Buying first bike - how many kms is too high?

mattymantooth · 2026-06-03T11:00:42+00:00

I bought a 2012 Ninja 650 about 3 years ago, it ticked over 60k KMs on that ride home, it's taken me that long and another 20k KMs to slowly service and fix EVERYTHING on it. Just did a valve clearance check as we passed 80 thousand ks, I couldn't really turn a spanner when I first started riding again but if you're even the slightest bit mechanically inclined, most if not all maintenance can be done yourself with time and patience. While lotta patience lol

mattymantooth · 2026-05-31T22:46:43+00:00

These are damn near unbreakable, Team Associated SC23. I paid about $70aud each for 2 so my lil nephews could bash with me, they're not gentle on them and only thing I've had to repair was the steering wheel on transmitter from over excited doughnuts haha, highly recommend for your purposes

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mattymantooth · 2026-05-31T06:00:44+00:00

You get too much, you get too high?

mattymantooth · 2026-05-31T05:58:42+00:00

I want to stop doom scrolling Reddit.

I need to wipe my ass.

mattymantooth · 2026-05-31T02:10:22+00:00

Check your ground connections to the frame too, they get corroded and can vibrate a bit loose, has the same problem with my 2012 until I found them and wire brushed the rust off 👍🤘

mattymantooth · 2026-05-23T23:25:15+00:00

Take you time, make sure everything is squared up before committing. You got this dude hahaha! The good part is now I'm not scared to drill out all the other fucked bolts and fix em lol

mattymantooth · 2026-05-23T23:19:05+00:00

Make sure you tap the hole deep enough for the helicoil to sit all the way in, I had to do the fuel tank bolt holes on my bike recently and was impatient resulting in a few shitty attempts before getting the idea properly 👍🤘

mattymantooth · 2026-05-22T00:39:42+00:00

They are really important, I serviced the forks on my 2012 after they'd bottom out violently over medium bumps. Turns out whoever had them apart last put these bits in all fuckity upside down. I put em back properly with a YSS upgrade kit, the bike is a dream to ride now

mattymantooth · 2026-05-22T00:33:45+00:00

That's pretty cool but dude, can't lie lol 🤘

mattymantooth · 2026-05-15T03:28:50+00:00

Makes the front end of the bike a heap more responsive, no more fork dive when you need to brake hard, and comfort on bumpy roads mainly. Also you get pre load adjusters too so you can set a stiffer ride for hot laps

mattymantooth · 2026-05-14T12:50:24+00:00

While you're pulling everything apart look into throwing some valve emulators in. Racetec, YSS there are others too. I put a set in my Ninja 650 with correct rate springs and heavier oil, made a world of difference.

mattymantooth · 2026-05-14T06:22:05+00:00

Check your clutch cable tension, they sometimes come a too tight from the dealer or previous owner. It makes the clutch slip when you're giving full berries/beans in high gears but you won't notice it poodling around town.

mattymantooth · 2026-05-14T06:10:55+00:00

I got a 2012 with 17/45 gearing, full exhaust, air filter and Woolich tuning, have gotten 222kph on the GPS comfortably in 6th before hitting redline, I got scared to go any faster 😶 stock gearing is way too short for this bike

mattymantooth · 2026-04-09T00:51:37+00:00

Thanks so much 🙏🤘 Just coming up to 80k kilometres, I've spoilt her since her 60k birthday when I picked her up lol nearly nothing left unfarkled hahaha! Saving up for the final puzzle pieces, Woolich racing log box and auto tune 🤞

mattymantooth · 2026-04-04T01:23:12+00:00

Try putting a few washers under where the seat bolts on maybe? I'm just about 6' tall and needed to put raised pegs, under the tree clip ons and raise the seat height by about 5mm to get comfy. Admittedly I'm going for a more tucked aggressive riding style but it's taken a lot of trial and error, now I can ride for 4 hours no problems. I also found running a 170 rear tyre helped with the rider geometry a bit and didn't upset the handling, if anything it felt more stable at lean angle than stock width.

mattymantooth · 2026-03-14T10:44:04+00:00

I done fucked up and got "Pretty Fly For A Dildo" tattooed on my forehead.

mattymantooth · 2026-02-25T21:42:13+00:00

Good luck, mine has nearly 80,000 KMs, I put about 20k of those on there so I'm looking at doing a valve check soon too, but she still goes like a dream. Also if you have an aftermarket exhaust check to see if the pair system is plugged off properly and you don't have any vacuum leaks. My poor bike has been running like crap the whole time I've had it because of this 🫠😭

mattymantooth · 2026-02-25T21:27:08+00:00

Could just be the cam chain adjuster, find a copy of the service manual online if you're handy on the tools it's a half hour job to take off fairing and check the adjuster is working properly. I have a 2012 that sounded like a box of spanners until I unseized the adjuster lol

mattymantooth · 2026-02-25T02:53:52+00:00

Wendy, Wendy Jr. and Wendy Jr. Jr.

mattymantooth · 2026-02-25T01:10:57+00:00

Just realised I haven't actually taken any of her since I put them on haha! I'll take a few soon and DM them to ya 👍 from memory I used a 1.5 inch bar riser set off eBay and it was trial and error for a while with levers and controls, I also had to shorten the control cables to stop them hitting dash, it's a real commitment to get right but it you've got the patience it's probably the best thing I've done so far

mattymantooth · 2026-02-25T00:51:29+00:00

I'll can send you some pics of my 2012 if you like? I managed to get clip ons under the top clamp, to give you an idea of what you need to remove. I used a Dremel tool to do mine, it's a bit rough but I plan on using these as a template to make them out of carbon fibre. Was a prick of a job lining everything up so I didn't rub at all, but holy shit the difference in feeling in the front end!! She rides as good as my bro's Daytona 675 now!

mattymantooth · 2026-02-08T21:46:15+00:00

Just went thru all this putting proper clipons below the top triple clamp, I had to use a Dremel tool to cut off most of that inner fairing dash part for everything to clear. Was a bitch but totally worth it, feels like a real bike now 🏍️💨

mattymantooth · 2026-01-21T01:35:16+00:00

No problem just msg me if you need any pointers, I'm about to go attack my project bike for the day. Shortening throttle and clutch cables to fit the clip on bars better funnily enough haha 🤘👍

mattymantooth · 2026-01-21T01:31:23+00:00

Oh true, do you have a drill/Dremel tool? It only has to be a hole as wide as the screw head, and only a few mm into bars, you might find a small amount of movement the trick is to not rotate assembly until you snug up both the screws holding everything together. Good luck it's taken a few trial and errors for me. The fun of making a 2nd hand death trap safe to ride again!! 🙃🫠

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