Sometimes I Don't Think Things Through ...

I woke up this morning and suddenly realized my plan for the new motorcycle is all wrong. I should have realized that from the beginning.

My plan was to just do the modifications on it as I assembled it.

That's a bad idea. What if the bike itself is defective? Returning/replacing it would be a real pain in the ass even if it was stock. If I had to remove all the mods and put the stock parts back on, it would be even worse.

So, the new plan is:

1. Assemble the bike and make sure it starts.
2. Drain the "shipping" oil and replace it with good oil (real oil, not synthetic, as the former is better for initial sealing of the rings, etc.);
3. Go out and ride it, fairly gently, at varying speeds for about 50 miles.
4. Change the oil and have a look for any unusual amount of metal shavings, etc.
5. Do three benchmarks -- 0 to 40, 0 to 60, and top speed.
6. Then do the air, carb, and exhaust modifications.
7. Do the benchmark tests again and see how they compare
8. Change the oil again at 300 miles.
9. At 1,000 miles, switch to synthetic oil.
10. The other mods will just get done when I happen to get around to it. I suspect I will do the fender delete and a new chain/front sprocket pretty quickly; the oil cooler will wait (I may grab a cheap temperature sensor to help me decide whether I need that or not).

I won't know until I've actually been on the bike whether 1) I like the handlebars, and 2) whether bar-end mirrors will work well on the existing handlebars. If the answer is "no" to either, I'll get new bars.