twigg
-
Posts
1,423 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Events
Store
Everything posted by twigg
-
So does anyone know who makes the OEM seals for Yamaha? They might be a decent purchase. The perennial problem with fork seals is that they can easily get damaged on installation. Mostly they don't because those delicate looking lips are a lot tougher than they look .... but a slight slip, grit in the wrong place, or plain bad luck can all make it a frustrating business. Add to that the wrong size .....
-
Well take them off and send them to me! :: sheesh :: :rotf:
-
Hi, Does anyone have a set of mounting brackets for the VenturLine Rider's Back Rest for an '86 to '93 VR? Thanks
-
Jeez! Kisan are pretty proud of that! Radio Shack has a unit that displays digital clock, in and out temps and voltmeter for about $12
-
Honda can not do this. What Honda is concerned about is Product Liability. If they recommend a tyre type, then they are warranting that it is safe to use. The costs involved in product testing would cripple them. We see exactly the same thing with Shell Rotella Diesel Oil .... It's spec is almost identical to the very expensive motorcycle oil they sell, yet they will not certify the Diesel oil for motorcycles. It's part product liability, and part marketing. If we took the view that we should only ever use "approved" items, then you would ride a stock bike, and have the dealer service it ... forever. Yet on this Forum we even help people change brake calipers to those designed for another machine ...brake calipers!!! There now exists millions of miles of real world testing of car tyres fitted to motorcycles, and the only evidence that it is a bad choice, is some people thinking that it MUST be a bad choice. That is no evidence at all after all those safe miles. There is one further point that matters ... Honda has to certify the tyres right up to the performance potential of the bike. With some models this is not far short of 200mph. I doubt many riders reach even half of that speed, and even then not for very long. You probably wouldn't fit a car tyre to your R1, for a Track Day.
-
Yes, you should but there is probably no hurry. Maybe the previous owner was made an offer he couldn't refuse. The 130 has less rubber on the road, but ridden moderately it won't cause a problem. Yamaha chose 140, and we are generally wise not to try to out-think them unless we have good reason. Advantage of the 130 ... It's cheaper and lighter. The bike will turn in more quickly but lose a fraction of it's stability. You may lose some "gross weight" capacity. It will brake and grip a little less well.
-
The more comforting news is that your bike rotors will never fragment like that. Car rotors are usually made of cast iron, which is brittle. Bile rotors are stainless steel. The danger is that they will overheat and warp, making braking even more hit and miss than it already is Good news that you have thickness to spare.
-
If they go below minimum spec you absolutely MUST replace them. It's no place to be chancing it
-
My first thought is that I love seeing "out of the box" thinking. My second is that your bar may put things too close to you, you'll have to judge that for yourself. You can see how I solved that problem in this thread: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61370
-
Bi-Xenons are a compromise, and I agree with you, they don't always work well. Mine is fine, but I suspect that I got lucky and I don't think that any of them are DOT approved. A much better solution would be to fit two 3" projectors in the original shell ... something I will look at later this year.
-
Sounds like there was something wrong with the HID setup. If you want to see at night, halogen just isn't good enough. If you just make occasional, short night trips they might be ... you can simply slow down and not outride your ability to see, For serious night work the stock headlight and a couple of decent HID driving lamps is a decent solution.
-
There is a reason that vehicle manufacturers have pretty much always gone for 4300k. Light at that temperature penetrates better, and is more useable by your eyes that hotter ratings. Any lower than 4300 starts to look yellow, great in fog but not so good for everyday driving. Get above 6000k and it really starts to look blue. Expect more attention from LEOs. The Silverlight Ultra is regarded by many as a significant improvement over stock, but they come at a price. HID conversion is vastly brighter than any halogen bulb we can use, it is cheap and will last longer than either Silverlight or PIAA. Plus, it will use quite a bit less power. Kind of a win, win, win really.
-
You do know you will need to put the bike on a ferry? At least for part of the journey Have fun!
-
That would be France, not England. England has very few toll roads and France has lots. This practise is pretty rare and you would have to be traveling pretty damned fast to fall foul of it. The speed limit is 81mph anyway, and a single gas stop is enough to bring down the average. Personally I think it's a rumour started by the French, to slow people down a bit. I have ridden with friends all the way from north to south regularly cruising at around 100mph, and never had an issue at toll booths. Oh yeah ... and we were still passed regularly by French motorists who are, presumably, not even a bit concerned by this ... er ... feature!
-
Are you planning on de-linking the brakes? Where will you get the brake lines from? I was planning the same upgrade. The plan is to delink the brakes and use braided lines on the front calipers ... Two lines and a double banjo should make it nice and simple. There is an ebay seller that makes up the lines for about $21 per line, and stocks the banjos and crush washers. I plan on leaving the rubber hose on the rear simply because it offers a slightly "softer" action. I will need skydocs blocking plug for the rear caliper.
-
88 venture carb sync question
twigg replied to masterofyard's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
Normally they slide back fairly quickly. If you have three returning in a similar manner, and one that is sluggish, then that one has a problem. It could be any number of things .... Wear on the slide or body, a weak or broken spring, deposits on the slide, etc. You might try moving the slide in and out with the top off and spring out to see if you feel any unusual resistance. Get everything spotlessly clean before you re-assemble. When you check for holes use a bright flashlight behind the rubber, and stretch it very gently. Any holes will quickly become obvious. That sticky slide will cause a number of symptoms ranging from an apparent flat-spot to an idle that struggles to return to normal. (Doesn't open fast enough to doesn't close fast enough). -
See tx2sturgis ... that didn't hurt a bit :rotf: The problem with my approach is that many jurisdictions here in the US would have to find another revenue stream I was stopped, in my car a few years ago, on a motorway in the UK. It was 4am, the road was clear, dry and deserted. A car cruised up behind me and the blue flashing lights went on. "Damn! Now I'm in trouble". I was asked if I knew what speed I was driving ... "probably in excess of the speed limit", I replied politely. "Over the last 17 miles you have averaged 103 mph", I was informed. "However, given the conditions I do not consider that you were driving inappropriately. I want to check your tire condition, and if they are okay you can be on your way". The tires were just fine and I drove home. That was a Police Officer that earned the respect of a motorist.
-
Couldn't agree more. Mama Blue Hair, however, won't be pulling out in front of you on a clear Interstate ... clear of everything except you and a laser gun waiting for a pay day. You would be doing nothing dangerous, far less reckless yet in some States that could get you arrested, while in others you wouldn't even be stopped. Nonsensical .... And here is the real issue ... We need laws to help increase the safety of us all. Yet those laws also need to be sensible, and accepted as such by motorists. If they are capricious, or if LEOs tell us that speed kills when we know that it doesn't, not on it's own, then those laws fall into disrepute and are ignored. A case in point .... I would quite happily ignore most speeding on Interstates and other major routes, and hammer very hard those speeding past schools and in neighborhoods, where most accidents actually occur. The only tolerance there would be a sensible judgement of the prevailing conditions, and a small allowance for inaccurate speedos.
-
Is there anyone who is/was an original 1st gen owner?
twigg replied to Chaharly's topic in Watering Hole
You don't have to lose the stock appearance to improve the saddle. Most decent custom seat builders can rebuild your saddle and keep the original cover. It would look the same but be far more comfortable. If necessary they could make a minor change to the front of the cover to add the material needed to match the seat to the tank in the way you describe. Alternatively you can, as you say, simply get a better seat from a custom builder, and save the original one. You probably knew all that, but just in case -
I have come across this attitude before and in that respect fully understand where it comes from. However, it is completely wrong, at least insofar as it uses irrelevant information to bolster a poor point. There is no dispute that the faster a vehicle is traveling, the more likely it is to do serious damage ... IF IT HITS SOMETHING. Speed, in of itself, does not cause a vehicle to hit anything. Do guns kill people. or do people kill people, with guns? The only dangerous aspect to speed, is speed used inappropriately, and we are back to the bad driving argument. Speed limits, per se, are a complete irrelevance in this debate. None of this addresses the disparity between jurisdictions. Is it safe to drive at 85mph on an Interstate in Texas? If so, then why is it considered dangerous to exceed 65mph in others? What is more, I wonder if LEOs from those "other" States would come here and tell us that exceeding 65mph was dangerous, because it was the speed limit, and would they get into a fight with the Texas LEOs who were busy laughing into their radar guns? Let's remember that accidents have causes. What is "accidental" is that there was no intention to cause the incident, but they still have causes and there is still someone, or more, to blame. Every accident, with the odd exception of some freak events that couldn't reasonably be anticipated, has bad driving as the root cause. Speed may be indicative of bad driving, but not always so. One of the problems we have is that "Good Driving" is not taught. We teach to a test and a set of rules, many of them arcane and contradictory. Driving is not a test to pass, it is a life skill to learn, and keep learning. One of the things one learns is what the appropriate speed to drive at is given the prevailing conditions. That may, or may not be the posted speed limit.
-
The Reserve Lighting Unit works by shifting voltage when it detects a bulb failure. If the high beam fails, it shifts full voltage to the low beam. If the low beam fails it shifts a reduced voltage to the High beam. In both cases the white light comes on. It is a power sensing device. It wants to detect about a 50W draw depending on the switch position, so HID conversions mess with it's head. If it fails then who knows what it will do. Best approach is to simply bypass it.
-
There is so much utter rubbish talked in State Legislatures about driving speeds that it is no wonder folk consider many of these laws to be laughable. How can it be that your speed on an Interstate in one State can be "within the tolerance" granted by LEOs, yet in another State is a Reckless Driving charge? If the speed limit is 85mph, then 20% over that is 102mph .... In a School Zone with a 25mph limit, the 20% over is 30mph. In Oklahoma you have to exceed the speed limit by 10mph to be shifted into a higher tariff of offence, yet in a school Zone that would be 35mph, a 40% excess ... Which is more reckless? 40% over the limit in a School Zone or 20% over on a clear Interstate? None of it makes any road safety sense at all, yet it makes a great deal of sense if the objective is to fleece motorists with a hidden tax. Speed doesn't hurt anyone. Bad driving hurts people and if States can't get their heads around that it is high time the Federal Government took control of matters, at least on Federal roads. At least that way we may have a chance at an informed national discussion. just my 2c
-
Is there anyone who is/was an original 1st gen owner?
twigg replied to Chaharly's topic in Watering Hole
Mike Kneebone, President of the Iron Butt Association bought one new in 1983. He applied for entry to the Iron Butt Rally in 1984 but his application was declined as the organisors judged him to have insufficient experience. I guess he made up for that since -
Yeah Earl ... you should be sorry! After all, what do YOU know about these bikes? :rotf: Have to say that the reason I missed out that cigar-shaped thingy from my list of places oil and coolant could mix is mainly because I have never seen it. That was almost literally the ONLY place that the cooling system on mine was working when I bought it. It leaked everywhere else!
-
Front Fork Separation..
twigg replied to KIC's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
The bushings showed no signs of wear. They will be replaced next time I change the seals. The fork seals was the first job I did. I bought the bike and it came with a spare set of seals, and fork oil all over the front left brake caliper. Changing them was pretty easy and done without removing the forks from the triple tree. I wanted to ride it but I couldn't in that condition, so I changed the seals, and rebuilt the brakes. I was expecting the seals to pop out by using the fork slider as a slide hammer, but the bushes pulled straight through the seals and I needed a rethink. At some point I also need to change the steering head bearings ... if only because they are a critical component, and old, but as of now the handling is fine except for very slow corners ... Like intersections when there is a little uncertainty in the steering. Once the speed picks up it tracks straight and true, even with no hands so I figure a fork brace would help there. I learned quickly that it hates to go through slow speed, tight turns with a trailing throttle, but the handling is much better if you actually "drive" through those turns. It's never going to be a sportsbike I can't feel any play at all in the forks or the steering head, it just seems that the forks are not well braced, and weedy for the size of the bike. That must be a feature. The bike had covered 56k miles when I got it and someone had looked after it at least in the beginning. It has a Travelcade Road Sofa seat and Progressive Fork Springs. It had been badly neglected in the years before I got it though. That seat in comfortable for 1000 mile days, and I have tested that