[OnehotZ]

Hey guys, I’m in LA and I recently got my M1, was pretty easy tbh (I had taken a Moto safety course that waives the dmv driving test). I’ve been looking at bikes for a while, test drove a few. The ninja 400 was too under powered for me. Fz-09 was too over powered. I knew I needed something in between.

I fell in love with the z650 riding position and comfort and finally found a 2019 z650 ABS with 10k mi on it, clean title, one owner. It seemed like it had been lightly low sided on the left and just dropped on the right side, minimal damage, the brake lever curled a little and a scratch on the bottom near left foot rest, that’s about it. Picked it up for $4,250. I had to swap the tires as they had never been changed and were pretty much bald, also need to get new brakes all around, oil change, and probably spark plugs, and full fluid flush. I thought I got a good deal but the bill is slowly rising and I didn’t think owning a bike would be this expensive!

Haven’t even started with upgrades yet, I’ve been wanting to put a small windshield to help with wind but also want it to look good and have a sporty look. Also don’t love the way the exhaust sounds honestly but apparently slip ons don’t work with these bikes so guna have to save up for that. And lastly one thing that concerned me was the throttle was super jerky, I know it’s supposed to be torquey a bit but seems impossible to smoothly roll on the throttle, not sure if that’s normal.

But yeah that’s my story, let me know if you have any advice or any recommendations. Thanks!

 

[cryco]

Welcome to the moto world and congrats on your new bike! As a beginner myself I will give you the same advice a wise friend told me to consider for my first bike: Safety and comfort mods only in the first year. Which I followed - heated grips, lowered pegs and taller seat (I'm 6'3").
Hit up youtube for some great vids on doing some things yourself. Brake and coolant flush is pretty simple. Oil change is even easier. I also swapped out the fork oil for some heavier weight oil.
Throttle is jumpy, you get used to it.
And atgatt.

 

[OnehotZ]

Welcome to the moto world and congrats on your new bike! As a beginner myself I will give you the same advice a wise friend told me to consider for my first bike: Safety and comfort mods only in the first year. Which I followed - heated grips, lowered pegs and taller seat (I'm 6'3").
Hit up youtube for some great vids on doing some things yourself. Brake and coolant flush is pretty simple. Oil change is even easier. I also swapped out the fork oil for some heavier weight oil.
Throttle is jumpy, you get used to it.
And atgatt.

Yeah man, I just need to find some reliable frame sliders first and foremost, and I gotta change the oil today and order some brake pads. Any recommendations on brakes?
and yah I won’t ride without my gear for sure, seen too much to know better

 

[cryco]

Frame sliders... I installed some, but I did so with some reservations.
The kit I got had one side (the right side) not resting up against the outer rim of the tube (engine mount area), so if there were to be a solid impact, it could potentially crack the mount. So I didn't use the tube it came with (that would have extended past the bike frame) and used a stack of washers. It's hard to explain, but I modified it to make sure any impact goes to the actual frame, not the engine mount. The circled piece now rests on the green frame. If I had followed instructions, it would stick out more and any impact would probably destroy the engine mount.
My point is be cautious. As for brakes, I havent had to change them yet, I got a 2018 with only 2000 miles on it. I flushed all the liquids but otherwise, the bike is mint.

 

[OnehotZ]

Yeah I see what you mean. This guy seemed like he hadn’t done any service. Original tires were completely bald, probably never changed the brakes as the rear was already touching the rotor. Luckily I think I can get away with just changing the brake pads before it actually damages the rotor and I have to replace that too.

As for frame sliders I was thinking about getting this:
OES Carbon Frame Sliders Swingarm Spools Fork Sliders 2017 2018 2019 2020 Kawasaki Z650 (Green) https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07WC67...t_i_EANMHS6JDNV97QX92S1M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Seems like it’s descent, I’ll see how it goes.