Hi, my first post on here so hello ! I pick up my new to me Fireblade later this week, it's a 2011 with 11,000 miles on it. I intend to drain the oil and swap the filter as soon as possible, what else should I be looking at sooner rather than later? I was going to do the oil and filter soon then check the chain and tyre pressures straight away and then a few weeks later swap the air filter. Do valves need looking at often? I suppose I should change the coolant too. Input much appreciated
Welcome. You could check out the date on the tires - that came up recently on here for an older bike the tires were well past their best; depends on the history of the bike you're getting I suppose. You could reset the suspension settings to default - depending on your bulk compared to the previous owner, again dependant on your knowledge of previous owner (and his/her bulk!) Errr....dunno what else
Welcome to the forum... Check service history, kick the tyres and ride home with a massive smile. Enjoy
Hiya sweep, and welcome. Lovely bike the 2011, especially the HRC version!! Without be over-critical, this is something that should, perhaps, have been canvassed at the point of purchase for no one should be buying a bike that has been neglected unless the price reflects that. However, I think most of these bikes have been reasonably well cared for. I think your list of things to do might depend on whether it was purchased privately or from a dealer. Certainly if it was private you should be able to find out when the oil/filters etc were last done. You are right that chain tension and tyre pressures (36F 42R) should be first up. Good point from @hitch about defaulting the suspension, although I would ride it for a couple of days first and see how it feels. Changing it first might possibly undo what might coincidentally be an optimum setting for you! Valves should be fine. Honda's scheduled valve service is at 16,000 miles. Mine were done recently and needed no adjustment. Many other owners report the same that they never needed adjustment. If the bike is being purchased from a dealer, they would generally perform a pre-delivery check, so in that case you should not have to worry about coolant etc. After a couple of weeks, you could think about making look as good as this:
Thanks guys, yes I agree with all. It's got a good service history but you never know do you so I wan't to go through stuff myself, good point on the tyre age. I intend to book myself in to K-tech and get them to set the bike up for me, I have done this before with other bikes and it's well worth it.
welcome mate, sounds like you have most it it covered so i would suggest get out, get some miles on it and enjoy it
Excellent points made by all! I would say go through all of it for your own satisfaction. Best of luck mate, now get cracking with the pictures!
Thank you everyone. Yes I pick it up tomorrow in theory, will change the oil and filter on Sunday and then go through it bit by bit
Welcome to the forum mate........I'm with you on wanting to do oil and coolant etc, even though it may or may not have been done by previous owner or dealer it's definitely worth it for your own peace of mind. Tyre wise I would definitely look into changing these depending on the age and Wear obviously. I recently changed the tyres on my '09 with 6k miles on the clock. While they looked 'OK' to me, my tyre guy said they could possibly have been on it since new! Enjoy the bike!
Yes, oil and filter change, tyres, brake pads and braided hoses they are my first jobs over the next few weeks / months. I'd like to take the fairing off in front of the engine and give it a real good clean as poking around with a torch in there it looks grubby.
Putting aside the difficulty of posting to a guy with the weirdest (please explain?) you can make a big difference to the exhausts by using Harpic Power Plus in the black bottle. Costs only a quid. I spent a couple of hours on my 2011 just after purchasing, looks like this:
Have you checked the bikes service history? If it's had the required servicing intervals, it won't need another oil change until 16k miles. Well this is according to the user manual anyway which suggests servicing every 8k miles.
Hi, yes it's had an oil change according to the book but I'd feel happier just doing it myself anyway. I am doing the oil and filter this week and also next week the brake pads, fluid change and stainless braided hoses. Yes I would like to take the fairing off and give the headers a right good clean, the fairing is a pain to take off isn't it from what I've read?
