How to Get Started on a Project Bike

we're buying a motorcycle today why well because a motorcycle might just be the perfect vehicle for you if you want to learn how to wrench on cars but can't afford a car in today's insane market so today we're going to find out how to get the perfect motorcycle without getting ripped off and then we're gonna go out and buy one for ourselves i've been trying to make this video for three years a motorcycle's just half a car guys welcome to donut thanks to insta360 for sponsoring today's video today is the official launch day for insta 360's all-new x3 camera the next gen of the world's best-selling 360 action camera with 360 degrees of capture action-ready hardware and ai-powered software we're excited to be one of the first to ever touch it oh yeah but you don't get the full insta360 experience until you put it into action the new x3 has 360 active hdr which keeps your video stabilized during the action while keeping details in the highlights and shadows for more vibrant footage and with special recording modes like loop recording you can even turn the x3 into a dash cam no drone no problem with the x3 and it's 360 reframing that enables you to shoot first point later in the ai powered insta360 app or studio desktop software and look the selfie stick becomes invisible in the edit but this x3 camera isn't just an action camera it's also a smart camera with ai technologies like this awesome sky swap feature so unlock a world of creative possibilities today and get your own x3 camera by clicking the special donut link below plus if you go there right now you'll also get a free selfie stick with purchase just click the link below go get one of these this is sick look how small it is first things first i've been riding motorcycles since i was five and because i'm only 21 that's 16 years of riding two-wheeled hogs i absolutely love them and i think you might love them too so let's talk about why they make sense first thing is they're really cheap and in terms of operating costs i'm talking about insurance and registration fees they're much cheaper when compared to cars now on top of that some motorcycles can get 60 70 miles per gallon so just having a motorcycle on the road you're potentially saving thousands of dollars in cost per year to operate it now another thing about motorcycles is they're tiny i have nine motorcycles in my one and a half car garage do i have a problem i don't know maybe you have a problem so another benefit of them being small is they're easy to work on and that's actually one of the reasons i got into motorcycles i wanted to learn how to work on engines and mechanical things and a car was just too big of an entry point for me to do that so when i started working on my first project car it was much easier for me to do it because i already had experience working on motorcycles a perfect example of that see this 350z behind me it took nolan days to pull that engine out i have a yz250f right there it took me 30 minutes to get that engine out by myself and i didn't curse once pretty cool now another great reason to have a motorcycle is they're very practical machines say you're commuting to your job you can usually get there quicker because you can weave in and out of traffic you can use the carpool lane in some states you can even split lanes and some really congested cities like la where parking is tough you can actually share a parking spot with a car and in some states you get to park them on sidewalks and special designated areas which usually in my experience are always free i park in free motorcycle parking at the airport that's sick otherwise it would have cost me 30 bucks a day 130 a day no i want to spend 30 bucks on margaritas because i'm at a buffett concert and that's why i'm gone which brings me to my final point and potentially while you're watching this video motorcycles they're just cool as hell motorcycles are sick they're fast they're fun they're practical you can take them to the canyons you can take them to the grocery store you take them to the track and take them to the dirt there's so many ways that you can get involved with two wheels no matter what type of motorcycle you want to get into there will be some sort of community to help you figure out which motorcycle to pick as your first bike so just like it is with cars there are various types of motorcycles that you can get that will match your personality and with every type of motorcycle there are going to be some tried and true examples of the best beginner bikes of that type so do you want a harley well you might want to start off with something like a sports store or a street 500 well what if you're more of an italian stalin a ducati monster might be your pick or what if you want to get all cafe racer style and hip like nolan honda cb that's another really good platform these are all great beginner bikes for those types of riders and they have huge communities behind them to help you along the way now there are a lot of positives when it comes to owning a motorcycle but i got to be honest there's some negatives as well for example say you're out riding and then a rainstorm comes down well you're going to get wet that sucks that's no fun so you got to tote a bunch of stuff around with you well you don't have as much cargo space as you would a truck or car or suv they're inherently more dangerous you don't have a big metal cage around you to protect you if you get in a crash so you have to be extra extra careful when you're on the street riding around because you don't want to get hurt i don't want you to get hurt so before you go out and buy yourself a 200 mile per hour turbo hayabusa let's make sure that you're prepared to ride first things first let's talk about gear so the number one thing on this table is a helmet now this is my personal helmet and you don't need a fancy schmancy carbon fiber one but what you do need is one that is certified like this now this is the ot certified that means the department of transportation said that this helmet is safe for you to use on roads in the united states you do need something that is new and is certified for wherever you live so in the usa there's d.o.t there's snell there's a bunch of different ratings that companies give helmet manufacturers to know that they in fact are good performing helmets so go get you one that is certified so that it's a legit safe helmet listen you're beginning your journey on having a motorcycle you only have one noggin you got to protect that sucker so go get yourself a good helmet don't buy one on wish.com if your head breaks inside of the helmet that's an automatic fail now the next thing i recommend is a nice jacket that has either some body armor sewn into it or you wear some sort of external body armor that you can put on before you put the jacket on now this is really important because if you take a tumble saying going 60 miles an hour down the road this leather is going to protect you so you don't get road rash they make heavy-duty leather jackets they also make uh synthetic jackets that work just as well you gotta try them on find which one you like but get you a jacket that's got some good body armor next thing you need is some sort of good riding pants okay i would never ride a motorcycle in shorts no matter how cool it looks you don't want to take a tumble in some shorts like this so get you a good pair of riding jeans these are actually kevlar reinforced that kevlar is going to eat up that road and not eat up your butt and these are also armored so they have little armor pucks right in the knees so make sure you're riding with a safe pair of pants next on that list some sort of boot you can get away with any pair of normal boots same thing goes for your hands one of the first things you do if you tip over or fall on a bike just put your hands out so you're gonna want to protect your palms and uh protect your knuckles the knuckles are there for when you're in a fight and you're at a bar an old buff bill gives you some lip and you go bill you wanna go outside you slip this over your hands one little crack now i know i mentioned that motorcycles are cheaper and i'm just listing a bunch of things that you're going to need to buy but there's a couple of things here one there are budget versions of all this gear that will work within your price range and two you buy it once and then you have it forever i have my first motorcycle leather jacket still to this day that i still ride in jay leno uses the same jacket i don't think the guy has used anything but that jacket and you kids love jay leno right so invest in some safety gear and it'll save you in the long run okay so you got all your gear but before we go out and buy a motorcycle do you even know how to ride one probably should ask that a little bit earlier so i grew up riding dirt bikes so i had a little bit of a head start when it came to riding on street bikes but if you have no experience luckily no matter what city you live in there are a bunch of classes that you can take that teach you how to learn a motorcycle on the road and of course the last thing you need before you go out and buy a motorcycle is your motorcycle license so that's really important to have that's going to teach you the laws and rules of riding a motorcycle in whatever area you are and uh to even buy a new motorcycle some places will make sure that you have your license we made nolan go get his motorcycles license and we did a whole video about it you should watch it after this okay so you're ready to buy a bike so what type of motorcycle makes most sense for you do you want to go on long road trips do you want to hit the trails with your homies do you want to go really fast on a track or maybe you're just looking for a new way to commute and get around town now you might be tempted to go out there and find the fastest coolest looking cheapest bike you could find but don't my first motorcycle was a gsxr 600 and it had way too much power for my experience you shouldn't buy a bike to grow into you should graduate from a bike and that's really really important so just like it is with cars there are various types of motorcycles that you can get that will match your personality and within those groups there are going to be some tried and true examples of the best types of beginner bikes okay so you figured out what kind of bike you want to get ready to hop online but before you do that i'm going to show you a couple things you need to look out for so you don't get screwed over okay so i'm gonna start with a dual sport a suzuki drz these are great first bikes uh you can take them off-road but they're also street legal which is nice they're also really really light they're not too powerful they're just a really great first bike now i found one here on craigslist that looks pretty good one of the first things i look for is that the bike has a clean title that lets you know that the bike wasn't involved in any accidents doesn't have any frame damage or wheel damage or fork damage for a first motorcycle you don't really want to be dealing with some of that stuff now the next thing i like to look for is if the registration is current so that's really important because when you go to transfer that title in your name if the registration is back due that means you're going to be the one to have to pay all those back fees that's not fun you don't want to do that the next thing i like to see is the number of miles this is the one thing that if you're coming from a car world it's a little bit different right so a car with 30 000 miles isn't very many miles that's actually like barely broken in but a motorcycle with 30 000 miles could be a little bit different it's very dependent on the model of motorcycles so to find out an appropriate amount of mileage for the bike you're looking at just go on the forums and check it out after i look at the miles and see if it's high for that bike the next thing i like to look for is the maintenance schedule i would much rather have a very well maintained bike with high mileage than a bike with low mileage that wasn't maintained very well at all so check to make sure that all the maintenance has been done and if they have records for it that they can send them to you so they can prove that it was maintained well the next thing i actually search for on the forums is common problems with that motorcycle and if the seller has addressed them so for example chain tensioners go bad on drz so i want to know if the seller actually fixed this issue by changing the chain tensioner there's all things that you can find out by doing your research okay so you found an example of a bike that doesn't have any of these red flags the price is pretty good now it's time to contact the cell phone okay first thing i do is a quick visual inspection are there any obvious signs of damage bent levers scratch fairings or scratched exhausts might be a good indicator that the bike was tipped over or even worse low sided okay so i like to i like to get on my hands and knees and get under the bike and see if there are any fluids dripping that goes for oil cooling brake fluid if you see any of those well you got some work to do if you decide to buy it i like to look at the color of the fluids if that's possible so these will be indicators of how recent a service is or how on top of the maintenance the owner was and that goes for oil coolant brake fluid so those are going to be indicators of how recent a service the bike received or how on top of the maintenance the owner was that's going to be something that either you're going to have to do or you're going to have to pay someone to do for you i check for rust on part of the chassis the chain nuts and fasteners even inside the tank rust just like on a car can cause all sorts of issues so it's something you need to be aware of i look at the condition of the chain and the teeth on the sprockets if the teeth on the sprocket are curled and they're really pointy at the top it means you're going to need to replace those soon i also check the slack in the chain if it's too tight or too loose having the correct chain slack may be one of the simplest jobs to do on a motorcycle and if it's out of whack that might be a good indicator of the type of person who worked on this bike in the past i also checked the brakes and the brake pads are the pads really worn down or do they still have some meat on them are the calipers leaking fluid does the brake lever pull in without resistance this could mean that you need to re-bleed the brakes or you have to rebuild the seals and the calipers and or master cylinder i like to check the tires are they old tires are they dry rotted do they have plugs in them or the tread gone i like to check the date when they're manufactured there's a four digit number on the side of the tire the first two digits tell you the week they were made and the last two digits tell you the year anything over five years you're going to have to change the tires so that's another cost you have to factor in also check for uneven wear of the tires that could mean that there's some misalignment of the front axle or rear axle check the forks to make sure the stanchions aren't bent you see any oil dripping down there if you do it's a sign that you might need new fork seals or that your seal's got dirt in them and you're gonna have to clean them out the next thing i do is i actually sit on the bike i get a feel for it i touch all the levers i make sure all the buttons and switches work do the lights work does the dash work does the display functioning properly is there any misalignment with the steering or the handlebars does the forks feel weird when i push down on them is there anything ergonomically out of whack with the bike and one of the things i look for is how do i fit on the bike am i too tall for it am i too short for it that's going to be something that's also really important does the bike fit your stature now this is a long list of things to remember so what you can do is have a list with you either on your phone or print it out and just go through each one as you're looking at the bike in fact i have my own list that i'll share with you i'll have a link in the description for you to go download it the next time you go look at a bike so after i do a visual inspection of the bike see if everything's in pretty good shape i'll ask if i can start it and listen to the engine one thing you can do is have someone inspect the motorcycle from a third party it usually costs anywhere from 70 to 100 and he comes out or you bring the bike to them and they'll look it over and start it up and listen give you an evaluation and there are some things that are just inexcusable you just completely walk away so if i for instance uh see any sort of damage to the frame or hear a sound that's coming from the engine that isn't normal then i'm just completely out also one of the first things i do is i look at the number on the frame and i confirm that that number is the number on the title there's been times in the past where i bought a motorcycle with a title that had a different number than was on the frame and it is a huge headache so you want to make sure that you're buying a bike that has the title vin number matches what's on the frame same thing with the engine there's an engine number on the title and you want to make sure that engine number matches as well because that's going to be the stock engine from the factory so that no one replaced that and if it's different it means that that engine was replaced at some point usually because it was either crashed or it failed so you want to make sure those two numbers match and that's super important those are roads you don't even want to go down because it's just going to leave you with a big headache especially if it's your first bike you want to ride it you don't want to work on it so much that you don't get to enjoy the bike itself so after i sit on i feel it feels good start it up it sounds good i asked then if i can take a test drive now i typically will not buy a motorcycle unless the guy let me test it now that usually includes me handing him the amount of money for the bike uh so if it's two thousand dollar motorcycle most sellers are gonna be like hey you can drive it but i need to hold two thousand dollars before you test it and that's just some sellers will do that some sellers won't so now put your helmet on go take it for a spin and make sure that this is the bike for you so while you're riding it what are a couple things that you should look out for well does it shift good does it go into gear does it go through all the gears first second third fourth fifth does it accelerate good does it break good does it run true down the road is it straight does the handlebar seem a little tweaked so during the test drive these are all things that you need to be thinking about so that you can make a decision when you get back okay so you're done with your test drive now it's time to make a deal so anything you notice that isn't of critical error like an engineer or frame damage or wheel damage anything like that that you can use to bargain now is your time to use it use whatever you've learned about this bike and from a cosmetic standpoint to lower the price a little bit so then you guys agree upon a deal you shake like this make sure he signs the title over to you make sure that each signature of the seller is the seller that's on the title you'll bill a sale take a picture of his driver's license if he lets you use all that so that when you go to the dmv to transfer to your name there's no issues with it hand them the cash load this sucker up or ride off into the sunset you just got yourself your first motorcycle heck yeah welcome to the club using those same techniques check out what i just bought for donut unlock a world of creative possibilities today and get your own x3 camera by clicking the special donut link below plus if you go there right now you'll also get a free selfie stick with purchase just click the link below go get one of these this is sick so after weeks of scouring the internet donut finally has their very first motorcycle so this is a 2019 yamaha r3 it's their baby sport bike and it's got a couple of bumps and bruises a cracked fairing a bent lever the exhaust is a little a little loose now an entry level super sport bike like this this is uh equivalent to the miata and the car game so it is uh pretty easy to work on doesn't make a whole bunch of power but man they are a ton of fun and we're going to learn a lot with this this is going to be our teacher bike for a lot of things we do here on the channel now especially a lot of the guys who don't know how to ride we're going to put them on this thing they're going to be dragging me in no time so make sure that you like and subscribe uh leave a comment down below if you want to see anything particular for us to make a video on with this bike we got a lot planned for it so stick around thank you guys so much for watching this video along with everything else at donut until next week

Channel: Donut

Views: 1,485,172

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Id: c18dDyxfjF8

Length: 18min 51sec (1131 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 08 2022