pug

I found a HID kit but with Hella ballasts in Uk (WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK). This is the e-mail I received from the guy (Ian): 'Thankyou for your email. It will be cheaper to buy a car kit for sure. I have hella ballasts that i can supply you with. could you tell me how long the leads would need to be? would the ballast be located at the back of the fairing. See my answers below too: Thanks Ian I am interested to buy an HID kit for my bike ('03 Honda Blackbird), but i have few questions. 1) Since my bike uses H7 for both dipped and main beam, isn't more cost effective to buy a car H7 kit than 2 motorcycle kits? [WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] yes 2) Is it really a reliability issue for the ballast when you 'flash' your main HID beam? (I am aware of the delay) [WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] no. flash is instant, but the brightness is not 100% for 1-2seconds, but its still bright at the start. i have HIDs in my main beam. i am sure the bulb life will be shorter than the dip beam, but we are still talking years not weeks 3) The kit I would like most would be Hella ballast (at least for the dipped beam which stays always on) and rebased 4300K bulbs. Is not clear in your site If I can get this. What do you suggest and what is the price?[WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] I would be able to offer you this kit for 250 pounds 4) Do you ship in Greece and if so, what is the adittional cost?[WWW.HIDS4U.CO.UK] shipping would be 26pounds to greece. ' So this price is about 500$ for both beams. Is the price right, considering that I might have to pay 20% tax if I buy from US. Questions: Is it really worth it to HID the high beam or dipped is enough? From what I remember from previous posts the best place to put the ballasts is inside the fairing behind the headlight. How long the leads need to be? Is it worth to pay more for the Hella ballasts ?

Warchild I fully agree with you about the deterioriation of rubber lines with time. However my XX is relatively new ('03 with 14000 kms). Don't think that I am getting bubbles like the big ones when you replacing brake fluid, only small ones and only with the first opening of the bleed valve. Except of some sponginess, some times I feel a somewhat uneven braking form the front rotors. This is hardly noticeable and mostly with cold brakes. All this as you know are very subjective, but for e.g. some times I feel that my ride height is lowered and I find my rear tire pressure is minus 2 or 3 psi. My only experience whith braided lines is when I replaced the first line (from the master cylinder) in my Ninja when I fitted US spec handlebars (higher). The brake lever travel was significantly reduced. Overally the front brake was improved and the lever travelled was decreased. The one thing that I didn't like was that when you hit the 'brick wall' the lever went hard. Ie you have less adjustment during modulation of the brakes, hence it is easier to lock the brakes in the type of tarmacs that we have here.

Yes I do, but keep in mind that I bleed my front brakes at least once a month (not by means of periodic maintenance but 'cause I am feeling a little sponginess) and most of the time there are bubbles. Also I am a little reluctant to change to high pressure lines, because over here most of the time we have dusty roads (therefore glazed) roads and feel matters more than power. The 'moments' I had with SBK-3 were when I had to brake hard with cold brakes and there wasn't any initiall bite or good braking power. Whenever this happened, then I repeated 2-3 times hard braking from medium speeds (50 to 90 mph) and I could feel the brakes getting stronger.

I used SBK-3. I think they need warming up . I had some - not scary really- moments with them. A guy with a cheapoBusa agrees with me. I prefer OEM. PS: nice rotors Warchild, is the rear one same pattern as well?

I think you mean left to right, right? :?

A week ago I was in my friend's tire shop. There was a VFR V-tec and as I was looking the bike , i noticed that it had preload adjusters in the forks. I asked the owner and he wasn't sure if it was std (he was the 2nd owner of the bike). Yesterday I went to a Honda dealer and I checked a display VFR and....... yes the washing machine carries preload adjusters from the factory. If I remember well the forks are similar in diameter so the question is: Has anybody fitted VFR top caps to BBird? Is it a straight away bolt on? Please note that I have already found after market adjusters for about 110 Euros but I would prefer to fit OEM parts.

Car oil is not intended for use in bikes. Cars do not have wet clutches and do not use their oil for gearbox lubrication (as bikes do), not to mention that very few rev above 8000 rpm (and those are Hondas or Ferraris). In my Bird I have used Motul 5100 (ester based) both 15w50 and 10w40. Definetely I didn't like the 15w50 (shifting) . 10w40 viscosity is the one that Honda suggests, 5w40 is too thin , 15w50 too thick. Also tried Castroll (don't remember the exact name, but it was the one with the magnatec tecnology) and it felt better than Motul but only for 2000 Km.

During last month the previous Ohlins importer runs an advertising in the Greek moto mags for many shocks at discounted prices. The Blackbird shock is listed (I think) at 750 Euros. I think this is a good price for Europe and maybe EU members of the forum might interested (no taxes, only handling costs). If anybody is interested I can drop by and find out shock details, the shop is quite close to home.

Yes I agree........., but don't try it in your radiator :wink:

1 mile = 1.6 km => 60mph=96kmh etc. Don't remember F to C , but tap water boils in 100 C. B bird runs between 82 to 91 C in open road , can go up to 104 in traffic. I am sure that Celsius wasn't Greek or ancient either but he was right (he calibrated his scale whith the most common fluid in earth).

That is twin butterflies for each inlet tract, one set of b/flies operated by the rider (as usual) the other set by the ECU. If I remember well Suzuki used it first in the previous GSXR 750. But this setup is used to eliminate the jerkiness when you are on/of the throttle not to lower fuel con/tion. Mileage improves with a PC and dyno time with a gas analyser.

Ok I was joking 'bout Ohlins. Generally, in Europe Ohlins, WP and Hyperpro are considered equal. However a friend who runs a suspension service shop here in Athens, reckons that qualitywise Hyperpro is the best then WP and then Ohlins . I used the WP because a) I had it from my previous bike (Ninja) and I saved money by converting it (mounting points, valving etc) to Blackbird specs and I know the WP importer for 15 years and I am getting discounts Also my WP is the top model with heat sensitive damping valves. Whichever of the above brands you choose I think you cannot go wrong, just make sure that there is a shop for servicing and there are parts available (it pays back to chage oil and seals very 15k miles or 2 years- depends the use) . And do not bin your OEM shock, when you replace your bike you can use your (expensive) shock to the new one. PS. I am not saying anything about Penske because they are almost non existent in Europe, but since they are made in US, I would definetely consider them. Also their website is the most technically oriented (maybe too much if you are not an engineer).

Try these recent threads http://www.cbr1100xx.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15582 http://www.cbr1100xx.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15477 I wouldn't go for the Ohlins. Yamaha owns Ohlins

WP shock with a 16 kg/mm spring and my weight is about 110 kg (half bird). I also tried an 18 kilo spring but there was virtually no sag and the bike had a very heavy feel. In the front i run WP 1.1 kg/mm springs with 10W 138mm oil level (to resist bottoming). The WP spring feels heavier than the Showa unit, but this is maybe due to the fact that the WP shock is way longer than standard (didn't measured it but more than 1.5cm).

Thanks for the info, but you can see from the photos that, still you have to remove the seat for the compression adjustment. I am thinking of a mounting bracket, maybe I 'll have news in a couple of weeks. Due to their importer, WP is number 1 in GR but you can find almost any brand (Ohlins, Hyperpro, etc) Also there is a new Italian brand (I thinh its called FW) which manufactures shocks as well as cartridge fork INTERNALS. I will post when i have more details. Yep titanium and with a 'Super Bass' effect as well (but i have ordered db killers 'cause i set on car alarms 'in a blip of a throttle'). Very well made (close to Akra) and very well fit. There is a story that the guy who owns Akrapovich was partner to Termignoni but they split buisiness and then he started Akrapovich. Also i can claim that i have one common thing whith 'il dottore' (V. Rossi). Ha, ha Che spectacolo

Yes my regulator is on the right (my bird is 03 Euro model), and yes I don't want to take the seat off in order to adjust the compression damping. Nonetheless, efxaristo (thanks) guys for your help

After many attempts and bad luck, today i managed to install my new shock. As you can see this is a WP unit with remote compression adjustment barrel as well as a remote preload adjuster. The installation of the 2 barrels may look ok but it is not. The compression bottle is attached with re-usable heavy duty tie wraps (taken from the roof pump of a Pug 307cc) to the grab handle that is located underneath the LHS of the cowl (who uses this handle anyway?). WP is giving two (universal not specific to application) rubber bases to put between the barrel and the bike (you can see them in the photo). The problem is that there is a lot of interference between the comp. barrel and the cowl (via the rubbers and the tie wraps) and I am afraid that in the mid term i will crack my (new) cowl. Do you have any suggestions regarding the installation? Photos also are welcome. P.S.: K&N + Termignoni's slipons (open) + PC3 USB with custom map = 146 RW Hp from a very conservative dyno

Have you measured the length of the fork that is out of the top triple clamp? According to Honda Service Manual, it should be 38.3 mm . Mine is a '03 as well and that was the stock setting. Also you might try raising the forks 1-2 mm, to compensate for the slower turn in (after raising your bars->moving your weight up & back). I've done this to mine (set to 39.3 out) without raising the bars and it feels sharper without being twitchy. Sorry about SI Units 1 inch=25.4 mm

Hi guys , this is my first post. Regarding work in the front end -for e.g. front fork oil change- (which is big trouble in street bikes & especially the B Bird) I found a quite easy and inexpensive way. In order to support the bike, I used and old 175/14' car wheel (with a tire). You only have to put the bird on its centerstand lift the front and slide half way the tire from the LHS (so the bike rests on the tire). The front lower and maybe the headers sit on the tire and as long as you are gentle while working everything is fine. I have not used bigger tire but I suppose anything up to 205 is ok. If you want may be I can post some photos. PS: Nice president you've got again