Top 10 Newbie Mistakes

[Saberith]

Noted, They've had Airline privileges revoke for the foreseeable future.

They have also been sent to the Lazy-boy of shame for now.

Were just out here doing our part for the GS Space program

[Rich82GS750TZ]

I got one to add.
Letting someone clean your carbs using a air line while you work on Electrical and them launching a Jet/Pilot across a unkept garage.
Keep things tidy and a leash on people "helping you"
We found the Jet that wanted to join the Space program, unharmed thankfully.

Whatever you do, do NOT let your “helper” take apart the left nor the right-hand switches. There’s a spring and a BB from my kill switch in low earth orbit since 2018.

[Saberith]

I got one to add.

Letting someone clean your carbs using a air line while you work on Electrical and them launching a Jet/Pilot across a unkept garage.

Keep things tidy and a leash on people "helping you"


We found the Jet that wanted to join the Space program, unharmed thankfully.

[bwringer]

How about:
Don't ride your GS over rocks with a height in excess of the dimension from the ground to your exhaust collector.

Well, that's just good advice in general when doing inappropriate things with a motorcycle.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

How about:
Don't ride your GS over rocks with a height in excess of the dimension from the ground to your exhaust collector.

[bwringer]

Does this need a Spring 2024 bump?

Surely someone out there has invented a whole new Newbie Mistake...


One thing I'm going to mention for our influx of spring newbies is to PAY ATTENTION to where you are posting in the forum. Don't just click the first subforum you see and start blathering; scroll down, look for a technical subforum that seems about right, and post there. This will ensure the maximum visibility and the most expert eyes on your post.

This categorization also greatly helps in preserving knowledge for the future, which is the main point.

The ONLY topics that belong in the first subforum, "Forum Q&A" are, oddly enough, questions about the forum itself. Do NOT put motorcycle questions here.


If you're wondering why no one is responding to your technical question, this is probably why.

On a similar note, do NOT post the same question in multiple sub forums. This will also get you ignored.


Just make an effort; for example, if you're not sure whether something belongs in carb questions or electrical, that's fine. Just pick one and it'll be OK.

[Nessism]

Nessism; maybe we should amend point 1b) to account for ultrasonic cleaners? Never dipped my carbs, but it's also possible that mine were never as bad as others.
Also we could adjust 1c) to mention cmsnl.com for the european audience. EDIT: woops already mentioned this two years back, sorry for the repetiion

Done.

Not all ultrasonic cleaners are created equal, though. I've got a crappy one that I don't trust to clean internal passages. I still think carb dip is better.

[roeme]

Nessism; maybe we should amend point 1b) to account for ultrasonic cleaners? Never dipped my carbs, but it's also possible that mine were never as bad as others.
Also we could adjust 1c) to mention cmsnl.com for the european audience. EDIT: woops already mentioned this two years back, sorry for the repetiion

[Rich82GS750TZ]

So, you know that little white disc under the cap on fuel additive bottles? It happens to be just a smidge smaller in diameter than the filler hole in the bike's tank.

Been fishing for an hour now...



Oh, this was on my FJR not the GS fwiw.

sounds like a great subject for pic of the week photo

[Burque73]

So, you know that little white disc under the cap on fuel additive bottles? It happens to be just a smidge smaller in diameter than the filler hole in the bike's tank.

Been fishing for an hour now...



Oh, this was on my FJR not the GS fwiw.

[Darrin G]

Thanks for this thread. Have pretty much made all these mistakes already on my rebuild. You guys think parts are.expensive in the States. Try converting those prices to South African Rands!!
Thanks again and hopefully I wont have too many stupid questions after reading this

[Nessism]

Most OEM's have more than one parts warehouse around the country and they try to serve the various dealerships from the warehouse closest to them. When a part is scarce, which is often the case with older parts, it's necessary to cross ship the parts from whatever warehouse has stock, and that obviously can cause delays.

I've bought a lot of parts from Bike Bandit over the years in part because they are (at least used to be) super fast. The left coast warehouses carry lots of Japanese parts and I would often receive the parts in the same week as ordered. I've also used Partzilla a lot but since they are a long way from me the delivery is expectedly slower. When I get into a project I like to keep the momentum going and if that means paying a little more to get the parts fast, I'll often do it. No scalping though, that gets a hard pass.

[Rob S.]

...shipping is somehow connected to the toilet paper shortage...

And no canned spinach! Coincidence? I think not. It's all a vast conspiracy...

[slayer61]

I have been waiting for 2 weeks for parts from Partzilla also. I guess I need to understand that shipping is somehow connected to the toilet paper shortage... is it over yet?

[Steve]

FWIW, most of us are not fans of BikeBandit; their pricing is high, and they obfuscate OEM part numbers with their own doofy system to discourage comparison shopping.

Hey, Brian. There is a mere glimmer of candlelight on the horizon.

They now use OEM part numbers.

Still prohibitively expensive and no customer service, but it's a start.

.