When custom parts are available, you can’t help but want to choose them… that’s a hobby thing, right?
Even though there’s nothing wrong with it, I want to change it.
Maybe humans just want to be worrying about something all the time…
When I buy a used bike, what should I do first…
First, I clean it up (though I don’t wash it), look it over, and if there are any junk parts attached, I remove them.
I hate to call them junk parts, but…
typical examples are…
• Earthing
• USB ports
• All battery mounting hardware
• Aftermarket electrical components
They’re almost never actually useful, and the installation is nothing but a source of concern.
Rather than thinking “well, it works,” it’s better to just take them off.
Rather than swapping parts, I want basic maintenance to make the handling light and the engine wake up well.
• Caliper cleaning or OH
• Drive chain
• Brake discs and pads
• Wheel bearings
• Carburetor OH &Intake manifold replacement & air filter replacement
• Spark plug replacement
Do all that and the bike really comes back to life.
The lightness of handling that doesn’t make you feel the bike’s original weight is amazing.
No matter how lightweight a bike is, if the brakes are dragging, it’ll feel like 250 kilos to you.
On the flip side, swapping to aftermarket parts without doing OH or maintenance is fine too.
Skip caliper and master OH, skip wheel bearing replacement, skip carburetor OH
and just swap everything to aftermarket.
In a way, that might be good value for money.
But you end up not knowing the original stock character…
and realize you didn’t need all that.
Then you get surprised by aftermarket service lead times and prices… and all sorts of other things happen.
This is different for everyone and case-by-case; you won’t know unless you actually experience it.
You can experience a troubled bike getting better, so in a way, I think it’s a bargain… though most people probably wouldn’t like that. What do you think?
