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What’s The First Things You Do To A New Bike?

matty said:
As soon as i get any bike i buy home, i first empty all the cardboard boxes and plaster tubs out on the floor and try and take a mental note of what exactly is there and is obviously missing, replace any cardboard boxes that colapsed or were damp with new ones or 5 galon oil jugs with the top cut off if i got any laid about.
Next Look at the big bits frame wheels etc and rightly or wrongly i start with the fame tank and any seat or seat changes i might have in mind.
Just sayin .
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I imagine your local bike dealer and parts store are under the same roof

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MVI said:
I imagine your local bike dealer and parts store are under the same roof

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I am a strange man, I gather my spares by standing in a cold ill lit barn with lots of mostly older disheveled near mirror images of myself , stood around varrious piles of parts or cardboard boxes with orange or pink numbers on them, and when the pretty blonde with the the 36C cup breasts stands next to the item i want and the chap on the rostrum shouts out the item number and description i keep lifting my hand until i decide its too expensive or he slams the gravel down to me, or not as the case may be.
Occasionally i look at pictures of parts i need online and bid on them again sometimes they are mine or not , good thing is i am not out the house stood in the cold , and some one pulls in the yard in a van shouts "Armstrong", and gives me a parcel with my parts in it.
In a way i kind of like the cold barn routine best, its sort of earthy old fashioned a bit like the blondes 36cs real and sort or reassuringly natural in this modern often false phony world we live in today. .
 
Danno said:
Corrosion x works nice for electrical connectors. It actually wicks into the wire strands. The next choice for me is the clear purple tint dielectric grease. But corrosion x is way more versatile and convient. Salt equipment got never sieze mixed with grease to extend the life. 2yrs vs 10yrs in the salt with grease added.
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I hadn't heard of Corrosion X before. The wicking sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the heads up on that!
 
In addition to the safety/ergo items mentioned above (levers, tires, etc.), thinking back over the decades, it seems pretty consistent that among the first things I do with a new bike is install mirror extenders, replace the OEM handlebar grips with BMW "sport grips" (wouldn't be necessary if I ever buy a BMW, LOL), add HyperLites or similar, get a bigger/better windscreen, and de-badge everything that isn't clear-coated.
 
Are there really any bikes that come factory with a comfortable seat? don't need the ECU flashed or the carb tinkered with? handguards not made of shit plastic? gearing that doesn't need to be changed? appropriate lighting? seems like almost every bike out there, you join the group and say hey, new guy here. just bought a new [bike]. then get a bunch of feedback of all the stock stuff that needs removed and "better" stuff installed because the factory is garbage.

crazy thing is, my Harley is just about stock. pipes. I have aftermarket pipes. oh, and a RAM mount. that's it. rest of the bike is 100% stock. rides freaking great.
 
woods said:
Are there really any bikes that come factory with a comfortable seat? don't need the ECU flashed or the carb tinkered with? handguards not made of shit plastic? gearing that doesn't need to be changed? appropriate lighting? seems like almost every bike out there, you join the group and say hey, new guy here. just bought a new [bike]. then get a bunch of feedback of all the stock stuff that needs removed and "better" stuff installed because the factory is garbage.

crazy thing is, my Harley is just about stock. pipes. I have aftermarket pipes. oh, and a RAM mount. that's it. rest of the bike is 100% stock. rides freaking great.
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Passed my Bike test 7 days after my 17th birthday and the car test 3 days latter, In all those years i have owned / bought and sold and ridden many bikes some good some not so good, and though may have had comfortable aceptable seats only one motorcycle ever had what i would describe as a perfect and extremely comfortable seat that never got less comfortable in a day with more miles. That Bike Is a 1993 kawasaki EN500A3 i picked up Cheap in summer 2016, the stock seat on that 13000 mile bike is the most comfortable seat i ever encountered on a bike.
The Strange Thing is i butchered that Kawasaki 500 cruiser into a Stripped down bobber. And the seat was sold and a small unpadded single seat replaced it, and yet i kept the super quiet exhaust pipes and i think the seat on my bobber is the most uncomfortable seat i ever encountered .
 
First thing? Start tweaking the angle of the handlebars, then ordering risers.
 
Replace levers and set up for comfortable use. I hate factory levers. Prefer 2-3 finger ones.

Adjust bars. Usually rotation forward and up a little.

New footpegs. Seems factory pegs always suck.

Remove the always awful rear fender thingy.

Adjust all cables. Throttle free play, clutch free play and friction zone.

Bed the brake pads in really well if it’s new.

Adjust gear lever and foot brake pedals to fit my style and boots.

Add a USB accessory socket if there isn’t one already.

Add a mount for my GPS.

Swap any non-led lighting over to led bulbs.

Check all fluids and if it’s a used bike perform a complete service to get all items on a regular schedule.

Not necessarily in that order, but that’s a start.
 
Ha I deburr and radius the stamped edge on the brake pad backing plates at the slide area. And cut cross hatch gas grooves in the friction on the pads. Then surface the rotors....One day I'll mount my phone.
 
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