So, i recently bought my first bike (6 months ago). I did a lot of research which of course made me lean towards buying my beautiful 97 f3. The last owner didnt have that much bike knowledge from what i gathered, so the last couple of weeks ive been doing the routine things that may have or have not needed to be done.

im not very mechanically inclined yet, but i am trying my best intake as much information as possible.


ive changed the oil (of course) and installed a new exhaust thus far by myself.
today i took my bike to a local bike shop to have a k&n and jet kit installed, carbs cleaned, and f&r rear tires changed... within looking at the bike for 30 seconds he also encouraged me to change the sprockets because the teeth were pointy as could be, which led to changing the chain out as well, and putting new brakes on it... might have been just to get my bill into the $1500 dollar range (which im dreading to pay)

since most of you are leaps and bounds ahead of me in the cycle mechanics category is there anything else i should look into doing to give my new bike the tlc it deserves? and also comment on wether or not i should try to do it myself. im pretty good at following walk throughs and such, but nervous about parts falling off my bike at 50mph

Thanks a ton!

 

I think it's good that you're concerned about the maintenance of your bike, but yeah..... not doing it yourself is gonna cost a lot. (even doing it yourself isn't cheap)
If you're meticulous about how you do maintenance, I don't think there's any reason why you can't do it yourself.
The very first thing I would do is download and look through the service manual. (if you haven't already)
It contains valuable info that will get you more familiar with your bike and bikes in general.

If a shop already changed sprockets, chain, tires, brakes, etc. then I would say you're well on your way, and I would HOPE that they safety checked everything pretty well. BUT, I would double check that everything is tightened down and in working order. ie: axles, pinchbolts, caliper pins/bolts, stem, etc. etc. and make sure all controls work smoothly.

Here's something to kinda guide you, too......

Pre-Ride Checklist

 

^^^^

Yeah I agree, but now your well on you're way, & in my opinion, it's probably money well spent. A sign my Dentist has put up in his surgery reads "Dentistry is not expensive, Neglect is" (Yeah BS I know, putting the blame back on you for overcharging) But the principle is same for keeping you're bike within scheduled maintenance (& a lot of people on here halve those). There are a few things that happen with the F3 , that regardless of maintenance & care, may occur (Reg/CCT & Fuel pump) all fixable, lots of info in the F3 section. Now get out there & enjoy the F3.

 

check the plugs and change the brake fluid if needed.


Moses