Maintenance - tires and oil change

I did a bit of maintenance on the GS500F today. Motorcycles take a bit more maintenance than cars. They've got oil changes like cars, but chain driven bikes like mine also need the chain lubricated every 600 miles (which isn't a huge deal but it is messy), and they go through tires very often. It's rare for sportbike tires to last 10,000 miles, at least not on the back - front tires wear a bit slower. The reason is that motorcycle tires are sticky like R-compound DOT race tires, and trade lifetime for grip. Losing traction on a bike is a lot worse than in a car.

One tip I've often heard and got to experience for the first time today is that a bike will behave differently with new tires on it. My tire was pretty squared off as I don't have enough curves in my commute. The new tire makes the bike want to turn more - that's the best way I have to describe it. It also takes a while for the mold release compound and other stuff to rub off the tire.

One other thing - it seems that a lot of parts stores don't know what oil filter to sell you for a Suzuki GS500F. Mountain Adventures sold me a spin-on filter, and they're a Suzuki dealer. I had only changed the oil in it once before, and forgot that it takes catridge type filters. So when I went to ValueCycle to have the new rear tire put on, I bought a filter from them. They first grabbed a spin-on filter too. I explained this was the wrong filter and another worker there found the correct one.

Still, these two did somewhat better than Cycle Gear. I once tried to buy an oil filter from them, and they asked if I had the chain driven or shaft driven version of the GS500F. I wonder what would have happened if I'd tried to order a replacement drive shaft for the bike from them.