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Gearhead

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Everything posted by Gearhead

  1. Gearhead
    On the electrical side, test voltage across the horn connectors when blowing them. Then test voltage across battery terminals when blowing horn. In theory, they should be the same. Since all circuits have voltage drop, in reality if the bike is idling, you will have about 13 volts or so at the battery. At the horns, if you have, say, 11.5 or 12 that is probably sufficient. But if you have 10 like I did on my Virago, they won't work right. Another thing you can try; this is what led me to the problem on the Virago: connect a horn to a battery charger or another healthy battery with jumper cables. Or connect to the Venture's battery with jumper cables. (Pull the bike's connectors off the horn first.) If the horn blows normally, then it is OK and is not getting enough power from the bike. Jeremy
  2. Gearhead
    "to a GoldWing owner the other day. He was complaining about his new GW front end wobble. I heard the dealer tell him, "Big bikes, they all do that". Well, my 89 used to do that too until I added a fork brace and a new Venom X front tire. The old Cruise Max tire had a good deal of tread left, but there was obvious cupping going on. Don't know if the cupping or tread thickness had anything to do with the wobble but I'm glad its gone." I was under the impression that big bikes all tend to suffer from a tendency toward high-speed weave more than front-end wobble. Just what I read, I dunno. Front-end wobble is definitely related to front tire wear and balance, probably among other things. Tommy, did you replace the tire and install the Superbrace at the same time or separately? Jeremy
  3. Gearhead
    The gaskets on my 87 were just old and cracked, thus leaking oil. I replaced them and adjusted valves about a month ago. 3 intake valves were tight by .001" or so. I wouldn't say it was an easy job...but I won't have to do it for a long time! You know what really helped me getting the covers and gaskets in and out of there? Two people. Dad was over when I removed them, then for reinstall my 11-yr-old daughter helped. In fact, her small hands came in "handy" - pun intended. With a person on each side it's much easier to keep tabs on the gasket's location, see what is obstructing the cover, etc. Jeremy
  4. Gearhead
    GeorgeS, thanks for your help. COASTING ENRICHERS - has anybody had any reason to replace those diaphragms? Well, I know one of you has - anybody else? Looking at the carb circuit diagram in the manual, it appears as if this is a normally open path for air to enter the pilot circuit, which the diaphragm closes under the high vacuum of overrrun, causing enrichment. Emissions only, I think, so if I don't mind a little popping on overrun, I would think that having them open all the time and sealing off the vacuum source would work. Opinions? SLIDE DIAPHRAGMS - George, you said you weren't having drivability problems with your bad diaphragms - how about a mileage drop? Did replacement do anything for your MPG? Thanks again, Jeremy
  5. Gearhead
    Thanks. More input welcome. Yes, my tamper-proof screws looked unscathed, and it just generally looked not-messed-with, except that one regular screw had been replaced with a different type, which of course indicates that it was removed once. The pilot screw plugs have already been removed. Will bad slide diaphragms cut into fuel mileage but allow the bike to run OK? Has anyone else experienced this? Other than the popping on decel, is there any other ill effect of bad enrichener diaphragms? Does that create a vaccuum leak? Or is it just as it the coasting enrichener circuit was not there? It only comes into play on the overrun, right? Jeremy
  6. Gearhead
    Mine was just like that, over a very wide speed range. It was fine with my hands on the bars. Cleaning and re-greasing steering bearings actually made problem worse, as the old nasty grease was acting as a dampener. First, I used Yammy's service spec - tighten very tight (like 40 ft-lbs) while turning back and forth to make sure everything is seated. Loosen, then tighten to something like 2.5 ft-lbs. Later I tried tightening it a fair bit further per some other procedure that I found; I don't think it made any difference. What did make it go away - almost - is a new front tire, which I have also experienced in the past. I say "almost" because since putting on the new tire, the wobble has happened once - most times I can remove my hands and it's fine, but once the wobble started. Don't understand that. Jeremy
  7. Gearhead
    My opinion: I think the changeover from E2 to E3 has not gone smoothly for Dunlop. For one thing there was a strike last fall. Plus, there are people (I might be one of them) who really like the E2 and are skeptical that the E3 will be as good, let alone better. I'm not sure if Dunlop is still making any E2's, or if they are selling off stockpiles. I think this is causing some weird anomalies in the market. Jeremy
  8. Gearhead
    I've been chasing poor mileage on my 87 for the year I've owned it. GeorgeS has written more than once that holes in the slide diaphragms will cause poor mileage and are common at this age. I finally pulled one this morning and guess what - it's bad! (Almost looked as if they had never been removed before.) Several obvious cracks, light shines right through them. The slide itself, needle, and jet looked OK. They are SOOOO easy to pull on this bike that there was really no excuse to wait so long. What's weird is that the bike runs fine - no stumbles or hesitations, revs right up to redline, plugs are the appropriate color. Is this common, that they don't affect driveability, but hit the gas mileage? It seems like this problem would cause a lean condition, which isn't good for the engine but in some cases can actually HELP mileage... QUESTION: Are the coasting enrichener diaphragms also commonly disintegrated? One guy had that problem here recently - anyone else? What kind of problems will that cause? They are harder to get to...ughhh. COMMENT: Some have written, indeed I have done so myself, something like, "I watched the slides with air filter removed and engine running, and they all seem to be doing the same dance, so they are probably OK." I can tell you, this is NOT a valid test! In fact, just this morning, I repeated this "test" with a now-known bad diaphragm, and they still appear to dance the same. Maybe they are all cracked exactly the same. Jeremy
  9. Gearhead
    Hmmm, my first reaction was, go with the obvious, it was the bad cap, except that hi-side ignition problems usually get worse with more throttle, not better... Congrats anyway! Jeremy
  10. Gearhead
    "13 oz fork may be to mutch oil,prog are larger,and don't need as mutch,forks claped,5.5"from the top.prog spec," On my 87, 13 oz of oil still leaves over 6" of space to the top of the fork tube with fork collapsed and spring removed, thus, it should be OK. Jeremy
  11. Gearhead
    With progressives in the front I no longer need air in the forks. With no air I am sitting right around the 33% static sag that I've seen as a rule-of-thumb. However, the air does still work - adding air does jack up the front end. But - I think it is less noticeable than with the old, sagged stock springs. With the stouter springs in there the air pressure is a smaller percentage of total fork "effective spring rate" than before, which means it would have a smaller effect. Jeremy
  12. Gearhead
    "Is the 5w-50 ok to use in the bikes? I guess I thought yamaha called for a little higher grade oil. that's why I have bneen hesitant about switching to a syn. on my bike. Especially in the warmer summer months. I'm due for an oild change now, so that's why I'm asking." This is a month late, but here goes. All oils thin as they heat up. A given SAE rating (5, 20, 50, etc) has a curve that shows it's absolute viscosity (thickness) at any given temp, with a higher SAE number oil having a curve that runs "thicker" overall than a lower SAE number. No matter what oil you run it WILL be thinner when hot, so you have to choose an oil that will be thick enough to maintain a film when hot but thin enough to allow the engine to crank when cold. That can be a problem with mono-grades (SAE30, etc) in cold climates. So, some years back, some clever individual devised a way to add so-called VI-improvers to a lower viscosity oil that makes it ACT LIKE a higher vis oil when hot. 20W-50, for example, is actually SAE20 base stock oil, and 20 is its "winter" rating (thus the W) - measured at 32 deg F. As it warms up, the VI improvers come into play, and at 212 F it acts like SAE50 oil. This has several implications: 1) It is a more versatile oil, temperature-wise. 2) SAE50 oil at 212F is still much thinner than SAE20 oil at 32F, so the multi-vis oil still thins as it heats. It just does not thin AS MUCH as SAE20 mono grade would. 3) When you hear of viscosity breakdown, it is actually the VI improvers that fail, not the oil itself. Barring an extreme overtemp situation, SAE30 oil will be the same thickness when you drain it as when you put it in, while multi-vis oils will be thinner (at higher temps) come drain time. With the VI improvers not as "healthy" as when new, the 20W-50 oil may be more like 20W-40 oil when drained. (These numbers are for illustration purposes - I don't really know how many "grades" the high number will drop.) 4) Synth is much easier to make inherently like a multy-vis - maybe it just doesn't thin as much when heated - and requires much less VI improver. Thus, they don't suffer the same degree of viscosity breakdown. 5) FINALLY - with regards to the question of a 5W-50 synth, the 5 number only represents the behavior at 32F, and it still much thicker than the 50 number at 212F. In other words, compared to 20W-50, the hot viscosity is unchanged, and it is still thicker than that when cold, just not as much so as the 20W-50. 6) Since mono-grades don't breakdown, if you live in a place like Tucson where it doesn't get too cold (and my bike lives in a garage anyway), mono-grades can be a good alternative for a viscosity-stable oil. Should not be a problem. Jeremy
  13. Gearhead
    Well, I have no pics and this is not my original idea, it's out there in great detail on the web somewhere. But it's so simple you don't need pics. I now mount and balance all my own tires since reading the aforementioned article - mounting is a little trouble, but not balancing. Here's the short version:1) Set up 2 identical buckets (kitty litter buckets work well) or sawhorses, etc, side-by-side.2) Remove the old wheel weights.3) Put the axle through the wheel and support each end of the axle on one of the buckets so that the tire spins freely in the middle. In a friction-free world, you could just find the high spot and add weights, but...4) Bearing and seal friction will prevent the heavy spot from dropping freely, so you have to break that friction. Light, repeated action on the axle will do that. I put a small wrench on the end of the axle, or a screwdriver through the hole if present, and lightly and quickly wiggle it back and forth. You will see the heavy spot drop. 5) Repeat a couple times to check for consistency.6) Try a weight on the light spot and see how it acts.7) This is an iterative process - it helps to have a few old weights around, sometimes you have to file some weight off, etc. Play with it until it is right.8) Only add weights to one spot, unless the light spot is in line with a spoke, in which case you may have to add a little on either side of the spoke.9) I call it good when there is no distinct heavy spot - the wheel ends up in random orientations - or the heavy spot is VERY slight. I've had good luck with several changes now.Jeremy
  14. Gearhead
    There's been some discussion lately about headset noise, but allow me to tell my particular flavor of it and see if y'all can help. I just installed headsets and used them for the first time. Generally I am please, as the sound quality thru the system and the J&M headsets is very good, but there's some engine noise that I wish wasn't there. I've not noticed the same noise in the speakers. Here are some characteristics of my noise: - clicky-staticy, not whine. Does this indicate ignition, as opposed to alternator/power? - related to engine RPM. - NOT related to radio or intercom volume setting - if either is on and engine running, the noise is there. Does this mean the interference is happening downstream of the amp? - related to front-and-rear individual volume. attenuators...the ones on the handlebars and near the passenger plug-in. Turning these down from MAX definitely cuts the noise down. - same in front or rear jack (assuming the above mentioned attenuators are set the same). Interference happening somewhere between power amp and the front/rear split? Any likely places? Where is that split? My ignition is stock. Wires appear original; I haven't tested their resistance but I have checked the condition of the resistors in the caps which appear normal. Plugs are resistor type. I have another comment on the individual attenuators. They don't just cut volume, they also alter the sound quality negatively when turned down. The best way I can describe it is that the stereo effect seems to gradually go away as you approach the MIN setting. So, turning the attenuators down and the amp volume up minimizes the engine noise, but also reduces sound quality Anybody experienced this? Thanks, Jeremy
  15. Gearhead
    As you now know, the tabs are part of a locking washer designed to be taken off from the top, not bent like Hondas are. If all the parts are assembled in factory sequence (bottom to top - lower nut, rubber washer, upper nut, tabbed washer, steering bridge), you can change the bearing preload pretty easily: 1) Loosen crown nut - on top of steering bridge. May need to remove handlebars to access. 2) Loosen pinch bolts on ends of steering bridge to release their grip on fork tubes. 3) You can now tap the 2 adjuster nuts and tabbed washer around ALL TOGETHER with a hammer and chisel or screwdriver. 4) When satisfied, tighten crown nut, then pinch bolts. Jeremy
  16. Gearhead
    "As to the maintenance free battery, I remember having one years ago and it seemed to die pretty quickly as well. However I was not using a Tender back then." There are different types of maintenance-free. I used to agree with your sentiments. However, I think AGM (sometimes called gel-cell) are a newer type - they're not simply a sealed wet-cell battery, in fact they don't contain liquid like a wet-cell battery. Odyssey are AGM, I believe. They don't need water (really!), resist vibration better, don't leak at funny angles (good for quads), and seem to last in a bike or quad nearly twice as long. Jeremy
  17. Gearhead
    Yeah, but the battery already has all the acid it needs. Only the water evaporates, not the acid itself, so that you are only supposed to add acid once, when the battery is new. Try this link: http://www.motorcyclebatteriesusa.com/battery-details.asp?battery=896 This is a maintenance-free AGM battery for 80 bucks. I've had good luck with these in quads and will buy one when the Venture batt kicks the bucket. For comparison, my experience with standard wet-cell bike batteries is that I'm lucky to get 3 years, while AGM lasts around 5 years and you never have to fill them.
  18. Gearhead
    I plan to put thin automotive carpeting on the inside of my trunk. In the meantime I put a towel over the helmet in the trunk. Learned the hard way, but 'twas an old helmet at least. Jeremy
  19. Gearhead
    WOW - that is amazing mileage from a bike tire. Is it a Spitfire? Do you run the same on the rear? What mileage have you gotten in back? Thanks, Jeremy
  20. Gearhead
    "We have no choice here. Ethanol at all the gas stations. Can't say that I've ever noticed any difference in performance. " Ditto. We have ethanol mix only half the year, because it doesn't work well in Tucson summer temps. my performance and mileage are not noticably different to me when the switch happens. Jeremy
  21. Gearhead
    To y'all who have used EBC HH pads, how do you like them? Do you find that they wear your rotors out much more quickly than standard pads? Thanks, Jeremy
  22. Gearhead
    Regarding the progressive linkage idea, I'm looking at the pic again and I see it differently than you. I agree with your assessment of the motion of the lower bolt, but let's look at the top two. Bolt UR (upper right) stays more-or-less in a constant place - let's assume for the moment that it doesn't move. Bolt UL (you guessed it - upper left) moves up with the wheel on suspension compression. As it moves up, the distance between its motion path and bolt UR decreases due to the change in the angle of the link. With decreased distance, the wheel has less "leverage" on the link and thus on the shock unit, which is another way of saying that the suspension would be stiffer at this point. Yes? No? Jeremy
  23. Gearhead
    This is cool stuff. I have a VR so my setup is different. I've a couple comments though, which you may have already thought of, but here goes: 1) Scalene triangle :-) 2) Strictly speaking, preload is the amount you compress a spring before any service load is put on it, according to Hooke's law, F=kx. Fork springs are commonly preloaded about 1", that is, in the process of installing the fork cap you compress the spring by an inch, which is "x". Multiply by the spring constant "k" (which represents the spring rate in lb/in) and you get the preload force. 3) Practically speaking, changing preload (by further compressing or relaxing the spring) does change your ride height within your given range of wheel travel and within certain force limits. In contrast, what you are doing with links changes the whole range of travel, which is what you need to do to achieve your goals. (I think that adding air to a fork or shock increases both preload and effective "k".) 4) The motion of all those parts probably produces a progressive, rising-rate situation, where the suspension gets stiffer (rising effective "k") as compressed. Changing the geometry could modify the rate rise, for better or worse. I think changing the distance between the top two holes would be most likely to alter the spring rate. 5) Can you slide your fork tubes up 3/4" in the triple tree? That would be an easy way to get your rake angle mod for trial purposes, at least, and you could tell if lowering the front is really a problem. 6) Regarding "dynamic ride height", I've heard it referred to as static sag - the suspension compression at rest with the load aboard. (If you have 4" of wheel travel, and you measure 1" of that "used up" under these conditions, that's 1/4 = 25% static sag.) I've measured it as Squeeze said, except I had my dad sit on the bike and keep his feet on the floor, but just barely enough pressure on the floor to keep the bike upright. And I think 20-25% is appropriate for a sport bike on a track. 30-35% is better for a big street bike. More load (passenger, luggage, beer-belly) obviously increases static sag which can be partially made up for with increased preload, but higher spring rate is better. I think that makes air pressure an effective way to go because it increases preload and spring rate. 7) Finally, about kickstands. I currently have 3 basically stock 87 Yamahas. The Virago leans WAY over on the kickstand; always has. (It has a lot of wear in the stand pivot, which might be the cause.) The stand has always been plenty strong, but I have to pay extra attention to a firm surface for the stand and park appropriately. The Radian barely leans over at all, and is light to boot, so that once with a cover (sail) on it blew over in the lot at work. If I'd paid better attention it wouldn't have happened. The Venture leans "just right". All 3 are functional and simply require little adjustments in parking strategy. Jeremy
  24. Gearhead
    That's great, Bongobobny - I need gray buttons, but I would settle for others if that's all I could get. Most of them are gray, though. Thanks, Jeremy
  25. Gearhead
    Hi guys, My 87 VR is missing the front mute button and the #2 radio station button. All those little rectangular buttons appear to be the same, including the tuner and front and rear remote units. Of course, the buttons are not available separately. Does anyone out there have a broken radio off one of these bikes, that you would be willing to part with so I could try to swap buttons? Thanks, Jeremy
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