xrated

Justin wrote: Dude, YOU don't have to search through all of the tire threads, let the COMPUTER do it!

I've been running a '99 XX like this since I bought it in 2001. One word of caution, make sure that the clamp bolt is never any higher than the top of the fork tube. And don't consider the cap of the fork tube as part of the fork tube. If you abide by that criteria, and double check your clamp bolts once in a while, use some locktite on the clamp bolts, you will be fine with that setup.

Just a thought. When you are trying to light the woodstove, do you have a gasfired furnace in the house? If you do, and the blower is running, maybe there is some "leakage" and it is sucking air, instead of all of the air returning to your furnace through the return air vents. If that would be the case, and the furnace blower is running, it would suck air down through your woodstove vent? Just a thought.

Me likey! I took the liberty of looking at all of you pics (#1 thru #7) and it looks like a major OUCH! What happened?

This is my 3rd set of Avons, the first set was the 35/36 combo and they don't make those anymore. I'm on my second set of the 45/46 combo and I have nothing but great things to say about them. If they are warmed up properly, they STICK, STICK, STICK. I've got scratches on both sides of my lower fairings to prove it. Ask anyone that rode with me in N.E. Tennessee this past summer or 2003, they will vouch for the stickability of the Avon's. I've NEVER had any wobble, or feelings of the tires trying to slide out on me, and I've had them to the very edge of the tire many times, I.E. NO CHICKEN STRIPS AT ALL. I would trade them for a white shirt and a piece of Ass,.....that good, really.

That strictly depends on how agressively that you ride, and it sounds like you don't ride very agressively. The most that I've gotten on a rear Avon is approx 7K. I ride wheelies ocassionally, love the feel of a hard accelleration through as many gears as the road conditions will allow. So in answer to your question, I believe the Avons will deliver that kind of milage, if they are not ridden very hard.

You two post hogs need to quit taking up so much space/bandwidth with your longwinded questions and answers. :grin:

The whole purpose OF the O-rings is to NOT have to try and lubricate that area behind them. They are suppose to be "sealed" behind the O-rings. Any spray or ???? that causes the O-rings to NOT do their job is, in my opinion, detrimental to the chain.

What do you mean 1/4 to 3/8 variation? Is this the amount of movement that you have when you push up on the bottom of the chain, at mid point between the sprokets? If that is what you are talking about, the chain is adjusted Waaaaay to tight. That adjustment should be between 1" and 1 1/4". Also, WD40 is somewhat corrosive and could have cause the rubber "O" rings to fail. Honda chain lube is good stuff and BTW, I almost never clean my chain (maybe twice a year). I got almost 20K out of my original chain, and I ride pretty agressively.....also putting about 150 HP to the rear wheel.

Joe said: Like your arsenal of various weapons wouldn't?????????????? :shock:

What Chris said. I've had mine in for about 10K. When I replaced them I could definitely tell a performance differnce, but the plugs that I took out had about 12K on them, even though they looked pretty good.

Gotta ??? for anyone that has concrete/flatwork eXXperience. My driveway is on a slope, guessing about 5 to 6 degrees, and over a period of time (the house is almost 30 years old) the driveway sections have "slid" a bit. I now have gaps between the sections that are appox. 2" wide. I can see the dirt inbetween the sections. My question is this: What can I use to fill the gaps before winter so that the water/snow/etc doesn't get in to it and freeze, causing further damage. Should I just get some ready mix and put in it, should I use some kind of "plastic filler, or ????????? Thanks in advance

Avon 45/46 combo and this is my third set of Avons. As far as SBBXX's comment about not doing well in the rain, I felt that the Avons did very well in the rain and wet pavement. Could just be different impressions of the bike and/or tire, or could be legitimate concerns on his part. Maybe running too much tire pressure, etc.

Hey Nik, are you gettin all of this valve talk? This almost makes me want to put the laptop down and go out and check my valves...... NOT

Congrats on the EBC HH pads. You are going to love them. When I put mine on I had to learn to brake again. They are sooooo much more powerful than the stock pads. One finger on the front brake lever and you've got all the stopping power that you need. Can you say stoppies!!!

BlackhawkXX said: If you are wearing out the rears at 5K, you are not using your brakes correctly. I'm not trying to tell you how to ride, but 70% of your braking should be done with the front brake. I almost never touch the rear brake unless I'm need to do a HARD stop or in a panic stop situation. Also, if I get into a corner too hot, I'll trail brake to scrub off some speed for the correct corner entrance speed. Normally I try to set my corner entrance speed so that I'm "slow" in and fast out. Certainly, I'm no expert at riding, but 5K on the rear is really out of line with what you should be getting. Hope this helps.

The original turn signals pull about 1.85 amps of current. The LED's are pulling some amount LESS than that. My LED turn signals pull .035 amps which is 35 milli-amps. In order to calculate the size of the resistor that you will need: Volts= E Amps= I Resistance= R So, to determine the correct resistance ®, you will need to know what amount of current that the LED's pull, that are in your undertail. R= E/I or in other words ...... Voltage divided by current. My LED setup (only drawing 35 milliamps needed an additional 1.815 amps of current draw, to make the turn signal flasher operate at what the original current draw was (1.85 amps). So, if you divide 12 by 1.815, you are going to come up with a resistor that is approx. 7 ohms. R= E/I Make sure that you use a resistor that will dissapate enough wattage for the give current and voltage rating. I ended up with a 7 ohm resistor that is rated at 15 watts (a little to small from a wattage standpoint), but the turn signals aren't on for more than 30 to 60 seconds at a time, plus they are off, on, off, on, off, on. Remember, you will need two resistors, one for each circuit....left turn signal and right turn signal. Also, this is very important. The resistors are wired in parallel with the LED, not in series with it. Hope this helps some.

Dave, you have the capabilities to aim your headlight based on the loading of the bike. If for example, you had the side bags and your new GIVI top bag loaded (or you had a really fat chick on the back) you can dial up or down to get the light pointed where it needs to be. Another example would be: Driving across Kansas at night and you just want the low beam to reach out a little farther. OK, I admit, why would anyone want to be driving across Kansas!

First of all, who buys an XX and wories about gas milage? Yea, it would be nice to get 45 to 50 mpg, but I didn't buy a Shadow 1100, I bought a CBR1100XX. Not trying to be a smart ass, but when you have a bike that give you the performance and HP that the XX has, it comes at a cost. I have gotten as high as 45 mpg on mine (two up and riding 65 mph) prior to installing the MIG's and a PCII with a custom map. When I push it hard, like I do when I ride in TN on the Dragon, Cherohala, the 421, etc., I drop down to 31 to 32 mpg. Mine is a 99 with 21,xxx miles on it and of course fully broke in and then some. As far as the Honda owner's manual recommendation for break in, it says, during the first 300 miles, no full throttle accelleration or rapid starts. It mentions NOTHING about not taking the RPMs up over 5K. In fact, the two new ones that I've sold, I've told the owners to abide by those words, but DO run the RPM's up to 9 to 10K for short periods of time. Just as importantly, try not to hold the RPMs at any given speed more that a few miles at a time.

Dale, Thanks for the review. There is nothing good enough about these tires that would make me want to buy them. I feel like I've found Nirvana with the Avons, and I'm going to stick (get it....stick) with them.

I have been using 18" long soft straps (around the fork tubes) then tying down with Ancra brand tie down straps. The cheap tie downs are not worth carring home. I've got a set of Ancra straps that I've had since 1974. I don't use them anymore for the front tie down, but they are still plenty good for tying the rear end....side to side to keep the bike from coming sideways if I would hit a bump while hard on the brakes. I have recently switched over to the Canyon Dancer setup....still use the Ancra straps with it. This setup keeps the straps and "Dancer" away from any plastic on the bike. I still use tie downs on the rear of the bike (one per side) to keep it stable if I would have to make a quick stop on a bumpy road. It's works for me! :grin:

I just changed out the rear on mine, an Avon 46 with 6500 miles on it. I am impressed enough with the tire and it's grip, that there is now another 46 on the rear. I probably had another 1000 miles or so on the center of the tire, but the edges were really screwed up after coming back from Tennessee. There was cupping on the edges of the rear and a lot of the rubber was gone. God...I love those roads in N.E. Tennessee :grin:

I was an electrician for better than 25 years, in a steel mill no less. Butt connectors (the crimpable type that you are talking about), make an eXXcellent connection when done properly. 1. Always use the right size connector for whatever size wire that you are using. I have on occasion, stripped off enough insulation to be able to fold the end of the wire back over itself, thus effectively doubling the size of the wire and making it fit into a connector that was too big. 2. Always use the proper crimping tool. T&B makes one, Klein Tools, and others. Make sure that if you are using an insulated butt connector that you use the section of the crimper that is made for insulated stuff. Otherwise, you can damage the plastic insulation on the butt connector, then you have to tape it too. 3. Make sure that when you are done with the "crimp" that you pull on the connection before putting things back together. Also, if the connection is going to be exposed to water, moisture, etc., buy some Scotch Brand 33+ electrical tape and do a good tape job on the connection. You wont be able to submerge the splice, but it will be mostly water-resistant for your purposes. 4. Solder connections cannot be beat, but are a lot more time consuming that the butt connector method. You have to make the call, based on what you are using it for. Hope this helps. PS. I started fantasizing about DBLXX while writing this post......probably because I kept mentioning "Butt Connections".... :shock:

Although I've never tried a stoppie, I believe that you could do a one finger on the front brake lever, stoppie with the HH pads. Incredible stopping power.....when dry. Not much there when wet though. I still wouldn't trade them for the stock pads though.