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Good to know. Specifically I went from ATF to Bel-Ray 15W but like you said nothing I’m doing matters enough to worry over. Bike seems less bone-shakey now on quick hard bumps so I’m happy.
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Apr 21, 2023 00:54
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15w seems super heavy tbh, maybe stick a cable tie on the fork and check how much you're diving under heavy braking
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Apr 21, 2023 01:07
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I've referenced these two widely shared graphs. I have no idea where they came from or how accurate they are. I've since just decided to use Maxima Racing 5wt in all my bikes now and just not think about it anymore. 
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Apr 21, 2023 01:29
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I would not use 5w in anything with simple damping rod forks, or a Harley, as you'll just blast through and bottom all the time but yeah otherwise that's a reasonable policy.
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Apr 21, 2023 01:31
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5wt is what is recommended in the manuals. The only time I thought I knew better was putting 10wt in a superduke's forks with -10mm airgap just for flavor and it just felt...stiff and shuddery and bad. I went back to 5wt and stock air gap and felt fine. This may be me showing my riding ability's whole bare red rear end though
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Apr 21, 2023 01:40
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GriszledMelkaba posted:5wt is what is recommended in the manuals. The only time I thought I knew better was putting 10wt in a superduke's forks with -10mm airgap just for flavor and it just felt...stiff and shuddery and bad. I went back to 5wt and stock air gap and felt fine. This may be me showing my riding ability's whole bare red rear end though No that's totally normal, generally more sophisticated forks use thin oil because they are tuned by the valve stack so it's better to use thin oil and a heavy stack if you want slower damping. Damping rod forks are tuned by the size of the hole and the thickness of the oil, the compromise ends up being pretty big holes and pretty thick fluid. If you use 5w in a damping rod fork you'll end up with next to no low speed damping because it'll just blast through the holes unimpeded. If you use really thick oil in a decent cartridge fork you'll end up with really terrible stiff high speed damping because the valves can't flow enough to let the fork move properly.
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Apr 21, 2023 01:48
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My new vfr 2016 has a throttle lock thing. similar to this. I've only played with it a little, but I'm not a fan. Don't feel safe to lock my throttle input without any sensors to disable it. I also don't super slab. I've been using a throttle assist on all my bikes since my first bike so i'll most likely just add one of those. 
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Apr 21, 2023 07:46
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Supradog posted:My new vfr 2016 has a throttle lock thing. similar to this. I've never used that style but I do like Atlas throttle locks.  It's absolutely no substitute for real cruise control, but I find it quite handy on a boring stretch of road when I want to briefly use my right hand for something
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Apr 21, 2023 14:38
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My old goldwing had the throttle locker and I just found that I was constantly fiddling with the throttle trying to do micro adjustments to get the speed where I wanted it. The new wing just has normal cruise control and you just pres butan
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Apr 21, 2023 14:59
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Well that was an interesting (read: annoying) day. I hopped onto the FZR to go to the bike gear shop to find some boots. Fired up just fine. I make my way to the highway entrance and after a couple of misfires it conked out, before even reaching the slip road luckily. Tried re-starting. One or two pops and that's it. Pushed it back a couple hundred meters to a fastfood place where i contemplated what was wrong. Tried turning it off and on again. Noticed the fuel pump didn't click as usual, but i just assumed that was because the fuel system was already pressurized. Tried starting again. Fired up. Odd. Maybe a fluke. Rode back home via a bicycle path so i wouldn't end up on a two lane road without a hard shoulder, it worked flawlessly. Grabbed some tools just in case, and continued my way to the bike gear shop, though this time through the city. Bike worked completely fine for like a 25 minute ride to the shop, and then back again. Decided to get onto the highway because it's a much quicker way to get home, because the FZR acted completely normal. Again, right before reaching the highway onramp, it conked out. I listen again. Now the fuel pump didn't make its usual clickaclicka-sound but an odd squeak. I checked the fuel filter, and the top half was filled with air At that point i was about a kilometer away from a MX shop. Pushed it to the shop. Asked if they could help me - but they didn't know how, they didn't have fuel pumps in stock. Asked for a little container to dump fuel into. Tested the fuel pump - upon turning on the ignition one spurt of fuel, but otherwise nothing. Definitely dead, but definitely electrically it gets what it needs to have. Hit the pump with a hammer. Pump happily clicked away and pumped fuel. Reassembled everything, went on my way. At that point i was about 20 minutes away from home, so worth risking it. A kilometer later it conked out again. Tried hitting it with some smaller tools i had with me, but no luck. gently caress. Pushed the bike to a gas station a couple hundred meters further. Went home by bus to figure out a plan. Called a different to see if they have a pump. They did have one, but it's on the other side of the city with no way of reaching it before closing time, and i wasn't completely confident i could swap it on the side of the road. Sigh. But they suggested bypassing the fuel pump altogether and gravity feed the go go juice into the carburetor. Went to the place where i work on my bicycle. Grabbed a male/male hose barb i have in stock there, with the plan to do the gravity feed thing. Got back onto the bus, with a backpack full of gear (atgatt, even if you're tired and frustrated), to the bike. Arrive at bike, and no matter how hard i tugged, pulled, wrestled and cursed, i couldn't get the fuel hoses off. Nor did i have something to outright cut them with. At that point - tired, hungry, sweaty and exhausted from pushing the bike and cycling - i threw in the towel and called roadside assistance, payed dearly, and had them fix it for me. Told the RA guy the plan, he agreed to try it but didn't have too much hope. He had some very sturdy, long, but skinny dual hinged pliers with which he could reach the fuel hose, and put in the hose barb. Filled up the fuel all the way so the fuel level in the tank was above the level of the fuel rail, and after some cranking and gentle encouragement with starting spray, it burst into life! I rode home and gave my kitties some big hugs. Tomorrow i'll decide what to spend my time on. I have a date with a super cute guy, but also two semi-dead bikes. I guess he's gonna either learn how to install a fuel pump (FZR600), or how to do a brake revision (sv650s, parts came in today). Luckily he actually likes seeing me work on stuff like that :3 and loved learning how to assemble a DIY transmitter kit. LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Apr 21, 2023 |
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Apr 21, 2023 18:50
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LimaBiker posted:Arrive at bike, and no matter how hard i tugged, pulled, wrestled and cursed, i couldn't get the fuel hoses off. Nor did i have something to outright cut them with. I think "hose pliers" are the magic bullet for this situation
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Apr 21, 2023 20:17
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 This is similar to the RA guy used. But i think the main issue here is that the hoses were practically fused to the hose barb, and need to be replaced. I actually genuinely almost bought fuel hose a few days ago, but the ethanol resistant type was not in stock at the shop where i ordered the brake parts and i didn't wanna slow down the delivery of those parts.
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Apr 21, 2023 20:41
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The hose pliers have the curved tips that can get around an old crusty hose to get it over the barb. New hose is best though, yeah
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Apr 21, 2023 20:44
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Today I sold the learner bike. A dad bought it for his kid to practice for the A2 examination. They both seemed happy, and I'm glad to have the money and the garage space. It was a good thing on the whole, though I'll always remember the little Honda fondly.
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Apr 23, 2023 12:29
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I got around to fitting the rack to my Scrambler today. Despite being OEM the holes in the rack arms don't line up with the ones in the frame, so I bought a dremel yesterday and modified the rack today. The OEM top box is very big and boxy so I got a Givi top plate and 30L aluminium monokey box. They're both black as well which goes better with the bike. I drilled holes in the plate to match, went on nicely and I'm happy with the result.  
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Apr 23, 2023 17:19
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I bought some Bridgestone 704/709’s for the goldwing. It pains me to not buy Michelin, but the ‘stones were apparently developed just for the 1800 Goldwing and are still the best all around tires for it.
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Apr 23, 2023 23:00
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i am a big fan of bridgestone. japanese bikes should have japanese tires.
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Apr 24, 2023 01:46
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Had to do some sketchy things to do some last minute fork seals before a track day tomorrow to satisfy my brain ghosts
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Apr 24, 2023 02:26
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Beve Stuscemi posted:I bought some Bridgestone 704/709’s for the goldwing. It pains me to not buy Michelin, but the ‘stones were apparently developed just for the 1800 Goldwing and are still the best all around tires for it. My prediction is you'll start trying them on other bikes and eventually never go back to square french cheese tyres
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Apr 24, 2023 02:27
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Pilot Roads are still probably the best commuting tire for wet climates, but yeah I've got S22s on the gixxess and have ridden them on lovely broken cold wet mountain passes and torrential rain and they handled it fine, plus the handling is great. Michelin make amazing car tires.
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Apr 24, 2023 02:41
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Finger Prince posted:Pilot Roads are still probably the best commuting tire for wet climates, but yeah I've got S22s on the gixxess and have ridden them on lovely broken cold wet mountain passes and torrential rain and they handled it fine, plus the handling is great. Michelin make amazing car tires. And what shape are car tires? Checkmate
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Apr 24, 2023 02:53
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GriszledMelkaba posted:Had to do some sketchy things to do some last minute fork seals before a track day tomorrow to satisfy my brain ghosts Huh. I need fork seals too, eventually. I wonder if that heavy tree branch... And that rope looks pretty sturdy...
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Apr 24, 2023 09:49
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My love for Michelin mostly comes from the Pilot Powers back when I had a GSXR and/or DRZ-SM. They were perfect.
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Apr 24, 2023 14:18
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Mounted a new fuel pump and new fuel hoses on the FZR. The old ones were cracking, and one started leaking as soon as i undid the hose clip. I almost was ready to finish the job when i found out that the fuel filter i ordered, is already in use on the Suzuki. Bleh. Wait. Or is it. I ordered it last month, and i haven't done anything to the Suzuki at all last month. I am confused. I need a secretary... E: turns out i indeed still had it. Mounted it, FZR works again! LimaBiker fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Apr 25, 2023 |
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Apr 25, 2023 15:16
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Getting the vrf ready for the long weekend. Added some better soft luggage stand offs. Old Givi passenger grab handles, the givi top box kit comes with them since the mount for the top box removes the oems.  Generic cruiser side bag standoffs. Bendy in the corners, but not from the mount points.  
Supradog fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Apr 25, 2023 |
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Apr 25, 2023 20:38
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Subway was dead, so I rode up to my dentist appointment. I usually do that anyway because it's uptown and usually going against traffic most of the way. I basically never use the left pocket of my over pants because I just use the right one for keys. I was using the phone gps to map my route, so put that it my left pocket. And blammo, found my old neck gaiter that went missing a year or so ago! I assume I used it on the ride to the storage place in 2021 and shoved it in that pocket. Never ever would've thought of looking in there. After I tried all the jacket pockets I gave up lol Fake edit: went to out the cover on the bike and see some dude sitting on his ride next to mystery e-bike. Turns out he's the friend of the guy who owns it, and he's on the phone trying to make arrangements of what to do with. They guess the battery died or something, so he just parked it. Moosetery solved.
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Apr 25, 2023 23:29
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Finally got my bike back after my $288 oil change. Someone who is good at the budgeting please help my hobby is dying. Re: phones - Per someone's suggestion here, I use a waterproof burner phone without service for navigation and tether it to my main phone in a secure pocket. It saved me $$ when I failed to properly mount the phone on a borrowed bike.
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Apr 26, 2023 03:34
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Do your own oil changes and save mega bucks on the easiest maintenance task there is.* Hth *:Ktm not included, special conditions apply
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Apr 26, 2023 06:45
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I will refer you to the OP's post history, ?.
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Apr 26, 2023 06:48
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Oooh right my bad
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Apr 26, 2023 06:52
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T Zero posted:Re: phones - Per someone's suggestion here, I use a waterproof burner phone without service for navigation and tether it to my main phone in a secure pocket. It saved me $$ when I failed to properly mount the phone on a borrowed bike. I was gearing up to do this then realized how much I hate actually having a phone on my bars. It's too much of a distraction. I just leave it in my pocket and if I need directions I use voice prompts through my Sena.
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Apr 26, 2023 13:55
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To be fair, $127 was just the towing. The mechanic was able to extract the broken bolt from the filter cover with some pliers and said none of the threads were too damaged. He chased them out and also cleaned up some of the damaged fairing mount threads that were also worn down. Basically he just billed an hour of labor. I did appreciate that all the guys in the shop were pretty sympathetic. "We've all broken bolts. That's how you learn." Also the guy who towed my bike told me about a track that does mini moto racing and track days, so I'm going to look into trying that out.
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Apr 26, 2023 15:01
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It's all about the bike friends you made along the way
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Apr 26, 2023 15:12
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And just like that, the badly parked e-bike has disappeared after 3 weeks 
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Apr 26, 2023 16:29
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I sold my old KTM 250 EXC today. It had a bunch of problems but was a great bike for me. I told the buyer about every single problem I've ever had with the bike and what the current problems are. When he asked why I was selling it I told him I was tired of fixing it. He still paid me full asking price $1100), which seemed low based on the fb messages I got about it but whatever. It runs and rides but needs fork seals, wheel bearings, and the PVs are hosed again to where top end power is non-existent. TotalLossBrain fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Apr 26, 2023 |
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Apr 26, 2023 18:24
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 So much farkle. Versys x 300 Racetech suspension in front, cart emulators, .75mm/kg springs, stock is .6. Seat concepts tall seat, I wanted to try a UJM profile. Bike seat sits now around 85cm tall. I am kinda short. I can get a toe down if its leaning a little. The seat sits taller and now I am in the wind. Installed the Puig windscreen I had lying around and it did help. Moto-D tank grips, and oil plug(magnetic\drilled for wiring) Crash guards Center stand on the way. YSS shock w nitrogen reservoir, separate high-lo speed compression and rebound settings on the way. At some point I will throw on the road 6s. Evans waterless coolant, had a cooling problem for some reason. It's working way better. The old coolant got mildly contaminated somehow too. I probably won't mess with the exhaust. It's been tracked a few times, taken to an ATV park, and a few road trips. Trying to get better comfort on longer trips. Track will see the stock seat, stock windscreen, and different tires. Unsure about ADV riding still. Like it is almost too tall. I am undecided if that means always gas through uneven ground, never stop, or if it means use the lower seat so I can get a foot down on uneven ground. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Apr 27, 2023 |
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Apr 27, 2023 00:20
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Speaking of disasters or huge success, I want to restore the gas tank on my bike, but I also want to ride my bike which needs a gas tank. The solution was to find some beater tank to practice on, then once that tank's fixed up I can swap them and work on my real tank. Looking on ebay most tanks in any kind of savable condition were in the $200+ range, and still had a lot of damage. This one guy had his tank marked down to $100, but had an obvious... hole? that worried me:  Was that a sticker? Or a bullet hole? Or just a sharp jab that popped all the paint in the area? I'm comfortable soldering pinholes but never done any brazing, so I wasn't looking forward to closing a hole of that size. I guess if it's just a sharp dent I could fill it with putty and sand it down. I kept an eye on the tank for a few months, and it never sold. Guess the lovely bullet hole pics were scaring everyone else off. Finally I figured I'd buy it and fix whatever it was. It was a sticker. This guy probably cost himself $100 by not peeling the stupid thing off before taking photos.  Next up:
Should be a good time!
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Apr 27, 2023 03:39
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I replaced the water pump gasket this winter, as coolant was seeping out past the 20-year old rubber gasket (5). All good now, no more coolant leak. But now I have a slow oil leak (~1 drop per day) from the arrowed location:   I guess that another old rubber gasket (10) has given up, isn't that the most likely explanation? Old bikes, fix one thing just to have another problem pop up. I didn't actually take the pump out last time, but isn't it usually above the oil level in the sump (so I don't have to drain the new oil I just put in)?
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Apr 27, 2023 19:13
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Judging by that photo I would expect a fair bit of oil to come out when you remove the pump
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Apr 27, 2023 20:12
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Today at only 5700 miles I had the Triumph dealership replace my T120's stock Pirelli Phantom Sportscomps with a set of Avon Spirit STs I ordered a couple months ago, and while they're still getting scrubbed in I'm pretty happy with them. I can practically initiate a lean with my chin, and the steering is so much more even, responsive and what I consider "normal". I've done plenty of parking lot figure 8's on this bike and they never stopped being awkward and a little risky, with the new tires it's nothing. No idea if this is just the new tire effect, or the superslab-loving PO managed to square the stock ones in only 2,000 miles, or the move from 100/90 bias to 110/80 radials, or what, but no regrets throwing those tires away early.
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Apr 30, 2023 01:56
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