i bought a clymer serviece manuel so i could do some work on my bike. change the oil, clean the air filter etc. Today was the first time i worked on my bike and i did it all  by myself. i cleaned the air filter element mainly and tightened a few things. Now that i put my bike back together im terrified to get on it. i rode it around the neighborhood and that was it. I guess im just afraid that i did something wrong or forgot to tighten something. (does anyone's gas tank wiggle slightly!)
i guess all im asking for is some assurance that everything will be ok even though none of you exist even though you all do. thx!

Be who you were born to be.  Follow in the paths of the chain lube.

I was the same way.  I bought my 2000 and found it had a dead cylinder.  Took it to a local shop to have the carbs cleaned and it worked fine for a couple weeks then died again.  In this end I found a huge rust problem in the tank that was clogging the carbs.  I decided to clean the tank and KREEM it, rebuilt/rejet the carbs, and install a K/N lunchbox filter myself.  I've never worked on anything but bicycles before so i was really weary about the bike's mechanical correctness.  For the first ~20 miles I never went farther than a mile from my house.  Then I started riding all over.  1500 mi later she runs great (except the rear shock that blew yesterday).

In all, give her time and get to know her all over again.  After a couple miles (or a couple hundred) you won't even think about it anymore.  It's just as easy as they say around here.

Quote from: GandalfBe who you were born to be.  Follow in the paths of the chain lube.

:lol:  Very nice.

Quote from: Aragoni bought a clymer serviece manuel so i could do some work on my bike. change the oil, clean the air filter etc. Today was the first time i worked on my bike and i did it all  by myself. i cleaned the air filter element mainly and tightened a few things. Now that i put my bike back together im terrified to get on it. i rode it around the neighborhood and that was it. I guess im just afraid that i did something wrong or forgot to tighten something. (does anyone's gas tank wiggle slightly!)
i guess all im asking for is some assurance that everything will be ok even though none of you exist even though you all do. thx!

For what it is worth, I am a total noob to motorcycle maintenance as well. So far, I've done clutch and chain adjustments, spark plug change, oil changes, air filter change, and a few other small things. I too was worried the first few times after doing something; especially the first time I adjusted my chain since I envisioned my rear wheel falling off   . But that didn't happen.

One of the great things about being a noob is that while you might not have a lot of knowledge, you probably pay a LOT of attention to what you are doing. You are watchful over every little thing, you don't just breeze through and make careless mistakes. The mistakes you make will probably be from lack of knowledge, which you will gain from doing more work for yourself.

Don't do anything half assed, don't take short cuts, follow the directions exactly, and ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF ANYTHING.

And if you need to, take a series of digital pictures of how things are supposed to look before you tear them apart just in case you need to remember what it looked like whne you put it back together

Quote from: Aragon(does anyone's gas tank wiggle slightly!)

The tank mounts are a little different through the years. I know on mine there is a little free play up at the front near the stem. As long as the bolts are on there, it is not going anywhere.

Keep wrenching, you'll do fine.

Quote from: Aragon................. (does anyone's gas tank wiggle slightly!) .................

On my '92 there is a rubber/plastic cushion at the front of the tank.  Mine fell off when I lifted the tank to change the air filter.  I didn't know it was gone untill I noticed the tank wiggling when riding.

Quote from: Aragoneven though none of you exist even though you all do. thx!

:dunno:

 I know I exist  

Keep riding..  :mrgreen: