RichardCranium

I don't know the answer but I bet it can be found at one of these forums. http://www.ford-trucks.com/ http://www.f150online.com/ http://ftw.truckmoxie.com/forums/

Awesome! Seriously like somthing from a magazine or TV show.

Damn Nik...great job. The place looks fantastic. We are in the process of doing some more painting etc but man do I hate painting. We have done a little at a time and I have been meaning to update my site with some before and after pics. As for the kitchen. I think it looks great like it is. I don't see any reason to take the planking up to the ceiling...though I may have missed somthing. I'm thinking the white at the top gives it a little bit of balance.

SWEET! <makes Tim the Tool Man sounds>

As to whether the Bird can handle it or not...do a search on Ken Stotz. Seems like he still has the record...on a Bird...with some stock internals in the engine.

I never do much if anything for winter. Granted OK winters arent as harsh as what you get up further north. At the most I would keep the tank full and add stabilizer as has been suggested. I do ride during the winter but there are times when the bike sits for a month. I have never had a problem starting it. I have a battery tender now which is a good investment if you are concerned about your battery. Just plug it in and it will maintain your battery for you.

I know most of the threads in here are about or related to low carb. Low carb isn't for me. I know a lot of you guys have had excellent results and thats great so I'm not bashing it or anything. Its just not for me. I'm 6'4" and was in pretty good shape. I did martial arts and lifted weights on and off. I was never big and muscular but was fit. After I injured my back and had surgery I sat around...also got married about that time and my wife is an excellent cook so I started getting sorta fat. I got up to around 232. I know...some of you are saying 6'4" and 232? Big deal. I had a fat gut and some good ol handles and most of my pants didnt fit any more so action was required. I finally had enough of that shit so I started working out and paying attention to what I was eating. In 3-4 months I dropped about 25lbs and I fit in my pants again. I don't feel like I am on a diet. I just don't drink pop or eat sweets/junk food. I also eat a little bit smaller portions and I make sure I snack more so I don't wind up wolfing down a huge meal and then feeling like crap. I went on vacation a while back and sorta fell off the workout wagon so I havent worked out in a few weeks but Im still around 205lbs. I started toning up a bit and lost a lot of my flabby midsection on my home made work out...which by the way was tailored around the fact that my back still can't take a lot of heavy lifting. I still wasnt getting the results I wanted so I finally ordered Power90. I had seen an infomercial about it some time back and then did some research on it but decided to stick to my own program. I finally gave in and thought it would be interesting to see what this program could do for me. If anyone is interested check out www.power90.com They also have message boards with a lot of info. The most interesting section being the before and after pics. Some of these people have really made amazing transformations. I can't speak for the product personally since I just ordered it about a week ago and it hasnt arrived yet but I will be sure and post an update of any progress. I'm pretty excited about it and I hope it turns out to be somthing that works for me. The only thing Im really worried about right now is whether or not my back will be able to withstand whatever routines are part of the program. I just felt like passing this along in case anyone was looking for somthing like this. It looks like a good program.

I thought it was the original chain and sprocket. I got the bike with 8k miles. It now has about 19.8k miles on it. The chain says DID 530ZVS? Not sure what that is. I counted the teeth on my sprocket and its a 16t. Oh well. The replacement sprocket should be in today but who knows. I was really surprised at how good the current cs sprocket looked though. I guess its no oem though...since it a 16.

I cant figure this out. My chain is stretched very badly. I figure the cs sprocket is toast. I pulled off the cover earlier and the damn thing looks perfect. Granted it may not look perfect when my new sprocket comes in and I hold them up together. Will it hurt if I put a couple hundred miles on with the new chain and the old sprocket? Hopefully I won't have to but I'm afraid my new sprocket won't be here in time for my trip this weekend. Oh and isnt the stock cs sprocket a 17 tooth?

I just ordered my chain from White Buffalo and it arrived in 3 days. They were out of everything but the 138 link monsters though. I went ahead and ordered that since it was still cheaper than everyone elses 120.

Check the vendor reviews section. I'm glad you guys had good luck with them. They have lost my business forever. I vote with my dollar and Im not voting for them. :evil:

Just called my stealer...the OEM is $48.46. :shock:

How much do the OEMs run? I'm staying with the stock size anyway though.

I know the subject of chains has been beaten to death lately but I don't remember anything about which is better or if it matters. The only difference I know of is that the OEM has a damper so its a bit quieter than aftermarket. Anyone prefer one or the other?

The place charges $30 to put the chain on. My bro in law needs a chain too...so I figured we could just buy the chain tool and come out ahead in the long run. I know its been discussed somewhere before but what is a good chain tool? I checked on line and the motion pro looked decent and was like $75 or so.

I'm in the market for a chain too. I don't know what it is with the dealers around here. I went to one that I normally don't buy from a while back and he quoted me for a 530 VM. He seemed kinda dumb so I just said thanks and left. Today I go to my perferred dealer. They are Honda only and are great guys. I ask how much a chain is for a Blackbird...the guy can't remember what size the chain is so I tell him 530. Not that big of a deal except he is the parts guy AND he rides a bird. :roll: He quotes me $102. Immediately I know that its the wrong chain so I ask which one he is quoting me for. He says DID. :roll: No I mean which model is it? Oh...its the standard one. Yes but which one...what model number. 530VM. No thats the wrong one. So then he says...but its what I use on my bike. <sigh> Just look up the ZVM for me please. $180. Thats about what I figured it would be from them. I asked him if that was the best he could do because I wanted to give them my money as opposed to ordering it but that was simply too much of a difference. He asks how much I can order it for. I tell him $130. He says $155 is the best he can do...and HE cant even order them for 130. Then the other parts buy throws in with HEY...RK makes a good chain...its what I use on my RC51. Its about 100 bucks. Ok...which one? The RK XSO. At that point I was just irritated because they were trying tell me these were good and blah blah they used them and yadda yadda. I said I didnt think that was the right model for the RK either but I would check and let them know. Fuck it. I think Ill just buy the chain tools and do it myself. From reading everyones posts here there is a significant difference in the VM and the ZVM and Ill assume the XSO and GWX are the similarly different. I think Ill heed the advice of those who have been there and done that over the advice of someone who wants to sell me somthing. It just bugs me because I like those guys and want to think that in this case they may just not be too familiar with the difference rather than just trying to bullshit me.

Ive been riding my XX in Oklahoma heat for a a couple years now. I think you are just being paranoid...however there is a chance that somthing isnt working right with your bike. For reference: I have ridden in the mid 20F's and I have ridden when it was over 100F. No matter what the temp...if you are in stop and go traffic the bird heats up. If its working properly it will get hot...the fan will kick on...and it will sit at fairly hot until you start moving some air thru the motor. Its normal. If you heat up..and then start moving down the road...say on the highway...and it doesnt immediately cool down...you may have somthing wrong. If it does cool down...thats normal. Big difference between hot and overheated.

Great...now we have 3 Bretts. Welcome Brett^3 :grin:

BTW...I bet the old ones are still in there somewhere. I dropped one down in there once and it was a challenge getting it back out.

Oil filter wrenches are for pussies. Though I do have to take off my left lower in order to be able to get a good grip on my filter when taking it off by hand.

Hey this thread really fits in with somthing I was just thinking about today. A. I need some new grips. 2. Is there any trick to taking my throttlemeister off. It seems like I remember someone saying somthing about the throttle side possibly coming apart (in a bad way) but I can't remember. D. Hookers 7. Is it just me or are the grips on the XX a tad on the narrow side? I'm pretty sure my hands are about average. I wear L-XL gloves but the grips seem like my hands just barely fit.

I bent my front wheel the same way a year or two ago. Sent it to Woodys Wheel Works in Denver 303-936-0232 It was about $125 to get fixed. My only complaint was they painted the repair with flat paint while the rest of the rim is obviously glossy...oh well...its not noticable when the wheels are a bit dirty.

Thats exactly how my friends describe mine. They say its really quiet until I get in it...then it sounds like an Indy Car.

Yes...or parking garages...or parking lots...but thats cool. That depends on how close you are. Yes Do they advertise that you are riding like a hooligan to every LEO within 2 miles? Yes Would the normally really nice sound get old after riding on it for an extended time? In my opinion...Yes Just my opinion. I love the way Nik's bike sounds. I have a friend who had two different bikes (ZX7 and TL1000R) with D&Ds and damn I got tired of it after a while. No way I would want to take a trip with them...but Nik can obviously speak more for the XX with D&Ds. Not quite the same thing but a friend who had a ZRX1200 has a Scorpion can and it was a very nice looking and sounding can. Had a nice rumble but wasnt really loud. Probably louder than my Yoshs but nowhere near D&D loud.

Here it is... And the reply to that...