AKRefugee

Woohoo happy birthday Ride Happy Ride Safe

F4 over 75k on mine in all kinds of conditions and still just as good as the day I got it Ride Happy Ride Safe

Gotta agree with you on this none Brian. You run seven flags at highway speeds you will have some serious wind loads not to mention to turbulence loads as well. While I for one will ride behind large flagged bikes there is no way I would ride behind this one. It is totally unreasonable yo expect ANY manufacturer of ANY piece of equipment to cover damages when the particular piece of equipment is operated far beyond its design limits.The "excuse" of using a non-HD accessory was the only recourse they had to protect themselves for having to eat the expense of fixing something that was clearly operated well outside it limits. Also in HD's defense they never said they were denying it because he was flying flags. Very misleading headlines. Ride Happy Ride Safe

22 parts for a 2nd Gen Ops forgot tank make that 23 Ride Happy Ride Safe

With out anyone noticing a tall goony goo goo has slid into the room and quietly taken a chair in the back. As he listened to that tender voice talk about all the children St Jude's has helped he is reminded of all the lives that have been changed. All the families that have been touched. He knows that St Jude's not only helps those who are at the hospital, they also help outside the hospital as well. He remembers their gentle hearts, words of encouragement and hours spent on the phone helping his own children cope with something no child should have to understand. Without any further thoughts he raises the bid to $50. Ride Happy Ride Safe

My hats off to The Warden's fortitude. Congrats Dan for finding that keeper. Ride Happy Ride Safe

Plenty of leg room to Ride Happy Ride Safe

Very well done Ride Happy Ride Safe

TDunc not a word my friend. If she knew you had one I could have used she might make me take it back. :-( Ride Happy Ride Safe

Flyinfool that has got to be the best one I've ever heard. I would try that one but my wife has her A&P license so I'm pretty sure I couldn't slip it by her. Ride Happy Ride Safe

The wife said she wanted to get rid of the old carpet and put in laminate. I told here I would love to but I need a good miter saw to do it right. She said I could get the saw if I would do the floor. Well off I went to the store (with no adult supervision) and made sure I got the right saw to do the job. I think it was a good trade don't you? [ATTACH]83428[/ATTACH][ATTACH]83429[/ATTACH] Ride Happy Ride Safe

Why? Everyone knows the answer to that one. The answer is "because I said so". Don't believe me??? Well just go ask your Mum. Ride Happy Ride Safe

Like bongobobny said, “there are several ways to do it and everybody insists THEIR way is the best”. This past winter I had some plastic repairs to do on my bike. Before doing so I read up on it and found a lot of different ways to do it. I selected several different ones, and one I made up, and tested to see which actually worked best. For each result I tried it two time. I used a dremel to clear all paint and dirt from all surfaces. All work and curing was done at room temp of 72F. I gave every result two full days to cure before trying to break it. I did not have the equipment to measure the breaking point so the breaking point is subjective. Here are my results 1 - Soldering iron and a plastic tie wrap this was probably the worse method I tried. The results were quite messy in appearance and the strength was horrible. Even when reinforced with metal paperclip or heavy gauge wire it was still weak and very easy to snap apart after the repair. I was able to easily break it apart with just my fingers. I found this method to be totally unacceptable. 2- PLASTEX I found this quite great for making missing parts however it didn’t work very well as a bonding agent between two parts. The agents did not seem to penetrate into the materials being bonded. Was just slightly better than method 1. It was easy to get the appearance looking good. Found this method to be inadequate for repairs but great for making parts. 3 – Slurry made with acetone and ABS parts This method involved making a slurry using acetone and pieces of ABS pipe. It took about 24 hours for the ABS parts to melt. And then I added more acetone after 24 hours to get the slurry to the consistency I wanted. I set the consistency between the consistency of cold syrup and toothpaste. I did not measure the acetone or parts so I cannot tell you the ratio. The slurry bonded well with the two parts however there was some air bubbling in the repair. I think this had to do with the slurry generating some heat when it “melted” the two parts together. It was also easy to get the appearance looking good. The strength was ok. I had to use several fingers to break the pieces apart and after doing so was able to easily see the air pocketing inside the repair. I considered this method barley adequate. Ok for points that have little to no stress. 4 – Loctite EPOXY – PLASTIC BONDER This is a two part epoxy that you mix together before applying. This also does some “melting” of the parts however I did not find the air pocketing like I did with the slurry. This method requires you work fairly quickly to smooth out the surfaces to get a nice appearance but it was not difficult to get that nice appearance. I was not able to break the bond with my fingers. I had to press quite hard against the part with the heal of my hand. I considered this method quite adequate for parts with low to moderate stress loads. 5 – Mixture of Slurry made with acetone and ABS parts/ Loctite EPOXY – PLASTIC BONDER I made the slurry the same as above but this time I mixed it with the epoxy. The ratio was about 50/50. This was by far the best. It bonded extremely well with the parts. It was easy to smooth the surface before it dried for a nice appearance. This required the use of pliers with me pushing all my weight down and using the corner of my tool box at the repair point to get it to break. I did not find any air pocketing. I found this method to be excellent for parts with high stress loads. So which one will I use? Well other than method 1 I will use them all. It will depend on what I want it to do and what stresses the repaired will be under. Will you get the same results? I have no idea. All I can do is share my results. Good luck on trying to decide how to do it. Hope you are successful in the repairs.

Glad to hear you got your focus in your marriage back where it needed to be. It can be so easy to forget who put you together as one. Sadly, to many learn this to late. Happily you did not. Our prayers and love are with both of you in this time of strengthening of your marriage. Ride Happy Ride Safe

Dan, yeah getting out if there can be an "event". And the 2nd gen can be a beast getting out of there. Wait till it is a bit drier run it a couple times on the 1st gen to get your confidence up then take the 2nd out. As for the spooks sometimes that's that still small voice that sees something your conscience mind isn't seeing. Never hurts to listen to it. When it's right you'll know and go. Still haven't been out since my wreck. Been using the excuse that I am doing some "work on it I have been wanting to do" but to tell you the truth I think part of it is that I won't have to face that spooky demon as long as it's apart. I'm okay with that, it will happen when it's time to happen. Ride Happy Ride Safe

Thanks for the responses. I will look into the warranty issue.

Anyone ever have ABS parts soda blasted to prep for painting? If so what did you like and dislike about it? Not looking for opinions, only facts based on experience please. Ride Happy Ride Safe

Way to go. I know it has been a tough road for ya'll and am glad to see that your perseverance is starting to pay off. To hear your story today comes at a great time for me. I needed inspiration today for a task I am trying to conquer. Your story has given me that needed inspiration. Ride Happy Ride Safe

In Charlotte they have directional microphones that narrow the direction of where gun shots are coming from. In the first 11 months of 2013 they had recorded over 500 yes that is right 500 gunshots. Ride Happy Ride Safe

You are not winding it out in third at 50. Depending on terrain wind etc it is not abnormal for me to run in third at 50. If it's flat or tailwind etc then I will run in fourth at 50. I have found for me that my sweet spot is 4th gear 63 mph. Lots of power left and great mileage but I have the largest windshield that F4 has so if you have a smaller shield your sweet spot may be at a higher speed. Also don't lunk this bike down. Yes you can power out of a higher gear start or running at to high a gear but I can tell you from experience that to slow at to high a gear will bite you one day. This bike LOVES high rpm's. As others have said run those rpm's on up there. The rev limiter will not let you blow this thing up. The bike will sputter on you when you hit it, almost like you are starting to run out of gas, you will know it. My top out are 1st - 45, 2nd - 63ish 3rd- 85ish 4th - unknown but at 104 I, umm I mean my friend, has to shift to fifth to overcome the wind push on the windshield. If you ever reach the rev limiter in fifth we all would like to know what it is. If you are coming from a vtwin to this bike all I can suggest is that when you think you should shift add ten mph. Good place to start from as you learn this bike. This is not an off the line bike but once you get it wound up it will blow by just about any other big bike except the wing, and keep them well behind you. Ride Happy Ride Safe

Why is Dan thinking and why does that thought send shivers down my spine? Ride Happy Ride Safe

Unless you have a specific reason to save power why would you not run the standard bulbs. I run 2 55watt running lights an H4 headlight all the stock running and turn lights, two LED light bars on the rear the bike stereo the CB and my phone plugged in and running a GPS speedometer and a mapping system all at the same time and I have never had a power problem. And no it is not killing my battery as I have had the same battery for almost six years now and while it is wired for it I have never had to put it on a charger. Unless your running heated gear or some other high drain item I do not see why the concern with saving power. Ride Happy Ride Safe

Why isn't Aussie Annie asking yhW? I mean being upside down and driving on the wrong side of the road and all? Which brings to mind the question why do they drive on the wrong side of the road? Ride Happy Ride Safe

Why wouldn't you ask why? If you never ask why how will you ever learn the answer to the why question? Ride Happy Ride Safe

Man the gravity field sure is strong here Ride Happy Ride Safe