jon haney

If your going to ride a sport-bike (or any bike for that matter) when it's 11 degrees outside, I'd suggest wearing something a little warmer............ LIKE A STRAIGHT JACKET!!!!

If you take into account all of the symptoms mentioned, I'd bet on the blown head gasket or cracked head. If it's under warranty, let the dealer fix it.

Slipping the clutch at very low speeds won't hurt it at all. I'd be more worried about the water temp. If your not already using 100% synthetic oil, you should.

+1 As an alternative, you could build a cross-shaped base out of 2 X 8 wood and bolt it to that. I made mine 5 foot by 5 foot and works well, but it's a pain to work around and store.

Do all that stuff that XX Rider said, except there is an option to pulling the battery. If there is electricity in the garage, get a "Battery Tender" or similar float-type charger. Then you won't have to pull the battery out and it will be ready-to-ride at a moments notice when the weather permits.

I have two '99 Birds and both of their stock clutches have been grabby and engage real late. You can get more engagement adjustment from the stock lever by replacing the knurled adjustment nut with a regular hex nut. This was not easy. After-market levers are another way. If you want clutch engagement to be way smoother at any RPM, call Brock Davidson Enterprises and get one of his "clutch cushions". You have to send him your inner clutch hub for machining, but it is well worth it especially if you drag race or just like to launch hard. It only cost me $100+shipping both ways, but that was several years ago.

+1 You have a bent shift fork. Hopefully you won't need to replace the gear also. If you have to ride it, stay out of sixth. Good Luck.

I assume you meant 16-20 HP per cylinder, right.

It all depends on your mental state. I also prefer to leave first, but if the other guy is more than a couple of tenths faster than you its gets tough for both opponents. The biggest sand-bagger is usually the one who breaks out. Bottom Line: Cut a good light and run your number.

Smallest front sprocket I've ever seen for the Bird is 15T and I wouldn't recommend anything smaller due to the chain dragging on the rubber guides on the swingarm. I'm running 15/53 on my stock-motored 99 with slick and bar. I hit about 10.5K in top gear when I cross the line. I was running a 54T rear from Sprocket Specialists which I will sell for $30 plus shipping. It only has one season on it and looks almost new. Use the EK DRZ chain if you want durability. Mine has 4 seasons on it now and never needs adjustment.

10mm x 1.25 (fine). Can't recall for sure, but I believe it needs to be <15mm in length. That's from this thread. Might be some other useful stuff for you there. Thanks.

I'll have to write myself a note about taking pictures. That is not something I normally think of. I already have the center piston blocked using an old banjo bolt with some of the threads cut off and a couple of extra copper washers. Not sure if it will actually hold the pressure. I should probably get the special bolts just in case. Anyone got the actual numbers/dimensions for those special bolts? Has anyone actually experienced the brake drag I mentioned above? And if so, did you find a cure?

I'm planning on replacing the seals on the front calipers this winter. The front brakes have been dragging a little for the past couple of years. I don't think the discs are warped because the dragging is constant and not intermittent. New pads and re-greasing the slides didn't change anything. I'm guessing the seals have hardened to the point where they won't retract enough to let the wheel spin freely. Anyone have any words of wisdom? I de-linked the brakes last year, but didn't drill the middle cylinder which I plan to do during the rebuild.

I read somewhere that the Suzuki Hayabusa also uses the same injectors. You could probably get some pretty cheap on Ebay.

I guess I can buy that explanation, however, I didn't notice any different shifting characteristics between the proper timing on the bottom balancer and when it was 180 degrees out. Also, I thought all you did was adjust the gear back-lash. That shouldn't change any vibes, just the noise. Of course the power of the mind can be a funny thing. I put new brake discs on my truck last week and it somehow feels faster. Go figure??

Krause racing Sproket Specilities will do it right. ask for mark tell them i sent you Thanks for the info. For $369.00 they better do it right. Damn!!!!!

+1 And you use a big flat-blade screw driver to turn it. AirborneXX: By the way, I don't see how adjusting the balance shafts is going to make the transmission shift better.

Just in case anybody wants to know: I'm currently running a 525 chain on my 99 BB. It is a kit for a '95(I think) Honda CBR900. The spline width is definitely wider than 14.5mm. This caused three problems: 1. There was a lot more noise due to the mis-alignment. 2. My $70 AFAM alloy sprocket was wore-out in 2000 miles. 3. Most importantly the front sprocket bolt kept coming loose even with lock-tite. Kudos to Honda for making the sprocket cover the way they did. I used some washers to space the rear sprocket to correct for the mis-alignment and another washer for the front with an outside diameter smaller than the shaft so that the factory washer bottoms against it and not the sprocket. Now if I could just find a 525 17T front with the damper. The chain noise is still terrible. I think I'll go back to 530 when this one wears out.

Then crash it the same day you get it. It wasn't the same day. It was at least 24hrs later I think the Black Bird Gods were punishing you for straying to another brand. :icon_biggrin: :icon_snooty:

You didn't say what size Katana you had. If it was the 1100, I can see why your concerned about low end power. Mine was quite the torque monster also, but nothing compared to my 99 Bird with one tooth off the front sprocket. The fuel-injected Birds have a lot better low and mid-range than the carburated models. Have you ridden any 99 or later models? I did some roll-ons with a modified V-Max once and spanked him like a red-headed step child.

+1 I know mines running rich cause it always has a strong fuel smell from the exhaust especially when you first start it. I start it up in the garage every now and then for about 15 seconds to drive away bugs and spiders.

Well, lets try the parameters out I am not racing, I am touring. I weigh 185 lbs without gear. I bought the GP Suspension Group Buy Springs. How close is that to your settings? Way off.. I'm a fat boy.. :icon_shhh: I'll see what I can do with scanning at work tomorrow. Another BIG thanks to "Jon Haney" for his help in scanning the install docs and sending them to me. Your very welcome. Let us know how you like the changes when your done.

Wait just a minute! Am I understanding that you spent all that time cleaning the carbs and your still running the 3 year old gas? You obviously got the carbs re-assembled correctly, so you have to be smarter than that.

I must have really got screwed. I only got one counter-shaft. But I got two balance shafts, two cam shafts, one input shaft, and one crank shaft. So there. Dang kids. Quit playing with your shafts or you'll go blind.