Warchild

Youse guys are scaring me! When you get your hi-beam/lo-beam figured out, here's how to adjust your lights: http://www.superblackbird.com/light_aim.cfm

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And, not to further confuse you, but let's not forget that the very top two windscreen fasteners do not take well nuts at all. They are special shouldered bolts, and these bolts are secured using 8mm acorn nuts.

Well, that was true in August 2000 when I wrote that... but my shit is now outdated (and I must fix that, truly). The IMR9A-9H Irridum plug came out starting with the 2001 Blackbird. The CR9EHIX-9 is the Irridium replacement for the platinum CR9EHVX-9 found on pre-2001 Blackbirds. Confused yet? Don't be... get the Irridiums and install them in your XX. Trust me. The 8K interval for the platinums I use to think was a joke, but it's not. That ultra-thin platinum coating wears away by 8K-ish, and you'll have piss-poor power and piss-poor MPG once that occurs. Now, mind you, you may not realized a serious jump in power or MPG with a *fresh* pair of irridiums vice a *fresh* set of platinums, but you WILL enjoy a significantly longer sparkplug lifespan with the Irridiums, and that's their true advantage. Too, given your description of your engine at the moment, you will be happy as a clam with the new Irridium plugs, I can just about gaurantee that.

And they are 100% correct. You want the irridums because they have a significantly longer lifespan than the platinum equivalents.

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I was really keen to try these Michelin Pilot Roads..... until those flaccid, no-load, cheese-eating French faggots started their shit with the Iraqi war. I know it's not overly logical to deny myself what is probably a fine product just because the government of the country in which they're made is all fucked away. I'm guessing that, for the most part, Michelin doesn't make French foreign policy. OTOH.... it's just the goddamn principle of it all.... <sigh> I dunno, dudes, whaddaya all think?

I'll second this notion. When I re-installed my forks, I measured, re-measured and measured again to ensure I got the 39mm fork height over the triple tree. But when I took the bike on the road the first time with the overhauled forks, I could feel (perceive) a noticably quicker turn-in, so much so I thought I must have inadvertantly raised my forks. When I got home, I took the Heli-Bars off and re-measured a bunch of times. Nope, it was dead-nuts on at 39mm. I have not actually shimmed my new rear Ohlins, and at this point, I don't believe I want to... I am more than happy with the set-up as it is right now.

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Unless it's torn ot otherwise damaged, no, it is not necessary to replace the lagre rubber gasket surrounding the fuel pump assembly. I've had mine off a few times now, and it is still leak-free and performing as advertised.

Me too. I'm beginning to think the subject of fork rebuilds ought to join the ranks of the never-ending oil and tire threads. My experience with Dan Kyle was nothing short of amazing. When I called him up to discuss my fork rebuilds, Dan interogated me for 30 minutes, extracting information he needed: body weight, riding style, weight of typical touring gear, he asked me what I didn't like about the stock forks, and what I was expecting out of my rebuilt forks, etc, etc. Since my Blackbird is pretty much regulated to Endurance Rally work throughout the Desert West (always with a 4.7 auxillary fuel cell on the back, and a good 30 lbs of rally gear in addition to my 230-lb linebacker ass), the bike tends to stay fairly near max carrying capacity the majority of the time. Dan said he would obviously not be setting up my forks like he does his racebikes, rather, he will orient the rebuild more for heavy-duty combat touring over a wide range of road conditions. Still.... I wasn't prepare for the results. I re-installed the forks and went for a test ride. HOLY FUCK! The front end has never felt so planted, never rolled over bumps and road irregularities and so totally sucked them up like they weren't even there! Fork "dive" under heavy braking is now quite minimal. The ride seems both firm and plush at the same time. This is everything I was expecting, and more. Without question, this has got to be the best $370 I ever spent on Night Train. The only slight complaint I have is now I am forced to look at this shiny silver component that is too CLEAN (ugh!) compare to the rest of the combat-touring Blackbird (a couple thousand miles in the rain oughta fix that):

Absolutely correct. HID in the Blackbird's low-beam housing is nothing short of phenominal. You know how some of you complain about how the low-beam pattern leaves you kinda blind in a corner (when the bike get's laid over?) That used to really bother me, but not anymore..... HID makes that a thing of the past. But the true beauty of HID is how it completely illuminates the sides of the road and deep into the forest. This is a tremendous weapon to have in your anti-Bambi arsenal.

Remember, my Blackbird is one of those ultra-steathy Metallic Titanium versions.... it carries over to the rider.... :razz:

Shyeah, right. I don't think so, Mithrandir. While I do appreciate you offering your opinion based upon 30-40 fork rebuilds, I think I'll go ahead and take the advice of someone who has overhauled umpteen thousands of forks over the years. I think all can agree that the only real test that matters is when the bike gets back on the road.

Are you talking about sliders like the ones here from R&G Racing? You need to cut your fairing to install these, too.....

Yeah, poor choice of words on my part. As RodeRash correctly observed, the machine doesn't measure stiction itself, rather, it measures surface finish which can affect stiction.

BTW, Dan charges $370 to overhaul your forks, $90 more if you need Race Tech springs. Overhauling also includes polishing the fork tubes to further reduce stiction. Dan even has a little machine that actually measures the amount of stiction:

IMO and from direct experience over the years, to do critical suspension work properly takes a fair amount of experience and, usually, special tools. I normally do all the work on my Blackbird, but fork overhaul I will leave to the expert professionals who have a proven background. I will recieve my Blackbird forks back from Dan Kyle today or tomorrow. I've learned a lot talking with Dan the past couple weeks. Although our Blackbirds have cartridge forks, many are unaware of the complexity of the internal workings of modern USD forks. Here's a shot of Dan's shop where he has torn down the forks of a CBR954 and RC51 and put them side-by-side. Damnation, there's a LOT of little pieces that go into forks! Here's more photos: http://forums.13x.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21030 I had heard a rumor that although Dan uses Race Tech springs in his rebuilds, he does NOT use Race Tech valves. Why? Because he says that the factory (Showa) valves are superior to the Race Tech valves! In fact, he says the Showa valves are essentially equivalent to the Ohlins valves. This picture below seems to bear that out; and the Race Tech valves look a little cheap next to the Showa and Ohlin valves: I can't wait to put these Dan Kyle overhauled forks back on Night Train. Between the new forks and the Ohlins rear shock, this is gonna feel like a whole new bike!

NLH