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MrKatharsis posted:He is correct. The Harley will hold its resale value better. I don't know about that. With things the way they are the resale value of Harleys in my area has tanked. There is an insane amount of them on the used market right now.
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Mar 7, 2009 21:25
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| # ? May 15, 2024 16:40 |
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Check out this MCN guy having his suspension done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALuUnFPMXk Those cartridges they put in the forks...are they basically self contained suspension units? Are they rare and expensive? Or available in cheaper versios? That would be a good upgrade to my older bike I think, just rip out all the innards and put some high tech in there. I didn't find anything immediately on google, will keep looking.
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Mar 8, 2009 00:12
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There's really no way to convert without getting new forks. There's something close though. Race-tech makes something call cartridge emulators. They provide your forks with progressive, and asymmetrical damping. That nets you 90% of the advantages. The only problem is that you need to take the forks apart to adjust them. There are applications for your bike. :-) They are 100% awesome.
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Mar 8, 2009 04:28
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That sounds excellent! Thanks for the tip. Have you tried them?
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Mar 8, 2009 14:41
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yes, I have. Some people in my local riding group use them. I expect to get a set for my 80 this year.
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Mar 8, 2009 21:19
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So during an oil change I took off the countershaft sprocket cover and scraped off a bunch of these guys. Click here for the full 909x682 image.  What am I doing wrong? I'm using what I thought was a good lube, that DuPont teflon stuff. I'd estimate I lube it every 400-500 miles, is that not enough?The chain is 8 years old, but that's quite a few o-rings to come off in the 2000 miles or so that I've been riding it.
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Mar 9, 2009 02:30
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Legerdemain posted:The chain is 8 years old, but that's quite a few o-rings to come off in the 2000 miles or so that I've been riding it. This is your main problem. Older chain and you have to take care of them from the start to keep the o-rings in good shape. If the previous owner didn't and they started to dry out quickly there is nothing you could do. Replace the chain and take care of it and it'll last you a long time. How many miles did the PO put on it before your 2k?
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Mar 9, 2009 02:43
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9400 miles and I'm pretty sure it's the original chain. I think this is partially my fault, when I got the bike I cleaned the chain but waited a day to lube it. That was pretty dumb. I know ideally you're supposed to replace the sprocket with the chain, but in a case like this where the sprocket is in good shape, is that necessary?
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Mar 9, 2009 02:59
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Legerdemain posted:
Did you clean it every time you lubed it? Simply adding lube to a dirty chain is not lubricating it. In fact I think it's more important to clean your chain than it is to lube it. Get a nylon brush and some diesel and scrub it clean every 500 miles - along with lubing it of course. If you did clean it, then my apologies for sounding like a condenscending dick ;p
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Mar 9, 2009 03:00
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Feel free to condescend, I've only cleaned it once. I know it's important, but it looked clean enough and I'm lazy.
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Mar 9, 2009 03:13
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hey, now I got my own dumby question. Is it okay to leave phoshphoric acid in a gas tank for 24 hours? My tank is semi-rusty and so first I did the electrolysis method (which worke great), then I poured in about a pint of "Rust-Mort" which is 75% phoshphoric acid. It's been in there for about 5 hours now, and every hour or so I move the tank around so that it coats it in different positions. So my question is this: is phosphoric acid strong enough to eat through the metal if left over night? I know it's a weak acid, so I think it should be okay, right?
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Mar 9, 2009 03:24
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I have a question about seats. I haven't been riding long but I've been out for a few 4 hour rides, and I get a real bad case of dong-tingle. I'm sure you guys all know what I'm talking about, and it brings me back to me mountain biking days. Back then I knew that that numb feeling is caused by the nerves at your perineum being pinched, and if these are damaged it leads to impotence. Hence why mountain bike seats are designed now with a groove down the middle to alleviate that pressure:  My bike is obviously not going to have the latest technology -- its almost 30 years old, and is your standard flat seat, albeit with a lot of padding. But with modern technology there must be some fancy new seat which stops this discomfort?
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Mar 9, 2009 11:34
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Well, the solution is to move. Stand up. Scoot forward. Scoot back. Shift a little to the left, or right. Even with the best seat, your rear end will eventually feel the hurt. So move. Your butt will thank you. That said, it is possible there is "something" wrong with your seat. But it's not likely. What are you riding again? Does it have the stock seat on it? The seat on 83-86 GS550's causes me pain right about my sit bones, two days after a long ride. It's due to the same thing that causes you the dong tingle.
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Mar 9, 2009 11:39
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Prince posted:
If you feel like throwing money ($300-ish) at the problem, check out http://www.sargentcycle.com/custserv.htm They have a pretty good reputation, they'll repad the seat with better foam. I suppose you could ask them to cut a Penile Relief Groove as well.
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Mar 9, 2009 12:30
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Nerobro posted:Well, the solution is to move. Stand up. Scoot forward. Scoot back. Shift a little to the left, or right. Even with the best seat, your rear end will eventually feel the hurt. So move. Your butt will thank you. I ride a CX500, its got the stock seat and its very wide and soft.  I try to move around but usually thats after the discomfort has started (and it doesn't help much once its begun). I see some guys on tourers with an extra pad on top of their seat (maybe gel..?). Does that help at all? How about a cruiser-style seat where you are leaning back without pressure on your crotch? edit: better angle shot: 
Prince fucked around with this message at 12:40 on Mar 9, 2009 |
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Mar 9, 2009 12:36
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You need to move before it hurts. The disconfort, then hurt, are indicators that damage is already done. According to corbin, you really need to be off your butt for one minute in every ten. And those are the people who make the seats that are supposed to be comfortable for days at a time. I don't see how a cruiser style seat will change where you're putting pressure. Get up and move :-)
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Mar 9, 2009 14:34
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A cruiser style seat puts the pressure right on your buttcheeks. It also immobilizes the rider to some degree. Standing up on forward controls is not always possible for A sportbike seat can really wedge up into your perineum, which is the suspected cause of impotence. However, sportbike/standards also allow less lazy riders to carry weight to their feet or hands. Go to a dealership, sit on a new R6, and tell me your taint won't get tingled.
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Mar 9, 2009 14:38
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Prince, are you new to riding longer distances? I had the same issue with getting uncomfortable and whatnot when I first started on the street. I just had to learn to move around more. Now I move around on the seat every couple of minutes, pretty much subconsciously, and it makes it much better.
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Mar 9, 2009 14:40
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MrKatharsis posted:A cruiser style seat puts the pressure right on your buttcheeks. It also immobilizes the rider to some degree. Standing up on forward controls is not always possible for Yeah, I can't move around on my seat. It's big and soft. I don't get pain, but I do get numb. Wearing proper riding pants helps a lot. My cold weather overpants have pads on the butt cheeks and go over jeans, so I'm well padded there. My summer leathers have a tiny pad right in the middle and they let me slide around a little bit; I can ride for hours in those. It's my legs that start to hurt first with the forward controls position.  Personally, I'd get a decent pair of pants before throwing money at the seat.
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Mar 9, 2009 17:00
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i bought some cycling shorts with padding in the crotch area a few years ago, i wear them under my leathers and they seem to help quite a bit on longer rides. might want to give that a try , they were prety cheap. should be able to find some in any outdoors/cycling type place.
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Mar 9, 2009 17:45
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Dumb mechanical/electrical question; I was pulled over on my 89 BMW R100GS for no tail lights. Like none. The same bulbs are also the turn indicators and they work fine so I drove home like a dick with my turn indicator going the whole time. When I turn the beast on the headlight comes on fine and the relay clicks pretty loudly. Said relay cannot be taken apart of course. So; is it the relay? Is it some loose wire buried in the harness? To reiterate - one bulb per side used for running and indicating and indicating works fine.
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Mar 9, 2009 22:52
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ChlamydiaJones posted:Dumb mechanical/electrical question; They're probably dual filament, but if they're both out, I'd guess that you're not getting 12v at the bulb. Check a wiring diagram, and you should be able to find which color wire is supposed to feed a constant 12v to connector on the rear brake light assembly. See if you're getting 12v there. You could just have a set of burned out bulbs, you could have a short somewhere in the harness. If you don't find 12v at the tail connector when the tail light should be on, trace the wire backwards until you find where you are getting 12v or there's damage to the connector. If you are getting 12v at the connector, the tail light filament on both bulbs probably burned out.
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Mar 9, 2009 23:13
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I'll be changing my chain and sprocket soon, the rear sprocket has lock washers like this: I cannot find anything like it in hardware shops, I haven't asked the Suzuki dealer yet (they're mostly dicks). Will it crumble apart on reusage? Are there any other type of lock washers I could use instead?
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Mar 10, 2009 02:36
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They are reusable :-) I've never bought new ones. I do need to though. They look ugly on their third reuse.
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Mar 10, 2009 02:44
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Allright I'll do that, thanks. Just tap it out with something flat right?
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Mar 10, 2009 02:48
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Legerdemain posted:Feel free to condescend, I've only cleaned it once. I know it's important, but it looked clean enough and I'm lazy. No one? Alright I'll take this. There is no "but" that goes along with that. Take a good look at how utterly decayed those links are. Now imagine if you will your chain breaking because of it. Think about what that chain can do. I'm going to take this to the extreme side of bad luck just because the reason is "I'm lazy". The most obvious thing would be it wraps itself around your rear tire, causing it to lock up, and throwing you clear off the bike. Imagine this happening at 70 - 90mph on a highway. Safety gear protects you from a lot of things. It doesn't protect you should someone not see you and run you over (let's say your torso). Not taking care of your chain is beyond idiotic on something that can already easily kill you. We're talking dead dead. Johnny 5, disassembled, dead. Keep your chain cleaned and lubed properly. Wash with kerosene or WD-40, etc. then apply lube of choice. Typically it's 80-90wt gear oil, and apply it frequently. Kinda as Z3n does. kdc67 fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Mar 10, 2009 |
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Mar 10, 2009 03:13
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Alright guys, I'm thinking it's time to clean my carbs. I have an '01 Honda Shadow 750. It has Keihin carbs. I synchronized the carbs in late October and the bike is already running rough again. It's got about 24k miles and I don't think they've ever been cleaned before. 1st question: How often do carbs need to be cleaned? 2nd question: I plan on purchasing carb cleaner, a brass brush, and more screw drivers than I've already got (I have quite a few already). Do I need to purchase new gaskets or can I reuse the ones on there? Anything else I need to buy to be prepared? (I have several types of needle nose pliers.) 3rd question: I understand that carb cleaner should not touch any of the rubber stuff. Any other warnings I should be aware of? 4th question: Given that this is the first cleaning for this carb, and my first time doing this, how far apart should I take it? For instance, in nerobro's carb cleaning thread he didn't remove the float. (removing jets, needles, etc.) I'm a little nervous about this, but I guess if I screw it up enough I can always get someone to drive me to the dealer where the big $$$ vacuum will do its deed. I'm planning on taking pictures and posting a thread if anyone is interested. Otherwise the pictures will be for helping me put it back together correctly. I have a camera that has macro and super-macro mode, so hopefully they won't be ultra-blurry.
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Mar 10, 2009 04:47
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MrZig posted:hey, now I got my own dumby question. As long as it doesn't find weak spots, or loose seams.
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Mar 10, 2009 06:51
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The NonBornKing posted:Alright guys, I'm thinking it's time to clean my carbs. I have an '01 Honda Shadow 750. It has Keihin carbs. I synchronized the carbs in late October and the bike is already running rough again. It's got about 24k miles and I don't think they've ever been cleaned before. What makes you think it's the carb specifically? Have you ever changed the plugs or checked valve clearances?
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Mar 10, 2009 06:54
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UK goons appear! Actually, my CB400 is coming up for it's MOT soon and the previous owner has disabled the kill switch. He said it was because there's a delay in the switch somewhere, and hitting the switch means the bike won't turn on for about 10 minutes. I'm curious as to whether you actually need a kill switch to pass the MOT, or if it's a requirement that it works if it's installed. My google-fu is lacking today. I've also pulled the plugs on the clutch lever, the lead that detects that whether the lever is in, but due to a design flaw, the neutral light illuminates when the clutch is pulled in, which makes it hard to notice if you've actually hit neutral. I'm going to plug that back in before the MOT though, people tend to snear at hanging leads and insulation tape.
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Mar 10, 2009 11:34
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How do you get into track days? I'm still a couple of years off actually having the balls to do one, but it's something I'd like to do at one point. Is it really as simple as just booking a spot and turning up? Do they care much about skill? I have have a friend of a friend who ended up needing 2 instructors to get her around the track safely, what's the deal with instructors? What sort of rules apply when you're on the track? How confident of a rider were you when you first did one?
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Mar 10, 2009 11:55
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n8r posted:What makes you think it's the carb specifically? Have you ever changed the plugs or checked valve clearances? I just had the valve clearances recalibrated a year ago, so I doubt that's it. I will check the plugs again before I go digging into the carbs though. Also, after synching the carbs in October it ran like a dream. It seems to me that if the synch point has changed so drastically after so little time then there might be crud in there gumming the works up. Is it normal to need to resynch after one winter?
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Mar 10, 2009 14:14
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You really shouldn't ever need to resync. If you're resyncing with any kind of regularity, you have other parts failing. (think valves, or intake boots) I didn't remove the floats because that's generally not necessary. If the carb isn't pissing fuel on the ground, your floats, and float valves are just fine. If it's not broken, don't gently caress with it! The parts you NEED to clean, are the pilot jet, and the pilot screws. Those are the smallest orifices, and the ones that pass the least fuel. That means they're the ones that see the least amount of cleaning agents from the fuel itself. That also means they clog the fastest. I tend to clean the slide, main jet, and needle just because it's easy to get to. People go to the ends of the earth on carb cleaning, and it's just not necessary. Carbs don't need to get cleaned unless you're feeding them utter poo poo. Or you let the bike sit. Depending on what fuel you put in the bike last, you could develop varnish in your carbs in as little as a week. Most likely, your carbs need cleaning.
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Mar 10, 2009 14:31
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kcer posted:How do you get into track days? Don't wait a couple years. I went to my first one on a GS500 6 months after I started riding and had a blast. Assuming you are comfortable enough on a bike to ride around other people without freaking out or parking it in the turns (and even then, you won't be alone) you'll be fine in C group. Yes its as easy as buying a spot and turning up. Bring tape for your headlight and other glass. Skill is a non factor other than what I mentioned earlier. As far as instructors go, they are there to help newbies (like you!) get comfortable track riding. I'm sure Z3n will clock in with much more detailed info.
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Mar 10, 2009 16:00
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I started rambling on about this problem I'm having in the "Less questions and more chatting" thread, but asking questions there would be against the spirit of that thread, so here I am. One or more parts of the charging system on my bike (2000 Vulcan 750) has poo poo the bed. I'm getting jack poo poo out of the regulator/rectifier with the engine at 4K RPMs, but I'm trying to test the stator but really don't know what the hell I am doing. There are three wires that come out from the stator, all of which appear to be identical.  Click here for the full 628x471 image. From what I can find, I need to test the ohms coming from each of the three wires. I'm getting readings all over the place but I don't think I'm doing it properly. I'm putting the negative probe of the multimeter on the chassis ground, and the positive on each of the tree wires. Am I doing this right? Should I also be getting voltage readings from the stator? Also, if I touch two of the wires together, I get a tiny spark. I don't know if that means anything or not. I've never really done anything along these lines before, so this is kind of new to me. Thanks for any help you all can give me.
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Mar 10, 2009 16:01
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Oh god. Bad move. If you had no idea, you should have said something. :-0 The power coming from your stator is 3 phase AC. The three wires are called legs. All three legs are identical. Or at least they should be. First. WITH THE BIKE OFF. Use a volt meter. Set it to resistance. measure the resistance between each leg. Going from legs a-b, b-c, and c-a should all register about the same. Sane readings are from .9 to 2ohms. With the meter still set to Resistance, try to go from each stator leg to the chassis. You should get "inf" or --- on your meter. If there's any ohm reading at all, there's a problem. The stator needs to be electrically isolated from the rest of the bike. If it passes those checks. Start the bike. Set your voltmeter to AC (200v setting would be good... ) get the motor up to 3-4000 rpm and check the voltage. You should have something more than 90, but less than 200v. And some further light reading. Yes, this is for a GS, but the system is exactly the same. http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfacts.htm Nerobro fucked around with this message at 16:14 on Mar 10, 2009 |
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Mar 10, 2009 16:12
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Usually I can figure things out as I go along, which is why I didn't say anything, but this one stumped me for some reason. The connectors that I cut off were shot anyway, so I guess the worst that can happen is I'm out a few bucks for three new connectors if the stator is still good. I'll test it out after I get off of work. Thanks!
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Mar 10, 2009 16:34
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kcer posted:How do you get into track days? I think it's probably worthwhile to start a thread about trackdays. I'll do that and try to address all of the basic questions/etc. Edit: thread Z3n fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Mar 10, 2009 |
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Mar 10, 2009 17:02
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pr0zac posted:Don't wait a couple years. I went to my first one on a GS500 6 months after I started riding and had a blast. Assuming you are comfortable enough on a bike to ride around other people without freaking out or parking it in the turns (and even then, you won't be alone) you'll be fine in C group. Z3n posted:I think it's probably worthwhile to start a thread about trackdays. I'll do that and try to address all of the basic questions/etc. Thanks! Edit: Fixed my clutch issue, so thanks for the help there. Took a couple of runs out to get it adjusted properly. Next issue is a hole in the exhaust somewhere. I was out today and it suddenly got loud as hell. I was wearing ear buds and it was way louder than normal, making a much more raw popping sound compared to it's usually nice snappy-purr. I've given it a look over and it's not immediately obvious where it's from, any tips on how to find it? kcer fucked around with this message at 20:07 on Mar 10, 2009 |
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Mar 10, 2009 19:30
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| # ? May 15, 2024 16:40 |
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Any advice for removing the rear tire and such? I have the service manual but just wondering. Just got my bike stands in the mail! Time to learn how to do maintenance on this bitch. Probably will do air filter and such as well. I don't think my plugs need to be changed yet but I might do them just 'cause. Hopefully I don't have to pull the gas tank like the NInja.
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Mar 10, 2009 23:29
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