ADV350 - Ask me any questions

[ADV]

The Ohlins HO 208 rear shocks have lost the plot after covering 39,000km. Oil leaking and ineffective damping. I'm waiting on a rebuild quote together with timeframe to repair.

It will either mean downtime, refitting the original shocks or buying Profender Series X. I'll probably go for the Profender and have the Ohlins rebuilt if the cost is not ridiculous high. Not into weeks of downtime.

 

[Ian986]

Have you had any problems with screen bracket rattling( I think it is that ) it is driving me crazy local Honda dealer changed screen mount and clock surround and still does it, their answer was don’t have the screen up. The dealer is going to send the bike to Honda HQ in Bangkok, in the new year to see if they can sort it out. I wondered if anyone else had similar issues. It is not the screen because still rattles without screen on ! any advice would be amazing Thanks

 

[DavidFL]

The Ohlins HO 208 rear shocks have lost the plot after covering 39,000km. Oil leaking and ineffective damping. I'm waiting on a rebuild quote together with timeframe to repair.

It will either mean downtime, refitting the original shocks or buying Profender Series X. I'll probably go for the Profender and have the Ohlins rebuilt if the cost is not ridiculous high. Not into weeks of downtime.

View attachment 162705

39,000 kms is not bad.
Over the years I have had Nitron, YSS & Ohlins and they all recommended with my riding I should probably be rebuilding every 25,000 kms maximum.
I once had a Nitron on the Versys rebuilt under warranty @ 15,000 kms and they said it was the dirtiest oil they had ever seen come out of one of their shocks.
The sad truth here is we don't ride on smooth billiard table surfaces in the North.
Our shocks are working hard in the heat on all those bumpy twisting mountain roads.

 

[ADV]

Have you had any problems with screen bracket rattling( I think it is that ) it is driving me crazy local Honda dealer changed screen mount and clock surround and still does it, their answer was don’t have the screen up. The dealer is going to send the bike to Honda HQ in Bangkok, in the new year to see if they can sort it out. I wondered if anyone else had similar issues. It is not the screen because still rattles without screen on ! any advice would be amazing Thanks

Hi Ian

No rattles from the screen bracket at all.

I'm adjusting the screen height several times on every ride. For example, lowest height on mountain twisties with poor road surfaces, hairpins and steep gradients. This enables me to have max forward visibility over the large Givi screen.

On straight A-B highway screen is higher unless its raining or I need to work hard scanning ahead for surface water and debris.

So despites many height changes the screen mechanism hasn't worn out or rattled.

Rest of the plastic components are tight and secure with no plastic dust to be seen that could indicate a vibration point.

I hope you can get the problem sorted. Interested to hear the outcome.

 

[ADV]

39,000 kms is not bad.
Over the years I have had Nitron, YSS & Ohlins and they all recommended with my riding I should probably be rebuilding every 25,000 kms maximum.
I once had a Nitron on the Versys rebuilt under warranty @ 15,000 kms and they said it was the dirtiest oil they had ever seen come out of one of their shocks.
The sad truth here is we don't ride on smooth billiard table surfaces in the North.
Our shocks are working hard in the heat on all those bumpy twisting mountain roads.

An old habit of mine through all the bikes I've owned, at rest and water stops, is to splash water and use a tissue to wipe dust, insects and mud from the fork tubes and rear shocks.

I do get a bid lazy cleaning off the rear shocks because of the extra filth thrown in that area. I been meaning to get some soft material to floss after splashing but its only ever stayed an idea.

After replacing my rear shocks this time I'm definately going to make a flossing kit. Makes sense to me.

 

[ADV]

I've ridden over 50k on ADV350 in Thailand, welcome to ask any questions.

Now over 70k on ADV350 mainly in Northern Thailand.

 

[Heineken]

Now over 70k on ADV350 mainly in Northern Thailand.

Thats certainly quite a few KM, after returning from my recent ride from CR through Laos and then Northern Vietnam and return my ADV is just short of 14 000km, bike has been faultless, except I did get the clutch cleaned as it was making a noise sometimes on take off, good now and I did upgrade the front suspension to YSS (Ohlins do not make a fork kit) before that trip and it performed very well, no bottoming out anymore, and my stock tyres still look OK which is good.

 

[ADV]

Thats certainly quite a few KM, after returning from my recent ride from CR through Laos and then Northern Vietnam and return my ADV is just short of 14 000km, bike has been faultless, except I did get the clutch cleaned as it was making a noise sometimes on take off, good now and I did upgrade the front suspension to YSS (Ohlins do not make a fork kit) before that trip and it performed very well, no bottoming out anymore, and my stock tyres still look OK which is good.

Great to hear from you again, I was wondering how you were traveling. 14k full of adventures, fantastic.

Blowing that clutch, roller and belt dust out is really important. There's no effective exit point for dust other than to drop the cover off and blast away with high pressure air. Its an unpleasant job, clouds of dust and I can see why workshops don't like doing it / miss that part completely.

I do mine at the local self service carwash, timing the blow out when no one is in the other washbays. I end up black as a chimney sweep. Mask mandatory.

Those Karoo tyres are terrific. I'm using my second set CST bought under 3000thb pair. I've not seen them that cheap again. So, I'll be very content to return to the Metzler Street Karoo.

Great that the YSS springs is working for you! Certainly makes the front end more confident. What ever were Honda thinking when they cut the budget on fork internals?

After my YSS first service you'll probably remember I went from YSS 5W fork oil to Ohlins 10W fork oil? The front end is now taught and firm...I'm prefering the heavier oil and I've only manage 3 bottom outs on crazy rough unsealed roads. I was actually pleased/relieved for bottom out soon after the fork service, to confirm my increased fork oil capacity decision don't blow the seals. Everything is without issue with the extra capacity (ummm, apart from the fork service guys being an issue, but I won't write about that here because last time I wrote an objective report on a mechanic my post removed by David, under the guisee of defamation law). Happy to talk more about these objective experiences away from this forum.

10W and YSS is enough to keep me from upgrading to Adreani forks. Money saved into tyres and fuel.

Obviously, I'm not saying I can now ride fully into potholes, but choosing the same roads where the 5W struggled towards the end of the oil service life, the 10W works for me...and I use my body core muscles and a loosed grip to compensate for the firmer ride when hammering bumps on the unsealed roads. Its no big deal. I wouldn't go back to 5W. (Hey, I'm no expert off road rider).

In 70 km+ ADV350 I've only ever done routine maintenance... or more frequent rountine maintenance such as filters and highest quality lubricants.

I'm looking forward to Profender again, seeing how long they will last. I was at 10k on my previous Profender ADV350 written off due to Maesai flood damage.

*Edited '10k'

 

[Heineken]

Blowing that clutch, roller and belt dust out is really important. There's no effective exit point for dust other than to drop the cover off and blast away with high pressure air. Its an unpleasant job, clouds of dust and I can see why workshops don't like doing it / miss that part completely.

I think part of the problem is the dust cannot escape the clutch drum, I notice the aftermarket replacements have alot more open areas to allow the dust to escape, I hear good reports on the Morza Shark Bite aftermarket kit @ 6200 baht..................................half the price of the Malossi

 

[ADV]

Thank

I think part of the problem is the dust cannot escape the clutch drum, I notice the aftermarket replacements have alot more open areas to allow the dust to escape, I hear good reports on the Morza Shark Bite aftermarket kit @ 6200 baht..................................half the price of the Malossi

Thanks for the Morza prompt, I'll revisit that again.

Yes, I think dust build up is an inherent problem due to clutch bell and sidecover design.

I'd like to see a sidecover with a large grommit window that could be easily removed so that dust could escape during dry riding conditions....but that wouldn't help Euro emissions test.

 

[Heineken]

Thank

Thanks for the Morza prompt, I'll revisit that again.

Yes, I think dust build up is an inherent problem due to clutch bell and sidecover design.

I'd like to see a sidecover with a large grommit window that could be easily removed so that dust could escape during dry riding conditions....but that wouldn't help Euro emissions test.

Interesting that my Yamaha X-Max 300 has never had any clutch issues, only gets cleaned @ 20 000km intervals when the drive belt is replaced ?

 

[ADV]

Interesting that my Yamaha X-Max 300 has never had any clutch issues, only gets cleaned @ 20 000km intervals when the drive belt is replaced ?

Yes, interesting.
XMax OEM clutch bell on left, ADV350 OEM on right

I wonder if the Xmax has better sidecover venting to eject dust?

 

[ADV]

The Ohlins HO 208 rear shocks have lost the plot after covering 39,000km. Oil leaking and ineffective damping. I'm waiting on a rebuild quote together with timeframe to repair.

It will either mean downtime, refitting the original shocks or buying Profender Series X. I'll probably go for the Profender and have the Ohlins rebuilt if the cost is not ridiculous high. Not into weeks of downtime.

View attachment 162705

One CR shop quoted the rebuild by Ohlins authorised repair service will be ฿7-8000 and about two weeks duration.

I intend to enquire directly at Mix @CM.

 

[ADV]

12,000km have been ridden since my previous full transmission service.

On this occasion I am dismantling and cleaning everything, blowing out clouds of dust from rollers, belt and clutch wear. I do the blow out at the local self service car wash, in between other customers so as not to piss them off. Back home I have a much cleaner transmission to work on and I feel it keeps thing sweet with my landlord.

I am replacing the Malossi rollers and sliders as a full set. Although just two rollers with a very slight flat spot and the sliders showed minimal wear.

The clutch and bell, which has now been in use for 32,000km will also be swapped out for a new Malossi set.

The worn clutch thickness of the trailing edge of the friction material is a fraction under 4mm. Versus new clutch thickness 5mm.

I intend a very through clean up of the old clutch, especially shoe hinges. Hopefully after cleaning up I can put the old clutch back on the parts shelf for reuse, as its only 1mm friction material wear over 32,000km traveled.

In the photo below the friction material still has some unused surface on the leading edge of the shoe. (Area to right of green fluromarker line).

Malossi clutch bell has minimal wear, but I'll swap it out with a new one as the clutch can only be purchased in a complete kit set, so might as well.

(The older clutch is the blued one).

Okay, on with the service.

 

[ADV]

Have you had any problems with screen bracket rattling( I think it is that ) it is driving me crazy local Honda dealer changed screen mount and clock surround and still does it, their answer was don’t have the screen up. The dealer is going to send the bike to Honda HQ in Bangkok, in the new year to see if they can sort it out. I wondered if anyone else had similar issues. It is not the screen because still rattles without screen on ! any advice would be amazing Thanks

Hi Ian, was this problem resolved for you?

What occurred when the bike went to Bangkok?

 

[ADV]

I snagged a pair of Profender X shock (445mm standard length) on a Shopee sale for ฿10,300 delivered.

I wil fit them myself. I had the same shock on my first ADV350 and really liked them. Supply and fit price from a workshop was ฿13,900.

I haven't got a second quote for the Ohlins rebuild yet, from the Ohlins service centre in Chiang Mai. I'll do this at my leisure.

Profender have a reasonable set-up guide. I'm going to try the firm spring this time around because with riding gear, fuel, top box/rack and a change clothes I'm just at the start of the firm spring (lowest weight guide 90-200kg).

....and the following link opens Profender's company Google Drive location to download the official installation and sag guide.

ADV 350 - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[ADV]

Wow, what a difference fresh shocks make...ride and handling is superb on the firm spring and 5mm preload matched with YSS fork upgrade and 10W fork oil I'm well impressed (again with Profender).

Hard to justify over twice the price for Ohlins, ouch.

Next big service item will be replacing front and rear discs and also check valve clearances and re-shim as required.

I'll do the discs myself after buying a basic jack on Lazada for about ฿500.

Not sure I want to tackle shims but I really ought to get over it and do it myself. Hmmm.

I've stocked up on two more pairs of CST tyres at a bargain price of 2700 /pair, delivered which included nice alloy 90⁰ valves. One pair is CST SC11 and the other is CST SC13 which will be my wet season tyre. It will be my first time trying the SC13.

For the fun of it I also fitted a Malossi intake pipe, giving a more direct airflow into the engine from the BMC air filter.

 

[ADV]

44,000km on these front discs.

Just beginning to developed some visual hot spots. Also I can feel the brake ever so slightly juddering. I am thinking this will be a combo of brake pad retaining pin wear and disc wear, pad material oxidation build up on the hot spots.

I could try using emery paper to reduce any oxidation from pad material build-up on the disc itself. However, seeing that the disc thickness is heading towards minimum disc thickness, I'll stock up to replace the discs.

Lazada / Shopee 3.3 (3 March) sale approaching so I intend to purchase new front/rear disc (฿800 each and parts to rebuild the callipers (other than pistons/piston seals which are in good condition).

The hotspot discolouration can be seen in these two front disc photos.

@ 6 o'clock

@8 o'clock

 

[ADV]

K&N oil filter failure, leaking oil.

So, I always had a good opinion of K&N oil filters over very many years of use.

However, I've now had 2 out of three K&N 204-1 filters fail and leak oil over the back tyre.

The point if failure is the spotwelding on the flange bolt. Seems like K&N cannot get effective quality control together.

Checking the web for this issue K&N oil filters have been failing at the spot welds for many years. Significant number of reports of same issue.

I will never trust another K&N oil filter.

The first K&N 204-1 failed at 1000km and the second failed at 4500km. Both filters were hand tightened.

I did not use a spanner or socket on the flange bolt spot welded on the end of the K&N 204-1 oil filter other than for removal.

The first K&N 204-1 oil leak was a dangerous dump of oil over the rear tyre in mountain twisties. I managed to find a Honda shop in Fang for a pitstop, after coming down off the Doi Ang Khan > Chiang Dao loop.

The second K&N 204-1 filter started leaking at the spot welds, onto the clean concrete floor with a splattering on the rear rim /tyre, so I saw and caught that one very quickly.

I've binned my remaining unused K&N 204-1 filters. No confidence whatsoever in K&N quality control.

 

[Heineken]

Ive just ordered another 3 spare oil filters off Lazada, I use the genuine Honda filters even though they are quite expensive @ 490 Baht each

 

[ADV]

Ive just ordered another 3 spare oil filters off Lazada, I use the genuine Honda filters even though they are quite expensive @ 490 Baht each

Yes, I've reverted to purchasing Honda OEM filters after the bad K&N experience.

I'm surprised the genuine filters are not a bit cheaper considering most Honda OEM parts are as cheap as chips in Thailand.

An assortment of Honda valve shims and gaskets have arrived and I purchased a digital micrometer. I'll tackle the valve clearances in the next month or two.

 

[Heineken]

Time to replace both front and back tyres on my ADV350 @ 17 600km..........................................could of gone to 20k I reckon but as I am off on another big ride next month I didnt want to take the risk


Got to say for a very popular bike there is not alot of choice of tyres, especially if you want some sort of offroad capability.............................the usual Pirelli/Michelin and Continental are available but all seem to be road tyres, Ban Chang in Chiang Rai sourced some Metzeler Karoo the same as I already have, he told me these are private imports, not from the official Metzeler Dealer.................................tyres look fine all wrapped in official packaging, I did notice produced in 2024 which didnt worry me.


Having used these tyres on various surfaces over the last year I think they have performed well, I paid 5700 baht fitted and balanced for the pair ( I also bought aluminium 45 degree valves which I have not seen before @ 300 baht each}

 

[ADV]

.... these are private imports, not from the official Metzeler Dealer.................................tyres look fine all wrapped in official packaging, I did notice produced in 2024 which didnt worry me.

Yes, I also heard Metzler Thailand had stopped supplying these tyres. I think a really strange decision by Metzler. I'd like to know their reasoning especially since ADV350 are manufactured nearby and fitted with Metzler OEM. Very weird.

I'd also have no problem with wrapped 2024 production date tyres.

Sounds like you are prepping for a China trip? Do you mind me asking what sort of budget these trips run at (excluding fuel, food). Presume its a package.

 

[Cha Am Wayne]

Interesting that my Yamaha X-Max 300 has never had any clutch issues, only gets cleaned @ 20 000km intervals when the drive belt is replaced ?

Hello, new member here, joined because of this thread, specifically regarding fork oil which i will ask the author questions about in due course.
I have a 2023 Xmax 300 in Thailand and a 2023 ADV 350 in the UK.
I agree with you here, never had a clutch issue with the Xmax to 15,000km but it now has a Morza shark bite clutch and bell (radial grooves), changed because i had too much time on my hands and was looking for an aftermarket clutch for my ADV to bring back to the UK from Thailand.
My ADV has also now been changed to a shark bite clutch paired with a RFRS X groove and drilled bell, the ADV clutch developed a terrible judder at less than 5,000km despite repeated CVT clean outs, it now rides like new but has only been installed for a month.
Interestingly, the Xmax and ADV clutch are interchangeable in the Morza form (same item), so i guess the clutch bell is also the same size and only differs in the input shaft spline pattern.

 

[Cha Am Wayne]

I really enjoyed the YSS #004 kit upgrade for the first 10,000km. After that I perceived the springs already going off and I could noticeable see the front end sag down when sitting on the scooter, which didn't happen when YSS upgrade was first installed.

The YSS are still a big improvement, though, over the stock springs. Its unfortunate that YSS don't supply different spring rates according to rider weight.

Ban Chiang were waiting on a new Ohlins fork oil delivery yesterday when I called in to check when they wanted to schedule the work.

This morning at 10.00am was the agreed time and I could see new unopened bottles of Ohlins fork oil now on the shelf.

I still have in mind a trip to the Adreani fork upgrade official importer, who is based in Chiang Mai. Adreani will supply springs to rider weight, not a generic one size fits all spring. The importer also outsources tge fitting service to a Chiang Mai mechanic/shop, so I want to investigate the whole process and see if I feel comfortable splashing more cash at the ADV350. Its going to be interesting after this fork service to see if I think enough is enough on attempting to get a better ride and handling.

Yes, my YSS #004 upgrade it came with YSS 5w oil, too. Its going to be interesting feeling for difference now that I'm using 10w on this service. Just to note about fork service intervals... I really noticed the YSS 5w fork oil degrading by about 20-25,000km.

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Hi ADV,
Got to say, i love the effort you have put into this thread, the detailed descriptions and photos you include are very handy and must be time consuming. for you. Good work.

Regarding the above, and some other comments-i think the fork oil viscosity difference between the 04 and 05 fork kit is due to the 04 being the standard length and the 05 being the lowering kit. If i understand the principal correctly, the shorter stroke on the 05 kit would need a thicker oil to retain the compression and rebound characteristics of the 04 kit. This may include different port hole sizes between the kits too, but i am not sure about that.

Something to note is that the 5w/10w printed on fork oil bottles can be a vague indication, one makers 10w can be thicker than another makers 10w, there is no standard adhered to like we find on engine oils or ATF.
What is more important is the viscosity when warm, ie the cst@40c (general road riding temps) and this is not written on the bottle unfortunately.
Search for "fork oil viscosity chart" for a visual list of makes and viscosity differences at the 40c riding temp. Very handy if you are doing a fork oil change at home but can't get the OEM fluid, or if like myself, want to choose a thinner/thicker oil to soften/stiffen the front end.

This leads me on to my enquiry. As you have been in and out of service departments and had your forks upgraded, have you ever found out the exact factory oil found in the Showa forks ? After multiple days searching online i am unable to get a conclusive answer. I am leaning towards Honda Pro HP 10w or Showa SS-08 10w both have a cst@40c in the 35's.
I would like to find out as i am going to change the fork oil for one with a lower (thinner) cst@40c as i find the ride a bit firm at the front, this i probably due to most of my riding in the UK being before and after the summer due to working away from home and the ambient temps being 10-15c when i do ride it.
It would no doubt be a softer ride if i had the ADV in Thailand with 25-35c ambient temps.

Cheers