Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: oem v.s. aftermarket, honda vfr800fi, suzuki sv650

Question
this is a preety simply question that i don't know.  If you had the money,would it be better for the bike if you replaced all or the majority of the oem parts with aftermarket parts

Answer
With the exception of known design flaws, the bike doesn't care whether its parts are OEM or aftermarket.

Aftermarket parts are more about style and performance--if they suit you, go for it.

Even if I had all the money in the world, I wouldn't categorically replace every part with aftermarket. They come from the factory pretty solid and ready to play. I'd just replace the parts that I want to customize.

For example, if I bought a new Honda VFR800FI Interceptor, I'd get a better seat, handlebars, handgrips, and exhaust pipes.

The one exception is, like I said, known design flaws. For example, in the 2nd generation Suzuki SV650, the connecting rods are prone to failure when run at high rpm for a long time (i.e., racing). Most racers running 2003 or newer SVs automatically replace the connecting rods with aftermarket. I'm sure there are hundreds of other examples out there, but you get the idea.

Does that answer your question? If not, then I guess my answer is "no."

Pat