IcePrick

Main solenoid?

Thanks for the links, I'll look into those! Mike

I'm looking at LED brake/taillight options for my '97. The Brake! system, while expensive, looks nice. http://www.homebody-design.com/catalog/brake/brake.html And I already bought the turn signal conversion kit from The Electrical Connection. http://www.electricalconnection.com/other-...r&sport.htm For those who have used the Brake! system before, what model did you use? I'm hoping that the largest unit (24-5520, 5.5x2.0 inches) will fit. Thanks for any input! Mike

As mentioned, many manufacturers ship tires that are completely in balance now. My Pilot Roads didn't have match marks, so I had to do some research... and found that good tires are so well made now that match marks aren't required. Don't get me started on the ceramic bead discussion going on at ThumperTalk.

+1 on the Vario. I have the same setup as OrganDonor (but I donated a piano) less the luggage - mine is soft-sided. It was comfy enough for three 800+ mile days in a row on the front end of my 5400 mile trip to NH and back this summer. The Vario lets you adjust the dead-air bubble, so if you're in traffic, you can get a little breeze if you want to. I thought I saw a post recently that stated that the VFR Helis would fit the XX (probably with brake line mods). That would give you additional up and back from even the VFR stockers - I don't know about windscreen interference, especially with an aftermarket screen. My VFR bars come very close to the Vario. I had a Corbin for a while, but it was too wide for me - I had issues with tiptoeing at stoplights. I had my stock seat re-done by Sargent to my specs. I love it. Even at 5'6", my knees ache after a while 'cause they're shot from pounding around the Caribbean on boats. I couldn't believe the difference the Buell pegs made. I went with the Ohlins (NIB from a list member), but folks rave about the group buy they made - was it Wilbers? Less $$ and more adjustability, iirc. I did RaceTech springs and Gold compression valves up front, it made all the little chatter bumps go away. Fairly inexpensive, and I needed to change fork oil anyways. Every new model year, I go ride some new bikes, thinking "this is the year" that I'm going to jump on a new ride. Each time, I ride away from the dealerships wondering why I bother - the XX is a great machine, and I have it almost exactly the way I want it now. Last year it was the K1200S, the year before it was a K1200GT. I'm not turning my nose up at those bikes, but the XX is almost the equal of each - in some respects the better - and the Beemers are playing on two separate fields. The XX bridges the gap and plays well to nearly both extremes of the spectrum that it takes two BMWs cover. With the Vario, you'll see a lot of K1200GT riders doing double-takes - with the bigger screen and the XX's mirror integrated turn signals like the GT, they frequently make the mistake of thinking that you are on a German machine.

That settles it. I'll go out and change the pressure right now! I probably wouldn't have ventured that low, but if others say it works, I'll give it a try. Especially since I'm not carrying a week's worth of clothes around with me at this point... Thanks!

I put 5400 miles on my new Roads in June on my Texas to New Hampshire to Virginia to Texas trip. This is the first tire I've unintentionally broken loose under straight line accel, and it seemed to feel as if the rear was slipping in even moderate turns. Not limited to Texas - in fact, there were few curves in Texas to test them. New Mexico, Missouri, New York, and New Hampshire come to mind as the areas where the Roads hampered my fun. But carrying 4 race tires with me would have been a little silly. The counterpoint is that I was coming from Pilot Race Softs - usually used as qualifying tires. They would only last about 1500 miles, but they were free take-offs from a friend's bike and had only negligible use. Other than pre-ride inspections for wear and pressure, their adhesion properties never entered my mind when riding, other than to comment, "wow" after a very challenging hairpin or double. With the Roads, I'm always wondering. With 5400 miles, the Roads show only a moderate flat spot from all the highway riding I had to do on the way back to make up time lost having fun. For mileage, I'll give them a 10. But I'll try the Powers next time, if the Roads ever wear out. I'll try the 37f/39r suggestion, as I was running the suggested 42/42 for improved mileage. I can attest that mileage is great with 42/42, but as others have mentioned, I'll happily trade some mileage for adhesion.

Cut the speaker leads and solder in a 1/8" stereo jack, then wear your favorite in-ear plugs.

If your comm system and/or your SAT are powered by the bike, it is likely ignition noise. If either/both are battery operated, I don't have any answers for you, but if they are powered by the bike... I had the same issue with my comm system (IntaRide). The system alone would whine at idle, then buzz as the revs got over ~1500. Adding music covered the problem a little, but you could tell the noise was still there. I assumed it was coming from the power being routed near the coils. I bought a noise filter from Crutchfield (~$20, shipped), ran a hot from an accessory block back by the battery to the filter near the air intake, left side. The filter output goes to my IntaRide and the accessory power jack I installed, used largely for the iPaq running GPS/music - it runs out of gas before I do. My phone and comm radio run off their respective batteries. Crutchfield Noise Filter: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-owuX2b4p3rk/c...noise&i=003S15A You may have better luck finding a filter at a local stereo shop, none of mine had anything to do the trick. Be careful with quality, it makes a difference - I'd be skeptical of a $4.99 Pep Boys special. The Crutchfield filter does both the power and the ground. If you power your comm system AND the GPS off the filter, it should clear it up. My system is nice and quiet now, it did the trick for me. HTH, Mike

Ordered Pilot Roads yesterday at 2:00. UPS tracking shows them on the truck at 4:20. At my house today at 3:00. Unbelieveable. If they can keep that up, they'll have my tire business forever.

I've never had a Givi... I was never able to find one at a reasonable price. I get less wind noise with the Vario than the other screens I've had. I've found that as long as the line of turbulence is above the lower edge of the helmet, the noise is greatly reduced. The wing tilts outward (forward) at the upper edge, and can be adjusted while riding (with some effort) to produce more "bubble". Prior to the Vario I had a larger screen with a flipped edge (can't remember the brand) to which I added the Saeng spoiler. This screen was about the same size as the Givi, but flipped up at the to edge to throw a little more air. The Vario is better. Being 5'10" with Helis, I'd guess you are about 3" higher than I am (maybe more, if you have a longer reach). I'm not sure where the Vario would place the edge of turbulence on you. I'll try to get out and ride tomorrow and pay attention to how high I can throw the bubble by adjusting the wing. Again, at highway speeds I usually leave the wing all the way down, and it places the edge of turbulence right where it provides a little support for the helmet weight. I'll guess that with a little wing adjustment, it will throw the bubble high enough for you. I just looked for some pics I thought I had, no luck. I'll take one tomorrow. The one on the website is a pretty good likeness, though. Add a Corbin, some Givi bags, and that's a REAL Sport/tour bike.

I have one, and have about 1200 miles with it. With previous windscreens, even the tallest would put the turbulent edge of the bubble at my shoulders, making my helmet bob around and creating a lot of wind roar. I tried the fairy dust "laminar lip" fron Saeng, and it added about an inch to the bubble. Not enough. For reference, I'm 5'7" with short arms but I have VFR bars to help make up for it. The Vario puts the bubble above my shoulders, probably around eye level or just below. This keeps enough force on the helmet to help keep my head up when leaning forward, and causes less helmet turbulence. The wind roar is greatly reduced. On the highway, I put the Vario wing almost parallel with the screen, as otherwise it seems to push the bubble way up and over the helmet - that tends to make the helmet a little heavy after several hours, and I want some air going into my helmet vents, thanks. Where the wing is more useful is at speeds around 50 or less - just flip the wing up and you still can throw a large bubble behind the windscreen. The fit and finish is very good. It is as close to a factory fit as I have found (and I've had... what, 4 different screens so far?), although it still isn't a cast piece like the oem screen, doesn't quite "dovetail" into the upper cowl. I can't say I've been to 165 (with the Vario installed) like the guy in the ad, but I think with the amount of wind deflection it creates, it may flex significantly at the upper range of the XX's capabilities. The thought of windscreen parts flying at my neck at that speed sounds like an experience better avoided. It isn't particularly attractive, unless you like the euro look. BMW guys always do a double-take and seem interested in it. I think MRA makes some aftermarket BMW screens.

This seems to be the definitive answer, but I just wanted to check - does the underside contour of the FI tank prevent it from physically being installed on a non-FI bike? Welding in bungs for petcocks and such isn't that big a deal if its only the plumbing and removal of the FI pump that prevents the larger tank from "swapping" in, but if it requires taking a hammer to the underside, well, that probably negates the increase in fuel capacity. Probably another project that I don't need to embark on, but FI tanks seem to be all over eBay, and besides, the extra .5 gallons could be helpful on a 5000 mile trip...

With this method, would you still be able to adjust sag at the triples? Or would it be compensated for with the extra adjusting holes? Or is that ride height? You guys throw too many terms around. I'm confused now. As I understand it, preload and ride height are two different things. Using preload to adjust ride height is like using tire pressure to adjust compression and rebound - it can be done to a certain degree, but it isn't the right adjustment for the desired effect. Correct spring rate/stiffness, and to a much lesser (but more easily adjustable) extent preload, places your suspension in the correct "zone" of travel (race sag) to be prepared for weighting and unweighting the suspension during dynamic operation. Ride height (if changed disproportionately at one end more than the other) affects geometry in that one can effectively alter the rake, causing faster or slower turn-in or greater or lesser straight line stability. Furthermore, preload measurements depend on spring free length compared with the fully extended fork tube length; some springs need no spacers to achieve 10mm preload, as they are already longer than the fork tube interior dimension and will compress upon assembly. Others require spacers as the free length is insufficient to meet the fork cap. I expect that this has something to do with coil diameter and the length at which a particular spring becomes "coil bound". All of this is likely to vary between spring manufacturers as most of them engineer a unique spring spec - diameter, progression, coil spacing, stiffness, all the stuff that goes into making a spring - the entire purpose behind changing springs from stock specs, and why one spring vendor claims a better spring than everyone else. I remain somewhat confused at the importance of static sag. As an extreme example, it seems to me that a 360+ pound rider would require springs that would "top out" static sag, or nearly so. Properly adjusted, the bike could achieve the proper race sag, but perhaps never the correct static sag. Conversely, a 90 pound rider would never be able to weight a bike sprung for her enough to achieve proper race sag and remain within static sag specs. Where am I going wrong here? My head hurts. Sorry for the seriousness in this otherwise humorous thread...

I just bought two of these, and would also like to do a "stealth" installation. Any thoughts on how much the plastic would interfere with reception of the radar signal? I like the LED light idea at the windscreen rim. The aftermarket LED options look good, but can one maintain the audio output as well? Where are our EE's?

Someone said Honda makes a $5 tool, another said a .17 rimfire round can be modified to fit. Do a search for "rimfire" and you'll find the thread.

I'd be interested in a setup for the front, with an inch extra for the VFR bars. Same for the clutch. I'm not particularly interested in doing the entire system, though.

Hmmmm... it appears I didn't read the destructions when I installed mine a couple of years ago. I kept only the body spacers (the shouldered washers) on the front when I did mine. I can't recall how I did the back, as I now have removed the factory grab rail and installed the body plugs, making shims from aluminum pipe stock to make up the difference. The Ventura grab rail all by itself is a little high and looks funky, but my wife couldn't hold either rail comfortably with both installed. I think it was the same in the back as the front - no silver washers. Without the silver washers, the rails fit fine and the racks line up. My rails needed to be tweaked a little the first time to make it line up perfectly - one was a little off. I stuck a socket extension in the rail and bent it a little at a time until the rack fit right. For the money, I would have liked to have seen a better locking system for the rack-to-rail interface - the double thumb screw thing is a little old-school. I'm sure there's something better, but it hasn't bothered me enough to get the welder out and make something.

I have a used Corbin that I will offer to the list shortly. Cruise the VFR forums and look for those who have added helis. PM/email them and ask if they will sell their oem bars. I hit paydirt on my third or fourth email, scored a set with the bar ends and new grips for about $50 shipped, if I recall correctly. There was some modification of brake/clutch res. to mount properly, but they fit with the factory lines. I like them.

I just did RaceTech springs and valves last summer, but to add adjustable preload and rebound... It will depend on the final price, but I'd probably be in for the DIY kit, complete with the knobs and buttons.

Isn't there a fuel pump fuse or relay you can pull, then turn it over a few times to release the pressure?

If there was salt water or contaminated fresh water (which I would venture assuming), the wiring harnesses will be toast. Marine harnesses, intended for exposure to generally more harsh elements than automotive harnesses, are replaced upon submersion. In attempts to save a customer some money, I have tried to clean and re-use... and the resulting t/s time and downstream failures, and eventually electrical failure of a harness makes it a false economy. Perhaps some would risk an electrical fire on their motorcycle, but the reality is not the least bit amusing on a boat. Consider that much of your high-amperage electricals reside directly under the seat and just below the fuel tank/fuel lines/aft of the fuel delivery system. If salt water, much of the metal that was wet and then dried will have significant instances of corrosion. This is not a significant issue if surface corrosion on a frame or connecting rod, but for a bearing surface, cylinder wall, or fork tube, it will create problems. Unfortunately, water is equally invasive to all parts unless sealed or pressurized. Not knowing the dynamics of an XX motor, I can't venture to comment - but I've seen flood engines that kept water out by intentional or unintentional design. As the water level rose, air inlets prevented water intrusion. In other cases, I've seen water get into an engine, float the oil to the top of the crankcase, and only corrode the oil pan and external areas of the crank below the bearing line. But I wouldn't gamble on this being the case. Places where dissimilar metals were connected - steel screws in aluminum, steel bearing races set into aluminum, etc - these may be fused to each other . Bearings tend to become a fused mess if they sat for any time. Wrist pins can "become one" with the piston and rod. Light bulbs will likely be fused into the sockets. Imagine this scenario - anywhere that metal meets metal is welded together via corrosion or electrolytic process - throughout the entire engine, transmission, and frame. I'm not saying this WILL be the case, but it is possible. Sealed electronics units should be fine unless they were energized while externally shorted. Keep in mind that the previous mention of "water will only damage electrical components if they are on at the time" only holds true with clean water, and if the situation is properly attended to immediately. Introduce contaminated or salt water, water that is in an electrical/chemical field (remember the battery, both the electricity and the acid), then let the corrosive forces work on the metals of a pc board, wiring, microchip connections, relay and switch contacts... so if submerged, the gauge cluster is likely gone. Dependent on the level of submersion, it is doable. Not knowing that, and not being able to determine the circumstances and duration of the exposure, it's a project I wouldn't take on if it was on my own dime - and I have recovered and repaired dozens of sunken boats, from small outboards to 50 foot yachts. If you bought it and found that it was worst-case, you MAY be able to part it - the good and salvageable parts - and recover your investment. A best-case scenario would be low water level in fresh water, rinsed and dried soon after; maybe a couple of oil changes and ride it. A large disparity between possible results. The tires should be good.

I've been working on it little by little. I mounted the actuator to a homemade pvc vacuum cannister via hose clamp. The cannister is zip-tied to the frame over the transmission. I haven't taken pics yet as I haven't test-fitted the tank. The linkage was the most difficult part - connecting the cable to the throttle took some "special" engineering. I'll post some pics of that part on Sunday when I have a moment ot breathe.

Yep, they're cheap as hell. I wonder if there is a better option, something similar, but that will last for a few removals. A Dzus variant of some sort? I found that Lowe's has something similar to the Honda plastic ones. They have only two "ears" (the expanding tabs) rather than 4 like the OEM ones, but they're cheap. And Checker has the other philips-head plastic expanding screw thingies.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've already shaved the seat, so I think I have gained as much as I can there. I can probably stand to shim *a little* in back, and I'll try dropping the front a little... I know dropping the front won't have as much effect on the handling as picking up the rear shock mount, but I'm really not looking to lose any more of the inseam I've gained in shaving the seat. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences. I'll let you know what I do and what the results are. Thanks,