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Bad Munki posted:Okay, quick question. My wife and I are looking at upgrading what we ride this summer. I've found a bike I'm interested in, that's all well and good. She's found one she may really like, but she doesn't have the same fascination with hugely loud bikes that many riders do. The previous owner of the bike has "Vance and Hines Straight shot pipes," which I guess are fairly loud? I don't know poo poo about this stuff. Would the gods be deeply offended if we were to put something a little more stock on, and if we do, what's it going to set us back? What are the chances of swapping the parts with another bike? I seriously have no idea on any of this stuff. I'd love to learn more, but time is always the issue. Anyhow, fill me in here. Vance and Hines are typically really, really drat loud. If you wanted to swap back to stock, you could probably find someone who had a stock set, and they'd probably pay you around 200-500$ to swap pipes with them (I'm not sure of cost in the cruiser market, but 150$ + their stock exhaust would be what I'd expect if they're half systems, and 300-500$ + their stock exhaust would be what I'd expect with full systems). It shouldn't be a problem with anything else, unless they've had the carbs rejetting. If they have, it'll run a little rich, but you can probably just find a stock carb online and swap them over, again, for not much more than 50-100$, or you can rejet back to stock. Personally, I wouldn't bother, as even with the stock exhaust on, it'll probably run better with the jet kit.
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Mar 6, 2009 17:25
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The ad says he still has the stock pipes and baffles so if you do it yourself it would cost you only time.
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Mar 6, 2009 17:40
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jdonz posted:The ad says he still has the stock pipes and baffles so if you do it yourself it would cost you only time. Gah, missed that before. Thanks. All righty, awesome, and thanks for the speedy response, guys. We may get the bike, swap the pipes, and then just try to sell the custom ones straight up. What might I expect to sell them for?
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Mar 6, 2009 17:46
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Bad Munki posted:Gah, missed that before. Thanks. Probably around 200$. Maybe a little more. New they're apparently around 350 shipped.
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Mar 6, 2009 17:58
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Bad Munki posted:What you see there is all we currently know about the bike: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/mcy/1062529414.html He says he's put full synthetic oil in there. I've heard other people on the forum say that this is not good for the clutch. I'm sure someone else will comment on it here. I think all you'd really have to do is switch it out with the regular stuff. Also he says he always filled it with high octane fuel. Are these bikes meant for high octane fuel? I don't remember seeing anything in the manual about it. The Honda website says 9.6:1 compression ratio. Is that high enough to require high octane fuel?
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Mar 6, 2009 18:01
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Synthetic is fine, its friction modifiers that can make the clutch slip. You can get both regular and synthetic with and without friction modifiers, so its still a crapshoot. High octane fuel wont hurt it if its meant to run on low octane. It only hurts your wallet.
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Mar 6, 2009 18:04
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Jeez, my '82 CB650 has about that compression ratio and runs absolutely fine on bargain-bin regular.
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Mar 6, 2009 18:06
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That's what I thought. I have an '01 Shadow and the my PO said he used high-octane fuel. I never thought it was necessary and it has run fine for 3 years on regular.
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Mar 6, 2009 18:08
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2001 sv650s. carbedededed.
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Mar 6, 2009 18:17
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So, that bike has a kbb of $4200 (stock, that is). 16k miles, seems to be in pretty good shape, and some extra stuff (bags, the aforementioned pipes, etc.) I'm thinking about trying to meet him halfway between kbb and his asking price of $5k. Does this seem fair, or am I being too generous/stingy?
Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Mar 6, 2009 |
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Mar 6, 2009 18:31
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He is selling it for a reason, it can't hurt to try. My guess is its paid off. How long as it been sitting on Craig's List? I'd say offer him KBB value (show up with cash) and the negotiate from there if he doesn't bite.
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Mar 6, 2009 18:48
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Help my mechanically challenged mind get around this. My clutch is slipping in 3rd/4th causing over-revving and no acceleration, and I've been told it could be fixed by adjusting the clutch cable, because since it's new it may have slackened. I didn't get how they came to that conclusion, because if the clutch cable has stretched, that means there's more play in the cable and thus the clutch should be engaged sooner rather than not applying fully. Basically, how would a slackening clutch cable end up causing the clutch to not engage properly? According to my Haynes manual this means the clutch doesn't have enough freeplay (too tight?), the plates are worn (they shouldn't be), clutch springs have weakened (they decided to weaken suddenly?) and various problems with the housing, which I massively doubt is the problem. kcer fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Mar 6, 2009 |
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Mar 6, 2009 18:57
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kcer posted:Help my mechanically challenged mind get around this. Ok...unfortunantly, explaining clutch dynamics can be a little difficult. If your clutch is slipping and all else is fine, it's because it's not engaging completely. The most common reason that it would not be engaging completely is because the cable is taut, and as a result, preventing the clutch plates from meshing with enough force to stop them from slipping. Now, the reason that you can end up with a cable that's too tight is because as the clutch wears, it'll wear down the friction plates in the clutch (usually 6-9 of them). As these plates get thinner, the lever that actuates the clutch has to travel farther to get the plates completely meshed up against one another. The cable doesn't stretch a huge amount over time, so it's not like cable stretch will make up for it, and eventually your cable will be too tight, which has the same effect as holding the clutch down a little bit all the time. Clutch plates wear as a matter of fact. It's a wear item, just like tires, although it's on a much much longer timespan. It's not a big deal to have a worn clutch, it'll just require adjustment of the cable. Did that make sense? As a general rule of thumb for adjustment, you want there to be a little slack in the cable so that when you pull on the lever, the lever has to pull a small amount of slack out of the cable before it starts to pull on the cable itself. If it still slips when you do this, you've probably glazed your clutch plates and they need to be replaced. Thankfully, on a bike it's a super easy job...the first one I ever did, trusty repair manual in hand. Took me about 2 hours. Clutch dynamics can be confusing because "engaging the clutch (pulling the lever in)" typically means "seperating the clutch plates", and "disengaging the clutch (letting the lever out)" typically means allowing the plates to mesh together to get the bike moving. So it's the reverse from what you'd expect if you just read about clutches online. Z3n fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Mar 6, 2009 |
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Mar 6, 2009 19:55
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Captain Apollo posted:2001 sv650s. carbedededed. I'd look to the carbs first. My DRZ400 did the same thing, just not as severe. It would start stumbling on the highway for a while, then finally die for a few seconds and come back to life with a big backfire. I never did fix the carb, as I wound up swapping it out for an upgraded unit, but all the symptoms point to a lean condition.
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Mar 6, 2009 20:02
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Well, my baby's got a new front tire. Turns out I was right - not only had there been a nail in the tire, but also the valve stem was cracked and slowly leaking. They checked the rear tire for me just in case and though they said the tread's getting low (I knew that), but it seems to be intact and should easily hold for a month or two while I save up for it. Holy poo poo, the new tire is like having a brand-new bike. The new Avon Cobras are loving incredible tires. All I have to do is think of turning and I'm already halfway through the turn. I can't weait to get it on the freeway on the way home tonight to see how much more stable it feels at speed. If anyone is in the Nashville area, the Honda dealer in Cool Springs is loving awesome. They were really, really nice, and since I was waiting, they actually pulled an ATV they were working on off the lift and did my bike right away. Plus they didn't care that I was bringing in a tire from outside. Also, SW Motoshoes as recommended here was awesome. Only took 4 days to get the tire from order, and they replied by email with the tracking number within minutes. Thanks goons!
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Mar 6, 2009 21:07
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I'm pulling my bike out of storage today (07 Ninja 250) and I can't remember for the life of me how the battery was attached. I got the battery back into the holder, put the strap back on to hold it in, but the screws are getting me. It feels like I didn't keep the right screws with the bike all winter, when I put the screws on the terminals for the bike they are way too loose. Was there supposed to be a nut too?
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Mar 6, 2009 21:26
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Yep, a little square nut in each terminal of the battery. Check the floor around wherever you stored it. EDIT: This happened to me once. It's a mistake you don't make twice.
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Mar 6, 2009 21:41
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MrKatharsis posted:Yep, a little square nut in each terminal of the battery. Check the floor around wherever you stored it. poo poo...This sounds familier but I'm not finding anything like that where I was keeping my bike or the battery. Looks like I might be taking a trip down to the kawasaki dealer tomorrow.
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Mar 6, 2009 21:58
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You can just use a regular nut although it can be harder to tighten it up. The job is to get the wire connector tight to the pole, as long as it's a bit beyond finger tight it's fine.
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Mar 6, 2009 22:21
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Ola posted:You can just use a regular nut although it can be harder to tighten it up. The job is to get the wire connector tight to the pole, as long as it's a bit beyond finger tight it's fine. Thanks, I don't seem to have any nuts that will fit though. I'm assuming this isn't a kawasaki specific thing so any bike shop should have what I am looking for?
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Mar 6, 2009 22:25
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Probably hardware shops and/or big auto shops that sell batteries too.
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Mar 6, 2009 22:29
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Drove up to the local bike shop (the one that I forgot was only 2 miles away) and they gave me a pair of nuts and bolts and just said 'talk good about me!'. God bless small shops.
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Mar 6, 2009 23:45
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Z3n posted:Clutch info Yeah that made perfect sense. Since I've had the bike the clutch has always been a bit iffy. I know the friction zone is that much smaller than it is in a car, but it felt miniscule on mine. I had the clutch adjusted a few months ago just so I knew it had been professionally reset and adjusted. It had the required amount of play, but it just clicked to me that I've not actually checked it myself for a while. I've just been down, expecting the usually 1-2cm of totally free, no-resistance at all movement it's always had, only now I can feel resistance immediately. I'll adjust it tomorrow and see how it goes, even though the roads are layered with a horrible coat of salt. Thanks for that.
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Mar 7, 2009 00:25
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Okay you guys were so speedy and helpful last time, you get one more: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/mcy/1032331601.html Here's an '08 vulcan 900 custom in that kind of lizard green. Some people like the color, some don't. Personally, I do. Anyhow, fellow's asking $6800, which I think is too high (kelly lists it at $5940), even though it only has 1500 miles on it and is supposedly in absolutely perfect condition. This is the bike I'm thinking about getting for myself. I have more pictures than the lovely ones on the craigslist ad, and it looks to be exactly what he's claiming. Also got a picture of the odometer at 1.5k and change. I'm thinking if I can talk him down to an even $6k we'd have a deal. I went by the local kawasaki dealer and sat on a vulcan 900; it felt pretty good and seemed to give me what I feel is lacking in my current bike (lower and longer, primarily). Thoughts/comments? Just looking for a sounding board, mostly. 
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Mar 7, 2009 04:12
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Barely making a living from radio advertising work and the odd cameo, the fat and middle aged Kermit the Frog is often seen cruising up and down Sunset Blvd on his motorcycle. He whistles and honks at young girls, his poor temperament and substance abuse often results in bouts of road rage and embarrassing scenes mid-intersection. It's a sad thing to see another faded Hollywood star yelling "don't you know who I am?!" as the police officer ushers him into the car.
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Mar 7, 2009 10:19
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Bad Munki posted:Okay you guys were so speedy and helpful last time, you get one more: If you're willing to spend 6k+ on a cruiser, you should be looking at Harleys, in my opinion. You should be able to find a nice Sportster 883 in that range, and it will hold its resale value way better than something made by a what I think of as a Jet-Ski company.
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Mar 7, 2009 11:10
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Since we've wandered onto the subject, are the nuts on the battery posts meant to be vertical with the bolts coming in from the side or are the nuts meant to lie horizontal with the bolts coming in from the top? I only ask because the previous battery had the nuts vertical and the connectors on the side, and when I replaced the battery I put it back how I had found it. However, fiddling with the old battery I realised it's a whole lot less fiddly if the nut is horizontal, there's no fiddling of skewers and chopsticks trying to keep it vertical whilst attempting to engage the threads with the nut. *edit* must . . . get . . . question-marks . . . correct Orange Someone fucked around with this message at 15:07 on Mar 7, 2009 |
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Mar 7, 2009 15:03
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Bad Munki posted:Okay you guys were so speedy and helpful last time, you get one more: Still seems high to me. A quick check of eBay shows that a Vulcan 900c of that year and milage goes for a little under 6k. If you wanted the bike really bad it wouldn't be a bad price though. If you're after cruisers, you may want to consider a Honda Shadow as well. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about a Vulcan, but I've never heard anyone rave about them either. basx posted:... by a what I think of as a Jet-Ski company. What the gently caress is this? So they make Jet-Skis, so loving what? They also make really nice motorcycles. Orange Someone posted:Since we've wandered onto the subject, are the nuts on the battery posts meant to be vertical with the bolts coming in from the side or are the nuts meant to lie horizontal with the bolts coming in from the top? As long as you can secure the cable to the terminal without it coming in contact with anything around it, it doesn't really matter which way you do it. Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Mar 7, 2009 |
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Mar 7, 2009 17:03
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basx posted:If you're willing to spend 6k+ on a cruiser, you should be looking at Harleys, in my opinion. You should be able to find a nice Sportster 883 in that range, and it will hold its resale value way better than something made by a what I think of as a Jet-Ski company. You're gonna go far kid!!!
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Mar 7, 2009 17:09
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He is correct. The Harley will hold its resale value better. It is undisputably inferior in every other aspect, though.
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Mar 7, 2009 17:10
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Doctor Zero posted:If you're after cruisers, you may want to consider a Honda Shadow as well. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about a Vulcan, but I've never heard anyone rave about them either. The Vulcan 900 owners rave about the Vulcan 900. More than owners of other Vulcans. If I were looking to get another cruiser, it'd be on my list, mostly because the engine isn't so big compared to other "big" cruisers. Also, I'll rave about my Vulcan 500 all day, but it's a parallel twin, so it's not a "proper" cruiser.
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Mar 7, 2009 18:23
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basx posted:If you're willing to spend 6k+ on a cruiser, you should be looking at Harleys, in my opinion. You should be able to find a nice Sportster 883 in that range, and it will hold its resale value way better than something made by a what I think of as a Jet-Ski company. To be honest, I've just never been that fond of the lines of most harleys. Granted, there are a few I really like, but they're well out of my price range. Maybe my opinion is based on a limited subset of harley styles, but they've always felt either a little too bus-sized-touring, or a bit café-racer...the latter of which I think is great, if that's what you're looking for. In this case, it's not. To be honest, I'd quite possibly do a number of unspeakable things for a hammer. I have a hunch there's a lot of derision over those bikes, but in my opinion, they are a beautiful combination of sport, cruiser, and café-racer. Unfortunately, that's neither here nor there... Long story short, I like the lines and shape of a lot of the foreign makes. There are things I would change about many of them, but that's probably always the case. I think I might give the owner of that vulcan a call and see just how far I can talk him down. If I get the impression he's not planning on shifting much, well, he'll just have to sell the bike to someone else, I guess. Bummer, but not much to be done about it.
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Mar 7, 2009 18:50
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Are they plentiful otherwise on the market? And do you prefer that color or do you think the color makes the bike? I had my sights set on a Yamaha XJ900 in brown and black, awesome scheme. All other colors sucked. I could've had one for a great deal but was half an hour late. I got the GSX750ES instead, paid a little too much, the color was alright but not as cool as the XJ. A good bike for me, but I still find myself checking out ads for black/brown XJs. They don't come around too often, but the GSX in my color is probably the most prolific bike of its vintage. Point is, if it's the right bike in the right color it's ok to pay a little too much. Perhaps not $1000 too much but you get the idea.
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Mar 7, 2009 19:19
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Good point. I definitely do like the color. It's not the color, though, not if I could have absolutely anything. But that just means it's not #1 on the list. My thought was that primarily, I want to find an overall look and feel that really "clicks." Color, to me, is secondary. Get a bike which feels right. If, after a season or two of riding, I realize, "Holy poo poo, this is the bike," and I'm not 100% sold on the color, sure, spend a bunch of money and get whatever paint job is #1 on the list. When I say it like that, it sounds like I'm considering getting the bike in spite of the color. That is not the case at all. Instead, it's more like saying, "Yeah, she's hot, and in a year if I think she's my true love, we'll make her a redhead instead." The green is sort of  whereas my #1 choice would be some sort of crazy deep electric blue with caustic-looking light patterns like you get on from light shining through the surface of water to the bottom of a pool.  Here, I made this. Imagining something like this on a bike gives me wet dreams: 
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Mar 7, 2009 19:36
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Maybe you would care for some airbrushed artwork?  
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Mar 7, 2009 19:51
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Ola posted:Maybe you would care for some airbrushed artwork? Yikes. And in light of the thread subject, I feel compelled to say: "WHY?" No problem with the pink and white. That's fine, put a nice lookin' gal on there and we're all good. But I am so not a fan of pictures in general on bikes. Make a neat pattern if you want, even put some flames on there, but seriously, please no viking warriors or pictures of your dead terrier Fluffy (grandma's finest 4 eva). Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Mar 7, 2009 |
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Mar 7, 2009 20:03
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Bad Munki posted:Yikes. And in light of the thread subject, I feel compelled to say: "WHY?" There is one bike that is deserving of viking warriors   I'm still not doing it though.
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Mar 7, 2009 20:06
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Doctor Zero posted:I'm still not doing it though. Because that would be wrong, and I think you know it.
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Mar 7, 2009 20:09
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He's just trying to get to Valhalla.
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Mar 7, 2009 20:36
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blugu64 posted:He's just trying to get to Valhalla. Airbrushed pictures on a motorcycle will only get you a one-way ticket to hell. 
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Mar 7, 2009 21:08
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