Zero Knievel

+1 Have 70K on mine. Prior owner (bought it at 17K) said he had the valves checked and were in spec. Just did it now myself. Technically one valve was on the edge of maybe being in need of adjustment, but unless it really was out of spec, I wasn't going to do the work to try and pull the parts to re-shim the valve. I'd have to pay someone to do that work for me. Did the CCT at around 60-65K, so that lasts a long time too.

1. If you put some oil in each cylinder to do a compression test. DO NOT panic when you start the bike up for the first time and smoke pours out the exhaust. 2. When changing oil, a shot or two of brake parts cleaner on the oil pan and bolt after you get it back together makes cleaning the oil drippings off the motor a breeze.

Whew. Nothing to worry about. Since I never use high beam while stopped, I suppose I never had cause to notice before.

Something odd when I was running the bike to do the fluid changes. I decided to check my lights and when I did the turn signals (with both high/low beams on), the low beam flashed off then on a couple of times every time I did this. Did not happen with only low beam on. Did not happen if I had the motor reved to a higher RPM. Only at idle. Battery was fully charged (new too). Don't recall this happening before, but I don't know if I ever noticed it before. Can't see my lamps when riding, so I don't know if it always did this or not. Anyone else experience this? Suggestions on what I should look at? Only noteworthy bit to add is that the bike had been shut down since November, but as I recall, the ballast should not need long to reach capacity.

The answer is yes, but slowly. If your trickle charger has a status light letting you know when it's charging and when it's fully charged, just go by that. Most do. Mine has 3 lights. Charging, fully charged, and error (can also indicate a bad battery). If you trickle charge a battery to full and it won't start the bike or it fails to start after a few hours of sitting, the battery has died on you.

Ah. I see. What is that type of clamp specifically called and where would I likely find them? If I can get hold of them, I agree they look better for the job.

I will call the vendor and verify the PSI load these fittings will handle. I'm pretty certain they exceed what the fuel pump pressurizes the system to (43 psi @ idle). UPDATE Jiffy-Tite says ALL fittings are certified to 200 psi and likely could go much higher but they have no issue saying that if you use any fitting and it goes in snug, with nothing more than a hose clamp it will easily handle up to 200 psi without leaking. If it leaks, and nothing is wrong with the part, odds are you have a fitting too small for the hose you used it on.

Good point, but IIRC, there are no clamps on the high-pressure lines...it's banjo bolts. Band clamps only offer existing spring tension and work well on low-pressure lines. Supposedly I should not have needed clamps at all, so this was just a preventative measure. There are more secure fitting styles from Jiffy-Tite, but they cost more too. For the GPM flow rate of a FI system, these barbs should be more than sufficient. I only know of the worm gear hose clamp for high-pressure applications. This is one of those projects where you have to commit to replacing your fuel line IF you mess up, so once you cut the line, there is no going back. Worst case scenario, I need 2 better-suited Jiffy-Tite fittings and a new fuel line. I certainly will watch for leaks or other problems.

That's the truth.. You're using the clamped barbs, you should try the pushlocks. :icon_wall: I asked about the other clamping options, which are more secure, but again, the higher levels of features are intended for harsher applications and GPM flow rates. The guy I spoke to assured me that the basic barbed fitting would be leakproof from my application. CAVEAT: If you want to do this on a bike being used other for just riding around (using specialty fuel), be sure to say this as the fittings might need different types of seals.

Well, I was sick and tired of having to drain the fuel tank any time I wanted to remove it from the bike. There may be easier ways to plug a fuel line (return and supply are the two that you worry about), but I wanted to be sure there would be no leakage. I asked about on this thread and Jiffy-Tite was recommended by eliXXir. I'll start by saying that these things rock, but getting them is an utter pain in the ass. Eventually, I got these from C&R Racing in Indianapolis (Tom Keene, 317-293-4100). It seems nobody puts much useful info online to let you choose what you need, and after some frustration, I contacted Jiffy-Tite directly and they told me where to call and who to ask for. That vendor did a great job getting me what I needed, and if a part didn't work for what I needed, I could send it back for something else. Parts were drop-shipped from Jiffy-Tite. For the basic connector set (1 male/1 female straight connection) ran $36.53 for the matched set. If you need a 45 or 90-degree bend on any part rather than straight, it will cost a little bit more. For my job, I used the 2000 series...which is the lowest level of product, but since the level is based on maximum flow rate, the 2000 series does more than a FI system will ever need. The inside diameter of the return line is 6 mm. For the supply line it is 7 mm. The same part will work for both sizes, but it was easier to get on a 7 mm line and a witch to get onto a 6 mm line. Spraying some silicone lube onto the part before working the hose on helps a lot. I used clamps on all lines although they were entirely unnecessary on the return line because they were so darn hard to get on in the first place. All Jiffy-Tite fittings are certified to 200 psi...more than enough. So long as they don't go on easily (must be a snug fit), you should need little more than a hose clamp to be assured there will be no leaks. For this project, presuming nobody has substitutions to suggest, you will need two #22504P (male side connector), one #21504P (female side connector) and one #21504PE (female side connector w/90 degree angle). The return line was easy, peasy lemon squeezy. I simply cut the line about 2 inches from the nipple and just put the parts on. The hardest part was getting the line onto the smaller diameter hose. The supply line was a witch. The BIGGEST problem is that Honda gives you X inches of line and much of it bends into an S shape when the tank is down. I wound up cutting about 3 1/2 inches off the supply line so that when the tank was lowered into position, there was no undue stress on the line or any couplings. This means you have to tighten the supply line onto the rail at the last possible moment before lowering it that last inch or so onto the frame. As you can see, I cut close to the banjo bolt...which was a mistake because it mandates a straight line from the hard bits. I made it work, but anything you do will try to put stress on this line and cutting it too close means there is no length of hose from the end of the Jiffy-Tite insert to the hard bit on the banjo bolt. If there is pressure making this bend...it's undue stress on the fuel line. I initially tried to use straight connectors, which is shorter in length, but there is no way to make it work when the tank is down without kinking the supply line. A 90-degree bend helps a lot here, and as I said, I cut about 3 1/2 inches of line off so that when it was lowered in place, there was no stress on any part of the fuel line. The first thing you loosen and the last thing you tighten when removing/installing the tank is the nut on the supply side of the fuel rail. It needs to have play so you can get things together easily. Lift the tank up an inch or so and block up with something, use a 17 mm wrench to loosen (just enough so the banjo bolt will pivot freely), and you can then move the fuel line in a position where you can easily disconnect/connect. Just reverse when putting the tank back on. Based on mikesail's suggestion, I replaced the worm gear clamps with fuel injection hose clamps on the high pressure line. Any auto parts store should have them, but they are SAE sized, not metric, to internal diamater. I got two different sizes and used the set sized for 5/16" I.D. hose. These worked fine. While I did screw them down all the way, I had to work at it, so I know they are good and tight. I'd recommend you go a size smaller (for 1/4" I.D. hose) so there's not all that screw shaft protruding out the other side. These defintely let you get a tighter clamp than just the worm gear style. I wonder if a 45-degree male side connector on the fuel rail banjo bolt would have worked better here, but at most it would have made the connector easier to reach without loosening the nut on the fuel rail and perhaps cutting less excess off the fuel line.

And those special touches make ordering from you so much the better.

Hmm. Does that mean the links you sent won't work? If so, I guess if anyone has some spare 530 links lying about.... I've got a few, but as addressed here, all 530 links are not created equal. What exact model is your chain? If I'm understanding correctly you need ZVM2 links? Pretty sure I have a short length of that in the toolbox somewhere. Great. So isn't that rather screwy? Is it the female link part or the master link that's different? I'm pretty certain the current chain is a ZVM2, but that might explain the "tightness" of the master link. Putting it on, I FUBARed the master link that came with the chain, so I just used one of the spares I had lying around (initially bought 2, always keep a spare...just in case). There was always a tightness at the master link, but I just figured I pressed the link together too much before taping in the rivets.

Generally, if it's that cold.... 1. The needle gets off cold. 2. The pipes stop blowing steam. I figure after either of those the motor is warmed up enough.

Hmm. Does that mean the links you sent won't work? If so, I guess if anyone has some spare 530 links lying about....

That's what I thought I said. I've always bought DID. Always had the X-Ring on the XX. Shop around for the best price? Always. But IIRC, I've seen different types of DID X-Rings on sale, and really, if it's a DID X-Ring, it's good enough. The more expensive versions I have to ask what you are getting for paying almost $50 more or even double with some merchants. I've not tried other makes just because I know DID makes very good quality.

Dude, you're doing it again. Cut it out. Fine. I'm wrong...again. Point is, I see some outlandishly expensive x-ring chains. You don't need to spend $$$ for those. For whatever they claim to offer, I doubt the cost/benefit ratio is worth it. The baseline X-ring chains last a long time with proper maintenance and are a better investment than those overpriced versions out there.

Only have 5K on it. I normally get way, way more than that on a chain/sprocket set.

PM sent. Thanks.

Yes and no. I always buy an X-ring chain. I've stuck with DID just because, but I'm not sure how much "cheaper" competitor's chains can be. Certainly, I shop around for the best price on a chain. That said.... I'm not sure the top of the line chain is what you need. Those are made for stressful applications like racing. A baseline X-ring chain is pretty tough and holds up better than most O-ring chains. Of course, cleaning, lubing and proper adjustment goes far to adding life to the chain.

I thought of that too. In contrast, anyone have a few good links of 530 x-ring chain they aren't using I could have to put this chain back on? Aurora, JuXXtin went with an 18 F/43 R setup to get better fuel mileage. Sacrifices some power, but if you do a lot of touring, you don't miss it. At best, you just ride the lower gears longer before shifting. Normally gets 200 miles before he needs gas. My PCII map is already doing that and using JuXXtin's gearing didn't really add to that.

Well, the chain shortening bit didn't work. Need 110, now it's a 108. The removed link I was thinking of putting back in with two master links, but it got damaged by the Dremmel tool in such a way that I won't risk reusing it. So, since I have a spare set of sprockets in the stock gearing and ordered a new 110-link chain, I'm just going to swap it all out rather than put a new chain on old sprockets. I put these on the XX about 10/2009 with 65,100 on the odometer. It's now about 71,000 +/- on the odometer. All with a Pro-Oiler maintaining the chain. This is JuXXtin's special gearing Went with 530 ZVM2 110 link chain 18T in front and 42T in rear. 43T rear. If you have a master link lying around and can use a 108-link chain, make an offer. Want the sprockets? Ditto. My EFI map does more than enough to deal with fuel savings, so the special gearing isn't doing me much good to put a new chain on slightly used sprockets. *EDIT* Someone is sending me some spare links to put this chain back together with.

Then it will work. I still have the "female" link...just toasted the male part taking it off the chain. I'd use 2 master links to put it back on and then close the chain up again.

Well, I went to take one link off my 110 chain because it had a bit more slack than normal thanks to different sprockets. 108 (one link) should have been ideal. Cut off the single link and now even with the adjusters all the way in, I can't get the chain to go back on. Has to be 110. :icon_wall: So, I was about to order a new 110 link chain, but I wonder.... Can I use two rivet master links to put the chain back to 110? In that case I only need another rivet link for the chain. :icon_think:

Run away! Run away!

Got Christmas on the brain? I think you meant TENSILE strength. Of course TINSEL strength would relate to the bling factor...which is important to some.