Great White

LOL! there's a typo you don't see every day! Or, maybe it wasn't a typo? It almost works in the sentence.....

Mine disappeared the other day too. I figure the soft pewter the bell was made of wore through as the ring is still there. Not a big deal, was on the bike when I bought it. I'm not superstitious, so no need to replace it.

Yep, what you slapped is essential an airbox and battery cover. You're pretty much sitting on the fuel tank. It's right under yer butt! Do a search on the forum for 1983 and you'll find that second gear can be a problem, frames can crack at the rear swingarm linkages, plastic mounting tabs can be very fragile, the rear cylinders can bake your ankles, slow hot starting, and various other assorted little bits like a 1 year only TCI (ignitor box). Now, just because some 83's had these problems doesn't mean they all did. My 83 has had none of them, but it also only has 34000 kms on it. The only one that seems to eventually get everyone is the second gear issue, which is cause by Yamaha using a thrust washer that is too soft for prolonged use. They fixed it in late 85 with a different thrust washer. Unfortunately, the only way to change the washer is to split the transmission cases, which pretty much means tearing the engine completely apart....

I just use a Sena SMH-10: http://www.sena.com/product/smh10/ http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/sena-smh-10-bluetooth-stereo-headset Like all music, outside "noise" is dependent on how loud you set it. You can choice between voice activated or button push intercom. Button is on the helmet mounted unit though. Pairs with my iPhone via bluetooth. Voice command, internet, reads text, dictates text, phone, voice command of music, etc. Also allows you to share music so passenger can listen to it also. Won't do CB, but will work bike to bike within approx 900 yards. 12 hr talk time, 10 day standby. Pairs with other brand Bluetooth headsets also. I was going to add a stereo to my 83 standard, but after running the Sena for a while I see no need to add that weight to the bike. I was also the typical "we don't need no stinking radios on a motorcycle" guy and didn't try it until just this summer. After running with the Sena, I'll never go without one again. One thing I really like about it (and hope I never have to use) is that if I get thrown from the bike or slide off the road, help is only a lift my arm to press the button away. IE: press button on side of helmet with either hand, voice dial 911, tell them where I am, sit/lay/don't move and wait for them to show up....help is on the way even if I'm in jammed a bush or down in a ditch somewhere. I've had friends where that very scenario happened: out alone, hustling fast, hit sand in a corner, slide off the road and down an embankment. Busted him up pretty good. Was about 8 hours before someone found him. With a Sena and a phone in his pocket he would have been able to call for help as soon as he regained consciousness....heck, even with the phone still on the bike, Bluetooth is still good for about 30 feet. Edit: just went thorugh the instruction manual again. It appears you can pair the SMH-10 with a 2 way radio via something called an SRT10. I have no experience with it though...

I just slide the air gun under an edge of the grip between the grip and the bar and give it a blast. Grip puffs up and slides right off. No muss no fuss. Even works if someone put them on with "grip glue". Side bonus is they come off in one piece so you can reuse them if you need to. If you don't have a compressor, an air pig works just as well...

Maybe contact the guy and make sure its OK to post it here? You've linked his site as a ref, but you never know. Some guys are sensitive about that kind of thing...

Actually, most ign curves in the automotive world are a 3 d lookup table using rpm, MAP and %TPS. Very effective. At smooth and approriate power curves. They then chuck in a knock sensir to pull timing if knock is detected. mass air flow sensors are used to tailor fuel injection to proper stoich. Ive never seen maf used in any ign lookup tables. ideally, we would want baro (ie:map) and tps to trim out ign curves. But the ignitech is an either or propositon so its map or tps. I lean towards using map if the choice has to be made....

I can't stand the linked brakes. When the bike goes down for winter work, thats the first thing going in the garbage bin. It prevents me from using just the rear brake for many techniques. Most especially on a big top heavy bike like this: low speed handling. I also do not like the front brake "feel" of only one caliper on brake lever activation. Never inspires confindence and you have to engage the foot brake to get full front braking action anyways. Except now you have to regulate both the lever and the foot brake just to not dump the front end while both are giving you very different feed back cues. linked brakes might have some minimal advantage if you're an inexperienced rider, but if you have any time or training under your belt, independant front and rear brakes are the way to go. As gary mentioned, linked brakes are also crap on loose surfaces. Theres no argueing that fact. You're always playing with a front end wash out as its hard to regulate the foot pressure so that you get enough rear without locking the front. More so if you're in a turn. Others will differ on the subject. Thats fine. Everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. Make your own decisions .

There are led's that can be run resistive, but they are not common. The ones most guys get (mainly from china) are not resistive. If you run normal LED's near their voltage cut off limit they heat and die,

I think maybe you took my comment waaay out of context....

Not really overkill at all. a pwn controller, voltage regs, diodes and a couple resitors. easy peasy. And it drives the leds the way they are supposed to be driven to ensure max life.

here's the link: http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-technical-talk/187927-diy-led-tail-light-with-integrated-turn-signals-oem-housing-3.html I believe it's on the 4th page he gives diagrams, CB print outs and parts lists. It's also a modular type circuit, so you can add and subtract features as you go. I prefer driving LED's with a PWM circuit as they run at the full voltage they are intended to run at. Maximizes their life and you still can have the "dimming" effect. Makes it look OEM if done right. I like doing things right.

I've got a link to another forum where a gent shows how to build a controller using a pwm circuit to run all the LEDs. You adjust intensity for running lights and they go full bright for stop. It also gives the option of having half you led segment flash as turn signals. Only a couple bucks in parts and some soldering. im on my tablet right now, when I get back to my laptop I'll post the link.

Seems to be the case from what I've read. Shawn Morley also seems to not like Delrin, says they are too brittle. Dunno, Delrin has some pretty impressive PSI specs....

Prop wash, rotor wash, jesus nut wrench, wire pulling lube..... funny thing is, these things actually do exist but they give you the look like youre messing with them!

I'll get your some close ups of my 83 and 86 muffs later today...

Well that's interesting. Perhaps they're a press fit. In which case, yours has gone sloppy. My 83 won't even budge (not going to try popping with the rubber mallet either!). I also see what looks like some deformations in the ring that would press into the muffler body. If that's not Oem, that's likely where the slop is from....

I've got a 30,000 kms "unmolested" 83 in the garage and the muffler end caps are spot welded in place. They look like they're not attached, but the spot welds are visable from the underside. There are about 3-4 spots. Same with the 86 mufflers I have in the parts loft, except the turn downs slip over the spot welded end caps and are retained by springs. Take the turn downs off and the muffs have the same style end cap as the 83. 86+ muffs are essentially the same as the earlier years (with mounting differences already mentioned) except with this turn down slipped on and retained by the springs: http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/m6Hm3wN_FnLOFnAUwb3Ue5Q.jpg Can't speak for other years, but that's the 83 and 86 ones I have at hand. If yours are removable, I'd say someone has altered them some time before you got them....

Fair enough. I wouldn't fault a guy if he just wanted it because it was a bit of "shiny" either. Seems it would be easy peasy to make up out of a piece of stainless. From what I can see, it just looks like one bend and some polishing.... Edit: hold on a tick, I see a curve at the top. Would take a little more forming with the bag and hammers, but still do-able. Might be able to do it with heat and quench, but that's considerably harder. Piece of cake if a guy had a shrinker/stretcher. Or just make up a hammering form if a guy was going to run off a batch. I suppose there's alway a 20 ton press and forming dies, but that's prob just a little outside of most guys budgets......

I've been kind of thinking of turning out some mount bushings in delrin and aluminum just to see what it does for vibration and handling. Although, I'm already noticing a difference with just a thicker fork brace. Not huge, by noticeable....

Skinned up? You mean scraped or crashed? Seems some competent riding would prevent that. Other than some bright work (ie: farkles), I don't see a need for them....am I missing something?

Gonna at least need a video to hear it.

I'm actually going the other way: putting 86+ side boxes on my 83 and leaving the tips off the 83 muffs. You see, every time you force exhaust to change direction, it introduces restriction. Anything in the way of the pressure/sound wave also introduces restriction. Which means adverse effects on performance. Some will "poo poo" turn down tips making any difference, but I've proven something as simple as a thumb screw in an exhaust costing (or giving) a HP gain on the dyno. Actually, here's a guy showing a similar thing on a Harley: Time will tell if not having the turn downs will effect anything else (IE: heat, exhaust soot, etc)

Pull 'em, ride it and if you dont like it put 'em back on......

83 never had the turn down tips from the factory. That came in 86 when they went to the bigger side boxes....