Confession for missing elementary fork adjustment

[justplainbill]

I've been suffering with (and complaining about) jarring fork action on highway expansion joints since I bought my 2015 FJ-09, and have spent a lot of time making pre-load and compression damping adjustment to correct that and other problems with the front forks. I was able to smooth out bigger bumps, but not the little ones  This last weekend, it was time to change the OEM tires and, for the first time since buying the bike, I removed the front wheel.  After getting the calipers out of the way, I loosened the 8 mm allen/socket head bolt locking the axle in place, thinking at the time it was significantly over torqued. Then I inserted a 14 mm allen wrench into the axle socket and attempted to turn and remove the axle.  If I thought the locking bolt was tight, it was nothing compared to how the axle was over tightened.  I  had to put a cheater tube on the allen wrench to loosen the axle. My estimate is that it was cranked down to ~120 foot pounds; specifications call for 47 ft. lbs. of force.  I was pretty sure at the time that I had found the source for poor fork action on small bumps: over tightening the axle pulled the sliders too close together causing fork bind.  Once the new tire was installed and the axle properly torqued, those hammer blows to my palms ended and my riding pleasure increase.  But then, because the initial binding was fixed, I had to deal with fork dive when I grabbed the brakes hard. (Bumped up the pre-load for that.) 
 
I titled this post a confession because I know that "final assembly" of new motorcycles is a job often relegated to the youngest, least experienced and probably strongest service department employees.  So it pays to go over some of the final assembly items before venturing out.  I had checked the FJ's oil level, tire pressure, looked for leaks  (found one), and any loose tupperware.  To that pre-ride checklist - I will add "front wheel installation", not just torque values. Years before I found my VStrom's front wheel had been installed backward - with tire rotation arrows pointing in the wrong direction. Could have saved myself some aggravation if I'd done a better job of it.

[empire00]

Most dealers have the bikes shipped in with "Final Assembly" already complete. They just hook the battery up and add some fluids.
 
That being said my local dealership uses the largest provider of this service and my bike was a joke when I got it home. Everything was too loose or too tight.
Lost a Handguard bolt on the way home ~7 miles. Went back to the dealer had them print me the list of things that get done after they come out of the crate and went over them all myself.
 
After I had my Handlebar recall done I did a check in similar fashion. The service manager knows me by name now and I haven't ever had any issues since.

[Brick]

That's just depressing! Can't get a new bike that's set up properly! I have purchased two new bike in the last 8 years both from the same dealership and both were set up correctly! ?