videoarizona

Put two of them on my VStar as well.....they handled excellent! What Buddy said is accurate...they are softer compound so they wear faster...but they stick better in rain and dry. Toss up..do you want stick or tread life. Even NASCAR runs soft tires for better "stick". I elected to have "stick" and will swap out my factory type tires with Shinko's as soon as the $$ is there. (supporting 2 kidlets through college). FWIW... david

Dam. Sorry to hear!

Puc, The advanced schools in the Phoenix area make you use your own scoot. They feel that learning slow speed handling and accident avoidance is mandatory on your own ride. The guy who did my refresher course 3 years ago is the lead instructor on the advanced course as well. He rides a Hayabusa very fast and says he practices what he teaches!! (grins) Meanwhile, I'm teaching myself rudimentary plastic repair....sigh! david

Beautiful! Congrats! The 89's are the fastest...regardless of color! david

Bill, That picture looks like you stopped at the Stage Stop!

Wish I had your ambition and courage to swap out the transmission gears. Sounds like the perfect combination to making a 1st gen really sing! Thanks for the writeup!

Yep. You need to either zap the battery so the voltage is over 7 volts (old type charger, another good battery, etc..) or put another battery in the same circuit so the charger can be faked into charging. once your new battery is over 7 volts, it should come all the way back. You will lose some of it's life, but it should still last for a while!

Still think your squeal is caused by feedback. Only solution is to provide more isolation between mic and speakers.

I would contact them(J&M) directly. Be good to know what the retail cost for replacement would be. Then you could shop around. Probably find one on EBay... 1-800-358-0881 david

Pretty... Do like the back rest....like that it's one of the ones that folds forward...

Here are the ones I put on my 950. http://tinyurl.com/kgo5xkl

I would think with Plastex or similar, that could be rebuilt. Or...put an aluminum plate underneath or on both sides. But first weld the plastic together. I would try to fix it.

Yep..... Scary the first time....but a huge smile as well!

Neil has some good ideas.... I'll add that the diaphram in the actuator may be leaking...that may explain why you aren't getting enough cable movement? Can you turn on the system, then as the actuator tries to pull the cables, grab on and pull manually to see if the entire cable system pulls on the throttle plates with your help? david

Great story and pictures! Only problem for me is I'm lactose intolerant...if my 89VR stops in front of a DQ...I'm in big trouble!

Here is a twilight pciture with 35 watt lamps on. They do the job.

David, I bought some cheapo teeny lights from Wal-Mart for about $20. Had 55watt bulbs in them. Pulled them and put in 35 watt. This was on my 950 Tourer. They have a dimple on the housing that holds the front of the case and lens on...I drilled a small hole and put a screw in there. Many miles on 950 and lights are still good.

Did you: Check the vacuum line for leaks? Check the diaghram for leaks in the actuator? Is the vacuum pump working? Know that the cruise only works within a selected range...to slow or to fast and it doesn't work. david

That happened to me...I put some dulling spray on the area of the cover that is reflecting the sun. I did that on my 650 when I had it. But I'm in the film/video production business, so had some handy. Hmmm trying to think what you could use that would be similar...try hairspray. Don't think it will hurt the plastic, but try it on a corner first. Once you get the most dulling you can, then you can see the pattern area that you need to cover more permanently if neccessary. Hair spray should just wash off with soap and water. You could use black pinstripe type tape to cover as well.....but that would be permanent. david

target?

The only things you didn't mention is the throttle cable connected to the vacuum unit and the vacuum hoses. There is an adjustment proceedure that "must" be followed to make sure both the hand throttle cables and the cruise throttle cables work together. If the cruise cables are to loose, for example, the cruise will not stay on....cause the speed will drop to far before it can engage. Mine drops about 5mph before the vacuum unit catches up. The system is a bit slow.....but there are a couple of simple proceedures... I just hold throttle until the cruise catches up...about 4 seconds. I need to adjust my cables...just haven't got there yet! Check the vacuum hose between the pump and actuator. Check for loose connections at same area. Losing vacuum will make the cruise drop off and not hold speed. Last, you may need up taking the computer out and check for bad solder joints...usually where the connector comes into the computer. If the connectors are corroded, or the circuit boards have a bad solder joint...the unit will be intermittant or worse... Suggest you start in one area and go back over each piece...and then each system..(electrical, vaccum, cables). Please report back what you are finding....lots of help here...lots of experience! Good luck, david

So hard to hear....prayers up...

BTW, I've done swr readings in garages or out in the open. The meter reads electrically between two hard wired points....the garage may change the pattern of the radiated signal, but I don't "think" the swr meter will reflect that. But I'm not an expert...just did some antenna theory/practicals while in radio and tv broadcast. I changed my antenna last week on my VR and did the readings in the garage. Got good readings...so I left it that way. Seems to work very well... FWIW, david

Understood... Then I'm curious how you can adjust the SWR with a Francis antenna? There has to be a way to shorten or lengthen, physically or electrically, so you can adjust the swr?? Is there a tiny tip that is adjustable? And the "input" of the swr meter should have the antenna connected...the output of the meter goes to the CB input. The swr meter is electrically between the antenna then the CB. The swr meter should be labelled "ant" and "cb". If that is what you did then you are good to go. If not, reverse. In other words, the antenna should plug in directly to the swr meter...no other connections. The output of the meter needs a small cable to connect it to the cb. Hmm...hard to visualize without images...but lets see how the above fits with what you did... david

Coming a few months late on this...but I was just reading that the CB's on our bikes have a built in failsafe that is good for about five minutes of protection during transmitting. So if you have a bad antenna or a shorted cable, you can safely keep transmitting for short bursts without blowing the outputs....until you figure out you have a problem. david