm sorry I don't believe it. It has to be a wind up.

Boating123 wrote:

I checked the sterling at lower speeds...

You can check British money while you're riding?

Old Limey wrote:

This has to be a wind up. Kirk is that you having a laugh?.You had a bike before but,don't know where to put oil? you can't put the bike on the centre stand,  does the oil warning light go out, your bike blew over in the wind, do I need to lean further over to correct the steering. I'm sorry I don't believe it. It has to be a wind up.

Old Limey, I hope that you are correct that this is a joke. The OP has not thanked anyone for advice given. The OP has not answered any questions that people have asked them but they are still asking more questions expecting answers.

 Boating123, could you tell us how long you have been riding two wheels? Do you have an owners manual? Did you take a MSF course? Do you know anyone that has a Silverwing? If so you could ask them to test ride your Silverwing for you and see if it is running normal. Discussions should be two way conversations. It would be nice if you let us know if you have tried any of the suggestions and have they been of any help?

Boating123's IP address is out of New York so unless Kirk was in New York it is not him. It is kind of hard to believe the questions that he/she asked though.

Old Limey wrote:

This has to be a wind up. Kirk is that you having a laugh?.You had a bike before but,don't know where to put oil? you can't put the bike on the centre stand,  does the oil warning light go out, your bike blew over in the wind, do I need to lean further over to correct the steering. I'm sorry I don't believe it. It has to be a wind up.

What's different about this poster? All these questions have been asked and answered by someone before. They probably got banned from other forums and just found a new one to troll.

It really doesn't affect me. Maybe it takes more to wind me up. (Maybe my winding stem is broke) The bad part is that other members have become tired of posters like this and choose not to participate anymore.

I still feel that the considerate new members are in the majority, so I won't be leaving you good members just yet.

Amen  Howard

Thank you for answering my previous questions ..

Have another question about why my silverwing won't start sometimes when the ignition switch is on and left break is pressed in.. Sometime there is a delay and i have to put the key in again and start it. Temperature guage shows that its normal so don't understand why I sometime have to try a couple of times for the bike to start ..

Any idea what might be causing this?

I have a new Silver Wing also. Was embarrassed that I couldn't start it at the dealer after taking delivery.

Turns out I wasn't holding the brake lever hard enough to disengage the safety interlock. It takes a light squeeze on the PCX to do that but a much harder squeeze on the S'wing.

[quote="Bash On!"]I have a new Silver Wing also.  Was embarrassed that I couldn't start it at the dealer after taking delivery.  


Of the 3006 registered users here, 3000 have had the same "why won't it start moment"!

So I'm one of the 6 that didn't have that moment when I picked up my new Silver Wing.

Yep