MileHi

When I first installed the hugger it took a little tweaking to make it fit right. After a while it will "conform to your bike. When re-installing mine after doing the rear shock and tire, I didn't have any problems and it fit like a glove...

Good idea Pete... I'll have to remember that the next tire change. My changer is mounted on big honkin' piece of 3/4" plywood. Way kewl idea girthy!!! Looks like a good excuse to buy some of the bobbin supports for the Pitbull. Anyhow, I got the Penske on, cleaned up the swingarm area and got the rear tire back on... Tomorrow I'll adjust tyhe chain, put the hugger back on and button everything back up. Hmmm, I think I'll grab a cold one! :cool:

Ok... Ok... Click on my gallery... Pics of the changer and my balancer... Don't laugh too hard when you see the balancer! It works at least. If you're not careful, the changer will scratch the rims. Mine were already scratched from the last mounts done by a friend, so I wasn't too worried about them. The fingers face inward, towards the center of the wheel and grab onto the rim. I supposed that soapy water would work just as well, but that rubber lube (NAPA Rubberglyde) really makes mounting the tires painless. Gonna get out and finish the rear tire and install my new (to me) Penske shock. Edited after mounting the rear tire... Well, I guess the front was well balanced after all. The rear on the other hand has definite heavy spot. That gives me a bit more confidence in the balancer! :grin:

Yeah, static balancing them... I did find the rim's heavy spot prior to mounting the new tire. Without the tire, the rim consistantly went to the same heavy spot. Good idea about adding the weigh and seeing if it drops to the bottom. Thanks guys... BTW, the NAPA Rubberglyde really helps with the unmounting and mounting of the tires.

OK, I admit that I'm anal about a lot of things... After finally getting the HF tire changer adjusted and figured out I was so VERY tickled with myself when the old fron tire came off easily and the new Pilot Road went on just as easily... AND I even got the rotation marks right! But, I've spent close to an hour working on the balance. It appears to be damn near perfectly balanced w/o any weights. The pessimist in me says that this isn't right, but... What's to collective wisdom? Is it good? Whatcha think?

Wanna make it simple??? Click here http://www.casporttouring.com/store/mercha...ategory_Code=El Here's what ya get... All you need besides that is a good ground block and you're in business.

Please tell me they are not starting that crap? The car testing is a big joke but bikes!!! :evil: Starting?!?!?!?! Hell's bells, I remember having to get the old GS750 emisson tested in Mesa AZ back in '81! Hamilton Tests was the testing company and the bike was put on the rollers. The guys at HT had no idea how to test (or ride) a bike so I had to run it up on the rollers. Failed first time... Rolled out and leaned it out until it barely ran... Had it retested. It passed and It readjusted the carbs just ouside of the testing bay so I could ride the bike again...

That's what i thought too!!! :shock: But I guess I'm a dummy (that can at least spell) according to Michelin. So when I mount the tires, I assume I will have to take more time with the balancing. Edited afer a conversation with Michelin USA... I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling from them or their website. Acording to the rep I spoke with... Michelin supplies a mounting dot on OEM tires ONLY if the manufacturer requests them?!?!?! And according to the Michelin USA website... The pressure for the Blackbird are as follows... Fr - 3.5 bar/50.7 PSI Rr - 5.5 bar/79.8 PSI WTF? When the rep looked it up elsewhere (ie. somewhere where the public can't access), the recommended pressure was 2.9 bar/42 PSI... I think I'll go back to Metzeler/Pirelli after these PRs... Better customer service...

Not if you take the time to find the heavy spot on your wheel before you mount the tire. He's right about the valve stem (whole?), but wheels do have heavy spots, so the dot is useful if you do it right (the way Peter showed me ) True... But it's a moot point without the dots on the tires... :???:

Don't know as I only dealt with the sports. No, the Road is marked. Interesting... My new Roads don't... So I emailed Michelin. Here's their response: No, you are not missing anything. Michelin does not put mounting dots on its motorcycle tires. The valve whole on motorcycle wheels has no relationship to either high or low spot on the wheel and is not an indicator of light or heavy. Therefore, a mounting dot is useless information. If you have additional questions, please respond to this email or you may call us at 1-800-847-3435 (toll-free) between 8:30AM and 6:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday to allow one of our Consumer Relations Representatives to assist you. Michelin North America Consumer Relations Department (Please Do Not Delete the line below.) Email ID: 1269031

Weren't these the set you got off of ebay? were they direct plug and play installation? No modifying of the clip or anything? Yuppers... I did have to cut the rings off of the headlight sockets (33130-MAT-611) so the stock clips would work. The hardest part was determining where the ballasts were going to go and how to secure them.

On my '99 I didn't have enough room behind insturument panel. So I mounted them with the heavy duty (locking) velcro to the ram air ducts. It's tight, but it works...

Porter... Metzeler and a bunch of locals advised me to not even bother with the "B" rear Z6... The first rear lasted about 6k miles and the current has about 4.5k miles on it so far... I might cahnge it out a little earlier as I have a set of Pilot Roads that I want to try. Oh and mounting the "B" Z6 is a ROYAL bitch!!! Did it on a friend's FJR...

Guys, The instruction were kinda interesting/confusing, but... You have to remove the O-ring from the airbox... NOT the airbox lid... Then the K&N drops into place nicely. Greasing the bead area on the airbox competes the seal for the filter. It took me a while to figure it out at first...

Hmmm... The Bandit ones work??? :shock: And to think I have a Bandit parked right next to the 'Bird... Hey, you want to give it a try and let us know? :-) The Bandit has the same fork diameter as the XX? -Mike- I just might have to take a look-see. But I think you're right about the Bandit cap not having the female threads.

Hmmm... The Bandit ones work??? :shock: And to think I have a Bandit parked right next to the 'Bird...

bump... Any pics yet??? How's it work?

Hey r3ckl3ss... Inquiring minds (well, at least one) want to know... How is it? Does it deflect the air flow a little higher? Noisier/quieter? How's it look?

I'd be curious... How's the wind noise/turbulance? I would like a little more protection with the cooler weather.

Country, check this thread out... http://www.cbr1100xx.org/forum/viewtopic.p...er=asc&start=20 I think what you're experiencing is the SuperBrace is "completing" the circuit when it hits the horn... At first I didn't quite understand what the others were experiencing, but after a bit of investigation (and a tie wrap) I now see what's happening. The horn and the brake lines/brackets are getting tapped by the brace. These components now act as fork stops and limit full fork compression (on my bike with my fat ass on it) by about 3/8". I'm thinking that a little modding and I can correct this condition. The forks are gonna get worked over this winter, so that may just stop this from happening.

All well and good... Unless you happen to be here and wanna walk for days just to find some semblane of civilization... In places like that I've used the little mushroom plugs and the sticky/gooey string stuff with success. I've had one plug not completely seal the tire and it only resulted in a slow leak that allowed my to limp into a town to get a new tire. BTW that "dot" is the only car I saw for close to 50 miles.

Well, that puts me right back where I started from... :banghead: I guess I have re-evaluate whether I REALLY love or hate the LBS... As of right now, I find that I'm pretty happy with it... Thanks for the responses...

OK, I've put almost 10k miles on the '99 since the beginning of May of this year. I've read the pros and cons of linked vs. de-linked and I have found that in most circumstances the linked (front lever) is great... But , I have experienced a few pucker moments on gravel/dirt roads where the linked rear just about caused me to drop the bike. So... Has anyone ever (considered) de-linking JUST the rear brake pedal??? To be honest, I really like the linked front, but could do without the linked rear... Comments, suggestions or flames...

Aw Gee... Y'all shamed me into going out and putting some blue loctite on 'em... I guess better safe than sorry. Maybe later today I can get a quick test ride in... Hmmm, If I bribe my daughter into a LATER afternoon movie....

The bolts have never backed out on the Bandit's SuperBrace,. So, I don't see it happening on the 'Bird's.