tincanman sent me a pm about a post I made on the newbie check-in forum to welcome Jeff23 on Haloween night. It got me thinking about the advice almost all newbies get welcomed with. We already have the "Verses", but that is a lot of reading at the beginning of a new relationship, especially when you would rather be out riding instead of reading or wrenching. So I`m asking "What are the TOP TEN IMPORTANT ITEMS a new owner of a vn750 needs to check or do, to make his scoot as safe and reliable as possible?" I will start my list, but I don`t have ten yet. Will add more as they occur to me. What are YOUR TOP TEN?
MY TOP TEN
1. Get a Kawi or Clymer service and maintenance manual.
2. Read the first three chapters and learn the names for common tools and the parts of your bike, and what they do.
3. As you are reading chapter three (in Clymer anyway), get out your wrenches and check all the fasteners for adequate tightness, fluid levels topped up, and all electrical connections are clean and tight, tires properly inflated, etc., as you cover each section in the chapter.
4. Learn to do a daily pre-ride inspection as outlined in Chapter 3 until it is a habit and automatic each time you approach the bike.
5. Make an attitude adjustment each time you straddle the bike. You are not ten feet tall and bullet proof. If you are stressed or angry or upset, DO NOT move that bike until you are calmed down and can concentrate on riding and getting to your destination safely.
6. Check and lube rear splines on driveshaft and final drive unit.
Edit April 22, 2011. Added Fergy`s new link to spline lube to make it easier to find for those who need it.
It is also a stickey thread now, as well as found in fergys sigline on every post he makes.
http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17274
7. Get a Maintenance Free- Absorbed Glass Mat battery. (AKA MF-AGM battery)
8.Do an electrical charging system test for voltage and amperage.(refers to stator and voltage regulator/rectifier condition).
EDIT: I am adding the next two that theauhawk suggests for me in post #3.
9. Install a voltmeter. Digital readout prefered, water resistant, and shock resistant.
10. Relocate voltage regulator/ rectifier from the oven where it lives,(and dies!), above the belly of the goat, attached to the bottom of the battery box. Ma Kaw calls the goats belly the "pre muffler chamber". It is a crossover chamber to even out exhaust pulses.
OK I know some of those first items are not strictly stuff done to the bike, but it does relate to safety and reliability. Do you agree or disagree? Expand on something I have said or dispute it. Criticize if you must, but lets keep it constructive.:smiley_th
MY TOP TEN
1. Get a Kawi or Clymer service and maintenance manual.
2. Read the first three chapters and learn the names for common tools and the parts of your bike, and what they do.
3. As you are reading chapter three (in Clymer anyway), get out your wrenches and check all the fasteners for adequate tightness, fluid levels topped up, and all electrical connections are clean and tight, tires properly inflated, etc., as you cover each section in the chapter.
4. Learn to do a daily pre-ride inspection as outlined in Chapter 3 until it is a habit and automatic each time you approach the bike.
5. Make an attitude adjustment each time you straddle the bike. You are not ten feet tall and bullet proof. If you are stressed or angry or upset, DO NOT move that bike until you are calmed down and can concentrate on riding and getting to your destination safely.
6. Check and lube rear splines on driveshaft and final drive unit.
Edit April 22, 2011. Added Fergy`s new link to spline lube to make it easier to find for those who need it.
It is also a stickey thread now, as well as found in fergys sigline on every post he makes.
http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17274
7. Get a Maintenance Free- Absorbed Glass Mat battery. (AKA MF-AGM battery)
8.Do an electrical charging system test for voltage and amperage.(refers to stator and voltage regulator/rectifier condition).
EDIT: I am adding the next two that theauhawk suggests for me in post #3.
9. Install a voltmeter. Digital readout prefered, water resistant, and shock resistant.
10. Relocate voltage regulator/ rectifier from the oven where it lives,(and dies!), above the belly of the goat, attached to the bottom of the battery box. Ma Kaw calls the goats belly the "pre muffler chamber". It is a crossover chamber to even out exhaust pulses.
OK I know some of those first items are not strictly stuff done to the bike, but it does relate to safety and reliability. Do you agree or disagree? Expand on something I have said or dispute it. Criticize if you must, but lets keep it constructive.:smiley_th