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Gearhead

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Everything posted by Gearhead

  1. Gearhead
    The riders hookup is a cable that comes from the dash thru a grommet, just inboard of the tape deck. It comes back a foot or so and ends at a rubber clip on the faux tank. The passengers spot should have a control box on the LH side of the trunk front wall where the passenger can reach it. That box has a short whip cable that attaches under the seat to an extension cable. This extension cable, as well as the riders cable, plug into the amp, located just underneath the radio. You gotta take out the radio panel, then the panel under that to get to it. It's easy. Maybe your cables are there, coiled up under the seat and dash. It's also possible that someone pulled them out completely and the amp has two lonely connectors, but I bet they're in there somewhere. Jeremy
  2. Gearhead
    Is it believed that removing the anti-chatter and replacing with a regular disk makes the clutch "stouter", that is, able to handle more power? Thanks for tolerating my persistent questions. Jeremy
  3. Gearhead
    Thanks. I asked the trade-off of removing it, now, what is the benefit of removing it? Is is a known common cause of slippage? Thanks again, Jeremy
  4. Gearhead
    Agreed, plan on a few hours. Clean and grease the linkage pivots while you're at it. New spring for stock shock is $95 from Progressive direct. New 420 series shock/spring assy is $340 from MAW - best price out there. My old shock was functional and the CLASS worked fine, but even at 70 psi it was insufficient for 2-up - static sag was 65% or so, meaning that just sitting vertically with 2 people aboard it had used up 65% of the travel (rule of thumb is shoot for 33%). I didn't know what to do; didn't really want to spend big money but was reluctant to invest 95 in a 20-yr-old shock that could spring a leak at any time. Also liked and wanted to retain air feature which 420 does not have. So, I experimented with making plastic spring coil spacers. I only got the static sag down to about 55% but I got to aggressive and caused coil bind, breaking the spring seat on the shock. My hand forced, I bought the $340 shock. It's not as stiff as I expected, and with preload up all the way static sag is 49% 2-up and around 22% solo, which is a good compromise I suppose. However, it rides nice solo or 2-up, and on a recent 1200 mile 2-up cruise it never bottomed and handled well. Jeremy
  5. Gearhead
    How close is the bike to vertical with the kickstand on a 2x4? Technically, oil is supposed to be checked with the bike on the centerstand, and I think the level in the window may be fairly sensitive to the state of plumb of the bike. Jeremy
  6. Gearhead
    OKScooter or anyone who knows, what is the deal with the clutch damper? It literally just consists of a half thickness disk, ring and retaining wire? What is its purpose? What is the trade-off of removing it? Jeremy
  7. Gearhead
    Well, since your problem started on the fuel side, I'd say it's probably still there. This is supported by the fuel smell, although a misfiring ignition would do that. Does the bike idle smoothly? If not, find the cylinder that is not firing by starting it cold, warm up for, oh, 20 seconds or so, and then carefully touch your head pipes - the one that's not hot is the culprit. Float level is one possibility. Have you checked the plugs? Jeremy
  8. Gearhead
    No, but I've heard heavy gear oil recommended. If you do get some sucked into the engine it won't hurt anything. Jeremy
  9. Gearhead
    IMHO, 9.5 K ohms is plenty close enough to 10 to be considered "in spec". I seriously doubt that as a problem. Jeremy
  10. Gearhead
    GeorgeS wrote a comprehensive article with pics posted here on gutting the mufflers. I started mine with 1 muff off and ya, pretty exciting noises reverberating off the garage walls! But while I like the sound and am sorely tempted to let more rumble out, I also like the quiet ride of this full-dress touring bike. I have a Virago with Jardines for the rowdy sound. : ) Thanks for your input. Jeremy
  11. Gearhead
    What do the collector baffles do, anyway? Noise level reduction? Do you notice any exhaust tone difference afterward? Jeremy
  12. Gearhead
    Some coils have replacable wires, some have the wires as part of the coils. Not sure about yours. You said one coils tested 9.5 ohms. Is that supposed to be K ohms? What is the spec, and what did the others test at? Jeremy
  13. Gearhead
    Yeah, I like to say these things were written in Japanese and translated by a computer! Jeremy : )
  14. Gearhead
    "Regarding ruber parts gone on the carburetors, then I 'm running my bike without rubber parts since I bought it, and it runs fine." Huh??
  15. Gearhead
    It would be pretty weird to have a bad coil kick in right after your problem with bad gas (I recommend Beano for this ). Much more likely that you still have a carb blockage. If it is ignition (which does happen more under load), it's more likely to be the plug wires than the coils. Jeremy
  16. Gearhead
    Well Nathan, I've found that any bike can be finicky to start, each having its own personality in that area, but my Venture is no worse than any other. In fact, it starts quite easily. When cold, if it won't start w/o choke, I give it choke and it fires. When hot it fires right away. Yours may be different. My Virago is a bit finicky when cold in that it fires best with no choke and a bit o'throttle, but then I have to give it a bit more throttle while putting on the choke before I can let it idle. Listen to what they have to say. If it works, great, and if not, you will gradually discover what works best. One thing the dealers always seem to say is NEVER give a bike throttle when starting, but my experience does not support this. Jeremy
  17. Gearhead
    You don't want to put in a $130 part w/o knowing it's bad. Trace the circuit on the wiring diagram, probe with a meter and sewing pin (to push thru the insulation) and find out where you lose power. In fact, the manual has a troubleshooting procedure which might help. I didn't look, but it might also have a procedure for checking out the flasher. Since it's all 4 lites, it could be the flasher, but also could be anywhere in the wiring up to the flasher. Jeremy
  18. Gearhead
    I always remove that lower bolt with the copper washer every oil change to get that cup or whatever of dirty oil out of there. I think I learned that on this forum. It's gotta be normal for oil to be inside that cover; there's a bearing in there that needs lube. I just looked at the manual, and I think they are just letting you know that you may have a mess on your hands. They don't tell you to drain the oil first, so obviously when the bike is vertical the oil from the sump shouldn't drain out (which it didn't), but if you tried to do the job on the sidestand you might drain a bunch of oil. It it worded kinda weird. Jeremy
  19. Gearhead
    No relay now - all current goes through horn button, ignition switch, and a myriad of connectors. Relay will have 4 connectors, maybe a couple more that you don't need. Two are for the activating coil. No need to go into the horn button; rather, take the two wires running to one of the horns and run them instead to the relay coil connectors, it does not matter which is which. Now the horn button will trip the relay instead of actually powering the horns (or attempting to!). That's the switching side. Now for the power side, come right off the battery and install in inline fuse or circuit breaker. Run that wire to one of the switched terminals on the relay. Run a wire from the other switched terminal to one side of each horn. Connect the other side of each horn to ground. That's it! Jeremy
  20. Gearhead
    "What's got me stumped is that the clutch starts slipping when the engine warms up. " When the engine warms up, the oil properties are different. Also, he's probably not honkin' on it as much when cold. Jeremy
  21. Gearhead
    Clay, I have questions: did you ever use the system before, or is this the first time? Does the problem exist in the Intercom system regardless of whether the radio or CB is on? Do you hear the noise when listening to the radio too? Does the noise intensify with RPM? Jeremy
  22. Gearhead
    My valve cover gaskets were old, cracked and leaky. No more! Jeremy
  23. Gearhead
    Yup, better, prevents bottoming and needs no air in forks which I think improves seal life. Jeremy
  24. Gearhead
    The parts are ABS. JB weld works well. Jeremy
  25. Gearhead
    Energy conserving oil is marked as such on the container and contains "friction modifiers" (such as moly, maybe??) to reduce friction for better mpg, at least in theory. It was mandated by the EPA or somebody on lower viscosity oils (which also improve MPG a bit). 10W30 is the highest vis oil that is energy conserving. 10W40, 20W50, 15W40, mono grades - none of them are energy conserving. It doesn't matter if you have a hydraulic clutch or not for friction modifiers to affect it, what matters is that you have a wet clutch (in the engine oil), and all Jap bikes that I know of have this. Jeremy
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