Scary find today

[loxsmith]

I bought a 2008 Z model with about 11000km on it about a month ago, not sure what the previous owners mechanical qualifications are but this might give you some basic insight

On the ride home from picking the bike up the tail tidy bolts fell out and the entire unit wedged between the rear wheel and inner guard
I managed to pull the bike up in one piece, did a temp repair to get me home then replaced the entire inner guard and indicators back to OEM. The number plate was also trashed

Went a 400km ride the other day and noticed the snatchy gear changes, suspected a loose chain. Looked at it closer today and went to tension the chain.... phaaaark, the axle nut was finger tight and near the end of the axle thread
Checked the rear caliper and one of the mounting bolts was totally missing. Now that would have been fun if the caliper let loose and locked up the rear wheel at 100kph

I think I need to spend a day and go over everything likely to have been touched in it's short life

[loxsmith]

Maybe i should have put this in the 'What did you do to your bike today' thread. Pls move it if you so desire Mods


hehe no need to move it. - landyvlad

[mlivkovich]

Maybe i should have put this in the 'What did you do to your bike today' thread. Pls move it if you so desire Mods

And maybe you should start new thread named "What my bike did to me today". Scary find! 

[KiwiCol]

Geez!  That's staggering to think someone would sell a bike in that sort of condition.  Pleased no harm was done to you & only minor to the bike.  Very good idea to go over everything.  You'll be riding home 1 night & the bloody light could fall off, best ya check everything - then you can have confidence in it again.

[Del]

offt not good fella - I never trust a bike I buy and generally go over everything once I have it home - think this is another reasons all my intended winter hack turn into full rebuilds

[Blubber]

Scary indeed.

I too do a full check up on the bolts and a full service just for ease of mind.

Never found anything like yours btw.

[Mick_J]

You're a lucky man, could have been very bad for your health, glad you found it in time, some people 

[grog]

mate, youre very lucky to be posting. spend a whole day, just go over every bolt/ nut you find. then go to our check list for new owners, check and adjust all settings. when i first got mine, all services done and ticked in book by suzuki dealer. bolts in front calipers werent done up, one actually fell out. all the settings were way out. even fr. and rear suspension wasnt same from side to side. chain was way loose. throttle cables also. headlight was aimed at ground 2 foot in front. so much for dealer service. my bike was like new otherwise, so setting/checking made it perfect plus peace of mind. spend the time mate, youll have a much better ride.

[Sweaty]

What a tosser, to sell a near new bike in that condition. Glad you found out before some major damage to you & the bike.

[BbigMmac]

Lucky man, worse things could have happend indeed. Hope you don`t find to much problems with the rest of the bike.

[barbz]

Good find with the caliper bolts. Ive had them both go missing on a ride (first ride after picking it up), luckily the trailing arm kept it from doing any damage other than some scratches to the rim.

Have since run over the bike with a torque wrench to prevent further catastrophe.

[Kiwifruit]

Its going to be a whole lot nicer when you have given it the once over. You will have confidence in the bike knowing its all tight and not going to spring any nasty surprises on you. Should ride like a new one at those k's.
If its still got the original tyres on they are now ten years old. Treat yourself you won't regret it.
Ride safe and enjoy 

[gsxbarmy]

Think you might need this to save a lot of time looks up torque's....

http://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?topic=194.0

[loxsmith]

It's kinda funny you mentioned the headlight, you actually hit the nail right on the head

This afternoon I removed the headlight lens (seems to be a little distorted even though the bulb is 60/55w???) and you wouldn't believe it, the case mounting bolts were finger tight
All I wanted to do was wire in a handlebar mounted USB outlet .....

I need to sort all this out before the run down to Wauchope NSW

Geez!  That's staggering to think someone would sell a bike in that sort of condition.  Pleased no harm was done to you & only minor to the bike.  Very good idea to go over everything.  You'll be riding home 1 night & the bloody light could fall off, best ya check everything - then you can have confidence in it again.

[froudy]

After reading the above posts, I think you need to go through the whole bike and check every single part of it before you even think about swinging your leg over the seat again..

It sounds like a death trap to me

Oh and then go and assassinate the previous owner