Hey everyone! Name's Ryan, I'm 31, and I just got my first motorcycle. I live in the little town of Port Dover, but I grew up near Hamilton.
I have drove everything from cars, little trucks, big trucks, boats, snowmobiles, quads...3wheelers....and anything else that you can fit a motor in, but I've honestly always been a little intimidated and maybe even scared to ride a motorcycle. It was almost a conquest for me.... I had to face my fears. I searched and searched for the perfect newbie starter bike. I wanted something cheap enough, that if I dropped it, it wasn't going to make me cry. I was originally looking at a 250, but I wasn't sure if I'd outgrow it too soon and just end up selling it. While browsing for bikes... I came across a 500 Ninja that I was so close to buying...but the seller was a flake and never wanted to meet up, I had cash in hand too...so I gave up on him, and continued looking...
I then found a 1986 FZ600....only 25k kms on it. I went and looked at it, everything appeared good, however the battery was completely shot.. I should have just hooked my truck battery up to see if it would at least start but I took a chance and gave the guy $800 on his word that it worked. Maybe a little much....BUT, before you say anything....it all turned out great!
Rolled it into the back of my truck and brought it home....then started tinkering! First things first - new battery, filled it, and charged it up. While I was putting the battery in... I noticed the really shoddy fuse work done by whoever was in there before... blue butt connectors on frayed wires, with glass tube fuses in loose holders... Ahhh! Took those apart, got proper waterproof fuse holders, soldered and shrink tubed everything up.
Now I had to see if the old girl would fire up...checked the oil level first, good, put fresh gas in, and then I put the key in. Turned it on. Woo! Lights turned on...signals all work, horn works! That's a good sign. Now, turn the kill switch to "run" and......hit the starter and she fired right up!!
Woooooo! The idle was wayyy too low, so I used the idle adjustment screw to bring it up so it would stay running. Awesome. Now... to learn how to ride a motorcycle! lol Luckily I live in a new construction survey...and I have an empty block to ride on that my house is on, so I got to it. Put my helmet and gloves on, rolled it down the driveway and started it up. I watched a bunch of youtube videos about how to ride a motorcycle...and well, I guess that was enough. 3wheelers shift the same as a bike...so that made it easier to learn, and the fact I drive a manual car helped as well. I put the clutch in, stuck her in gear, and then slowly let the clutch out until I started moving...then gave it a little gas.....then let the clutch out all the way...and, I was riding a motorcycle for my first time ever!! After booting around the block, and learning how to control the clutch, I felt confident enough to get it on the open road. Got it out there...but it was slooooow. I had no idea how fast it should be but it felt like there was no throttle response..and I had to be above 8000rpm to actually get moving good.
So I got it back in the garage and took the fairings off and started looking around. Everywhere I read and heard said "check the carbs, make sure they're synched...clean them..blah blah".... but I wanted to ride it for at least a couple weeks before winter comes, so I was reluctant to take everything apart already. While I was in there...I noticed the spark plug wires said 2,1,3,4....now, I'm no mechanic...but I think it's supposed to go 1,2,3,4, so I switched them, and while I was doing that, I noticed one boot wasn't even on, and one spark plug was hand tight in the block! Wtf! So fixed all that up...started it up..and HOLY S&@#! I guess it was running on 3cyl, and in the wrong firing order! No wonder it felt slow..... Had to go for a ride....WOW, what a ****ing rush!!! I don't think I've ever smiled that large, or that long....ever. The feeling was almost indescribable but I'm sure you've all felt it the first time you got on the road.
Anyway, I wanted to say hi and there's my long winded introduction...thanks for having me here and maybe I'll see some of you around next Friday (the 13th!) lol
Here are a couple shots of her in all her retro glory! Someone had purple stripes on a black paint job, so I just made her all black for now...
I have drove everything from cars, little trucks, big trucks, boats, snowmobiles, quads...3wheelers....and anything else that you can fit a motor in, but I've honestly always been a little intimidated and maybe even scared to ride a motorcycle. It was almost a conquest for me.... I had to face my fears. I searched and searched for the perfect newbie starter bike. I wanted something cheap enough, that if I dropped it, it wasn't going to make me cry. I was originally looking at a 250, but I wasn't sure if I'd outgrow it too soon and just end up selling it. While browsing for bikes... I came across a 500 Ninja that I was so close to buying...but the seller was a flake and never wanted to meet up, I had cash in hand too...so I gave up on him, and continued looking...
I then found a 1986 FZ600....only 25k kms on it. I went and looked at it, everything appeared good, however the battery was completely shot.. I should have just hooked my truck battery up to see if it would at least start but I took a chance and gave the guy $800 on his word that it worked. Maybe a little much....BUT, before you say anything....it all turned out great!
Rolled it into the back of my truck and brought it home....then started tinkering! First things first - new battery, filled it, and charged it up. While I was putting the battery in... I noticed the really shoddy fuse work done by whoever was in there before... blue butt connectors on frayed wires, with glass tube fuses in loose holders... Ahhh! Took those apart, got proper waterproof fuse holders, soldered and shrink tubed everything up.
Now I had to see if the old girl would fire up...checked the oil level first, good, put fresh gas in, and then I put the key in. Turned it on. Woo! Lights turned on...signals all work, horn works! That's a good sign. Now, turn the kill switch to "run" and......hit the starter and she fired right up!!
Woooooo! The idle was wayyy too low, so I used the idle adjustment screw to bring it up so it would stay running. Awesome. Now... to learn how to ride a motorcycle! lol Luckily I live in a new construction survey...and I have an empty block to ride on that my house is on, so I got to it. Put my helmet and gloves on, rolled it down the driveway and started it up. I watched a bunch of youtube videos about how to ride a motorcycle...and well, I guess that was enough. 3wheelers shift the same as a bike...so that made it easier to learn, and the fact I drive a manual car helped as well. I put the clutch in, stuck her in gear, and then slowly let the clutch out until I started moving...then gave it a little gas.....then let the clutch out all the way...and, I was riding a motorcycle for my first time ever!! After booting around the block, and learning how to control the clutch, I felt confident enough to get it on the open road. Got it out there...but it was slooooow. I had no idea how fast it should be but it felt like there was no throttle response..and I had to be above 8000rpm to actually get moving good.
So I got it back in the garage and took the fairings off and started looking around. Everywhere I read and heard said "check the carbs, make sure they're synched...clean them..blah blah".... but I wanted to ride it for at least a couple weeks before winter comes, so I was reluctant to take everything apart already. While I was in there...I noticed the spark plug wires said 2,1,3,4....now, I'm no mechanic...but I think it's supposed to go 1,2,3,4, so I switched them, and while I was doing that, I noticed one boot wasn't even on, and one spark plug was hand tight in the block! Wtf! So fixed all that up...started it up..and HOLY S&@#! I guess it was running on 3cyl, and in the wrong firing order! No wonder it felt slow..... Had to go for a ride....WOW, what a ****ing rush!!! I don't think I've ever smiled that large, or that long....ever. The feeling was almost indescribable but I'm sure you've all felt it the first time you got on the road.
Anyway, I wanted to say hi and there's my long winded introduction...thanks for having me here and maybe I'll see some of you around next Friday (the 13th!) lol
Here are a couple shots of her in all her retro glory! Someone had purple stripes on a black paint job, so I just made her all black for now...
