Bit of a long post, but I would love some valuable insight!
Seeing as how I haven't ridden a motorcycle before this one, I asked a more experienced friend to take it for a longer ride and give me a debrief. A few things I noticed and he mentioned:
1. He is a bit heavier than me, but still, I think I want stiffer and/or longer rear shocks. The ride feels a bit mushy on the rear. While he was riding he hit a bit of a bump and the rear wheel grazed a cross beam under my seat!
2. He said the valves sounded out. I told him that I set them to spec just before riding. Then I remembered that the PO had said that his valves went out of spec fast as well. Is there something that would cause this?
3. He also said he heard a high pitched whirring sound coming from the front. No idea what that would be, I will need time to explore.
4. He said that the rear brake worked decently (which is good). Obviously they provide 1/3 the stopping power the front does, but when I was driving I felt it should be doing more (but again, I'm unexperienced).
Aside from the above issues, I still need to:
1. Check the headlight issue. Bulb is fine, fuse is fine. The headlight comes on for a while, but I noticed it was off when my friend was driving it.
2. (maybe a stupid question) how mandatory is it that I rejet the carbs when I'm using pods on the H-stack? I would love to wait till next season when I replace the exhaust and maybe put the pods directly on the carbs.
3. Calliper rebuild.
4. Petcock rebuild. I bought a petcock rebuild from Parts-n-more but it really felt like it was for the wrong bike. I emailed and asked if they sent the wrong one, but the insisted. I was thinking I might replace it with a non-vacuum?