Pokey Araya posted:I've posted this before, but this road owns, http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/555/Texas/The-Three-Sisters-%28AKA-The-Twisted-Sisters%29--Ranch-Roads-335-336337a.html This is the area I was talking about. I wish I wouldn't have lost my GoPro footage from there  Leakey is WAY too much fun. It'd be like 6 hour drive from houston though.
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Feb 27, 2013 20:28
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Safety Dance posted:Okay. My mental image of Texas is effectively a flat, featureless plain. Good to know I'm wrong. If you are from anywhere with real mountains ( northwest, Colorado, Appalachian country, etc) it is. Despite what Texicans may try to tell you, their idea of a hill is a gopher mound. 
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Feb 27, 2013 21:24
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I thought that before I found myself in hill country... It's pretty magical even if it isn't the cascade foothills.
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Feb 27, 2013 21:27
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HotCanadianChick posted:If you are from anywhere with real mountains ( northwest, Colorado, Appalachian country, etc) it is. Despite what Texicans may try to tell you, their idea of a hill is a gopher mound. Sorry but this is pretty wrong. I had no idea these roads existed in TX either but then once you get there you'll understand. The hills aren't going to keep going up at a 40 degree angle for hundreds of miles but there is plenty of great elevation change on well maintained roads. It's as good as you're going to get within a few hours of Houston.
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Feb 27, 2013 21:33
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Would a 1983 Honda CM250c be a good first 'real' motorcycle? I'm currently commuting on a Honda Elite 80 scooter, and am looking for another bike with some more power to tinker with.
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Mar 1, 2013 01:22
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It would be totally fine, but -- and I don't say this a whole lot -- you may find yourself wanting more power. I think the CM250/Rebel has like 18 horsepower, which is in itself pretty drat scooter-like. It'd be easy and safe to learn on, but its absolute maximum speed is around 120km/h, and that's flat out at redline with a good run-up. Enough juice to get you around town, though. They're also extremely small, which makes them light and easy to maneuver, but also not well suited to anyone even a little larger than average.
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Mar 1, 2013 01:45
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I have a Rebel, which is pretty similar to the CM250c. The fastest I've ever gotten it (with some luggage) is 75 mph, which was redline and took pretty ideal situations. The only time I've ever felt that I wanted more power was when I did a long-distance trip (Atlanta to Dallas) on the highway, and that was more because I could keep up with the speed limit, but not much more than that. When I hit the Texas border and the speed limit went from 70 to 75, I had a little more trouble. But really, I ran it full-throttle that whole way and it still works like a charm. Unless you're really wanting a lot more speed, it'll be fine.
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Mar 1, 2013 02:34
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The Senator Giroux posted:I have a Rebel, which is pretty similar to the CM250c. The fastest I've ever gotten it (with some luggage) is 75 mph, which was redline and took pretty ideal situations. I rode a 1980-something Yamaha Exciter 250 back in 2008 or so, which had all of fourteen raging horsepower when it rolled off the assembly line. It was great for learning on, but when I took it on a 300-mile trip, it showed its weakness -- it was fast enough to catch up to bumble-gently caress county maintenance vehicles, but not fast enough to pass.
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Mar 1, 2013 03:06
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Whats a good chain cleaning fluid? I think my chain needs to be scrubbed down real good and lubed back up. I used a wax based lube and it's not doing it any favors, I want to get all of that off there and use 90 weight.
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Mar 1, 2013 19:11
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Kerosene. Bonus if you buy it in a 10-gallon jug at the local hardware store. Make sure to act really shifty when you do so.
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Mar 1, 2013 19:13
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Is it safe to get a piece of wood to put under my center stand so I can lift my rear off the ground for a chain adjustment? It's starting to get on the looser side and I don't wanna have to take it to a shop to get it done. 
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Mar 1, 2013 19:19
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Kerosene is good, but you can't get it in a spray bottle as far as I know, which makes it more of a pain to use. When I do roller chains, I just flush it with WD40 but it's supposed to be bad for seals on x/o-ring chains. For those, I bought a can of "chain cleaner" http://www.amazon.com/Motul-Chain-Cleaner-9-8oz-103243/dp/B000VJPVJK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362161951&sr=8-1&keywords=motul+chain+cleaner Once you get it good and clean using a solvent, just flushing it out with 90 weight regularly should keep it fairly garbage-free.
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Mar 1, 2013 19:21
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Kerosene is bad for rubber as well, but as long as you get up most of it and immediately lube your chain you should be okay. I am sure chains get exposed to worse on the daily anyway.
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Mar 1, 2013 19:26
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JP Money posted:If you do there are some roads out here to the west of houston. Not sure about others. Expect some big sweepers and stuff since the good roads are mostly between farmland. There are some nicer roads out towards Austin when the terrain livens up a bit. That's good to know since a move to Houston might be in the cards at some point for me as well. Also, I know the insurance conversation petered out a few pages back, but one piece of strong advice I have for Americans is to purchase Uninsured / Underinsured (UM/UIM) coverage to the same limits as your regular liability. Since many motorcycle accidents are the other guy's fault, left turners, red light runners, etc., UM/UIM is a good way to pay for medical bills if the other guy is at fault and it's a fuckton cheaper than a health insurance policy. The way state law works, many states mandate that your rates can't be raised for claiming under UM/UIM either. I have a $500,000 policy w/ Progressive and matching UM/UIM limits and the UM/UIM premium is like $50 for the year. Lastly, has anyone done a valve adjustment on an BMW oilhead engine? I'm getting ready to do an oil change / valve adjustment and while I have some instructions, if there's anything specific I should be watching out for, it would be appreciated.
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Mar 1, 2013 19:53
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MoraleHazard posted:Lastly, has anyone done a valve adjustment on an BMW oilhead engine? I'm getting ready to do an oil change / valve adjustment and while I have some instructions, if there's anything specific I should be watching out for, it would be appreciated. It's super easy. My wife has her feeler gauges paired up and tethered together with monofilament to avoid dropping them in a pan of oil or otherwise losing them - she has four; two pairs - one for each valve on a cylinder. You'll lose a bit of oil from under the valve covers, not much but enough to check the level afterward. Take your time... Do you have a manometer or a twinmax? You'll need one; every time you adjust the valves you'll want to sync up the throttle bodies. And no you don't need to bring it in and get it connected to a motronic machine. With my wife and I working together, using the Twinmax, we get them synced up in a couple minutes; that's the easy part. If you've never done this before it might surprise you how much smoother the bike runs and how much less it wants to torque over when you rev it after you finish.
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Mar 1, 2013 20:16
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Xovaan posted:Is it safe to get a piece of wood to put under my center stand so I can lift my rear off the ground for a chain adjustment? It's starting to get on the looser side and I don't wanna have to take it to a shop to get it done. clutchpuck posted:It's super easy. My wife has her feeler gauges paired up and tethered together with monofilament to avoid dropping them in a pan of oil or otherwise losing them - she has four; two pairs - one for each valve on a cylinder. You'll lose a bit of oil from under the valve covers, not much but enough to check the level afterward. Take your time... FYI the "reason" for the electronic gauges they tell you to use at the dealer is they're ridiculously accurate. You're supposed to sync the bodies on the oilhead engines to within 15mbar I think, which is like 0.2 psi difference.
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Mar 1, 2013 20:24
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Remember to use two feelers at a time. When doing the intake on one cylinder for example, have a feeler on both of the intake valves at the same time. Wait wait wait, is this really a thing? Is this to prevent the cam from canting up when you check one valve at a time? I have been doing it all wrong. 
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Mar 1, 2013 20:36
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Yes. Yeah, by the time the wife is done with each cylinder she has four feeler gauges all hanging out of the engine. Also, we balance the accuracy called for by Motorrad with the ease of simply syncing it twice per valve adjustment. It's pretty easy to "feel" the sync once you've done it a few times, too, knowing of course it still isn't as 100% perfect as it could be with the motronic machine.
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Mar 1, 2013 20:55
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MotoMind posted:Wait wait wait, is this really a thing? Is this to prevent the cam from canting up when you check one valve at a time? I have been doing it all wrong. Dunno about the BMW, but on the DOHC on my GS, Suzuki instructs you to measure the clearances in a particular order that allows you to check two valves at a time before rotating the cams, in a way that minimizes any deflection that could lever the cam bearings and throw off the clearance measurement. I don't leave any feelers in place though, and don't think that would work, moving through 8 valves. v0v Clymer (which often sucks for missing this kind of detail) lays out a method that involves twice as many rotations and leads to potential inaccuracies from cam deflection.
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Mar 1, 2013 23:21
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MotoMind posted:Wait wait wait, is this really a thing? Is this to prevent the cam from canting up when you check one valve at a time? I have been doing it all wrong.
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Mar 2, 2013 02:19
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Oh ok. Not applicable for motorcycles with valve shims.
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Mar 2, 2013 02:27
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MotoMind posted:Oh ok. Not applicable for motorcycles with valve shims.
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Mar 2, 2013 05:16
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Air-cooled Bandits do it too, but the tolerances are so loose it probably doesn't matter much 
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Mar 2, 2013 09:11
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If I have comprehensive insurance that covers damage due to hitting an animal: Does it cover the damage caused only by the actual striking of the animal, or would it also cover all the damage caused by the bike then low sliding or possibly flying off a cliff and exploding?
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Mar 2, 2013 21:29
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It should accident damage that results from striking an animal, so if you strike an animal and stay upright and it fucks up your fairings, then that is covered. If you crash as a result of striking an animal, it should cover those damages as well. But IANAL, check with your agent, etc.
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Mar 2, 2013 21:37
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I think if you flew off a cliff and exploded after hitting an animal it would be easier/cheaper for them to just replace the whole thing.
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Mar 3, 2013 03:22
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hayden. posted:If I have comprehensive insurance that covers damage due to hitting an animal: Does it cover the damage caused only by the actual striking of the animal, or would it also cover all the damage caused by the bike then low sliding or possibly flying off a cliff and exploding? Please tell me this isn't a rhetorical question, and you have a GoPro.
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Mar 3, 2013 03:23
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clutchpuck posted:It's super easy. My wife has her feeler gauges paired up and tethered together with monofilament to avoid dropping them in a pan of oil or otherwise losing them - she has four; two pairs - one for each valve on a cylinder. You'll lose a bit of oil from under the valve covers, not much but enough to check the level afterward. Take your time... No, I don't have a twinmax; I'll have to get one. Thanks for the insight.
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Mar 3, 2013 03:38
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Xovaan posted:Is it safe to get a piece of wood to put under my center stand so I can lift my rear off the ground for a chain adjustment? It's starting to get on the looser side and I don't wanna have to take it to a shop to get it done. Check the service manual about chain slack adjustment. My Bandit manual says to adjust it to 20-30mm (0.8-) of deflection when the bike is full of gas on a level surface balanced upright. There's a huge caution about adjusting slack when there's no load on the rear wheel. I assume that's so when bottoming out the suspension you don't run out of slack and cam the front sprocket off the propeller shaft or something. As far as chain cleaning: Suzuki Service Manual posted:Do not use trichloroethylene, gasoline or any similar solvent.
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Mar 3, 2013 11:38
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I bought a 2nd Generation flywheel for my EX500, since the pre-'94 have a flywheel prone to throwing its magnets. To get it to fit, there's one little nubbin to grind off, which the seller did for me. But now there are a bunch of metal filings stuck to the magnet; what's the best way to get all of those off so they don't get thrown around inside my stator? I'm not seeing many websites explaining this for flywheels, though for magnets in general I see mention of using stick tape, or pressing warm wax against the filings and letting it set, then pulling off. The seller suggested hosing the flywheel down with kerosene. What's my best bet?
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Mar 3, 2013 21:53
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Maybe get one of those big rare earth magnets and pull them off? I don't know if that would gently caress up the magnetism of the flywheel magnets though.
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Mar 3, 2013 22:10
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:I bought a 2nd Generation flywheel for my EX500, since the pre-'94 have a flywheel prone to throwing its magnets. To get it to fit, there's one little nubbin to grind off, which the seller did for me. But now there are a bunch of metal filings stuck to the magnet; what's the best way to get all of those off so they don't get thrown around inside my stator? Tweezers and or an air compressor?
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Mar 3, 2013 22:43
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Blu tac or putty would be my choice.
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Mar 3, 2013 23:06
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Oh yeah - someone posted up a little LED light thingy that showed your voltage a while back, anyone remember it and the URL?
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Mar 3, 2013 23:37
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The one posted was crazy expensive, so I bought this one from Dealextreme. It arrived a few weeks later, but it works well and is accurate.
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Mar 4, 2013 01:15
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Buy a ZX14 and hook it up to your battery. It shows the voltage on the dash and as a bonus you get a ZX14.
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Mar 4, 2013 03:04
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I have the BS38's from my XS500 torn apart and the supposedly correct rebuild kits for them. I am however not so sure the internet was correct. Would those that have worked on the Mikuni BS series care to take a look and set me straight?  Based on this.  Does this look correct? I know the Keyster rebuild kits are generic and some modification may be necessary, however there are some significant differences. The float bowl gasket and needle valve "look" correct.
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Mar 4, 2013 04:02
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hayden. posted:Buy a ZX14 and hook it up to your battery. It shows the voltage on the dash and as a bonus you get a ZX14. It also shows you the outside temperature just in case you forget just how loving cold you are. Anyway - Datel makes pretty nice meters but they aren't easy to install if you want them to look good. Kuryakyn has a cheap gauge but it's not a number - just stupid LEDs. Clearwater makes one as well that's stupidly easy to install and is just 1 LED that changes color/blinks but at $60 is a ripoff. I had an Acumen Gear Indicator that shoved the voltage as well on my Triumph - but it's been since discontinued. You may still be able to find it (Acumen DGV8) I really liked it.
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Mar 4, 2013 05:19
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FileNotFound posted:It also shows you the outside temperature just in case you forget just how loving cold you are. The Shiver has an external temp gauge which I'm convinced is why I feel the cold more now. Now I know it's freezing. It also tells me what gear I'm in and I still don't understand why anyone cares about that. Anyway this one was a simple little 3-LED affair in a waterproof casing that looked like it would fit perfectly on my bars. That Clearwater one might work if I can fit it under the scratch plate on my tank, I'll have to look underneath to check.
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Mar 4, 2013 08:43
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goddamnedtwisto posted:The Shiver has an external temp gauge which I'm convinced is why I feel the cold more now. Now I know it's freezing. It also tells me what gear I'm in and I still don't understand why anyone cares about that. You can also use it to determine whether or not the Shiver will start, so I understand.
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Mar 4, 2013 12:39
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