Stupid things previous owners do

[MrAtom]

I spent the last few days giving my bike some much needed love with a wrench. And, the previous owner seemed like a reasonably intelligent person. But, after wrenching on the bike a little more, I don't think he was such a smart guy. Things he's done to abuse the bike include:

-never once servicing the rear suspension linkage
-screwing the BRASS bolts onto the ALUMINUM body of the carburetor like he was Lou Ferrigno
-Using yellow loctite on some parts of the carburetor
-USING SUPERGLUE AS THREADLOCKER (Almost snapped my allen wrench trying to get that one off!)
-never cleaning the metal screen while changing the oil
-never changing the air filter
-never cleaning the chain
-Never lubricating the cables

And much more I'm sure I forgot about. Previous owner, if I see you again, you're a dead man. But I wanna know, what are some horrible things that the previous owner did to abuse your bike?

[nickjpass]

at least he tried


as long as he didn't stretch it

[MrAtom]

What i don't get is that when I went to lube up the swingarm, it looked nice and clean with plenty of grease on it. Why would you not do the suspension linkage if you're going to do the swingarm?

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by MrAtom

What i don't get is that when I went to lube up the swingarm, it looked nice and clean with plenty of grease on it. Why would you not do the suspension linkage if you're going to do the swingarm?

the swingarm pivot hardly ever gets dirty.

the linkage is down much lower and gets roadgrime.

[choneofakind]

Lol, don't be so hard about the screws in the carbs, those get tighter over time. Mine came out MUCH harder than I put them in. Just saying. The thread locker problems though. sheesh.


Also, it's possible he DID both the swingarm and the linkage pivots but the linkage is just that dirty. I think that's what alex is trying to say.

[N-m]

Rides 45 minutes to meet me with zero air pressure in either tire.

[Hero Danny]

You know, there's a saying about buying used motorcycles.... something along the lines of "check the chain, you can tell a lot about how a person maintains their bike by how their chain looks..."

If he never cleaned it... then that should have given you a big indication on how it was treated.

[MrAtom]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Lol, don't be so hard about the screws in the carbs, those get tighter over time. Mine came out MUCH harder than I put them in. Just saying. The thread locker problems though. sheesh.


Also, it's possible he DID both the swingarm and the linkage pivots but the linkage is just that dirty. I think that's what alex is trying to say.

No, he didn't clean it. I promise you.



and @Hero Danny, I'm aware it's a piece of ****. But hey, it's a great reason to ride it really really hard

[choneofakind]

Ohhhhh! rust! pretty!

[xorbe]

I guess I need to read up on cable and rear linkage maintenance.

[MrAtom]

Originally Posted by xorbe

I guess I need to read up on cable and rear linkage maintenance.

It's not difficult. For the cables, you can buy a special little tool for it, but I didn't wanna spend $7 on it. For the clutch cable, I just got a bendy straw that fit snug over the cable-tube thing, I filled the straw up with a a little silicone lubricant, and blew it in the cable with my mouth. I'm not sure if silicone lubricant has any bad effects when swallowed or anything like that, so I wouldn't recommend this.

I did this on the throttle cable. Oh, and lube it from the carburetor side, not the clutch side:

Link to original page on YouTube.

If there's anything important I missed, it'll be here:

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Lubing_the_cables

Oh, and the linkage is easy too. No reason to not do it (assuming your bike's linkage is anything like a pregen. It might be harder on other bikes, im not sure.):

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Uni_Tra...ge_Lubrication

[fishdip]

Dose it really matter if he ever did that stuff? Most ppl treat a bike like they would a car.

[MrAtom]

Originally Posted by fishdip

Dose it really matter if he ever did that stuff? Most ppl treat a bike like they would a car.

When you're straddling yourself to an engine on wheels with no seatbelt, no crumple zones and minimal safety, you need to learn to respect the machine you're on. On both my end and his, yes. It matters.

[fishdip]

Originally Posted by MrAtom

you need to learn to respect the machine you're on.

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by MrAtom

you need to learn to respect the machine you're on.

If I had a nickel for every time I've said that to my wife.....

[250rr]

Originally Posted by MrAtom

When you're straddling yourself to an engine on wheels with no seatbelt, no crumple zones and minimal safety, you need to learn to respect the machine you're on. On both my end and his, yes. It matters.

Agreed.

[sh123469]

My PO was a kid about 18 or 19. He owned the bike for 6 months, put 600 miles on it, high sided it left a huge dent in the tank, cracked / rashed fairings, rashed front brake reservoir, didn't use the right bolts on reassembly. I've been slowly going through it. Plastics are no big deal, they wait. I checked all bolts and fasteners to make sure they were right and that they were tight. Found a motor mount with over 1/4" free play. Brakes are good and work good. Frame is straight. Engine runs great. New Michelin tires and new battery. I bought it for about half what they go for around here because of the damage.

When I bought it, he said something along the lines of great now I can get the rest of my money for the down-payment on the 600. He told me he learned all he could from the little 250. Given what I saw about his riding skills and wrenching skills...he needed lots more learning. Hope he survives the 600.

I've been riding for 40 years and have never found a bike you couldn't learn something from.

[Rifleman]

there are old bikes, and there are unmaintained...

but there are no old unmaintained bikes.

If you want to put 20,ooo miles on a bike... you need to do a little maint yourself... I've had several people who want me to take care of their bikes, willing to pay... I've got my hands full keeping my machines (and not my kids machines) road worthy.

yeah, the chain is always a good place to look, if it's black, if the grease is wet, and if it is at the proper tension... you have a pretty good chance that the rest of the bike is in order...

[crazymadbastard]

Originally Posted by fishdip

Dose it really matter if he ever did that stuff? Most ppl treat a bike like they would a car.

I read that to mean is once you get a new bike to you, go through it and assume the P/O was a POS and did nothing. If I am riding it, I am going to
go through it all as if my life depends on it.
(it does)

[nickjpass]

Hey at least you're not buying a used car....that is so much more annyoing (imo).

[MrAtom]

I own a car I paid $200 for. Believe me, there was lots to be annoyed about

[brainiac27]

Just got my '03 ninjette a few months ago. Since wrenching on it during the winter a few things have come up:

The Bad
-Missing a handlebar riser bolt
-Somehow cracked just about every fairing
-Dented Tank
-Stripped the chain adjustment bolts
-Never cleaned the fork tubes
-Lost the air filter
-Lost the battery retaining band
-Lost the tool kit
-Lost half the fairing hardware

The Good
-Pirelli MT75 F/R
-Allen heads on float bowl drains and gas tank fairing bolts.
-Rear brake lights addition

The kid meant well but it's definitely a lesson in what to look for.

[MrAtom]

My battery retention band was there, but it was torn so I took it off. I really should replace it. I don't want battery acid eating away at my flesh when I crash.

[jkv45]

I bought this non-running project 2000 SV650n over the summer -



My 17 y/o son got it running pretty well in about an hour after some fresh gas and a new starter relay.



That was the easy part.

The PO took it all apart and lost some parts and fasteners. The biggest PITA was that he paid some rookie to prime the damaged bodywork who didn't know squat. They sanded the original finish completely off of everything with a DA air sander and squared-off all of the bodylines. On the tank they filled a good-sized dent on the side without attempting to rough it out at all. They they primed it all to cover their tracks.

After carefully sanding the plastic to reshape it, and remove their primer, I started sanding on the tank and found the filler...!#$%^...more work...