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Gearhead

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Everything posted by Gearhead

  1. Gearhead
    Condor, So, is the buy history for now? How many did you get? Does the 680 fit the 1st gen with no mods? Jeremy
  2. Gearhead
    Objections to the article: He misspelled neighbourhood? OK, I've never heard that locking the rear is a good thing. I've heard to either modulate both or forget you have the rear and just modulate the front. I think that would apply more on a sport bike, though. Ever seen a Venture do a Stoppie? I think tourers and cruisers generally leave more weight on the rear wheel (because they are long and have more weight), meaning the rear brake would be more effective, when compared to a sport bike which can literally lift the rear off the ground (no rear braking there)! Jeremy
  3. Gearhead
    Not to argue linked brakes or not, just to relay my experience. Mine is an 87 VR, stock brakes except for the HH pads on the front brake that operates by its lonesome with the lever. FWIW, I believe the earlier 1200's had different sized brake pads and possibly calipers. I had to get used to the linked brakes to be sure, as my habit was very lever-heavy and pedal-light. On the VR I need to use much more pedal of course. I did install the HH pads as mentioned above on the one rotor only to enhance the front-braking performance of the lever alone, which did help with lever response. I have partially locked both wheels (not at the same time, thank God). Both in panic stops, naturally. The rear happened on surface streets, traffic suddenly came to a stop (me obviously not paying enough attention), I jumped on the brakes, evidently too much on the pedal and the rear did start to slide. Releasing some pedal pressure fixed it. The front experience was on the freeway - 75 mph - very scary - just last month (HH pads on that one rotor at this point). Again, traffic suddenly slowed to about 25, and I didn't see soon enough (well, technically I did see soon enough, but not soon enough to avoid the drama). Again I jumped on the brakes. I remember a lot of stuff that all happened in a very short time. I didn't think I was gonna make it (those taillights were coming up WAY fast) so I was scoping out the LH shoulder and steering in that direction. I noticed the front starting to slide, so I must have let off the lever a bit because it stopped sliding. Somewhere in there the front started to do the worst wobble-dance I've ever felt. Usually at high speed I only get a slight whole-bike-weave, and the front-wheel-wobble only happens at lower speeds (of course I had scrubbed off some speed by then). Also, the front-end wobble only occurs with no hands on the bars, and ANY hand pressure on the grips stops it cold. Not this time. I had both hands with a death grip and the thing felt like it was near tank-slapping, although it may not have actually been quite that bad. Somewhere in there I realized I had enough stopping distance, so I backed off on the brakes some, held the bars as tight as I could, and it finally calmed down. I started out going probably 75 or 80, and ended up going maybe 25, so this all happened pretty fast. Anyway, the point is, I have experienced each wheel partially locking at some point. Jeremy
  4. Gearhead
    Thanks guys for your input. I've done two things: 1) For the Virago with old Hot Grips with gooey rubber I got some Grip Puppies. Very nice, and the heat from the grips gets thru them OK, just a little longer warm-up time with the Pups. 2) For the Venture, I ordered some Show Chrome heated grips. They sell much cheaper than Hot Grips, around $60, and come with a cool variable heat controller. I ran into a guy here at work who has them on his GW1800 and he is pleased with them. They are on order. Jeremy
  5. Gearhead
    "I talked to a Venture mech at a dealership and he says they can be wired to the bright light hot wire so they come on when you hit yor bright light. (If that is legal in your state.)" Don't power them directly off the hi-beam without a relay - the wiring can't handle it adequately. Using a relay that will work just fine. Jeremy
  6. Gearhead
    It's best not to add any extra current draw through the key switch and other factory wiring. However, you may want the lights to go off with the key so they don't get left on. To accomplish both of these goals, use a relay. The main circuit goes right from the battery + thru a separate fuse or breaker to the relay, then to the lights. The trigger circuit goes from somewhere downstream of the key, thru your external switch, to the relay. I ran my trigger off the headlight circuit so the lights go off with the starter, just like the headlight. The trigger circuit draws very little power. Jeremy
  7. Gearhead
    The louvers are fairly delicate and I dunno how many survive to be for sale. I know I couldn't find one, and bought a new one for ~70 bucks. FYI. Jeremy
  8. Gearhead
    "I wonder if he got around to installing Progressives, it has a Super Brace???" Hmmm...strong possibility! You can probably tell by analyzing the behavior of the front end. Run it on minimum air pressure and go over some sharp bumps or brake really hard - does it bottom or clunk in the front? Or you could get scientific, get a helper and measure static sag. Bottom line - if the bike shows evidence of riding low and floppy with minimum air pressure, it proably has stockers. IMHO, that is. Jeremy
  9. Gearhead
    I beg to differ. The electrolyte solution comes in the correct concentration. When the electrolyte level gets low, only the water has evaporated, NOT the other stuff that makes it electrolyte, leaving the remaining electrolyte stronger in concentration. (Kinda like when you leave a coffee pot on too long; the level goes down as the water boils off and the coffee gets REALLY strong.) Adding distilled water brings the level back up and restores the electrolyte concentration to correct. OTOH, adding more electrolyte repeatedly will slowly increase the concentration. This is what I've read. I'm no chemist, and I have no idea how critical the electrolyte concentration is. Jeremy
  10. Gearhead
    I also wanted to increase my own visibility, but even more I wanted better distance lighting at night. I installed $20 round driving lights from Autozone down by the front brake calipers. This was just a couple months ago, but so far so good. The charging system seems to keep up with the (2) 55W bulbs - with all lights on and engine at 2000 rpm or higher, the gage indicates 13.5-ish V at the battery. I used a relay for several reasons. One, I wanted to get full voltage to the lights to ensure bright operation. Two, I think the factory wiring and switchgear is barely adequate in capacity to begin with, and after 20 years the switches and connections are not the best. A relay eliminates additional load on them. Three, I wanted the lights to go off with the key, and also with the start button like the headlight does. So, I switch the relay with the headlight hot wire, upstream of the hi-lo beam switch; there is also a toggle switch in the switching line. If you wanted the lights to go on only with hi beam, you could take relay switching power from the hi-beam light circuit. The extra light is nice. I've read since I did this that low mounting like I did is not the best for driving lights, but they look cool down there. My cheap lights have no beam control, so they are blinding to look at from almost any forward angle. I can't use them at night unless I am alone on the road, but when other cars are around, their lights help me out anyway so it's mostly when I'm alone that I need the extra light. Something that cost a little more might make more efficient use of the available light and project more of it forward. Jeremy
  11. Gearhead
    Hi Guys, I'm usually over on the 1st gen side of things, but I have a buddy who wants a driving light bar for his RSV and his wife asked me where to get one. What are the choices out there? Where have you bought them and for how much? Thanks, Jeremy
  12. Gearhead
    "You will have to remove the lower fairings on each side for hose replacement. " And, by the way, this is not a hard job. Upper fairing may be a different story, but lowers are easy. Jeremy
  13. Gearhead
    Burn, When you switch the key back to ACC, do you push the front or rear button? When I put the key in ACC, the CLASS comes on but reads 0. I have to push the front or rear button to get a reading. I believe this is normal behavior. If you are pushing the front or rear button and it still reads 0, that is a problem. Here's one way you should be able to tell if air is actually getting in to the shocks. Don't put the bike on the centerstand. Yes, that's normally the right way to do it, but for this test leave it on its wheels and straddle it. Turn the key to ACC and pump up the front suspension from 0 to max. You should notice the front end rise. Do the same for the rear. If you notice no change in ride height, air is not getting into your shocks. Jeremy
  14. Gearhead
    I just found the grip puppies - wow, that's exactly what I need for my Virago which has the old, deteriorated Hot Grips! The heating coils still work fine, but they need a cover and the Puppies should be just the ticket! They hold up to the heat OK? Jeremy PS - What is the Puppies material like? Is it more like rubber or squishy foam?
  15. Gearhead
    Grip Puppies? What are Grip Puppies? "Um...its because those of us with lighter colored skin tend to use more sunscreen, and any residual sunscreen chemical on the palm of the hand and fingers will begin to deteriorate the rubber. Always try to clean your hands of any sunscreen before putting them around the grips and sweating those chemicals into the rubber... I tried some large heatshrink on my grips a few years ago...it worked, but I didnt like the feel of the smooth plastic around the grip." I had wondered what I might have done to chemically attack the rubber. I had also thought of shrink tube but figured it would be too slippery and would make the throttle hand tired gripping it hard enought to keep from slowing unintentionally. Was that what you found? Did the heat get through the extra layer OK? I wish there was textured heat shrink! "K makes a set designed to mount over top of the heated grips on the newer GWs. I've wondered why it wouldn't be possible to put the GW heated grips on our bikes and then use the K covers over top of them. Custom heated grips." Or would the K covers go over Hot Grips? I wonder how much $$ the GW grips are? Or Bimmer grips? How thick are these covers? Anything very thick and the heat would be more insulated from your hands. Jeremy
  16. Gearhead
    Hi. What brand of heated grips have y'all used? I've used Hot Grips and they are good, but after a few years the rubber started wearing out and now the wires are showing and the rubber is sticky, and I need a new $100 set of grips. Maybe that's just what happens with rubber. Is there anything else out there? Anything that had a cheaper replacable cover? Thanks, Jeremy
  17. Gearhead
    The car tire ratings you speak of are UTOQ, and they only apply to passenger car tires. Anything at all unusual - light truck tires and certainly MC tires - don't have it. I've found that MC tire wear varies from set to set EVEN WITH THE SAME BIKE, RIDER AND TIRES. Must be little things like how well I stay on top of the pressure, how often I ride 2-up, phase of the moon. Rear tires almost always wear faster by 25-35%. Carrying a passenger or other luggage doesn't help, as more weight is harder on the tire. Also, different makes / models of tires are VERY different in mileage capability. Cheap Cheng Shin tires work fine and cost little, but will only go 5 - 8000 miles if you're lucky. As alluded to here, sport bike tires stick like glue but don't last long. Dunlop E2's and hopefully E3's wear like iron and most folks think they handle just fine. Pirelli MT66 and Bridgestone Spitfire tires are somewhere in the middle for wear, and cost less than Elite's. I think I've heard that Commanders are not particularly high mileage tires. You should do better with a MT66 for less money, but an E3 is really the way to go for mileage and it pays in the long run. Jeremy
  18. Gearhead
    E2's are great tires but are gradually being discontinued in favor of the new E3's. Dunlop seems to have had some management problems and a strike which they have not recovered from in terms of supply issues. Let's face it - their bread-and-butter is probably supplying the OEM's with tires for new bikes. So...no front E3 yet, and E2 you'd be lucky to find. I installed E3 rear and Pirelli MT66 front. In the past, I've gotten over 20k from E2's on my Virago, front and rear. I've got one on there now that's over 20K and has a little left in it. The E3 on the back of my Venture is my first. It's got over 10k and, although these predictions are hard to make, it looks like it will go for 20K. I've had that model of Pirelli on the Virago before and got 17k/13k front/rear from them, which is decent, and they handle well and are cheap. So, I went with that for the front of the Venture when the E3 was not available. Jeremy
  19. Gearhead
    Dude, those prices are nuts! You can buy online a Dunlop E3 for the rear for around 120; local prices will be higher but should not be 260! Mount and balance, if you take in the wheel, should be $20-25. If you take in the whole bike, it will be higher of course, and these bikes take longer because of the bags & stuff. You can do it yourself. I even mount and balance the tires myself, which is actually pretty easy too. Well, the mounting is a bit of a pain, but do-able. Jeremy
  20. Gearhead
    On mine, the pressure sensor itself was good but the electrical connection was corroded preventing it from operating. Repairing that was good for about 2 mpg. There is a procedure online here for repairing the most common failure mode of these sensors, too. Jeremy
  21. Gearhead
    "open up air box and look at the black sliders in the carbs when motor running and rev motor each slider should move about the same distance if not theres one problem" Not a reliable check. My slides appeared to all be doing the same dance, yet when removed I found that 3 of them had significant deterioration and cracking in the diaphragms. I average about 37 on my 87 VR, and I've checked all that stuff! Can you take the trike kit off for a couple tankfulls? Jeremy
  22. Gearhead
    Regarding the jetting, look up the instructions on the Dynojet website - they post PDF's. I've installed Stage 1 kits on my old Interceptor and my Virago. In both cases, they say the kit is recommended for a stock bike with either stock filter and pipes or K&N filter and aftermarket pipes. Both kits came with 2 sets of main jets, and recommended the bigger of the two for aftermarket pipes. However, the sizes weren't that much different and in the Virago with Jardines I've tried both and can't tell the difference. The needles are adjustable for mid-range and might be better at a different setting for different pipes. I don't think these kits are usually installed with much attention to precision tuning, which they really require to fully benefit from them. In other words, the adjustments are probably not totally optimized anyway; the kit was probably just thrown in with the default settings. Just a guess of course. I find it likely you won't notice the difference. But even if you do need some work, all you'd probably need is to change the needle height which is easy to get to on these bikes and FREE, and maybe 4 new DJ main jets for something like 3 bucks each. (They are, however, a little harder to get to than the needles.) Jeremy
  23. Gearhead
    Hey Squidley, how do the lights mount to the brackets? That is, what sort of light mount pattern are they designed for? Thanks, Jeremy
  24. Gearhead
    Bigin, Best prices were at MAW a few months ago. Progressive fork springs were around 50 bucks there, and the rear replacement shock assy from Progressive was $335 at MAW, much better than anywhere else. There is another option on the rear. If you shock is OK, not leaking, then Progressive makes a replacement spring for it, to be installed on the original shock in place of the stock spring. They sell it direct for $95. Buckeye Performance also handles those springs; there seems to be no other outlet for them. The rear isn't too hard, just a bit of a pain. I removed all the links while in there and greased all the bushings. Jeremy
  25. Gearhead
    Another thing about carb flow rating is you need to know the vacuum drop it is rated at. I read that when flow ratings were first established way back before "modern" 4-barrel carbs were around, they started rating carbs at 3" pressure drop. In other words, if you sucked air through the carb with 3" vaccum, that's the flow you would get. When 4-barrels came out, they flowed too much for the existing test machinery, so they established a new standard of 1.5" pressure drop. A given carb flows less at 1.5" drop than at 3" drop (because at 1.5" the machine is not sucking as hard). So I'm told that even now if you buy a 2-barrel automotive carb it will be flow-rated at 3", while 4-barrels are rated at 1.5". I'm also told that if an engine is pulling 3" manifold vacuum at WOT, it is inhibiting performance. If you can get that closer to 1.5" (with a bigger carb), that's much better and at that vacuum you're getting about all the airflow (and thus performance) you're gonna get and a bigger carb won't help. Jeremy
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