I'm soliciting hints/tips on what it's important to check-out after purchasing a used bike.
The areas that you feel are "must do" to assure that the bike is in 100%
mechanical/operating condition. Not cosmetically, mechanically.

No need to repeat/reinforce anything that any posters above you have mentioned.

What I have in mind, take my own notes, all of the hip things ya'll come up with and
create/compile a reference for all of the new owners and bored, but interested current
owners, that wander into our neck of the woods.

I enjoy sharing my own advice/experience with the newbie's who are looking for guidance.
However, it gets old answering some of the questions, that require a detailed answer,
AND, are posed over and over. I think it would be hip to have a fairly comprehensive
"newbie mechanical guide", and I don't have a big enough ego to think, there are ideas
for it, I wouldn't think of.

Thanks, in advance, Ern

 

Moved to General Tech since the How To section is for completed How To's.

 

Here's an example of some of my thought's, I left on a different post....

First thing get a stand for the rear, doesn't need to be a super-uber, even the cheap
ones will do the job. But get something, trust me on this. ;-)

Check the fork seals, look for signs of 'weep' around the seals. Pop the caps and
change the fork fluid. Don't need to spend a lot of time here, if there are no obvious
issues.

Do a medium, over-haul on the brakes, i.e. if the seals/pads are all fine, ignore
them. However, definetly swap the fluid, and re-pack the hanger pins. Give the lines
a once-over for cracks/brittle (consider the SS upgade, at some point, great bang for
buck, there).

Moving on, check the steering-head bearings for any free-play, another cheap
upgrade...go to rollers for the stem bearings.

Inspect the entire wiring harness. Look for frayed/worn/rubs etc. Grab a can of
contact-cleaner and di-electric grease. Pull each connector, in turn and clean/pack
them after an inspection looking for frays/burnt-pins/melted-warped plastic. If you
find any bad/marginal connectors, check what-ever they connected to, for any possible
issues. Double eyeballs on the r/r, these are a known issue. Don't neglect inspecting
the switches, either. Fix/re-run any botched previous modifications to the harness.
The harness is a crucial, oft-neglected system and cheap on the pocket-book, if you
do this one. Throw a couple of extra fuses under the seat, while you're there.

Scope out all of the vacume lines and various hoses, looking for the usual suspects.

Probably need a new fuel filter, just for the piece of mind. You might drain the tank,
pull the petcock and clean the screens on it. Pour about a quart of kerosene in the
tank, swish and drain to get rid of any accumulated sediment.

If the bike is running decent leave the bottom-end alone. So you should be fine there.

The cct should be monitored, there is a chance it's not doing it's job. A little rattle
at lower rpm's is ok, but it should be more 'whirr' than bb rattle. If it gets any louder,
that'll be a sign.

Even if it's running pretty smoothly, you might consider running some Seafoam through
the system. Eliminating any varnish in the carbs, is never a bad thing. If you're getting
any stumbles/hesitation, idling or pulling, you might go ahead and do a good cleaning
on the carbs.

 

Awesome suggestion. I know I'll be coming back to this time and time again.