OIL – every 8,000 miles or 1 year
(see this page: Oil Change https://rebel500.com/oil-change/)
BRAKE FLUID – every 2 years; DOT4 fluid (see brake fluid notes below)
COOLANT – every 3 years; holds 1.7 quarts (see coolant notes below)
AIR CLEANER – every 12,000 miles (I would recommend every 4,000 miles)
CRANKCASE BREATHER – every 4,000 miles
IDLE – 1,200 RPM (plus or minus 100 RPM)
SPARK PLUGS – every 16,000 miles
VALVES – every 16,000 miles
BRAKE FLUID notes: ABS systems require a specific air-bleeding procedure, so to avoid that, this is the way I do it: Use a syringe to empty brake master cylinder, then re-fill with new brake fluid. Flush the old fluid from the brake line by squeezing the brake lever and opening the bleeder valve at the wheel – do this about 15 times total. (Do about 8 times, refill master cylinder, then do 7 more times.)
Then fill the brake master cylinder again and you are finished. (With this method, no air is introduced into the system, so air-bleeding is not needed.)
COOLANT notes: Remove the radiator cap screw and then the radiator cap.
There are two coolant drain bolts.
One is near the left footpeg. Grind down an allen key and you won’t need to remove the footpeg.
The second coolant drain bolt requires a 10mm socket and is about one inch below the radiator on the right front of the engine behind the right exhaust header pipe.
After draining, re-install and tighten both drain bolts and re-fill the radiator, but do not put the cap back on.
Air-bleeding procedure is done with the cap off. 1) Let engine run 2 to 3 minutes. 2) Snap the throttle 3 or 4 times. 3) Re-fill radiator (level drops about one inch with the air-bleeding procedure). 4) Then re-install the radiator cap and screw.
Then clean and fill the plastic reserve tank.
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