RedRider

GoldenRider made it home yesterday after rain, wind, and mountain cold. Epic ride. The bike ran well but raised some concerns when in the mountains. It seemed to loose power (it is FI). I didn't think about it until he told me this, but there is a small plug with a jumper wire on the side of the engine. If he would have pulled that (he had no idea it was there), it sets the FI map to a high altitude setting. Would have been nice to have tested that as I never had a need for it. RR

Pucster, that bike will barely do 85 with all that stuff on there. He is staying off the interstate the whole way. We laid out a route on the blue highways only. Also, he is doing this without GPS - maps only. Did a 5000+ mile trip in his truck last summer the same way. Yes, I am proud of him. RR

Son #1 (GoldenRider) flew from Phoenix to WI last week to attend a friend's graduation and to see the family. While here he took my Venture to Fort Wayne to visit the Grandparents. He just took off to ride an '86 BMW K75C back to Phoenix for son #2 (moved out there a couple of months ago). 53 degrees and raining. Perfect weather for a 2000 mile trip with intentions of camping each night. Wish I was going with him (kind of). RR

Take pictures please. RR

I'm pretty sure the servo assist problems was with the GS models, not the RTs. They were produced '05-'07 or -'08 IIRC. RR

I had this happen after 50-ish thousand miles with the Barnett. I installed extra heavy duty springs and have had no issues since. $23.00 from Barnett. RR

When the dealer was talking about 6 bearing in the swing arm, I suspect he is covering the 4 needle bearings in the suspension setup (dog bone links are connected with a bolt through these bearings) and the two swing arm tapered bearings. When I serviced my rear suspension a couple of winters ago, I had to change out these 4 needle bearings, the hollow common inner bearing race, as well as the dog bone links and the connecting bolts. The bolts had bent breaking the common inner bearing races and taking out the needle bearings with it. Wasn't a difficult job, just time consuming. The swing arm tapers were in good shape and were relubed and reused. I had about 130k miles on the bike at the time. The squeaking is almost assuredly from the shock. Mine was squeaky for many 10's of thousands of miles before it finally failed. Replaced with a Hagon shock. Squeak-Free and properly suspended since 2015. RR

Barnett with heavy duty springs. Wouldn't even mess with the discs. RR

http://docs.mystiklubes.com/msds_pi/M20080.pdf Looks like you are good to go. Last line in Applications: "It is designed to be used in wet clutch applications that require JASO MA quality oil." That's a fairly inexpensive full synthetic. RR

IIRC, the Barnett pressure plate is bright purple. You really can't miss it. Also, Barnett has heavy duty springs available that work wonderfully. I went through a clutch every 20-30k miles. Tried the Skydoc mod, heavy duty washer spring, regular Barnett springs (got 50k out of that). I also removed the full friction disc and went back to the split disc/spring inner (better/longer friction zone with split disc). With the heavy duty springs, it rocks. Does make my forearms ache a bit if caught in Chicago traffic for a while. RR

The only way I would do this is pulling the drive shaft first. I would rent a one way U-Haul trailer. RR

I used JBM on an old KZ440. Good product. RR

E3 rr

All the above provide the info to get the axle out. Now, to prevent it from happening next time you need to change a tire, apply a little anti-seize to the axle before putting it back in. Don't get any on the threads. If you haven't worked with anti-seize before, I recommend wearing disposable gloves as it is a bear to get off your hands. FYI - If I recall correctly, the allen wrench size is 10mm in the end of the axle. Turn it a few times and it will come out. RR

Tried it with the drift punch and got no love. The Dremel cutting wheel took care of it. A huge PITA, but it worked. I was lazy with it and cut the notches 180 degrees from each other. The bearing race just fell out. RR

Both Motorcyclegear and Revzilla have great customer service and easy returns/exchanges. Fair prices also. To be fair to the HD dealership not recognizing a lid as a helmet, I'm sure they sell more HD ball caps than they do helmets. You will soon get used to wearing ear plugs (you can still hear what is going on around you). I found it was like a seat belt. Once you get used to it, it feels weird not wearing it. RR

Just replaced my Profile with a SignetQ long oval. They fit similarly so should be comfy. The Q was on closeout at Motorcyclegear.com and made the choice vs. a new SignetX pretty easy. That being said, I tried on the X at the Motorcycle Show and it fit beautifully. Seems to have an additional mm or so in the length that made it even more comfy than the Q. Speaker pockets are also deeper so more speaker selections can be installed that won't touch your ears (can get very painful over a long day). You may want to look at an LS2 helmet. They are available in a long oval, but don't seem to be as quiet as the Arai. Very cost effective though. OK, now the major point of this entry -- WEAR EARPLUGS. It may take you a while to find a pair that fit well and will allow you to wear them for long days. If you are doing multiple long days, it may help to use neosporin or something similar on the plugs. They are really cheap insurance against something you cannot get back if it is lost - your hearing. I do Iron Butt rallies (haven't done the big one yet) and have done 6+ 1000 mile days in a row. Without hearing protection, I would be in trouble. Lots of conversations in the IB world concerning plugs. Just about everyone in that world wears them (at least everyone I know, which is many of them). /rant RR

There's just something wrong with you guys. RR

IIRC the $ symbol is also used for pesos in Mexico. Therefore, the small bottle is 30 pesos or about US$1.50 at today's exchange rate. RR

Sorry about your brother. As for helmets, first figure out what shape your head is. Round, slight-oval, mid-oval, long-oval. Different brands fit differently as they are made for different shaped heads (or have models for different shapes). HJC, good helmet that is reasonably priced. Round to slight-oval. If you have a mid/long-oval head, it will press on your forehead and be uncomfortable after an hour or so. Nolan, premium helmet that is mid-premium priced. Mid-oval. LS2, good helmet that is very reasonably priced. They have models that are mid and long-oval. Arai, ultra-premium helmet at ultra-premium price. They have the only true long-oval that fits my melon. These are the ones I have experience with. YMMV etc. Motorcyclegear.com (formerly newenough.com) has a good selection of closeout helmets in various brands. They also use a software called Lid-Picker that may help determine the correct size and shape. RR

YCIS? What is that? Is that the mythical Twinkie? RR

Got in a couple hundred miles on the KLR this weekend. It was glorious. Global Warming --- Bring it on baby. RR

I have a rotor holder for a KLR. It was made by a 3rd party so I have no idea if it will work on the VN900. RR

Glad you brought this up. I am in Milwaukee today and I will stop by one of the dealers and see if they have discount tickets. IIRC, Parking is $5 in the bus station just west of the Stephens Center. RR

Do the lights dim when you hit the start button? If not ..... My first guess is the starter solenoid. Under the clutch side side cover (under seat). RR