Author Topic: What did you do to your bike today (Read 729877 times)

mxvet57 · « **Reply #4300 on:** August 27, 2020, 01:01:03 PM »

Needed to replace the fork dampening rods on the FJR since with 365,000 miles they were getting a little tired. My cost would be $650.00 found a set of forks with less than 10,000 miles for $535.00 free shipping. No brainer. I should have the rear shock by Friday.

viffergyrl · « **Reply #4301 on:** August 27, 2020, 01:05:20 PM »

Quote from: mxvet57 on August 27, 2020, 01:01:03 PM

Needed to replace the fork dampening rods on the FJR since with 365,000 miles they were getting a little tired. My cost would be $650.00 found a set of forks with less than 10,000 miles for $535.00 free shipping. No brainer. I should have the rear shock by Friday.

Oh Hi Ed! Where've ya been?

mxvet57 · « **Reply #4302 on:** August 27, 2020, 01:36:47 PM »

[/quote]

Oh Hi Ed! Where've ya been?
[/quote]

Been hanging on Facebook and really getting tired of all the political shit.

Black Hills · « **Reply #4303 on:** August 27, 2020, 01:56:54 PM »

nice to hear form you Ed!!

mxvet57 · « **Reply #4304 on:** August 27, 2020, 02:54:47 PM »

Quote from: Black Hills on August 27, 2020, 01:56:54 PM

nice to hear form you Ed!!

same here

Andrew · « **Reply #4305 on:** August 28, 2020, 09:59:57 PM »

Last year my oldest son and I built a moped (ground up), added a 75cc kit and racing crank, laced the wheels, new sealed bearings in the wheels, stripped and painted. A few weeks back we switched out the seat. He has been having a blast on it.
last week I got an add for the moped shop sent out with some real good deals , so I/We decided to hop it up a bit more..... comes the expansion chamber and 15mm racing carb. We did a bit of wrenching and now he is "Braping the hamlet". Little scoot is rockin now... Maybe time for better forks and maybe disc brakes??? Heheheh Kids lovin it

Baxter · « **Reply #4306 on:** August 31, 2020, 09:49:52 AM »

I adjusted the stock rear suspension preload from the stock setting of 2 to 3 (out of 5). Then we went for a ride. My real issue is I'd like to adjust compression damping, but that's not available on the stock shock.

Ninjette Noire may be a little more planted now, maybe it's my imagination. I had assumed that there'd be a more noticeable difference on the buttometer with only five settings.

Vulcanbill · « **Reply #4307 on:** September 05, 2020, 07:08:45 AM »

Got em out and worshed em. Side by side... sharing the hose and bucket and towels and wax. That's a pretty good Friday date night round here. 😍

melville · « **Reply #4308 on:** September 05, 2020, 11:24:24 AM »

Valve lash check yesterday. No surprises, other than the gaskets tearing as I took the covers off, prompting a quick roofless cage trip to the (nearby, not 200 miles away anymore!) dealer for a couple gaskets.

miles · « **Reply #4309 on:** September 06, 2020, 09:58:04 AM »

Well, I didn't do it today, but I never got around to posting this last week so whatever.

My bike was due for some TLC, and while it was at the mechanic's place getting the big annual service done I took the opportunity to give it a paint job and a bit of a face lift.

It went from this:
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To this:
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The color is a BMW car color- one of the special M3 shades. It's called Yas Marina Blue.

viffergyrl · « **Reply #4310 on:** September 06, 2020, 10:50:56 AM »

Very nice. I like the elimination of decals and badges. Looks like you added some blue hoses as well. Silicone?

Baxter · « **Reply #4311 on:** September 06, 2020, 11:20:36 AM »

Cool. It looks more "grown up."

miles · « **Reply #4312 on:** September 06, 2020, 11:57:25 AM »

Quote from: viffergyrl on September 06, 2020, 10:50:56 AM

Very nice. I like the elimination of decals and badges. Looks like you added some blue hoses as well. Silicone?

Yeah, Samco silicone hoses. They are completely frivolous on a street bike, but we had them lying around from our race program and I thought they'd add a bit of visual flair.

As a bonus, they stink.

melville · « **Reply #4313 on:** September 07, 2020, 10:48:44 AM »

I wanted to set up my bike to have the headlight on all the time, as my headlight switch now makes intermittent contact after 45 years. Go figure.

It's an easy enough thing--the existing switch sits between the ignition switch ON position and the headlight relay. So just a 14 ga wire connecting the two and I even had wire in the right color (green) to make it all DIN-tastic.

All was well until I took the headlight out yesterday. I couldn't unplug the headlight from the harness. It seems the plug had melted (welded) itself to the bulb on the ground prong. Getting them apart and the wires freed up meant breaking both the plug and the bulb. Humph. So much for doing this quickly and taking my gal out for an afternoon spin.

So it's on hold until the dealer opens on Tuesday. There should be a ceramic version of the plug for high temp situations and I'll see about upgrading the bulb a bit from the 55W/60W as I upgraded the power wires to 10 ga when I went to a remote dip relay.

In the meantime, I managed to clean up some wiring inside the bucket and replaced the last of the shit hardware store terminals I used when I built the bike 10 years ago with proper double crimped terminals and shrink wrap over the crimps when done.

Next step after this is fixed is some LEDs for triangle lights.

I don't ride at night particularly, but lighting and visibility have become paramount since a friend died a couple months ago in a low-visibility left turner crash.

slayman · « **Reply #4314 on:** September 07, 2020, 02:05:19 PM »

Yesterday. 385 miles following smoker on his new to him torque monster. Or so it seems when we switched for a few miles. Dynamic mode is quite well named.

Vulcanbill · « **Reply #4315 on:** September 07, 2020, 05:09:31 PM »

I was waiting for a text calling for lunch in Capon Bridge.

We did 225 miles today getting to know some more nearby roads. Today's find was Fort Valley Road south off 55 just west of Strasburg. Except for wanting to do harm to bicyclists, it was a nice ride.

PatM · « **Reply #4316 on:** September 07, 2020, 06:15:21 PM »

Ordered new tires

Jay547 · « **Reply #4317 on:** September 08, 2020, 09:17:31 PM »

Rode to work, popped a couple wheelies on the way home.

Leanintree · « **Reply #4318 on:** September 09, 2020, 11:21:55 AM »

Thursday before long weekend found me geared up and ready to head off to last day of week work (off Friday). Threw a leg over, turned the key, pulled in clutch, stabbed button and NOTHING. No starter, no dimmed lights, no nuthin. Futzed with it for a moment or two, put it in neutral clutch in and still nothin. clutch OUT in neutral, and it started up just fine. Rather than take a chance at work, I just de-geared and took the cage.

Came home that evening and pulled the clutch lockout switch. Disassembled, cleaned with electronics cleaner, alcohol and a diamond file, reassembled and reinstalled.

Good as new. Just not new.

New rear Angel ST showed up. Not putting it on until it warms though.

LT

PatM · « **Reply #4319 on:** September 09, 2020, 06:08:26 PM »

Got the new tires installed.
I fixed the left side case that wouldn't lock in place. The mechanism is very simple but jams due to accumulated dirt.
Apparently it only happens on the left hand side. Why? Who knows.

HipGnosis · « **Reply #4320 on:** September 10, 2020, 09:52:39 AM »

It was cool and wet yest so I did some work on my F800.
I replaced the stock, hard, grips with ProGrips DualSport gel mesh grips. It was a complicated by the OEM heated grips. I found a review that said they work w/ heating elements. And I found a video showing how to cut the OEM grips off - slice them with a box cutter, w/o slicing all the way thru / into the heating elements. Cut the flanges on ea end with a diagonal cutter (dykes) and then tear them off. I was nervous doing the first one. The second one was eazy-peazy.
I had to file some 'lumps' of hard plastic off the outer end of the heating element base, being careful not to disturb the heating elements.
I don't have grip glue (who does?) and wasn't sure what would work w/ the heating elements on the bars. I used... hair gel.
I also adjusted the the rear spring pre-load. The manual kindly gives starting points for riding solo, w/ luggage and with a passenger. The adjuster is a knob on the right side of the bike. The knob wouldn't budge. There is a plastic 'key' under the seat to help - it's about the size of a pringles can lid. The key started flexing when I tried to use it. I sprayed the shock adjustment area with WD40 and waited a bit. The key still flexed. I waited more. More key flex. The key has 2 round protrusions that go into holes in the knob. I put two small phillips screwdrivers in the knob holes and used a wrench to turn them. After a bit of stiction, the knob turned. I could turn it with just my hand, sorta...
It was't close to the setting for solo riding, but I'll start there and see what it's like when the weather drys up and warms up.
Then I'll see if I can replace the knob with... well, I"ll see...

Baxter · « **Reply #4321 on:** September 10, 2020, 10:45:14 AM »

Quote from: HipGnosis on September 10, 2020, 09:52:39 AM

It was cool and wet yest so I did some work on my F800.

I suspect neither of us will complain about the cool and wet weather we've been having in Milwaukee over the past several days. Much preferable to the wildfires in the western US. I hope everyone out there is staying safe.

melville · « **Reply #4322 on:** September 11, 2020, 05:25:14 AM »

Quote from: melville on September 07, 2020, 10:48:44 AM

I wanted to set up my bike to have the headlight on all the time, as my headlight switch now makes intermittent contact after 45 years. Go figure.

It's an easy enough thing--the existing switch sits between the ignition switch ON position and the headlight relay. So just a 14 ga wire connecting the two and I even had wire in the right color (green) to make it all DIN-tastic.

All was well until I took the headlight out yesterday. I couldn't unplug the headlight from the harness. It seems the plug had melted (welded) itself to the bulb on the ground prong. Getting them apart and the wires freed up meant breaking both the plug and the bulb. Humph. So much for doing this quickly and taking my gal out for an afternoon spin.

So it's on hold until the dealer opens on Tuesday. There should be a ceramic version of the plug for high temp situations and I'll see about upgrading the bulb a bit from the 55W/60W as I upgraded the power wires to 10 ga when I went to a remote dip relay.

In the meantime, I managed to clean up some wiring inside the bucket and replaced the last of the shit hardware store terminals I used when I built the bike 10 years ago with proper double crimped terminals and shrink wrap over the crimps when done.

Next step after this is fixed is some LEDs for triangle lights.

I don't ride at night particularly, but lighting and visibility have become paramount since a friend died a couple months ago in a low-visibility left turner crash.

Dealer didn't open up on Tuesday. Instead, the shop burned to the ground.

I got a car parts store headlamp socket ($2.99!) and adapted it to fit the BMW flag style terminals with a Dremel, along with a new H4 bulb. I'll likely be replacing it with the BMW Hi-Temp ceramic version when I can, along with probably a hotter bulb.

Still working on the triangle lights, but may not be able to source them locally as the KTM dealer just down the street also burned. So did the family owned HD dealership next door. I don't even know where the Jap bike dealers are here as I never got past the US and Euro dealers in Phoenix OR.

Black Hills · « **Reply #4323 on:** September 11, 2020, 08:45:06 AM »

adjusted and lubed chains on all of them, then topped off with gas.. My brother is will be out for the weekend so dirtbiking this afternoon and street bikes tomorrow and maybe more dirtbikes Sunday morning.

Vulcanbill · « **Reply #4324 on:** September 11, 2020, 09:13:20 AM »

Quote from: melville on September 11, 2020, 05:25:14 AM

Quote from: melville on September 07, 2020, 10:48:44 AM
I wanted to set up my bike to have the headlight on all the time, as my headlight switch now makes intermittent contact after 45 years. Go figure.

It's an easy enough thing--the existing switch sits between the ignition switch ON position and the headlight relay. So just a 14 ga wire connecting the two and I even had wire in the right color (green) to make it all DIN-tastic.

All was well until I took the headlight out yesterday. I couldn't unplug the headlight from the harness. It seems the plug had melted (welded) itself to the bulb on the ground prong. Getting them apart and the wires freed up meant breaking both the plug and the bulb. Humph. So much for doing this quickly and taking my gal out for an afternoon spin.

So it's on hold until the dealer opens on Tuesday. There should be a ceramic version of the plug for high temp situations and I'll see about upgrading the bulb a bit from the 55W/60W as I upgraded the power wires to 10 ga when I went to a remote dip relay.

In the meantime, I managed to clean up some wiring inside the bucket and replaced the last of the shit hardware store terminals I used when I built the bike 10 years ago with proper double crimped terminals and shrink wrap over the crimps when done.

Next step after this is fixed is some LEDs for triangle lights.

I don't ride at night particularly, but lighting and visibility have become paramount since a friend died a couple months ago in a low-visibility left turner crash.

Dealer didn't open up on Tuesday. Instead, the shop burned to the ground.

I got a car parts store headlamp socket ($2.99!) and adapted it to fit the BMW flag style terminals with a Dremel, along with a new H4 bulb. I'll likely be replacing it with the BMW Hi-Temp ceramic version when I can, along with probably a hotter bulb.

Still working on the triangle lights, but may not be able to source them locally as the KTM dealer just down the street also burned. So did the family owned HD dealership next door. I don't even know where the Jap bike dealers are here as I never got past the US and Euro dealers in Phoenix OR.

Wow!! Perspective is everything. Hope y'all come out of this OK. Man do I take things for granted. Well, not at the moment it seems.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #4325 on:** September 14, 2020, 11:32:31 AM »

rebuilt the rear wheel on the Velosolex. Front wheel tomorrow. Then clean/ replace all filters and fuel lines and see if it runs.

Leanintree · « **Reply #4326 on:** September 14, 2020, 12:23:13 PM »

New rear tire and oil change over the weekend. Nothing exciting to report except that these critters are the shizzy. Tire blocks to hold bead in the wheel valley and keep bead from backing around as I spooned it on. WAY better than the 'Holler for the wife to hold a tire iron, please don't move it and watch out it doesn't whack you in the face' method.

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LT

Black Hills · « **Reply #4327 on:** September 14, 2020, 01:52:09 PM »

Quote from: Leanintree on September 14, 2020, 12:23:13 PM

New rear tire and oil change over the weekend. Nothing exciting to report except that these critters are the shizzy. Tire blocks to hold bead in the wheel valley and keep bead from backing around as I spooned it on. WAY better than the 'Holler for the wife to hold a tire iron, please don't move it and watch out it doesn't whack you in the face' method.

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LT

who do I send my money to??? the marital benefits alone will be worth it.

Leanintree · « **Reply #4328 on:** September 14, 2020, 02:13:11 PM »

Quote from: Black Hills on September 14, 2020, 01:52:09 PM

Quote from: Leanintree on September 14, 2020, 12:23:13 PM
New rear tire and oil change over the weekend. Nothing exciting to report except that these critters are the shizzy. Tire blocks to hold bead in the wheel valley and keep bead from backing around as I spooned it on. WAY better than the 'Holler for the wife to hold a tire iron, please don't move it and watch out it doesn't whack you in the face' method.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

LT

who do I send my money to??? the marital benefits alone will be worth it.

Embrace the evil empire. 14bux to make her happy. worth it.
https://www.amazon.com/BestTeam-Changer-Changing-Demount-Machine/dp/B07QZTW536

radon222 · « **Reply #4329 on:** September 15, 2020, 12:15:38 PM »

New Heated Grips,

BMW botched the grips on the LC-GSA on the 14 model year's and they got luke warm at best. In the 2015+ they added a resistor to help get things back to toasty the way good BMW heated grip should be.

I've been watching BeemerBoneyard for the last several years hoping to score some used grips, but haven't been lucky yet. Coming into fall and not wanting to another winter, I gave up and ponied but new parts from Max's and will hopefully have happier hands this year.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #4330 on:** September 15, 2020, 12:39:56 PM »

Velosolex front wheel sorted-the spokes have been de-rusted today but look a bit dodgy. Waiting for rubber wheel rim tape now.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #4331 on:** September 16, 2020, 12:28:47 PM »

replaced the slightly bent rear brake lever on the Griso and knocked the return spring off. Can I find its upper locating hole? Nope.

Baxter · « **Reply #4332 on:** September 16, 2020, 02:27:16 PM »

Not too much.

I gave Ms. Noire a thorough bath and cleaned/lubed the chain. Often, I'll just do a quick cleaning of the fairing & windshield, but it's a nice day and colder temps are coming. So I spent the time to do a good job.

The Scottoiler keeps the chain wet while providing just enough fling to keep the grime off. So I don't work on the chain anywhere near as often as I had done before. If I recall correctly, I had over 25,000 miles from the original chain on my 2007 N650R, and I had the Scottoiler for only about half of that time. I installed it almost right away on the new Ninjette, so I'm hoping for even better results.

And this bike has lots of folds, nooks and crannies. It's a bit of a pain. But she looks good.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #4333 on:** September 16, 2020, 04:16:02 PM »

Scottoilers are brilliant.

PatM · « **Reply #4334 on:** September 16, 2020, 04:45:54 PM »

Oil and filter change.

Nullblade · « **Reply #4335 on:** September 16, 2020, 06:37:54 PM »

Installed bar risers on Godzilla. Much more comfy now.

HipGnosis · « **Reply #4336 on:** September 18, 2020, 07:41:05 AM »

I broke a rear turn signal on my Ninja getting the lawn mower out/in the other day. They're cheapie eBay LEDs. Seems all the LED turn sig's on eBay now are teenie - tiny things... I found a dual LED cats-eye MC taillight / lisc tag holder on amazon for $13. I'll remove the cats-eyes from the tag holder and mount them on a piece of plastic put between the fender and the stock tag bracket.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #4337 on:** September 18, 2020, 10:40:45 AM »

Quote from: Nullblade on September 16, 2020, 06:37:54 PM

Installed bar risers on Godzilla. Much more comfy now.

bar risers are good.

put lots of expensive stainless steel bolts on the Guzzi.

mxvet57 · « **Reply #4338 on:** September 30, 2020, 02:11:48 PM »

Quote from: Jay547 on September 08, 2020, 09:17:31 PM

Rode to work, popped a couple wheelies on the way home.

Squid

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #4339 on:** October 01, 2020, 02:43:28 AM »

The VeloSolex has received its registration number from the gubbernment. Plate ordered. Then it'll be road legal! (except the wheels aren't back on it yet)

minimac · « **Reply #4340 on:** October 01, 2020, 08:14:12 AM »

Added some leg wind deflectors to the Silverwing, replaced the 9 year old CVT belt, and gave it an oil and filter change. Then I went to the shed, uncovered the Morphous, thought about doing an engine swap, then recovered it.

Andrew · « **Reply #4341 on:** October 01, 2020, 11:12:08 PM »

My youngest son has taken a fancy to the Yamaha Chappy, I follow him on the CT all over town.
This evening we put a new battery and headlamp bulb in it. He was having a stalling issue so I took the carb off and flushed all the orifices and reassembled.
I took it for a ride, adjusted the headlight.

Tomorrow we hit the streets

slayman · « **Reply #4342 on:** October 03, 2020, 06:55:04 PM »

Changed oil, new rear brake pads and cleaned it up a bit. Ready to head south.

CLAY · « **Reply #4343 on:** October 06, 2020, 01:37:14 PM »

Changed the oil on the SV for the first time and added it to my maintenance app.

garry · « **Reply #4344 on:** October 06, 2020, 04:15:54 PM »

Not directly bike related, but I now have working lights on the utility trailer so that I schlep my motorcycles somewhere if needed. I ended up replacing the wiring harness on the trailer AND the module/wiring harness inside the car (which is a PITA ripping the interior apart).

Skee · « **Reply #4345 on:** October 09, 2020, 05:12:35 PM »

New tires front & rear Dunlop RoadSmart IVs

CLAY · « **Reply #4346 on:** October 09, 2020, 09:24:07 PM »

Mounted a headlight and bar-end mirror on the SV. Now I need some aluminum barstock to mount the gauge cluster.

Baxter · « **Reply #4347 on:** October 19, 2020, 12:09:04 PM »

A coolant leak was explained in a thread at the forum dedicated to my bike. It appears to come from a faulty gasket, and a fair number of members had been finding leaks at that location. Kawi has even been replacing the gasket outside of warranty. I knew where to look because some pics were posted. And Ms. Noire was not leaking!

It's a small thing, but it makes me happy.

Papa Lazarou · « **Reply #4348 on:** October 19, 2020, 03:12:24 PM »

Finally had some time to work on the Velosolex. New tyres, inners and outers. New spark plug, new fuel filters, new fuel pump diaphragm, cleaned the lines and the jets.

Does it run?

Nope.

Baxter · « **Reply #4349 on:** October 19, 2020, 04:06:37 PM »

Quote from: Papa Lazarou on October 19, 2020, 03:12:24 PM

Finally had some time to work on the Velosolex. New tyres, inners and outers. New spark plug, new fuel filters, new fuel pump diaphragm, cleaned the lines and the jets.

Does it run?

Nope.

Good luck!