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pegscraper

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Everything posted by pegscraper

  1. pegscraper
    What I'm trying to say is that being able to lock up the brakes does not mean that they are doing a good job. It's almost just the opposite. Wet brakes can be locked up too. They'll have almost no effect up until the point where they lock up, and then they've gone too far. There's not enough middle ground to work with. And the stock brakes, even when they're functioning properly, don't have a whole lot of middle ground either. If you never find yourself in an emergency, they'll feel just fine. But if you ever find yourself having to stop right NOW, they will fade, having no more braking power to give, and suddenly they're locked up. This brake setup that Y themselves is putting on their newer bikes, including most cruisers, not just the sportbikes, gives you a lot more middle ground to work with, and it's a lot more controllable. "Works fine enough for me" when there are better systems available, and inexpensively, I just don't understand it. It's your own safety, I guess. Do what you like. I truly hope you never find yourself in a situation where you need more braking power and wish you had it. I've been there, and so have a few others on this board. Rotors from any of the V Stars will fit. Some are one piece, some are floating types.
  2. pegscraper
    IIRC, my more conventional looking floating rotors came off of an R1, an older model. I got all my parts through ebay, and then got rid of all my old parts the same way, which very nicely funded the swap. If you're going to a dealer for that test ride, take a look at the calipers, rotors, and master cylinders of some of the other models and you'll see the similarities and what will fit and what won't. Describing it is more difficult than understanding it. The M/C can only come from a newer Roadstar. M/Cs from other models are mechanically the same, but they're styled differently and won't match the clutch M/C. (If you didn't have to match the clutch M/C style, the brake M/C style wouldn't matter.) Make sure that the one you get has "14" cast into the front next to the fluid level window. That's the size of the bore, 14mm. Our stock ones are 5/8", and some of the older Roadstars may also have a 5/8" M/C. Floating rotors can come from an older R1/R6, or most any newer cruiser. The new R1/R6 rotors will have a different bolt pattern. The calipers can come from an older R1/R6, or most of the new cruisers. Their style may vary, but they're all mechanically the same thing, with a couple exceptions. None of the V Star calipers will work. And you'll notice that the new models of R1 and R6 have a different style of caliper now which will not work. The ones that fit are from older models. I don't remember the years anymore, and they're not even the same between the R1 and R6 anyway. Just take a note of what the new ones look like. Then when you see some used ones, you'll know what will work and what to avoid. The cruiser calipers look pretty nice as is, but you may want to cover up the sportbike calipers, either with some full chrome covers, or at least a smaller chrome dog bone style that will cover up the colored anodized caps on the sides. The cheapest way would be to dab some black paint over those caps. This front brake system hasn't been on the cruisers long enough for used pieces to show up on ebay. If you find used calipers from a cruiser, they may be pretty expensive. But the sportbike calipers are plentiful and cheap. And the only difference is their looks. I'll look forward to hearing how you like that test ride. To get an idea of what these brakes feel like, give one of the other new cruisers a test ride also.
  3. pegscraper
    Monkey see, monkey do. I see people climbing a ladder, I can too. I wonder how much longer that one got away with chewing on an electric plug.
  4. pegscraper
    How do you tell the difference between a black bear and a brown bear? A black bear will tear you apart before eating you, while a brown bear will eat you whole. Then you'll know.
  5. pegscraper
    Wow, who took those? Someone must have had a super duper telephoto lens. He's sitting there wondering why there is nothing to eat. "When people sit here, I see them eating food."
  6. pegscraper
    There are more standard looking floating rotors available, if you don't happen to like the gnarly bodacious look of those. The ones I got look just like my stock ones, except that they're two piece units. Put braided lines on your stock brakes and locked them up and you think that's the best the brake system can be, eh? These R1/R6 brake calipers are much more controllable than that. The lever travel increases with this setup, increasing the mechanical advantage over the calipers and giving finer control of what the calipers are doing BEFORE they lock up. Once they lock up, you're all done. You don't want that to happen. Plus these brakes don't fade under hard use. The stock ones do. I've felt it happen. The harder you pull the lever on these, the harder they work. You don't come to a point where there's nothing more left to be had even though you have more lever travel to go. The R1/R6 brake setup is much better than just throwing braided lines on the stock brakes.
  7. pegscraper
    No room for those things. Ground clearance is not enough as it is.
  8. pegscraper
    I don't quite understand it either, but that's the idea. Resistance in the plug wires reduces noise in radio reception. And then after we have thousands of ohms in the plug caps or wires, some get real concerned about super low resistance in the plugs themselves and we have all these fancy, expensive spark plugs. I don't understand that one either. Am I missing something? The resistors in these plugs caps can be changed. Just unscrew the contact in the end of the cap, and the resistor and a spring will fall right out.
  9. pegscraper
    The power of these bikes can be boosted up a bit without too much difficulty.
  10. pegscraper
    Wow, hope he gets feeling better soon. This is actually a big part of why I like to drag my floorboards, even around a corner where I wouldn't really need to, so that I know the maximum lean angle of the bike and hopefully can keep from ever going beyond it.
  11. pegscraper
    That would be ideal, to get braided brake lines to fit. Ones for a newer Roadstar would do it. Actually I'm still using my old stock lines though, for now. Just twist the lines a quarter turn to install them. They're a hair too long, but not noticeable and don't cause any trouble. I'll get the braided lines as money allows. (Besides, I'm in the middle of another project right now anyway.) I got used calipers and master cylinder from ebay, then sold my old ones off, which for some reason brought more than I paid for what I got. I have less than nothing in this swap. Used R1/R6 calipers are really common. Maybe that's why they don't bring as much. My old master cylinder went to KS, and my old calipers wound up in England. The last detail, although not absolutely necessary, would be to get floating rotors and get rid of the solid ones. Again, get them from certain years of R1 or R6 or a newer Roadstar. Other models have them too, but I don't know all the details. Just match up the parts. If they look like they'll fit, they will. The ones that won't fit are obviously different, like different bolt patterns or something.
  12. pegscraper
    Glad to hear you're doing better. And keep it vertical next time!
  13. pegscraper
    Those discs are probably check valves. I can't help much as far as how they go back in. While you have it apart, have you checked that the piston ring(s) aren't worn out or that the cylinder wall isn't galled? Maybe the check valves themselves aren't holding air when they're supposed to.
  14. pegscraper
    Wow, I can't picture how those things are supposed to mount, or what their purpose is.
  15. pegscraper
    That much play, and happening that quickly, it almost sounds like one of the throttle cables has come loose from its mounting bracket on the carburetor and is about to fall right off. You'll have to remove the tank to see what's going on and verify anything. If that's it, tighten it up and adjust them. There are adjustments both at the carbs and near the throttle grip housing for cable tension.
  16. pegscraper
    It is very easy to swap front brake calipers from certain years of an R1 or R6 or newer Roadstar. They bolt right on. It's also best then, to use a front brake master cylinder from a newer Roadstar to match the setup, and the style matches the current one exactly. This setup is what Y is putting on the newer cruisers anyway, and it's what they should be putting on this bike too. Why are they giving a heavier bike weaker brakes? These give a tremendous improvement in stopping power. I say it's much needed. There's no such thing as braking power you don't need. When someone pulls out in front of you and you need to stop right NOW, the stock brakes are not enough. With these, the brakes are much better balanced front to rear, and the rear brake then does not need to be proportioned down. Why reduce your braking power (via the rear) when you could be increasing it (via the front)? This is a much better solution.
  17. pegscraper
    Not a valid test. Some stainless is magnetic. Some of the stainless pieces on this bike are magnetic. The front brake caliper covers on my bike are magnetic, and I know for a fact they're stainless. I don't know about the brake rotors though. I would guess not. I'm sure I've seen rust spots on them after a rain, but it's possible it could have been just water spot dirt. The center sections have paint on them. I don't know why Y would have gone to the expense of painting them if they were stainless.
  18. pegscraper
    Not sure what you mean by gen 2 solo seat. Generally the seats are not a direct fit between models. The frames are all the same in this area though, and generally the only difference in the seats is the method of holding them down. If you can fab some mounting brackets, you should be able to get most any seat in the Royal Star model line to work.
  19. pegscraper
    Check some of the links at the bottom of the page. We have talked about them quite a bit. It seems to be a look that one either likes or hates. I do rather like the look of the model without the trunk on it. I haven't gotten used to the look of that trunk yet.
  20. pegscraper
    A 2000 Roadstar is still a 1st gen - in the Roadstar family. What risers are on that?
  21. pegscraper
    Simply copy and paste the IMG code at the bottom of your photobucket thumbnail into the reply box here. http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t327/Dogman_ca/Picture034.jpg http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t327/Dogman_ca/Picture042.jpg
  22. pegscraper
    The general procedure is the same. Figure out which screws do what. Sync the pair on one side. Sync the pair on the other side. Then sync the two pairs together.
  23. pegscraper
    The "only" advantage being increase tire mileage? That's plenty reason enough right there, that they'll last three times as long or better. MT manufacturers have a pretty good racket going for themselves. Handling is slightly different. Neither better nor worse. Adapt to it and move on. Traction, both wet and dry, is much better. It takes a lot more to lock up the rear wheel with a CT, but it still can be done. I got caught in the pouring rain a couple weeks ago on a somewhat winding road, at least as far as northern IN goes. Not a road to use if you're trying to make time getting anywhere. Rode for three hours in pouring down rain with no problems at all. I didn't see where anybody said it takes as much as 1500 miles to break in a CT. I said 500 miles once, one time when I blindly repeated something someone else said. Shame on me for that. My own experience is that it didn't take any longer to scuff the glaze off my CT than any other MT I've ever used. My wife was really leery of me doing this. "CTs aren't designed to lean over, they're just not designed for motorcycles, it just can't be right." All the same stuff we always hear everywhere else. All I told her is that there would be no difference there. It would be fine. You won't even know it's there. It took only one ten mile ride as a passenger for her to say that she felt some differences. "Oh yeah, like what?" "The bike feels more stable underneath us, and the ride is softer, not so bouncy and bumpy." I nodded my head. "That's what I've heard from others who have done this, that their passengers like the softer ride better." I didn't tell her that ahead of time. In fact what I told her was that everything would be just the same, that she wouldn't be able to tell any difference at all. I wanted to see what she might say about it without any prebiasing. She came up with that all on her own. She really likes this CT stuff.
  24. pegscraper
    I used some HD lights on mine. I liked them because they didn't have the on/off switch on the side of one light. I did have to grind some tack welds to remove the mounting bolts from them and use Y's hardware to mount them on Y's bar. Other than that, they are identical to Y's passing lamp housings.
  25. pegscraper
    Lowering the back will in general make the bike handle worse at lower speeds because it rakes the front forks out more. It doesn't take much of a change in degrees to make a difference. You could lower the front the same amount and get back to about what you had before, handling wise. If you get into sidestand trouble, you might try raising the rear back up. If you get the front down far enough, you might be able to get the seat where you want it with the rear at full height. Or maybe you could make some custom links to raise the rear up only halfway. Anything can be done.
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