Monday, June 23, 2014

23 June 2014 – Gear Review 3 – Misc OEM


This review will focus on a couple of basic S10 components that I didn’t like.

1                     The instrument panel works OK but they put the fuel display on the right side where it is blocked by the throttle cables. Especially when you are low on fuel it is totally out of view as demonstrated when I ran out of gas. The whole display is LCD so is not a light which would catch your attention. They have warning lights on the left side, it should include a low fuel warning light. In addition, when you go on reserve, the E starts blinking (not flashing like a light would) and the odometer starts counting up. This lets you know how far you’ve ridden since you went on reserve. I now know I can go 43 miles at highway speed (70 mph) before I actually run out of gas as demonstrated a couple of days ago but I only learned this valuable piece of information by doing it. I miss the old days where you had to actually turn a mechanical valve to go to reserve.

2                     The front shocks are reversed on this bike; shiny part on bottom. This puts it right in the mud and dirt. The S10 fenders have a minor deflection to keep some of it off the shiny part but not enough and nothing like the serious off-road bikes have. The reason this is important is it puts sand right where it can cause you shock seal to blow-out. I only saw one other S10 up north and his right shock seal had blown due to riding in off road conditions and the oil had drenched his right front brake caliper. I knew this was a possible problem with this design and had actually found some strap on boots that would protect the shock but didn’t have time to get them before our trip started.
 
BTW the LO on the display is for engine temperature since bike wasn't running when I took the pic.
 



 

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