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Bummer

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Everything posted by Bummer

  1. Bummer
    I run 5 in the fronts. It's not a matter of the roads I ride. It helps prevent bottoming of the forks in a quick/panic stop. My bike has the Progressive balancing kit, so it makes it easier to run the same pressure in both sides. For the rears I started out adding up the weight on the bike. I then lopped off the last number and put that pressue in the shock. Now I just pump it up to 55 and leave it there. I check the tire pressures way more often than the shocks.
  2. Bummer
    I like to have five pounds in the front. It keeps the forks from bottoming on hard stops.
  3. Bummer
    (Not necessarily in order.) I'm definitely a fan of the links. Don't forget the backrest. LED tail light and turn signals. Good tires - Venom or E3. Headlight modulator. Tachometer. Certainly many of the things you mentioned. Stuff I didn't think of while I was typing. Stuff I haven't thought of yet, but eventually will. This is a list that never really ends.
  4. Bummer
    Good luck with the surgery. I hope everything goes well and you have a quick recovery.
  5. Bummer
    Sometimes the road's rough. Sometimes the road's smooth. The moment is what you make of it. Irene and I hope that the road is smooth and the moment shines for you. Nice looking ride. Enjoy!
  6. Bummer
    There needs to be one heck of an Ice Cream joint at the other end of that!
  7. Bummer
    The Polk 401s are rated for 135 watts peak, 4-45 RMS. I'm figuring when I do it I'll replace them all and wire the rears to actually be separate rather than bridged. So that would be 4 times 45 watts each at 4 ohms. I don't have any dimensions yet. That's going to have to wait a couple of weeks - gotta take the fairing apart before riding season and I'm going to take measurements then. I've done some browsing on Crutchfield (had very good luck buying from them a number of years back). I've found this, but obviously haven't tried it yet. Size should be very good. Power out is right. Thing is, it's not exactly aimed at what I'm planning on doing with it. Normally it's used to boost an existing Alpine in-dash unit. I planned to call Crutchfield and see what power level it's expecting for input. Shouldn't be a problem, but I thought I'd chat them up about it first. The whole point, to me, is first to replace the speakers, and second to add a little more volume while keeping the stock stereo running at a lower output level. If I can cut down my normal set point by say a third or half it'll really do a lot for the distortion levels. On my First Gen this type of change yielded much cleaner sound at roughly the same apparent volume levels in spite of the inherently bad acoustic environment on a bike.
  8. Bummer
    I've thought that myself. More than once, in fact.
  9. Bummer
    No problem. No bad. You pretty much have to be upside down under the bike to see the shock at all.
  10. Bummer
    The biggest problem with the Polks is that they can handle a lot more wattage than the stock speakers, so the stock amp has a bit of trouble driving them. My current stereo related quest is to find an amp that will fit where the cassette goes. Something around 60 watts per channel. That way the stock stereo acts as a pre-amp with the power amp doing the work. This should not only increase the amount of sound out of the speakers, but keep the stock stereo lower in its range, yielding cleaner sound. The combinations of Polk speakers (400 series then) and an Alpine power amp worked great on my First Gen. It didn't have a CB so I used that space for the power amp. Todays amps are much bigger so it's become more of a problem to find a place to put one. Luckily the cassette has volunteered to live in the basement to make space for an amp. Now all I have to do is find one that fits.
  11. Bummer
    Oooooooh. Beartooth Pass. I love that road! Nice pics! The Chief Joseph is nice too, but The Beartooth is the best. So far the best luck I've had with the Beartooth is in July. The high was maybe 54 at the top, but it didn't rain/sleet/snow.
  12. Bummer
    Captainjoe, Imagine two tin cans. One with the bottom cut out. The other with the top cut out. They fit one within the other with a rubber seal, making an enclosed but movable container. The actual shock is inside the container hooking the two halves together. When you add air you pressurize the container around the shock. There's some oil inside the container, outside of the shock. When you sit on the bike and the shock moans it's the seal between the two halves of the container making the noise.
  13. Bummer
    There's a write up in the Tech area about how I did it. The Diamond Star has changed a bit since then, but I'm pretty sure it can still be done. The one I got had an on/off switch but the light sensor could be used just as easily. I have the one on my passing lamps set up to modulate day or night. I figure it I'm honking the horn I don't actually care a whole lot about what the law says about time of day.
  14. Bummer
    The corn is in northern Indiana. Southern Indiana starts to look like Kentucky, which is a beautiful state.
  15. Bummer
    The amber lights work best with clear lenses, the white work best with amber lenses. It's a matter of the lens filtering the light. Doesn't matter which way you go. If you like the amber lenses get white. If you're longing for clear lenses, go the other way. I have the Black Cherry '06, which came with clear lenses, so I got amber LEDs and a smoke tail light lens with the LED tail light. Mine is a fashion statement relating to the sexiest color. She wears a tank bra too.
  16. Bummer
    Though I haven't tried one I believe the Kisan modulator plugs into the headlight's socket then the headlight plugs into it. The Diamond Star definitely requires cutting the high beam wire and soldering the modulator in. In fact my setup is controlled by a stack of relays so that the main headlight modulates when it's on high beam, but returns to standard operation and the passing lamps come on and modulate when I hit the horn. There was a fair amount of wiring involved in that.
  17. Bummer
    I have one of these. Kisan also makes 'em. A modulator is a modulator. There's really no first/second generation. I also put one on my passing lamps, activated by the horn button. Paranoia strikes deep.
  18. Bummer
    We do? Um. Er. Did I miss a memo? (Not actually arguing. Just that I guess I'm not part of that particular 'all'.) As an amusing side note, I just looked at the Star Motorcycles site. The Midnight pics have the CB antenna on the wrong side. On their own web site. I guess Dryer's isn't the only one.
  19. Bummer
    First, congratulations on a good choice in touring bikes, and welcome. I'd like to offer a suggestion about your adVenture with your new toy: One thing at a time. Bear in mind, I learned this the hard way. Not on this bike, but... Please bear with me, since I obviously don't know what you already know. Get the leveling links and install 'em. Ride for a while. If that isn't enough, lower the front end. Ride for a while. Raise the front end back. Ride for a while. Try the narrower tire. Ride for a while. Go back to the stock size tire. Ride for a while. Well, ok, you may not want to put some of it back. But you may. What ever the case, do it one thing at a time so you can compare the changes. It may turn out that the links alone will do the job, and you won't want to lower the front or go to the skinny tire. As for rear lighting: I have the wing with light. It uses older style LEDs and isn't as bright as the newer style LEDs. I put a BackOff module on mine set up to flash the entire time I'm on the brake. My tail light is an older 128 LED board. Can't get 'em anymore, but they do have a 100 LED model that's very nice and actually fits the tail light lens design better. Look at turn signal LEDs. I'm a true believer. There are several threads with discussions of which ones and whether or not to add load equalizers. Bear in mind colored LEDs are brighter through clear lenses, white LEDs are brighter through colored lenses. Look for discussions of air horns. No more weep-weep. Blast those suckers back into their own lanes. Check out the tech area. There are step by step procedures for a lot of this stuff. Oh, and in reference to the bag rails and going over: maybe. The important part is actually already there. The rider's foot boards are mounted to a couple of cast pieces. On light lay downs the bike stops there and doesn't touch down.
  20. Bummer

    Me and Mama

    Bummer replied to Monty's topic in Watering Hole

    Congratulations! Hope to see you at a M&E or two this summer.
  21. Bummer
    Hey Kirby, Did you find the response to your PM? You're set up to not get PMs so I couldn't answer directly. In case you didn't the answer was no, I haven't really heard anything.
  22. Bummer
    Good luck to both of you. I hope you have a great time!
  23. Bummer
    If you're planning on doing this on red roads, you might consider entering Indiana through the toe and going across 62/66 (Ohio River Road) then up through some National Forests. If a variation on this sounds interesting let me or Dano know and we can set you up with some places to look at and go through on the way. My cell's in my profile and we're in the VR Assistance list.
  24. Bummer
    Slvr69bird, Thank you for your service to our Nation.
  25. Bummer
    Yep. Technically still do until July 31st. That's when my layoff benefits end. They shut down the Power Stroke plant in Indy.
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