Buzz

I will be playing around with a voltmeter to see what I can find out. As with yours, the bike is still under warranty. Irregardless, any problem found will probably need replacement anyway. Hugo, do you have much add-ons drawing additional power? I have an alarm and a GPS adapter, that's it. But this problem was there before those were installed.

Yes, the first shop is Salinas. Have you ever dealt with East Bay Motorsports in Hayward? That was where I bought my Bird. I don't know about their service dept, but the sales dept treated me well. When did you buy your bike? When I bought mine in December, Milpitas had an '03 that I almost went for, but was about $300 more out-the-door.

Pete, Are you going to buy a speedo recalibrator or just deal with it? Since it will more than likeley change my odometer readings and I use the GPS anyway, I'm less inclined to spend the money on a recalibrator now.

I've been griping about my Bird not holding a charge on the battery since I bought the bike brand new in December. Recently, I went for a 120 mile ride with the rpm in the upper part of the band for a good deal of the ride, shut the bike off and it was dead 4 days later. This weekend, I rode 200 miles on Saturday with no problems. Started up the bike on Sunday and rode for an hour. Stopped for lunch. Didn't like the cafe (no restrooms), so we rode down the street to another cafe (with restrooms). After lunch, the battery was dead. Even the clock time was reset. Finally called the local dealership in Salinas, CA. I've stopped in numerous times for misc stuff. Nice enough. I've heard that they aren't willing to negoiate on prices of bikes. Seems to corroborate the reason an '02 Silverbird is still on the showroom floor. Anyway, back to the problem. Called them up to explain the charging issue and set up an appointment to get it in for service. After explaining about it the dealer asked who I purchased it from, which seems irrelavent to me. He said it sounds like a battery problem and I may need to take it bake to the dealer I bought it from, which is 100 miles away. I'm thinking (A) This guy must be a phenominal service manager to be able to diagnose the problem over a telephone without even looking at the bike, and/or ( He's blowing me off since I didn't buy my bike from his dealership (that didn't have an '03 anyway). I asked him about the possibility of it being an R/R problem since I've heard that is a noted problem on Birds. He said that they have never even performed a check on an R/R before. That was the final straw for me. I don't want to give my business to a dealer that is politely saying, "Go away. We don't want your business since you didn't buy the bike from us and we don't know what to do to diagnose your problem anyway." So, given that call and now expecting a similar treatment from another dealer (but hoping for the best), I call another local dealer, Monterey Peninsula Powersports (which I have heard good things about) and talk with their service department. They are understanding about the problem and recommended that I bring it in so they could do a charging systems diagnostic on the bike. He even said the service manager rides a Bird. The problem may not be solved, but now I am on the way to getting this resolved. Kudos to Monterey Pensinsula Powersports. Was this type of customer service so hard for Cycle Stop? Perhaps there is a reason why their store is always so empty. Others have been there, done that already. Talk about shooting themsleves in the foot. I've already spent a lot of money on riding jacket, tank bag and supplies there and this is the way they treat customers. I may not have been able to purchase my bike at their store, but I will still need supplies, maintenance etc. I'm sure another time I will be eyeing the 2010 Blackbirds or whatever as well. Now, I know which dealership will be getting all my business.

Watch out, GPS's can also make a quick dent in your wallet the more you play with them. I'm already looking at a color screen version (read: dropping hints to wife that I "need" this). You odometer/speedometer readings sound about the norm.

:pointup:

Years ago when I first started riding (hmm, I hope that is not a liver spot on the back of my hand), a lot of friends had CBR600 Hurricanes. I never saw someone with that model that didn't thrash it (riding it very hard). $300 still may a good price for the bike to mess around with, but no title probably means that it is stolen. I'm sure Toxxic, XX-ces or other police officers on this board could better answer this suspicion.

Garmin Etrex Vista http://www.garmin.com/products/etrexVista/

Forgot to mention, the 9.25% error with everything stock. Newer GPSs are equiped with WAAS correction, which can further increase accuracy. I've seen mine down to about 5 feet. Most of the time it reads 12-20 feet accuracy. As far as the question about the twisties, I purchased the additional map program that can be downloaded to the unit. So far, it has continually/accurately tracked me on all backroads.

Okay, had a great ride this morning with several CBR600RR's, 954, something else sport-related and moi on the XX. Surprisingly, I was able to keep up with all but one of the smaller bikes in the twisties. In the past weeks, I found the speedometer reading 9.25% higher than actual. Today, I cross-checked with the odometer with the GPS. The final tally: Odometer read 121.9; The GPS read 118.90. This equates to reading 2.5% higher than actual. There is a possibitlity that some of this variation is accountable from altitude differentials since GPS's tend to read more linear (i.e. peak-to-peak) as opposed to the odometer which of course accounts for all variations in altitude. My GPS does have a built-in barometer and may compensate for altitude variations but I will need to do more research on this. I do know that I started out at 100 ft above sea level and reached a peak of 1478 ft elevation. On a side note, my fuel mileage dropped from an average of 31-32 mpg (all around riding) to 16.89 mpg during today's run (5.8 gallons in 98 miles).

Rock, I was pretty ticked off, having to deal with Bay Area traffic in the afternoon for nothing. Didn't let Jim know about it since there is no telephone number listed on his website. I will post an odometer/GPS update later this weekend on this thread. Scot, I assume there were no issues with the neutral light prior to installation.

Scot, Did you get the Jahmal Designs unit? I'm ticked at the shop that he mentions on his website to purchase from directly, Hare Racing in Sunnyvale. I called last week and was assured (three times during the course of the conversation) that they had it in stock for Hondas. Drove 70 miles the next day to pick it up in person and was told they were out! Grrrrrr! BTW, I ride with my GPS and found out something interesting. Even though the speedometer reads 9.25% faster than actual, the odometer read the correct mileage. It would seem logical that the odometer should be also read high by a corresponding amount. Will be re-checking that again this weekend.

No vanity intended.

Just installed an Etrex GPS mount to my XX recently. It took about an hour overall, but somehow I managed to spread that time over a period of several months. The mount installs on the triple clamp with one of the curved ends going around the front of the triple clamp and the metal bracket wrapping around the underside of the triple clamp. The parts used are a Garmin bicycle mount with a rubber vibration damper, a piece of metal from a hose clamp, two screws and an aero lock nut. Here is how it looks on the bike.

Thanks for the update. Seems like a lot of interest on this board with these tires, including myself.

Thanks to everyone for answering all of my questions. I will be placing an order with Seb within the next few days. I don't mind paying for quality when it somes to something as important as brakes. Sounds like it will be money well spent.

About the same as your average Corolla, 32 mpg. All stock '03. A lot of city riding. I know that power takes fuel, even when it isn't being used to capacity. Which brings up an interesting question: What is the fuel consumption like on a MotoGP bike by comparision?

I am seriously considering buying the EVO III de-linking system from 321ignition. Has anyone here purchsed this system or the EVO II that would be able to answer some questions about it? How is the quality? Any problems with the order or installation? How long did it take to recieve your order? How well is the system been working? Was it worth it the money for the product recieved? Thanks.

Is that the regular or the canola oil version? I've hear the types that are low in saturated fat work better.

Two questions: Has a poll been run regarding petroleum/ synthetic usage? I'm curious as to how many members still use petroleum-based oil as I haven't heard anyone on this forum mention about it. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each type being used in motorcycles? Thanks.

And don't forget about all of those out-of round sprockets and CCTs that are so hard to change.

Just read about this subject recently. Putting on a larger tire without a corresponding increase in rim width can alter handling characteristics, but more importantly WILL cause the tire to have an even tighter radius (squeezed on to the rim, per se). It may look "cooler", but at the expense of a decrease in the size of the contact patch of the tire to the road.

The cam chain tensioner and tires. :bike: I had a problem with the cam chain tensioner on my '87 Hurrucane 1000 also. After 20k, the cam chain sounded like a worn-out pinball machine. Some things never change. Thanks, Pete.

What are the other two known problems?