man what an interesting 1st ride

[strongarm1]

Hi all, just like to thank everyone for the info Ive picked up in this site over the last 3 weeks- priceless.
This morning (Sunday) I did my B.H.S cert with Doug Swanson on the North Shore ( what a nice guy - real patient), then off to the AA in Quay St to do the theory - (100% pass by the way ).
From there it was back to Birkenhead to pick up the 99 FXR150 that I looked at yesterday and got one of the mechanics at Holeshot to have a look at for me.
Then the real fun began as it started pissing and I had my 1st real road trip over the harbour bridge and down the motorway home to Pukekohe in the frikken rain/wind.
Still, I had all the gears on - new helmet jacket etc so stayed dry, what fun.I even got a few waves from other riders so that was encouraging.
All I need to do now is change the oil/filter (what oil should I use) and a fork seal and Im away laughing - cant wait for a nice day though.

[Karma]

Welcome,

I found my first ride to be great, then it keeps getting better from there the more confidence you get.

[SPman]

And why do you have to change a fork seal - did they sell you a bike with no warrant?
Fucked fork seal = no warrant normally!

[boomer]

Happy Riding mate;

'tis good fun rain or shine

[strongarm1]

I bought the bike privately and just got it looked over by Holeshot - apparently its not a huge expense so I negotiated it into the purchase price.
Is this something I can do myself (with kiwi biker guidance) being a fitter by trade or something best left to the experts?
It does have a new wof though. Also had a dodgy front brake switch but Ive already had that apart, cleaned the corroded contacts and walaaa, it works sweet. I see the oil specifed is a SAE 10W40 - can I assume then that i can use the same oil as I use in my Sooby wagon. Valvoline VR1 SAE10W40 Semi Synthetic?? http://www.vr1oil.com.au/

[Avignon]

Mate, welcome to the wounderful world on motorcycling. I have owned fiften or more bikes over the past twenty years and whenever I pick one up, almost without fail it rains. I might hire myself out as drought breaker, the price, a brand new bike of my choice . . . hmm now theres an occupation.

Seriously though, all the best, take care and look out for idiots, in case your wondering, the idiots are everyone else on the road. Better safe than sorry. There is a saying is aviation which transulates well to bikes, "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but not many old bold pilots!" :spudwave:

[riffer]

Is this something I can do myself (with kiwi biker guidance) being a fitter by trade or something best left to the experts?
It does have a new wof though. Also had a dodgy front brake switch but Ive already had that apart, cleaned the corroded contacts and walaaa, it works sweet. I see the oil specifed is a SAE 10W40 - can I assume then that i can use the same oil as I use in my Sooby wagon. Valvoline VR1 SAE10W40 Semi Synthetic?? http://www.vr1oil.com.au/

Fork Seals are pretty easy if you take your time and do it properly. If you get someone who's done it before to help you, anyone with basic mechanical knowledge and your average tools can do it.

As for the oil, check it doesn't have friction modifiers in it. These tend to give you a bit of grief if you have a wet clutch, as they make it slip. I tend to stay away from synthetics with mine but others swear by them.

Good luck with learning about your bike. There's some regular spanner evenings held up in Auckland. Try and attend one - you'll learn heaps.

[metric]

yep... had the exact same experience today (think I've said this elsewhere)... but my first time riding, in rush hour, it's bucketing down, on brand new tyres... managed to stall it with a bus full of people behind me too... damn I felt like THE MAN

got over it by riding for 3+ hours tonight - haha... damn the infernal 10pm curfew!!! would still be out now doing the km's if it wasn't for that!

[strongarm1]

yeah and now a week of torrential wind and rain - roll on summer!!!!!!

[Leong]

Congrats on the new bikes guys, and on your difficult first rides.
Chickenshit me got mine delivered!!

I've done about 600km and trying to get more miles in before the CBTA course/test this weekend, but the weather's not helping. I found my riding gear is showerproof, not waterproof....so yeah roll on SUMMER!!

[Black]

I'm with Leong on this, ... big balls going over the bridge for your first ride.
My fellas srivel to raisins at the thought. I also got my bike delivered.

[strongarm1]

Yeah well I was tossing up whether to shoot home and grab the trailer to get the bike home but damn, the bike was right there and the trailer mission would have been 150km round trip, screw that. In hindsight, just getting home in one piece did wonders for my confidence (or lack of it)

[Bonez]

Hi all, just like to thank everyone for the info Ive picked up in this site over the last 3 weeks- priceless.
This morning (Sunday) I did my B.H.S cert with Doug Swanson on the North Shore ( what a nice guy - real patient), then off to the AA in Quay St to do the theory - (100% pass by the way ).
From there it was back to Birkenhead to pick up the 99 FXR150 that I looked at yesterday and got one of the mechanics at Holeshot to have a look at for me.
Then the real fun began as it started pissing and I had my 1st real road trip over the harbour bridge and down the motorway home to Pukekohe in the frikken rain/wind.
Still, I had all the gears on - new helmet jacket etc so stayed dry, what fun.I even got a few waves from other riders so that was encouraging.
All I need to do now is change the oil/filter (what oil should I use) and a fork seal and Im away laughing - cant wait for a nice day though.

Good on ya. My first real ride was from Woodbourne to Hobsonville on a CJ250 during winter a few years back Welcome to the wonderfull world of motocycling.