brianmacza

check that the fuel breather tube isn't pinched... you're probaby fighting a partial vacuum in the tank

I personally like the silence of the standard pipes... yeah, they are heavy as hell, but there's a tradeoff for being able to whisper past a LEO at 120Mph and not get noticed

The guy I bought the kit from is http://www.xenonlights.co.za/ His name is Johan, and he is prepared not only to split a kit up into 2 bike units, but will mix and match if you have 2 bikes with different bulb patterns.

Installed my HID on low-beam yesterday - made an incredible difference The low-beam was a 55w Hella bulb, and I always found the output to be wishy-washy - the only time I was happy with the headlamp was if there were no cars about to show me how bad it really was. On a dark road I could see fine, but the light from passing cars or streetlights made me realise that I was partially blind at night. The HID installation has forced me to lower my beam considerably to prevent the lamp from blinding oncoming motorists - Measuring before and after I found that the lamp cutoff was at 41" (and I never got flashed by oncoming cars) - I had to lower it to 36 1/2" to keep people almost happy. This was measured with me sitting on the bike, off the mainstand and my kids running with bits of chalk - I'm in big shit with the amount of chalk on the wall :roll: The Light wash is now an intense rectangle that covers a 2-lane wall to wall, and extends out further than my previous bulb ever did. The installation was simple - plug the old spade connectors for the H7 bulb plug into the ballast, the bulb has a normal H7 type backing plate, and the ballast is cable-tied to the instrument cluster supporting frame. Installation took 35 minutes all told, apart from adjustment of the beam. All in all, a great upgrade - now I just have to find someone to take the 2nd ballast/bulb kit off my hands and I'll be a happy boy. I took photos with my trusty Nokia 9500 camera/phone/thing - will upload them when I can Before: After: The kit: (crap pic - I used my phone, dammit!!! :oops: Where it lives:

fetching them tonite... will hopefully fit mainbeam this weekend and give report on monday.

Mine occasionally clonks from 1st to 2nd... from other threads it seems to be a feature on the Bird. Some seem to advocate fully synth lube - 10w40 fully synth has been suggested as a measure to reduce said clonking noise Doesn't bug me at all... I frequently do clutchless changes and it slips past usually no sweat - but when it DOES happen it sounds horrible! :?

about 35w per lamp I believe...

I had never considered the load of the injectors and fuel pump... sounds reasonable in that case. I'm fetching my kit tonite - hope to put it in on saturday (will leave my high beam on halogen for a while and see the effectiveness of that combo - if it still needs help I can use the HID for high beam also) B

There is apparently a slight delay as the ballast energises - dunno how long the delay is tho. On high beam you have both bulbs lit, so there would be no time where you don't have light. It would make flashing oncoming traffic a problem, potentially. The regulator on my bike appears to be working fine - no burn marks at all, and the charge appears to be within spec. The battery is a Huasa [sp?] japanes thang - might be a shit product, so I'll take a look at replacing it with a different make. The carb models have a smaller alternator output than the FI birds - the cause for my concern.

My '97 gives me around 290km at the point where the reserve light comes on when I drive normally (I do the 80km dash to work in 30 minutes, door to door) and around 250km when I play with other riders The best I have ever had is around 340km to the point where the bike was juddering, and it took 21.3 liters (out of a max potential of 22!) decided to fill at the warning light from that point on :shock: oh, yes... stock pipes, no PC, K&N airfilter

I just bought an HID upgrade kit - 2 x ballasts and 2 x H7 pattern bulbs total cost is ZAR2300 (or about US$350) - will install this weekend and see what the result is. Arctic - you SURE you don't wanna try a HID main beam? I only wanted a single ballast+bulb for low beam as my high beam is a Hella 80w that seems ok. If not, will do both and hope the delay on main beam switch doesn't piss me off too much. The big question here is - how many farkles CAN you put on a '97 bird without flatlining the electrical system? I'm wary of putting dual 55w lamps on main beam in addition to my 80w because my battery (tho' it is new - 4 months old) seems to lose charge while the systems appears to be charging properly.

I have a similar problem with my '97 Bird. I have tested the charge rate and it seems within spec. The battery runs down if I leave the bike parked and don't use it for a couple of days. Funny thing is, if I bump start it it seems to start fine, the plug on the regulator isn't burned at all (no blackening caused by heat), and it seems to charge fine. The battery is new (but may be a dud - dunno about that part yet - will have to get it tested by an autoelec I guess) So I charge the battery on a trickle if I leave the bike for more than 2 or 3 days and that keeps me going - a crap compromise due to my laziness I guess.

Hmmm.... I currently have a set of Bridgestone 010 front and 020 rear... just over 5000km for the set and the rear has only just started showing wear signs (the front has 8mm chicken strips and the moulding nubs are still on the sides 'cos I'm a woosie) - the last set was a 057 front 020 rear where the rear gave 14000km with about 2mm left when I changed it 'cos the 057 front was showing smooth rubber - no tread (at 18000km) Would like to look at the Maxxis next time round, failing which Metezler also looks like a reasonable warm weather tyre. unless of course the wisdom of the board can give reasons why these are crap decisions...

does the katana have a solenoid on the starter, or a bendix? coukld just be dried grease stopping the movement

tx will stroll downstairs and check justnow - drove to work this morning... quite chilly!! B

The stock pipes on my '97 (48000km, all stock apart from a K&N airfilter) have suddenly become slightly more noisy. No drilling/cutting/abuse has been done, and no performance change has been noticed. The only way I know it's noisier is that my wife hears me arrive in the afternoon from work (vs. me sneaking in and surprising her), and my neighbour asked me what I had done as it sounded so much "better". Problem is, I LIKED it as a stealth missile... if I can't make it go back to the way it was I'm gonna be forced to go the whole hog and get some decent pipes and rejet. erm... maybe thats not such a shit idea.....

www.cbr1100xxforums.org/photos/albums/userpics/11700/normal_double%20can.jpg

hmmmm

I just took the pads out and lubed the caliper sliders - they were siezed SOLID. Amazing what can change in a couple weeks.... took the opportunity to suss the pads out and they seem ok. Also felt guilty, so I washed and waxed for the first time in a month... she lewks gudjas again!!!

The brakes were great, pads reached end-of-life, swapped pads out and everything was fine until earlier this week when the sucka started acting all tuff with me. Now I have to REALLY stand on the lever to get any effect at all... Will lewk @ linkages, fluid, mindset and so forth right now. Tx for the advice guys... muchas appreciated B

I work in Nieuw Muckleneuk, close to the Brookly Circle.... Should do a lunch thing sometime - My bird is also black, stock pipes with a dark double-bubble screen. My "usual" riding style is 180+ except where traffic is involved - takes me 35 minutes to do the 80k trip to work in the mornings. The boere don't seem to be able to work out that a BMW 320 police car can't accelerate and catch a blackbird :twisted:

Hi folks... My rear brake has become hard to press down on... almost no retardation on a full-weight push with new OEM honda pads... the pins are lubed and I dunno what else to look out for. Any suggestions? B