[E North West]

I've been a m/c tech for a long time now - going on 28 years so the following are more inconveniences than anything but oh well.
Here is how my bike was delivered.

Lower engine mounting bolt was loose - protruding 1/2" out the left side of the frame, the nut on the right was still there but barely.

The levers,  particularly the clutch were both positioned a little low and the clutch lever would contact the fast idle cable before I got a full sweep out of it. (neither lever pivot had any lubricant of any kind on then either).

The tail light didn't work, the brake light did however - I reached under the fender to wiggle the wires and found the bulk of the harness outside of the tail light cavity - ready to do a little rubbing on the tire.

The headlight was pointed off to the left and the adjuster screws were not lined up with the holes. When I pulled the headlight to fix that issue,I saw one wire that had it's insulation broken/cracked from rubbing on the back of the headlight ring.

All that stuff and a little more of a going over took about an hour and a half to rectify.
Then I got to ride! Yay fun.........like it a lot and put 80kms on it - on a fine December day in Vancouver - it didn't even rain!

Some of these things the dealer should have caught and some, the factory should have caught - the engine mount being the main one and a little grease on the pivot points goes a long way to a long life.

Pretty fun machine though - nothing at all like the BMW's and Ducati's that I work on all day. In fact, the main reason I bought this bike -g5- was because it is so basic, so easy to get at anything.

Now, hurry up winter and beat it, I got some miles to make!

[Ducati Scotty]

Sadly, the factory isn't 100% and many of the new dealers are still getting used to bikes that. We'd a little extra TLC during setup.  That engine bolt, keep an eye on it as hey tend to loosen.  A little LocTite goes a long way.   I prepped my bike with my dealer.  We found plenty of loose nuts and bolts.  Many came loose again in the next few weeks.  It settles down after 1000 miles or so.

Yup, it's different.  I came off a Monster and I also appreciate the bare bones nature of these little bikes.  It's a different world and lots of fun.  Welcome aboard!

Scott

[TWinOKC]

Welcome E North West.  Sometimes it's easier to fix the little stuff yourself than take the bike back and wait for a shop to get around to doing another half baked repair.  You did the right thing.  Personally I like to do my own work just for that reason.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[Arizoni]

ENW:
While your waiting for the weather to clear, pull the left side cover.
This is where much of the electronics are located.

If your G5 is like my G5 you will notice that there are several wires in there which use plastic electrical tape to prevent the sharp metal edges from cutting thru the insulation.
Slit some short lengths of vinyl tubing to stuff the wires into.  You'll be glad you did.
While your at it look for other areas where sharp metal edges are close to the harness and protect them too.

So far this, a few burned out light bulbs and the hose clamp coming loose on the fuel pump outlet have been the only potentially serious problems I've had.

Happy riding.

[E North West]

Thanks for the replies guys
I know that I'm going to enjoy this bike and I don't mind tinkering.
It's great to get some heads up suggestions on what kind of things to look for as well.
My dealer was really very good over all, they even opened up the store over the holidays to allow me to pick up my bike- he gave me a really good price and because we are both in the same business, knows that he probably won't see my bike for much- if any service, I will buy parts and accessories there though. 

[Maturin]

Good idea to change the fork oil aswell. There are some postings describing how to do it. At some of the new bikes the level differs significantly, and the stuff I took out of my fork looked more like Indian tea than like fork oil. Originally 10w-oil is used, if you like to push the Bullet ocasionally I recommend 15W though. Happy tinkering & welcome to the forum, regards
Maturin

[Ducati Scotty]

Maturin, they actually use 10w30 motor oil in the forks from the factory.  I put in 10w fork oil to replace it and it's maybe just a smidge heavier.  Just putting in the proper amount of 10w fork oil transformed the front end.  More solid ride and no more wallowing in the corners.  The guys at the shop took it for a ride and were very impressed.  It's a bit of a job to take the C5 forks apart to change the oil but well worth it in my opinion.

I have yet to see any stock fork from any bike that had the correct amount of oil in it from the factory.  They all seem to be a bit stingy.

Scott

[barenekd]

My dealer hasn't seen me much for service either. I think he did the first oil change on it. He just hands me the parts if it's a warranty item. I've done all the other work on it since then, including rearender crash damage, tire changing, oil changing, customizing, etc.
I have a warranty job on his agenda for seeping seam on the timing cover. He handed me a tube of Permatex gasket maker which is what CMW sent him in lieu of a gasket. I was thinking of letting the shop do it as I want to change to an 18 tooth sprocket and an Oring chain and I'm not sure I have a socket big enough for the sprocket nut. But I'll probably end up doing it myself anyway.
Bare

[Kevin Mahoney]

Actually Permatex is what is used on all except the earliest UCE engines. The factory uses a Locktite product, but it is the same stuff.

[greggers]

It's good you caught the tail light wiring, that seems to be a common problem. I lost a rear turn signal for a while that way, and the use of my bike while I awaited the warranty repair. Didn't cost nothin but still annoying!

[E North West]

I just wanted to add, in case you all thought that I was in Vancouver WA- that I am in fact from Vancouver Canada and bought the bike through a Canadian dealer.
I should probably call the salesman/business owner and let him know what I found, just so they can have a better look at future bikes.
Funny, he's such a nice guy that I didn't want to bother him with what feels like a complaint but I suppose if he never got any updates, he'd never know to correct anything.
Eric

[BRADEY]

Maturin, they actually use 10w30 motor oil in the forks from the factory.  I put in 10w fork oil to replace it and it's maybe just a smidge heavier.  Just putting in the proper amount of 10w fork oil transformed the front end.  More solid ride and no more wallowing in the corners.  The guys at the shop took it for a ride and were very impressed.  It's a bit of a job to take the C5 forks apart to change the oil but well worth it in my opinion.

I have yet to see any stock fork from any bike that had the correct amount of oil in it from the factory.  They all seem to be a bit stingy.

Scott

And what is the correct amount of oil that made you happy Scotty...............??

And what is the core

[Ducati Scotty]

I went with 190ml for the C5 fork.  The amount listed in the manual is more and only correct for the G5. 

What do you mean by core?

Scott

[BRADEY]

I went with 190ml for the C5 fork.  The amount listed in the manual is more and only correct for the G5. 

What do you mean by core?

Scott

Thanks. Core is just misprint ! So has this amount corrected the soft dive of the forks on braking.....??

[Ducati Scotty]

It feels more surefooted but still dives more than I'd like.  Raising the oil level/amount can make the fork feel a bit stiffer by making the air space that gets compressed smaller and hence more progressive.  190cc isa as high as you can go.  The were blowing seals at 200 from what I've heard.  Heavier weight oil will make it dive slower but it will still get just as low in a prolonged stop and you will also fee stutter bumps and abrupt bumps more at the bars since it slows down the action of the fork.  

The only way to really fix the dive is make the spings stiffer, either with more preload or just chucking them for new stiffer units.  Our fork springs are pretty soft at around 0.7kg/mm, I don't think we could really do much with preload.  We have a 28mm diameter springs and no one seems to make one smaller than 29mm.  I'm going to order some 0.8 or 0.85 rate 29mm springs this winter and see if they'll fit.  I'll let you know what I find.

Scott