severdog

Canadian "Mikey" said that I was burning oil when he rode behind me at NEXXT. I don't think that it was burning oil, as I haven't used an ounce. ...but I'm wondering if the ends of my exhausts are showing that the engine's not combusting 100%. I have the stock exhaust, and the ends (around the "mini-gun" holes) are black with soot/carbon. Normal? I replaced the plugs ~ 2000 miles ago. thanks........

I love custom seats....I had Rick Mayer do my saddle on my last bike. But I can't afford to shell out $320 again. Does anyone know where I can obtain an inexpensive gel pad that I might be able to fit into the seat? The only ones I've seen are the $70 covered pads that you strap over your saddle. Too beaucoup. thanks....

NONONONONO....Alphabird is right....don't mess with the suspension, have the seat cut down.

on the other hand.....what's another 1k? I'm no chain expert but I'd have to think that most of the wear on a chain occurs with a change in tension.....accelerating or decel. IF you're running on the highway and not whacking it all the time.....staying steady....then why not? (...assuming that your chain still meets all of the standard criteria...)

I just need a little help and direction before I do my chain this winter. Chain- I looked around and it looks like the best deal for DID 530ZVM chain is at kneedraggers.com. They provide 120 links, you cut down to what you need. master link - these don't come with the chain, right? I'm not sure which of the 530 master links that I should purchase. front sprocket - 17 teeth is stock, correct? Kneedraggers has these for $23. I cannot find the fiche entry at ronayers.com that has the front sprocket, and I'm guessing that it would be a lot more than this. Anyone have a better source for a stock front? chain tools - what tool is necessary to cut the chain? Can I just drill out the rivets? What tool would you recommend for riveting the master? I already have a rear sprocket from Da Chomper. thanks in advance for the assist.

what is the best source for purchasing the DID 530ZVM chain?

During the NEXXT ride, Mikey was riding behind me and insisted that I was "burning oil" and that "you could smell it". I was kinda puzzled by that since this bike only has ~18K on the clock. I've checked the oil during and after NEXXT and it hasn't used a drop. Unburned hydrocarbons? Any ideas? Thanks...

PAOW- The Autocom Pro-M1 system works as advertised to perform the job you're looking for. Unfortunately, it's expensive, and as Swampy intimates, the connectors are for shit. I had the full system on my last bike, it did everything asked of it....but I just sold it. I just got sick and tired of dicking with all of the cables and twiddling with all of the controls all the time. I would invariably ride off with something unplugged or shut down, and I've have to stop and reset/replug. I sold the system and have very few things on the Bird to deal with now. Ask yourself if you really need all that crap. :wink:

Go here for pics: http://www.superblackbird.com/3rdGenPIAA.cfm His site does not allow copying of jpg's, otherwise I'd post them here.

Were/are you a SABMAGGOT? If so, I'm doing a dinner ride with Phil Ross tonight, that name may mean something to you.

I do 4k changes, generally have been using Mobil One 15W-50 red cap to this point. If I used dino oil, I would judge the change interval by shifting quality....if it deteriorated, then that would be the signal that the viscosity point has changed. But in any case, no more than 4k unless it was continuous mileage.

I envy you guys with the 2001+ instruments. My '99 gauge shows cool...warm....and warmer/fan. Maybe ignorance is bliss.

Hard to find a better dino oil, at a better cost. (Rotella T 15W-40) Mobil's Delvac 1300 is a similar 15W-40 dino oil. Both work great in a wet clutch environment. I ran both Mobil One 15W-50 synth, and Mobil Delvac 1300 dino....in my ST1100 and could not tell a difference in terms of shifting and rideability. I would love to see test results that show viscosity retention compared against other synthetics; that's one of the biggest advantages of synth, giving you extended drain intervals.

Is this stuff that much more pervasive than gasoline that it's going to sneak by the rings and dilute the oil?

You can try Electrex at $174: http://www.electrexusa.com/ISSUES_STREET/I..._CBR1100XX.html these are high quality aftermarket stators. (some haven't had success with the regulators, but the stators appear to be an improvement over stock, they claim 15% higher capacity) or you can try www.ronayers.com: Part Number: 31120-MAT-004 Description: STATOR Price: $158.13

The bird stator is relatively easy to replace. Just remove the cover on the left side and it's right there. I don't know the voltage specs, but if I had a problem I'd try measuring the phase-to-phase voltage of the stator output to see if it was supplying enough voltage for the R/R to regulate. Dont' waste your time with ohm checks. The problem with stators is that they generally fail by getting too hot, so that the windings fuse to each other, reducing the available generated voltage to the R/R.

let me re-qualify my statement: "I rode behind Vetteman on the way to NEXXT".

I rode alongside Vetteman on the way to NEXXT; he's down one tooth in the front. ....uh, sprocket. Not only did he hit GPS-measured 172, but I'm pretty sure that it was him popping his front end up every time we left a stop. He seemed to like it. But I could be wrong. :wink:

These are the way to go: http://www.dual-star.com/index2/Rider/heat...d_grip_kit1.htm Dual Stars have two heating elements in each foil....high and low. No resistors to mount. You also get to use whatever grip you'd like, unlike units like Hotgrips. I think having continously adjustable grip temps are overkill....like this Honda electronic controller. You either want your grips at "roast" if it's really cold outside....or at "warm". KISS. Oh yeah, and at $29 the price works too. These really came in handy on the way home from NEXXT yesterday.....43º F and mucho fog.

All of these towing services are hit & miss because they all contract out to Mom and Pop towing shops. AMA MoTow, HRCA, etc all use whomever the hell that they can find to provide coverage in US and CA. So it all comes down to the luck of the draw, as to what towing company gets the call, and what employee at that company who actually knows something about towing a bike. The simpler the task, and the nearer you are to urban population, the better your towing experience will be. I had one experience with HRCA last year, it wasn't good....but it was completely out of HRCA's hands. I ended up at a Honda dealer in BFE Pennsyvania on a Saturday, no mechanic on staff, so I borrowed their tools and fixed it myself. These war stories are fun to talk about in past tense but I'm not sure what advice to give you, Bill.

I'll be doing this job in the offseason. I'm going the "Howard Chomper" route and dropping teeth in the rear so I can get 800 miles on a tank of gas, and MX my bird, like him. and no I'm not kidding.

first thing i did was de-link the brakes, but I'm using dino oil on the chain as I've heard that synthetic will cause my butt to slip.

If you look really hard, you can see that there is a motor there, but unfortunately it's a single-pin crank! I really get out of breath riding along, going "potato, potato, potato......."

I haven't seen what the pilot jets look like in a carb'ed bird. But they should be dramatically different than the main jets. Did they have a lot of cross holes in them? Did you rod out the jets with a fine piece of wire, or equiv? Sometimes the varnish is clear and will not show. Soaking them alone won't do it.

I'm not versed on Bird carbs but this sounds remarkably similar to the classic symptom of clogged low speed jets. Anything off idle, and your main jets are kicking in thus the bike runs. Which jets did you clean? Has the bike sat for any length of time, especially in the summer? That's not a whole lotta mileage over the course of 6 years.