Used bikes and other powersports equipment can be awesome, but you need to take a few minutes and check things over before you trust your life to your new ride.
You can’t even trust dealer maintenance shops. I was getting prepared for a long road trip last year and decided to get down low and inspect my rear brake pads and tire pressure. A fucking bolt on my rear hub fell out. I had just taken my bike to a Honda dealer for new tires the day before. I’m never going back there and if I take my bike to some shop for service I can’t do myself, I’m gonna damn sure double check the work.
Addendum: this was a two visit ordeal. First visit was for tires. They broke the tpms senor on the rear tire. Second visit was to get it replaced. I guess I should have taken that as an omen. Next time I’m going to bite the bullet and try to replace my own tires with spoons and a torque wrench.
I did some tire maintenance about six months ago. Generally not bad, but if you don’t have a tank air compressor you’re going to have a hard time seating the thing
This applies to all rides of all ages, not just used motorcycles.
Regular inspections go a long way and didn’t take long at all! Make a checklist and take time to go over it!
