My Bikes: CRF250L aka Lucy
I want to keep track of the cost of ownership of each of my bikes. I hope that it can provide an anecdotal example of how much it costs to own a motorcycle in Japan.
This is a living document. It will be updated as I do service and maintenance on the bike.
The bike:
2013 CRF250L MD38
April 1st, 2024
No. It’s not an April Fools joke.
43,981 kilometers
I did an oil change, complete with oil filter, gasket, and crush washer. I used Repsol 10W40 full synthetic “Racing” this time. I always ran Honda G3 Full Synthetic 10W30 in the past. The old oil was still a nice golden color. I don’t have the previous change mileage with me as of now. It was not too many kilometers since the last change though.
I also put on a new front tire. Told old tire had a strange wear pattern and was starting to dry rot. There were cracks on the tire around the blocks. I re-used the tube and rim strip. I bought back-ups just in case.
The old tire: Dunlop D605 3.00-21 51P.
The new tire: IRC TR-011F 2.75-21 45P
The bike is running smoothly and has no issues.
The next things that need to be done are:
Air Filter
Spark Plug
Rear Tire
Front brake pads
May 27, 2024
I got around the changing the air filter. It was long overdue. There was no seat of the pants difference but I am glad that there is a new filter in there.
June 24, 2024
I finally had a chance to change the rear brake pads. They were overdue too. I am glad that I got the done when I did. They only had a bit of life left in them.
Things that still need to be done:
Spark Plug
Front Brake Pads
I want to flush the brake fluid and put in fresh fluid.
Late August 2024
I was riding to Don Quijote to get some delicious Cherry Pepsi. The bike seemed to be running fine. I pulled in the clutch to come to a complete stop at a red light and the bike just died. I was confused. I hit the started button to start the bike and the battery was dead. I shut off the key and pushed the bike to the side of the road. After a quick visual inspection, I could not see any issues. When I turned the key on, there wss enough battery to hear the fuel pump. I still couldn’t start it with the starter. I push started it and then revved the engine a bit to try to give the battery a bit of a charge. I continued my mission to Donki. Shockingly, the battery died again at the next red light.
I was now on a major street so I could not push start it where I was. I decided to go home. I started pushing the bike. I made it about 500 meters before I realized that I was about 7-8 km from home. When the traffic cleared, I go tthe bike running again. I kept the engine revving at the next red light so it wouldn’t stall. It worked. About 1 mk later, the dashboard display just turned off. The engine was still running though. I panicked, pulled in the clutch and killed the ignition. I coasted as far as I could. When I stopped, I did another visual inspection. Nothing out of the ordianry.
I came up with a terrible idea. I pushed started the bike and rode as fast as possible back home. When the lights turned red, I killed the igntion and coasted. When they turned green again, I turned the key back on and got on the throttle. I made it back home without any other issues.
A few days later, I took the time to troubleshoot. It looks like the stator is burned up. I need to remove the side cover to do a visual inspection. The multimeter said it is out of spec.
The bike is not running!!
Gasoline Usage
Date — Odometer — Liters — KM/L — Cost
April 4, 2024 — 44000 — 2.73 liters — ? — ¥442
April 16,2024 — 44095 — 4.43 liters — 21.44 km/l — ¥718
May13, 2024 — 44173 — 3.6 liters — 21.67 km/l — ¥619
May 20, 2024 — 44259 — 3.45 liters — 24.93 km/l — ¥556
May 27, 2024 — 44326 — 2.86 liters — 23.43 km/l — ¥466
June 14, 2024 — 44431 — 4.69 liters — 22.39 km/l — ¥760
July 9, 2024 — 44497 — 2.72 liters — 24.26 km/l — ¥446
July 23, 2024 — 44614 — 4.80 liters — 24.38 km/l — ¥787
Kilometers ridden: 614
Total Liters of gas used: 29.28
Average Kilometers per Liter: 23.21
Total cost of gas: ¥ 4794
