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Snaggletooth

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  1. Snaggletooth
    I rode my '84 for two seasons without a back rest. The long days, 350-450 miles played havoc with my lower back. A year ago I found a lambskin seat cover. It was the 3/4 shorn type. That was a huge help with the pressure on the old tailbone. Just enough padding to take the edge off the pressure point. Right at the end of last season I FINALLY found a decent back rest on eBay. I only got in about a 1,000 miles with the rest before it snowed but I am looking forward to my road trips this next season. Between the cover and the rest......nuttin but comfort. The stock seat is doing fine for me. I'm 6'2" and 285 lbs. Long inseams work best with these wide seats. All I can say is good luck finding a decent one for a reasonable price that fits the '83-'85 MKIs. And comes with all the parts!
  2. Snaggletooth
    I wanted to save some of my PMs to folders for later reference. I started with the IN box and created the files I wanted and moved the messages. Cool....no problem. I went back to my SENT box and found I was not able to move the messages from there. I assumed that the folders would be shared but I guess not. I can not find a way to create folders for my SENT PMs or move them. There is no "Move to Folder" selection buttom in the lower right hand corner on the SENT window. What am I missing here? Mike
  3. Snaggletooth
    Hey Gary, Nope.....that was what I was trying to explain in the PM on what he had done. He ran a a wire from the post where the brush wires attach to the brush holder and then ran a wire down to the mounting plate, where he drilled and tapped a hole for a screw. From that point he fabbed a spring out of what might have been an old tension spring from a set of points that was fastened to the bottom of the plate. When you tightend the screw to hold the wire onto the plate the spring had to be aligned to rub on the inside wall of the starter housing between the coils. It was stiff enough that I had to use a pick to hold it down inside while I worked the plate assemebly back into position. It did create a ground for sure. A lot more complicated than it needed to be. A single wire from plate to the housing would have been fine. I would have to guess he didn't want to have to drill a hole in the starter housing. Go figure. The way it was done was very neat and looked like it was made that way. So I never gave it another thought.
  4. Snaggletooth
    Hi Pappa. Sorry about the confusion. The PO did some interesting things to this bike. I thought I'd found most of them. His idea for adding an extra ground was effective, if not a bit more complicated than it needed to be. What he did was very well done and I took it for being made that way. After talking with Dingy I figured out what was done. The wire I added to his mod was nothing more than a extra wire and did not create another ground. It just beefed up what he had done. The single wire like I stated from plate to housing should do everything you need to make sure you have a solid ground all the time.
  5. Snaggletooth
    Both my folks and sister, not to mention almost the entire extended family was anti-motorcycle. Never really got a reason why......they just hated bikes! I mean hated!!! So I got one. Been in love with them ever since. My folks would barely speak to me if I stopped by their place on the bike. Still like that today. Go figure. So with that said I'd say expose your son to riding. Sign him up for a beginners riding course and let him get a feel for it. Let him know you will support him if he decides to be a rider......with some conditions. A safe bike, the proper gear and a safe riding style. You know kids......the harder you push them away from something the harder they fight for it. I don't know if my love for them stemmed from the attitude of my family or not but at the time I know I bought my first one because it was "forbidden". What a rebel huh?
  6. Snaggletooth
    I've been saying that for years. That was one of my points when my daughter was ready to get her license. My offer was for her to get a MC learners permit and I'd get a smaller bike for her to ride. Log a 1,000 miles riding with me and then get her license and I'd pay for half of her first car. LOL! Never happened. Saved some bucks. Sly like a fox. I knew if she learned how to watch traffic and road conditions on a bike it would benefit her in the long run. But I am a firm believer that the habits that you develope riding a bike carry over into the way you drive a car. Riding does sharpend your awareness, or at least should.
  7. Snaggletooth
    I ran across a few old hands that drove OTR freight trucks and they had a few "specials" that were manifold dielights as they called them. A 300 mile run was as good as a crock pot to those guys. Better than road kill I suppose. Wait.....I think that was what they were cooking.
  8. Snaggletooth
    Ok.... an update to my comments to improving the ground on the brush plate. Been comparing notes with Dingy on the starter. Apparently the PO made some mods on this prior to my owning the bike. So what I did was sort of a duplication of what he did but not a complete seperate ground. The PO had added an extra wire and a rather simple spring strip to rub against the inside of the starter housing. I thought is was a stock setup when I opened it up. Not the case so I'm not going into what he did. More complicated that it needed to be. So here is the deal. The whole point it to improve the ground from the brush plate to the starter housing. The tabs on the mounting plate (white arrows) are the contact points for the ground on the plate to the starter housing. This has been questioned as a possible cause of the heat soak/hot start problem. Given the expansion and contaction of different materials at changing temps it's a reasonable assumption. The best way to gain a better ground is add a wire from the plate to the starter housing directly. (blue line) And making sure the tabs on the plate fit firmly into the housing itself. Clean and tight. This involves some drilling and tapping and I'd go with Red Loctite as you don't want the screws coming loose inside the starter. Make sure the new ground wire (heavy gauge or even solid) is tucked against the outer wall of the housing and well out of the way and will stay put. Hope that helps. Mike
  9. Snaggletooth
    Ok Dingy. Good pics but my bad. It's been a couple years since I did mine. Pull the brush mounting plate up and the ground wire will be undeneath it. I thought I remembered that you could see it from the top side.
  10. Snaggletooth
    Hey Poppa Bear. The extra ground strap I was talking about is internal on the starter. When you open it up and look at the brush plate assembly you will see a braided wire ground on the one side. Simply duplicate that on the other side. Not a big deal to make the mod once you see what I'm talking about. The new solenoid was a NOS OEM I found on eBay. The starter is the orginal 2 brush from my '84. I was having the old "heat soak, hot start" problems like so many of the guys have had. Drag like bear when it was hot and had to wait for it to cool down to get it going again. I stripped mine down and did a complete cleaning and got rid of all the gunk and dust and cleaned the armature contacts. Cleaned up the grooves on the armature with a jewels saw. Changed out the brushes, added the ground strap and lubed the bushings good before putting it back together. With the upgraded cables the power got to where it needed to be and starter performs great now. No more hot start problems either. Did a 135 miles on a 98 degree day on the Interstate and stopped for fuel. Shut it off and hit the button and it fired right back up. Never gave it another thought. Been great ever since.
  11. Snaggletooth
    You got a PM
  12. Snaggletooth
    Liquid diet? Cats? You got a friend!
  13. Snaggletooth
    And there ya go....... I was just looking at their site. That's the same set I bought off eBay. Can't beat that price. They do the job. Have had mine in for two season now and the starter spins like a top. But than again, cable upgrade, full rebuild on the starter with extra ground strap, DEKA AGM battery, new solenoid, upgraded fuse panel..........yep! And to think I was going to skip the brushes! D'oh!
  14. Snaggletooth
    Lookin' pretty good! Keep an eye on eBay. There have been several covers listed lately to fit over the radio hole. A set of pockets just sold today for a bit of cash. It was about $66.00 when I quit looking. Mike
  15. Snaggletooth
    You got a PM.
  16. Snaggletooth
    Keep an eye open for brush sets tagged as "B-5 Mitsuba 2-Brush". I picked up two sets a year ago off eBay for $5.00 each. Perfect match for our starters. Man after buying those I feel like a thief. Been looking at the prices for them today and that's just nuts.
  17. Snaggletooth
    Ouch! $12.00 bucks an hour.....Geesh! Sorry to hear that. Hang in there Brad.
  18. Snaggletooth
    That's it Lutz.......I'm moving to Germany! You guys get all the good prices and nice high performance stuff! I bought a NOS lot last year of twelve of those plugs off eBay and still paid more than $3.00 each. But that was still a bargin on the darn things. Mike
  19. Snaggletooth
    The gaskets you will need are: Front cover: 3JP-15451-00-00 Rear cover: 26H-15461-00-00 Crush gasket: 90430-06014-00 The front and rear gaskets are needed for sure. The crush washer (gasket) is on the bolt in the 6 o'clock position on the rear cover. IT MUST be in that position as that bolt allows some oil drainage when loosened or the washer is bad. I have reused mine several times with no problems with a simple cleaning and a light buff to make sure it's smooth. A new one is a good bet. Rick at Buckeye Performance can set you up with the parts. Contact him though his web site: http://www.buckeyeperformance.com/
  20. Snaggletooth
    I used to braid my beard to keep it from blowing up in my face while I was riding. LOL!
  21. Snaggletooth
    The 2nd gen gaskets are fine to use and even easier to install as to a slightly different shape on the outer lip. Best bet is to clean up the covers and use a light coat of sealant in the groove of the cover, install the gaskets and let it sit over night. A lot easier than trying to hold the gaskets in while reinstalling the covers. The gaskets are about $20.00 to $30.00 each at the dealers and can be found on eBay once in a while. I found a set for $12.00 each a while back on eBay. When you pull the cover off you will find a tapered rubber plug on each bolt. Best bet is to replace them all. They get pretty hard over the years. If I remember right they are on the pricey side as you need sixteen of them. About $6.00 or $8.00 buck each. I had my carbs off and the battery box out when I did mine and it was pretty simple at that point. A word of advice.......while you are at it.......replace that breather hose from the crankcase to the air box with a new one. My old one was stiff as a piece of pipe and a PITA to get back on. The new one is much easier to remove and install. And remember these wise words from an old bike mechanic. "Every bike is about $2,000 away from being finished." Mike
  22. Snaggletooth
    Not being a 2nd gen guy but er........isn't there supposd to be a trunk? So a TD maybe?
  23. Snaggletooth
    Hi Tom. Keep an eye on eBay for sure. They pop up every now and then. New I think they run about $370.00. There was a fella around here a while back that was making them, with some nice improvements, but was a bit higher than a new EOM. Anybody know if Mark is still making them? A good fab guy can piece them back together if there is enough meat to work with. Sounds like you might be on the thin side. Mike
  24. Snaggletooth
    Now that is a Public Service Annoucment! I've been talking to Squeeze and Dano on this for a while and from what info I've been given it looks like the cure all, end all for the starter clutch problems. The design is way beyond what the bikes currently use. When Squeeze says it "Locks", no doubt in my mind that is a true statement. I've had two engage clutches fail in two years and have only been waiting fore weather to warm up enough to pull the rotor on mine again and have this mod done. Looking forward to no more rattling clutch and slipping on the 72 tooth gear. Mike
  25. Snaggletooth
    Drat! 44 but worth the laugh.
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