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[justhumangarbage]

Okay it was time for my 6k service and figured I would do it all by myself like a big boy. I forgot if swearing was allowed on this forum so cover your fricking ears if that offends you. I'm not a professional mechanic and my word here isn't god's word, I hold no legal responsibility, if you cross the streams and set your dog on fire or anything else that could happen due to your or my own incompetence. Follow this guide at your own risk, blah blah blah...

So left get our mise en place. You're gonna wanna have the following:
An Energica motorcycle
rear stand
the following allen keys/sockets 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 8mm
32mm socket
two 13mm open end wrench
8mm box wrench
A little boy torque wrench, teenage boy torque wrench and a bigger buff boy torque wrench
chain alignment tool if you wanna be pro
funnel
brake bleed setup of your choosing
Dex6 ATF 2 quarts
Coolant 1 jug
Brake fluid (dot4 or 5.1)
A blood sacrifice
A catch pan
Socket wrench
a smol hose clamp
teeny screw driver or pick
copper crush washers
replacement gasket or gasket material to make your own.
brake cleaner
bourbon
chain cleaner of your choice (kerosine)
chain lube of your choice (gear oil)
12 volt power source
possibly more bourbon.
loctite medium

In this service we are gonna do the following:
change the oil in the motor and gearbox while cleaning the oil pickup screen and changing gaskets, flush the coolant, flush the brake fluid, clean the lube chain, check/adjust chain tension, check/adjust chain alignment, and drink.



So let's get naked. Pretty much all the plastics are gonna wanna come off. Use your allen keys and start taking shit off. I started with the grey panel and worked my way down, and then did the "tank". Try to keep all the bolts in the holes they came out of on the panels as you set them aside. Use some blue painters tape if you wanna be sure they stay. keeping organised is important.



Much better. I did the oil stuff first and took the tank off later for the coolant. you're gonna wanna take the sprocket cover off too. and clean the crap out from inside of it because you're a good boy and you love your bike.




Now undo the filler caps for your motor and gearbox.



The top red arrow is the filler cap, the bottom one is the drain. The blue one is your sight glass.

get your oil catch pan in place take off your drain plugs and start draining some oil. Your drain plugs have magnets on them (how do they work!?) and may have developed some afros. Make sure you clean all that crap off them, but take a picture of them before you do.





You wanna also remove the sump pan. It's got 6 bolts and two of them are slightly longer, they are gonna be the ones that the guide dowels are on in case you get them mixed up somehow. Remove the gasket to replace with a new one or to use as a stencil to cut your own. Before installing the new gasket you wanna clean all the mating surfaces and also take out the oil pick up screen to clean it out and check to see if there is any buried treasure inside. Also take pictures of this before cleaning.



Small fiber accumulation, but no chunks of metal, so that's good! Unexpected chunks of metal are bad.

You'll wanna clean this thing out with some brake cleaner, spray in from the tube side and make sure it looks brand new. admire how awesome looking and well built this tiny part that no one will see is. 

clean up the inside where that part is going to be reinstalled, schmear some loctite 243 medium on that bolt, reinstall the pickup and torque to 10nm (~7.5 ft lbs ~88.5 in lbs)

Now take a moment to pour yourself a glass of bourbon while you let the oil slowly continue to drip out of the bike. Take this time to reflect on yourself and try to think of shortcomings in your personality and find ways to be a better person. Try not to cry.

Okay, now that you're done crying, put the new gasket in place and start bolting up the sump to the cleaned surface. You wanna torque these bad boys to 7Nm( ~4.5ft-lbs ~62in-lbs) in a cross pattern. Good job!  Replace the crush washer on your drain plugs and torque them down to 25Nm(18.5 ft-lbs) Pat yourself on the back! You want to fill the gearbox side with 4oz of tasty and delicious ATF Dex6. Reinstall fill plug with new crush washer and torque to 25Nm(18.5 ft-lbs). Fill the motor with 1 quart of (don't actually drink it) ATF Dex6. Reinstall the filler plug and then run the motor at low speed for a couple of minutes. There is a weep hole covered by an m6 bolt around where the sprocket cover was. Undo this and when the oil stops weeping your oil is filled correctly. Sweet Jesus you changed the oil!


While we are over here, lets go ahead take a look at your dirty neglected chain, you horrible person. STOP CRYING! Your chain slack should be 30mm up and down travel. If you are somehow already at that spec, lucky you, just clean the chain and you're done. but most likely it's loose, so let's fix that. In order to check in the first place you wanna remove the three bolts on the hugger that hold the piece that covers the chain. This will make it much easier to check chain slack.



You might notice that you have a tight spot in your chain if you rotate the wheel around. if you do you wanna use the tight spot at your measuring point. In order to adjust the chain you'll need to grab a 32mm socket and loosen the rear axle. On both sides of the swing arm your seed the adjuster screws, you can adjust the tension on the chain by either screwing them in or out. the bolts are both 13mm bolts and a pair of open ended wrenches are your friends here. Adjust evenly and check the tension as you go. as soon as you have the tension set you can use a chain alignment tool to make sure your rear sprocket is parallel with your front sprocket(which is good) instead of being misaligned(which is bad). Make sure that the axel is being pushed against the sjuster plated, you can take a screwdriver shaft or punch shaft and place it in between the chain and rear sprocket and turn the wheel to get it tensioned. Torque the rear axle down to 80Nm (59ft-lbs) double check everything and then move on to clean and lube. Use your favorite cleaner, i like kerosene. degrease the chain and then wipe off the excess and let it dry out a bit.

Take this time to pour yourself another glass of Dex6, I mean bourbon. Make sure to also give yourself compliments on the things you are good at, things you have accomplished. it's important to be proud of yourself. For the love of god stop crying.


sad chain

happy chain

Apply lube to chain, wipe off the excess. bolt the hugger piece back on and I think you're done with the chain. Good boy!

Now let's do the brake bleed.



If you have never done this before the most basic setup is some tubing that will fit over the bleed nipple and that leads to a collection jar. Take off the reservoir, apply your 8mm wrench to the bleed nipple the the caliper farthest away from the master cylinder, place the clear line around the nipple leading into a jar. Build pressure by squeezing the brake lever, then open the bleeder nipple till you feel the lever go down and quick shut the valve. repeat this many times until the brake fluid reservoir goes down. Don't let it drain completely, keep adding fluid one it gets to like 1/4 full. If it drains completely you will let air into the system and it will be terrible for everyone involved and you will need to offer a blood sacrifice to the brembo gods. Or you could rebleed again and make sure all the air bubbles are out. Now hopefully you have bled the left side correctly, close the bleeder valve and use a rag while taking off the line so you don't make a mess. Repeat on the right side, top off fluid, and you're almost done. Now there is that top bleeder nipple next to the reservoir, you can take a small section of line and route it to the inside of the reservoir and give it a few pumps till its cycled a few times, close the nipple and remove the line. Put the reservoir cover back on. A little secret you can do to make sure any remaining stow away bubbles exit at the top, get a zip tie and tie the brake lever all the way down and leave it like that overnight. Your brake lever should feel super duper in the morning.


That's gonna be a happy brake lever in the morning!

We are nearly done. To celebrate this near accomplishment, lets pour ourselves two glasses of bourbon. Pour one out for our homies who are no longer with us. Appreciate where you are in the world and the friends and family you have. Remember that your family can be chosen and they may not be related to you. Someone loves you, you should too. Stop crying for the love of god and all that is holy.

Okay time for the coolant! Dry your eyes and get your bike on its side stand. Undo the fill cap.

GET YOUR BIKE ON THE SIDE STAND!The bottom hose connection on the left side of the bike is gonna wanna come off. But it's got one of those annoying hose clamps like how KTM uses. We hate those thing. Get yourself a regular ass hose clamp to make this easier in the future. You can get these buggers off using a smol screwdriver or a pick inserted into it and pried off. Have your catch tray ready cause coolant will dump out of here.



Note that that is not the clamp you wanna take off, I just forgot to take a picture before taking off the one I point to in the previous picture.

there we go. that one.

Once fluid stops spilling out, unlike how fluid wont stop spilling out of your eyes, how are you still crying!? You can put the hose back on and attach with your regular ass hose clamp. Open up the plug on the other side of the radiator and slowly fill till fluid comes out. You can help some of this by burping the bottom hose.



Once the bubbles stop, put that plug back in to the tune of 10nm (~7.5 ft lbs ~88.5 in lbs)

Repeat this on the right hand side of the inverter, you wanna get some plastic and towels to make a channel for any fluid that wants to come out.



Put that bolt back in and torque to 8Nm( ~6ft-lbs ~71in-lbs) Now you wanna run the pump to make sure all those air bubbles are outta there. Hook it up to your 12v power source, maybe an old battery and some alligator clips, maybe a battery charger and a wireing harness and strpped wire. You do you. Just make sure that pump runs and circulates.  Run it for about 5 minutes and any time the coolant level dips, top it off. Put the cap on the reservoir and..You're done? Almost.

Put the body panels back on from bottom to top. Now you're done!



Congratulations! You can pour yourself some bourbon to celebrate! This time with happy tears.



Bonus FYI! Other torque values for front and rear wheel stuff
Front wheel axle bolt: 60Nm
Front calib=per bolts: 40Nm
Front axle pinch bolts: 15Nm

Rear axle: 80Nm
Rear caliper: 30Nm

[Crissa]

Wow, so detailed!

...And a blood sacrifice.  You make lists like my spouse...  She once boot-strapped a PDP-11 which took a little blood onto the wire-wrapped contacts.  Ever since, it's always on her list for anything big.

Nice!

-Crissa

[MVetter]

Dude nice work!

[NEW2elec]

Very nice.  You made the whole thing approachable. 
I've never even seen hose clamps like that. 
How often, or do you, need to have the motor commissioned?

[wavelet]

Thanks for the detailed writeup!

Curious, since I couldn't find the Energica maintenance schedule online:

Is 6K mi. (hopefully that's not 6K km  ) the regular service interval (presumably 6K or a year, whatever comes first)?  That's about the same as many current ICE bikes (most Yamahas & BMWs).  I'm surprised that oil has to be changed this frequently.

Also, everything you listed is considered by Energica mandatory? Coolant & brake fluid flush? That's odd.

On most bikes I recall,  brake fluid is supposed to be replaced every 2 years, and I wouldn't expect that to be different on an EV bike (if anything, brakes are used less given regen). Ditto coolant; on my current Yamaha, it's to be replaced every 3 years.
If that's indeed a yearly maintenance service, it's actually more work that needs to be done than on many ICE bikes.

I wonder if all that isn't really needed, and Energica is being extra-conservative until they have more real-world experience with the bikes.

[BigPoppa]

Yep, as per the owner’s manual all fluids are replaced every 6,000 miles (10,000 kilometers). A number of us have chatted and feel the replacement frequency is probably due to Energica being conservative but nothing official has been stated as to why the short interval between fluid changes.

My local dealer charges around $300 (I have to look at my last 6k service receipt for the exact amount) for the service so I’m letting them do it while the bike is under warranty. Once it’s out of warranty I’ll probably start doing the work myself.

[Richard230]

I just had my BMW R1200RS serviced and was told by the service advisor at the shop that it never needs to be replaced as BMW uses the same coolant as their cars, which is designed to last for the lifetime of the vehicle.  The other day I picked up a bottle of Prestone coolant for my FZ1 at the local auto accessory store and noticed that it is claimed to last for something like 150K miles.  My guess is that picking the right coolant should put an end to periodic replacement.  Also, I thought that automatic transmission oils pretty much last forever too.  The stuff in my car is now 20 years old and the transmission hasn't fallen apart yet.    

The amount of Energica maintenance done does seem a bit excessive to me.   

[DonTom]

Also, I thought that automatic transmission oils pretty much last forever too.  The stuff in my car is now 20 years old and the transmission hasn't fallen apart yet.   

Same here.  Many say it's best to NEVER change ATF in an older tranny. Too often trannly leaks start right after an ATF change.

-Don-   Reno, NV

[2014ZeroSR]

justhumangarbage - Thanks for an excellent write-up.
As it's time for my 6k service, your info will help greatly.

Forks were not discussed - Very curious - Fluid - What weight and amount for each fork?

Preventative maintenance - Lots of personal opinions out there. For myself, Fluids are cheap. Components like engines, transmissions, rack and pinion, master cylinders are expensive that fail because of lack of preventive maintenance. In my 2003, 181k miles, all fluids get changed on a set schedule. I've done it since ownership. My Eva will get the same treatment - all fluids on a set schedule.

[BigPoppa]

I just checked both the owner's manual and workshop manual for my EsseEsse9 and neither one specify fork oil for either the Marzocchi(sp) or Ohlins(sp). My guess is whatever is recommended by the fork manufacturer or whatever the conventional wisdom says to use. Kind of surprised the workshop manual doesn't cover fork maintenance (fork springs, valves, fluid), just fork removal.

My guess is the expectation is you will remove the forks and send them out to a fork shop to re-valve or whatever it needs.

[NoMoreIdeas]

Nice write up!! Cool pictures, its neat to see pics like this up and close. One thing I noticed is that the high-voltage cover on the motor looks 3d printed! Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, just interesting.

[wavelet]

Nice write up!! Cool pictures, its neat to see pics like this up and close. One thing I noticed is that the high-voltage cover on the motor looks 3d printed! Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, just interesting.

Energica's parent company, CRP, is an experienced supplier to various industries of composite 3D printed parts; a significant part of their success in developing the race bikes & later streetbikes is apparently being able to do rapid prototyping this way. IIRC, a significant number of the bikes' parts are 3D-printed -- this may also help them offer multiple models over a small overall unit volume.
Presumably once volumes grow they'll transition to more standard mass-production methods.
https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/energica-establishes-new-department-for-development-of-energica-ego-motorcycle-140265/
https://www.insidecomposites.com/crps-technology-in-first-italian-electric-motorcycle/

[NoMoreIdeas]

Energica's parent company, CRP, is an experienced supplier to various industries of composite 3D printed parts; a significant part of their success in developing the race bikes & later streetbikes is apparently being able to do rapid prototyping this way. IIRC, a significant number of the bikes' parts are 3D-printed -- this may also help them offer multiple models over a small overall unit volume.
Presumably once volumes grow they'll transition to more standard mass-production methods.
https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/energica-establishes-new-department-for-development-of-energica-ego-motorcycle-140265/
https://www.insidecomposites.com/crps-technology-in-first-italian-electric-motorcycle/

Oh thats cool! I've been 3D printing my own designs for a couple of years now and am a huge fan of production 3d printed products, I've even used them on my bikes over the past couple years and they work great. Much faster to fix defects in parts or add improvements and injection molding.

[Richard230]

BMW recommends changing fork oil on their new models at 18K mile intervals.  My bike's ESA suspension uses Sachs components, while the latest 1250 models are said to have switched to Marzcocchi forks. I imagine that the oil change interval would remain the same.

[justhumangarbage]

In response to people saying the maintenance is excessive
 IMO. It is. I did the 6k service to make sure nothing is wrong with the bike and to keep it in warranty. Once it's out of warranty I will mostly be changing chains and brake pads.
My guess for the excessive service intervals is due to a two factor thingamabob.
1. The dealers need a reason to stock the bikes aside from the initial sale. They need their shops busy too, so a bike that doesn't need service isn't an appeal.

2. New company, new bikes. They can't say for sure what problems may arise, so having short intervals allows some data collection. Playing it safe.