RDawson

OK I know I said I had to finish some work before the bike. Just couldn't stand it so I took a 30 minute break and loosened them up a little more. Went out on the highway and waited for a big truck, played around in the turbulent air behind three different trucks and then wicked it up to higher speeds. She's back to riding loose and comfortable. Still gonna order new bearings and do the job right, too much riding on it for chance. There's 56,600 on the clock now plus me having them too tight so I'm assuming damage.

HMMMM now for more back story the front I just took off had outlasted a Shinko 777 rear and a Commander II when I put the CT on it so it had some wear. It stayed on for about 6000'miles with the CT. Really wish I hadn't monkeyed with the bearings before I test rode the new tire.

Zero loss pump with low pressure gauge.

OK Puc ya got my brain smoking. What's your theory on the car tire? I'm thinking it's likely to be something I recently changed but I know what ASSuming does too. I know it rides different than it did a week ago and I changed a tire and bearing lash. There the possibility something else coincidentally happened at the same time, it has happened before.

I would normally agree with you but this seems speed/aero related. I tried a few times with no traffic around and each time I sped up it would try to start shaking again. Anytime I've had side gusts or road related shake powering out has always worked on any bike I've ridden, powering up this time increased the frequency. I'm anxious to tear into it to figure it out. I'll start with the new tire before the bearings and try to find the issue before throwing parts at it.

I am running a CT but I don't think it had anything to do with it. I've run those speeds several times with no symptoms, after the shakes I tried opening it up a few more times with the same results. I messed with the bearings same time as I installed the new front Shinko. It seems to be speed/aero related, anything over 75 got loose feeling up front. Where I usually power out of turbulence passing a truck I had to slow down and pass slowly. Even with the worn front (also a Shinko-same tire) that was cupped a little it was always stable at any speed. Everything points to the bearings or the new tire, it balanced fine so I'm leaning toward the bearings. It will be a few days before I have time to put it on the jack and start testing. As far as powering out it might have worked to downshift but really didn't want an abrupt change. I never felt completely out of control and cut speed over a long distance until it settled.

Yeah, I tried that first-don't recommend it on a cruiser. I stiff armed it and hit the throttle, it escalated the issue. I backed off a little to try to settle it because I really dreaded cutting power. Once I decided it was the only choice I used a little trail brake and eased out of it a little at a time until it calmed down. It never went full on tank slapper but was dancing pretty hard. Thought for a while I was gonna have to find the seat cleaning post from last week. As an add on I was in 5th at the time, not a ton of torque to lift with at that speed.

That is the plan this time. I checked it when I had it in the air for a new tire and it wouldn't hold position and the bounce was huge. I had noticed a little vibration and wobble before that so I used the hammer and punch method to tighten it up for the trip. This is what shortcuts normally get me, it's in the shop where it will stay until I get time to pull the fairing and do it right. I have the tools but didn't have the time before WNY. I went thru the valves and swing arm a few months ago so I need to finish with the front end and know she's safe and ready.

You might check with Mike Eykamp (Diamond Cut Guy) he has had experience in rebuilding them and may have an engine. He keeps carb sets rebuilt for sale and can tell you about the hydro lock.

Thanks Don, I did both the bounce and the method you mention. They were loose and I probably took it too far the other way at 56,000 miles it's time to replace parts.

I'm quite certain I'll find that the loose nut that tightened the neck up made it too tight. I wanted to drop the front end last winter and do the bearings but ran short on time so I'll do that soon and make it all new. If I'm far enough in to grease them I may as well replace them.

All pressures right on the mark including forks being equal.

I don't think the starter is doing it so much as one cylinder firing and driving the next piston up in a wet cylinder.

I looked at them because of a little slow speed shake, chances are that was caused by the old tire being cupped. I probably overthought it and should've left it alone. It was the 07.

Locked elbows and pushed the bars forward. Tried to power out but it got worse so I used VERY slight trail brake and slowly rolled off the throttle. No abrupt changes is a big key.

I had a great time at WNY but here's the rest of the story. Right before leaving to go to NY I replaced the front tire and checked the steering head bearings by the method in the read only library. I tightened them a little while I had it in the air to do the tire. Sounds simple right? On the way up I was in heavy traffic most of the way with tons of 18 wheelers on the road. The bike didn't handle the turbulence off of the trucks well at all which I attributed to the number of trucks on the road and the wind blowing. After leaving the PA crew and heading west on the way home I got snarled in a group of cages going a little crazy so I wicked it up to get away from them. At 90mph it went into a death wobble that took nearly 1/2 mile to straighten up. Luckily I was on straight road and managed to keep it in my lane. Once I got closer to home traffic was lighter but passing big trucks was nerve wracking and took a heavy hand to keep it straight. I have a few days of work to complete before I can tear into it but plan to tear it apart and find the issue. It gets crazy at different speeds around trucks so I don't believe it to be any kind of balance issue, Ill check the tire itself and order new wheel bearings and neck bearings to make it all new. I did stop and back off the change I made to the neck bearings and checked tire pressures and fork pressures. I pulled the swingarm early this spring and went through it and repacked all bearings so I don't think it's coming from there. I haven't done neck bearings before but it cant be too bad with my shop and the library here. Any suggestions anyone? Before all this the PA crew and Wiz invited me to ride south with them to skirt the storms, I don't know if they were being nice or wanted my good luck charm to keep them dry as it had me the rest of the week. It was a nice ride south with them and I got to see some new country. I traded a few miles out of my way to stay dry and headed west 115 miles south of Chaffee. After the incident above I took my time around other traffic and only opened it up some when alone on the road so I didn't make great time but got home safely. I also took several breaks since riding with that much of a heavy hand had me tired and on edge a lot of the time. Got home around 11:30 central time last night so about 17 hours after I left Chaffee.

If you use your carb rack on the new motor make sure you find the problem that caused the hydrolock. Hate to see a new engine fall victim to the same problem.

I went the roundabout way to miss the storms, ran south with the PA crew and the Wiz's then turned west. Once I left them the trip wasn't so great, I'll fill it in tomorrow as I'm ready to crawl in bed. Approx 830 miles today.

He really needs to talk to a lawyer. A friend of mine went through this to the tune of $60,000, in the end they agreed to settle for what insurance paid.

ABS plumbing pipe cut up and dissolved in MEK will make a putty that bonds well to fairing parts also. Maybe not as easy as Carl's stuff to work with but you don't have to go next door to buy it. Several posts about it scattered on the site.

I found a number and called them. Gonna have to rig it. Broke bolt n lost wing nut and rubber grommet. Riding in with shorty. 300 miles away.

Broke one of the mounts that holds Bagger Shield together. Anyone close enough to Pioneer to see if they can overnight one. Should roll in 7:00ish tonight weather permitting.

Weatherman here shows storms up there tomorrow. How bad does it look? I was planning to arrive around supper time but thinking I may need to roll out very early to try and beat it. Did anybody take an extra tarp to put over Big Tom's doghouse? looks like he may need it after this post.

Depending on how I feel after working today I'll either head out late tonight or early tomorrow. We're in a heat wave here so night riding feels good as long as the deer aren't crazy. Bike is ready, just gotta pack.

Do they sell really dark sunglasses to block out some of the images y'all keep putting in my head?