Bummer

So true, so true.

I have a headlight modulator on the high beam. I have a modulator on the passing lamps that is activated by the horn. You really can't be too paranoid.

There is a plug inside the fairing you can add a splitter to, then route a wire about anywhere you want. My player lives in my backrest bag. I also have a car charger for it hidden by the battery, with its wire running to the backrest bag. As to control, I usually just let the thing loop. Gotta stop for gas occasionally, so I mess with it then.

Couldn't you use two of them? Pretty much any wire will pick up FM. Or use the Firestik AR1A splitter and just have one antenna. If you like the look. The splitter can be made to fit in the CB box by shortening its wires. You have to change the plugs on the splitter to motorolas, but that's no big deal at all. Right now I have a single Firefly. It works great, but the wife says the tip makes noise at speed, probably because I used the pretty chrome folding mount from the Marshall Mod, and as Roy Hoffman mentioned it's just too loose, even after bending apart the two sides of the hinge. I'm going to change over to the Venice when I can find one.

For those who like wire antennas, Firestik distributes the Venice Kit; a base loaded wire antenna with a built in swivel base. It looks good and comes from the Firestik people so it should be good, but I've been unable to actually find one.

I have a modulator on my high beam and another modulator, activated by the horn, on my passing lamps. Definately an attention getter. I've had cages pull over.

I didn't have much luck at the truck stops. I did best at Walcott CB. Fiberglass antennas consist of a fiberglass rod with wire wrapped around it. The wire is the real antenna. The fiberglass rod is just there to hold the wire up. Some fiberglass antennas must be cut to adjust. Some have to be hacksawed, others are shrink wrapped and you can pull out a bit of the wire and snip it off. Others have a screw that serves as the adjuster. If the screw is all the way in but the SWR is not quite there yet you can trim a little metal off the screw (threaded end) and keep trying. Generally speaking, a high SWR means too much radiating mass. The tip has to be there when you test SWR if you are going to have it on there when you're transmitting. I don't know if it HAS to be there, but it does serve to seal the end of the antenna. Remember that the trunk lid has to be down or it'll affect the SWR reading. You can't have anything within one wavelength or it'll affect the SWR reading. You have to test it setup the way you intend to run it. If you run a splitter you should adjust the antenna SWR with the splitter out of the circuit. After antenna SWR is set put the splitter back in the circuit and readjust SWR using the screw on the splitter. Some parts: 3' Firefly AR1A splitter 203EZ folding mount 300-340 stud mount PL-259 right angle adapter I found the stud mount and the 90 at a truck stop. The rest I had to order. I got PL-259 and motorola solderons at a local electronics shop.

For the most part so do I. If I ever have another Second Gen I'll grease those splines right away too. The splines on the '05 were rusted enough at 4k to require scotch brite to clean up. The '06 at less than 3k only had a slight rusty film that rubbed off with a rag. Still, there seem to be folks getting away with it. Maybe they got all the grease. I know I sure didn't get much.

First off you don't HAVE to take the wheel off. It just gives you more room to work. IF you take the wheel off you should take that opportunity to grease the splines in the center of the wheel. I had an '05 Midnight and now have an '06 Black Cherry. Both had nearly dry wheel splines from the start. At 4k miles or so the '05 began making a tick tick tick noise as I backed it up. I've heard it'll make quite a racket if you wait. The dealer offered to do it under warranty. "Just drop it off Tuesday and we'll call you in a couple of days..." I did it myself. I didn't wait for the '06 to make noise, I did it while I was changing links. It's pretty easy. You'll need a pair of circlip pliers. The wheel has a circlip in the middle. Take it off then pull. Clean the parts and grease well. I used some fancy Moly stuff I had. Others have used lithium based grease. When you put it together you might find that a rubber mallet comes in handy to help seat the assembly. It probably added an hour to the job and I was gimping around on a badly bent leg at that time. Bear in mind not everyone has to grease the splines right off, so if it's not making noise you can always wait. I just figured while I had it in the air...

Got the pen. Matches perfectly. I'll get the jar next time. Yes I got the clearcoat too. It hides rock chips and holds off rust. That's about all that can be said. Convenient but somewhat awkward. It'll take a repaint to do it right.

I'm with you. I removed the tire for the space. I suppose I didn't absolutely need to, but I'm glad I did. It also gave me a chance to grease the rear wheel splines. I'm glad I did that too.

I've read this so many times I can't see it any more. Typos and questions: I'll be glad to correct/explain as needed. How to make your passing lamps modulate when the horn is activated. If they are not already on they will be turned on while the horn is activated. Some information: Headlight modulation is authorized throughout the US by the DOT. It is wise to carry a copy of the law in case you find a LEO who doesn't know this. You can't legally modulate at night, and all modulation must be synchronized unless you're a LEO. Most Diamond Star modules have a Heads Up mode. This causes the attached lights to flash for three seconds when the horn is honked. I wanted my passing lamps to flash as long as I hold down the horn button. As I was finishing this up (I thought.) I did a final check for parts availability. It turns out Signal Dynamics has changed models and the newest one won't work. Some old Diamond Stars might be available, but I'd definitely call and check the number. Because of this I added the instructions for Kisan modules as well. I have not used the Kisans myself. (See Notes 3 and 4 at the bottom for more info.) Schematics follow at the end of the article. 1 – Using a relay to activate the passing lamps. Lamps installed as per Yamaha instructions. 1 normally open horn relay Wire Female lugs Wire loom material Fuse (inline or mini addon fuse block) Remove seat and tank. Split fairing. Run a wire in wire loom from the battery, up the backbone, through the neck, and into the fairing. Use an inline mini fuse or an addon fuse block. Depending on how much of this mod you want to do you may want to run more than one wire. This is a power wire – 12 or 14 gage. This wire goes to 30 on the relay. Find the wire that's patched into the red/yellow high beam wire. Cut this wire between the switch and the passing lights. Place a female lug on the wire that goes to the headlights and put it on 87 on the relay. Place a female lug on the wire that comes from the switch and put it on 85. Run 86 to ground. If you don't care about the modulation and horns you can use some double stick tape, stick the relay to the bulkhead, and stop here. You'll have your passing light powered from the battery, activated by a relay switched only when the power is on. You've also reduced the load on your headlight circuit. 2 – Add a horn activated modulator. 1 Diamond Star modulator #01014 (Follow DS instructions – red to power, red and white to light.) OR 1 Kisan pathBlazer P115W–H3-HD (Follow K - instructions.) 2 horn relays Wire 2 Piggy back lugs (Radio Shack Quick Disconnect Adapter Set 64-3064) Some female lugs Wire loom material. Double stick tape Remove left lower. Remove tank. Loosen/remove neck plastic. Split fairing. Run two signal wires (16 or 18 gage) in wire loom up from the area of the horn, through the neck, and into the fairing. If you are retaining the stock horn, solder/crimp piggyback lugs to the wires and place on horn. Place plug on piggyback. If you're removing the stock horns use standard male lugs. Put the lugs into the horn plug. Toss the horn. http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/lowerfairing.jpg (horn area of lower) From the front of the bike run the horn signal wires to your right. Give yourself a foot of wire or so to work with and trim, then add a female lug to each wire. In order to keep some of the wiring under control I made a harness for the relay set. I used double stick tape to stick the relays together side by side, then placed lugs on each 85 and 86. I routed the wires that go to the front connectors toward the back next to the other wire. Once everything was in place I crimped the lugs onto the wires, and wrapped the wire sets with electrical tape in strategic spots. I put male lugs on the ends of the two wires. http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/relays.jpg (Relays and wiring harness) Plug the two male lugs from the relay harness into the females on the horn signal wires. First relay – doesn't matter which. DS - Cut the toggle switch off of the modulator, leaving the wire. Solder a female lug to each wire. Hook these to 30 and 87a. K – Cut the red wire on the light sensor wire set and splice in enough signal wire to reach the relay. Solder a female lug to each new wire. Hook these to 30 and 87. Cut your passing lamp power wire between its switching device (switch or relay) and the lamps. Install the Diamond Star or pathBlazer module on this wire as per its instructions. Decision time: Do you want the lights to flash at night? Technically this is probably illegal. The main headlight may not modulate after dark. Period. These however are passing/auxiliary lamps flashing when you honk the horn. Their use presupposes an emergency wherein I want the clown about to run me over to notice I'm there and change his mind. I don't care how the DOT feels about it. If you decide to have them flash at night you need to: DS - cut the sensor off, then solder the wires together and insulate the end, then tape it out of the way. K - mount the sensor where it receives light from the headlight. The pathBlazer uses an adjustable sensor, so cutting it off probably won't work. If you want the light to not flash at night follow the standard sensor mounting instructions for each. I mounted the one for my headlight in the plastic piece at the bottom of the fork, toward the back, pointing down. There's room for two. I removed the sensor for the passing lamp modulator. http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/lightsensor.jpg (Sensor placement) Pick a second relay. Splice into the light power wire before the existing switch/relay. Run this wire to 30. Splice into the light power wire after the existing switch/relay and run this wire to 87. http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/relayswired.jpg (Relays - from left: Horn - Headlight modulation - Passing light modulation - Passing light power with horn. Separate - Switched passing lamp power for normal operation.) Use double sided tape to stick the relays and modulators to the bulkhead. If you're doing the horn and/or headlight modulator, save this step for later. http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/relaysinplace.jpg (Relays in place on front right, lower bulkhead) You can stop here, your passing lamps will now flash when you honk the horn. If they are not turned on, the second relay will turn them on while the horn is activated. Power on, test, and button up. 3 - You can add a set of Fiamm Extra Loud electric horns inside the fairing. Just add another relay in parallel with the others (85 and 86), then use this to power the horns. The Fiamms will fit inside the fairing. The supplied mounting brackets must be attached to the radio mounting bracket, one on each side. The brackets must be massaged to get the horns to fit without touching the fairing. I used two of the mounting brackets on each horn to get good strength. One seemed too weak. You may find that the upper bolts yield a better position than the lower bolts. Run a fused wire from the battery to 30 on its relay, then from 87 to both horns. Ground the horns to the radio framework. http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/horns.jpg (Fiamm horns) Parts for this: 1 set of Fiamm Extra Loud electric horns (132 db) 1 horn relay A couple more lugs A bit more wire 4 - You can also add a headlight modulator on the high beam. If you do, add another relay to the horn circuit, same as above. You will need to turn off the headlight modulator when the passing lamps are modulating. DS - Cut the toggle switch off the headlight modulator and add lugs. Put these on 30 and 87. It'll turn off the headlight modulator while the passing lamps are flashing. K – Cut the red wire to the light sensor and add two wires with female lugs on the ends. Route these to 30 and 87a. This will turn off the headlight modulator while the passing lamps are flashing. Parts for that: A Diamond Star module installed to the high beam as per instructions (red to power source, red and white to light). OR A pathBlazer P115W–H3-HD module installed to the high beam as per instructions. 1 horn relay A couple more lugs A little more wire If you didn't stick it all to the bulkhead earlier, now's the time. Power up, test, and button everything up. Note 1: I went to Pep Boys, in the horn department, and found good quality relays for three bucks each. They have both normally open and normally closed terminals. I've found low end relays with 87a cut off. These will work for all but one place on the Diamond Star install. The relays used on lighting systems cost five bucks each and all require a fancy harness and plug to remain fully rigid. Used without the plug these relays can be activated by moving the wires attached to the switch lugs. Note 2: If you get the Fiamms from this place, you'll get a five lug relay and all the rest of the stuff you need to add the horns. Note 3: Any Kisan pathBlazer will probably work for the main headlight. All you need to be able to do is interrupt the signal from the light sensor. I contacted Kisan and a tech there verified that opening the sensor circuit would cause the modulator to return the light to solid operation. That's what we want. Note 4: Newer Diamond Star modulators (#01013) will not work. If it hooks up to a single light and has a switch, and/or light sensor, it should work. Bear in mind that the Diamond Star module # 01014 modulates when the switch is OFF and stays on solid when the switch is ON. The Kisans modulate when ON and stay on solid when OFF. In other words, if it flashes at the wrong time move 87/87a to the other. (Schematics) http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/circuitDScolorFinal.jpg (Diamond Star #01014) http://s_bumgardner.home.comcast.net/circuitKisanColorFinal.jpg (Kisan pathBlazer)

Exercise 6 on the Ride Like A Pro Exercise Guide: Isn't that an '03?

Rivco makes a set of air horns that mount on the swing arms. The compressor goes behind the plate. Since you have the plate you might want to consider the Rivcos.

Aside from the link pivot points they're talking about the wheel hub. Every time you take the wheel off be sure to take the hub apart and grease it.

I bought a manual online from Yamaha in '05. Conveniently delivered to my door and all that. It was the '99 manual. Looks just like the pdf one, only bigger.

That must have been one flashy cow!

Overinflate and the bike just hangs there upside down in the air...

BuddyRich, I got: 1 x - 12MFPL - PL259 to Motorola Female 12" Long (12MFPL) = $6.95 1 x - 12SMMPL - PL259 To Motorola Plug 12" Long (12SMMPL) = $5.95 (Right now they're showing an 18 inch and no 12.) Is that what you're looking for?

Aren't they just jeans, though? Nice jeans, I'm sure, but I couldn't find any listed with kevlar lining. No kevlar means no real abrasion protection, which is what I'm looking for. Even two layers of denim isn't going to last anywhere near as long as one layer of kevlar.

There is a thread about kevlar jeans here: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=249

OB-1, Spectacular choice. 212 from Red Lodge to Cook City is pretty much my favorite mountain ride. The first time my wife and I rode it she hadn't been in the mountains yet. Quite an introduction. She was sitting on the back checking out the scenery and not paying attention ahead. She looked forward just as I was pushing on the handlebar to begin the switchbacks up the hill. About the only thing in front of us was mountain wall. She gasped loud enough to mute the stereo. There are a few Beartooth pics from '91 in my Gallery. Just a few shots of the tundra at the top.

I haven't tried crashing in them, but I have had both kinds. And the shirt. I currently ride in the Sliders. I grew out of the Draggins during down time after a crash last September. I hope to fit them again soon. The Sliders are lined with a felt like kevlar, while the Draggins are lined with a knitted kevlar. Both line the seat, and knees. Sliders do a section of the sides as well. They are a little warmer than regular jeans because of the added thickness in the lined areas, but it doesn't seem all that bad to me. Of course I suppose I should add the disclaimer that I'm a Boiler operator, and I wear long sleeves in the summer. I don't see them being as hot as leather chaps (another disclaimer, I've never worn chaps) and unlike chaps they cover your butt. The US site no longer has a video that I can find http://www.dragginjeans.com/About.htm, but the Australian site does. http://www.dragginjeans.com.au/productTesting/index.htm I have no doubt they're better than denim alone. I don't really know how the shirt will work in a crash either, but again, it's got to be better than a t-shirt and it's not that much warmer.

Denim goes away in mere feet if you go sliding. Jeans just aren't much protection. Competition Accessories and Fast Company make kevlar lined jeans. The Competition Accessories' Sliders jeans are cut somwhat baggy. Not really a traditional jeans cut. http://www.competitionaccessories.com/category.cfm?Category=2021 Fast Company make Draggin Jeans. These have a more traditional jeans cut but seem to run a little small. http://www.dragginjeans.com/Jeans.htm Fast Company also make Draggin' Shirts. These are woven mesh long sleeved kevlar shirts. They have velcro at the wrists to allow a snug fit when adjusted. http://www.dragginjeans.com/Accessories.htm