shovelstrokeed

BTW......... where the hell in the country are you now? Greensboro, NC for the next couple of days. I'll leave on Friday and head down to Greenville, SC to visit an old racing buddy who manages the BMW dealer down there. Then dinner and drinks with a couple from the BMW board. If I'm still sober enough to ride, I might spend the night in Charleston, if not, I'll stay in Greenville. Either way, home on Saturday night. Poor little fella has gotten a workout over the last couple of weeks. 3500 in ten days to NJ and back with a couple of twisty detours, 400 round trip to Titusville and back last week and this trip is gonna work out to about another 1900 or so. I may not go home at all as I have to be in Houston on Tuesday to do another install and the tastiest young lady I know lives in New Orleans. Dinner with her and her two nearly as hot sisters sounds like a good way to spend Sunday night. I do have to take time to darn the head on my sock monkey though, must have gotten hit by a rock

I have ridden my 'bird in some pretty cool weather, low to mid 30's for most of a day, in fact, the first day I owned it. Used a Gerbings direct wire connection to the battery and from there to my tank bag to power, V1, XM and GPS-V. Pig tail pokes out of the tank bag to feed Gerbings heat troller and then the jacket and glove liners from the same company. A pair of (forgot the brand but he is in Pueblo, CO) waterproof pants and a Belstaff Discovery jacket did the job for me. The XX puts out enough heat that my standard Oxtar Matrix boots and those pants kept my lower body warm enough. I did have a BMW windproof Balaclavea with me but the air management around the stock windscreen was adequate to keep the air off my neck. No issues whatever with the charging system. I am planning, some time this year, to go to HID for both of my headlights and for a set of auxillary lights to mount just above the mirrors or on the brake calipers, haven't decided which yet. I don't really ride all that much at night so I may just replace the headlights (both beams) and be done with it. I think the EFI models have a higher output alternator than the carbed versions and, of course, they need it with the extra load of the EFI. Overhead is probably about the same with both bikes.

If you are holding the throttle just off closed while coasting down from higher RPMs, you might be defeating the fuel cutoff thingy and that is what is making the thing appear rich. Many fuel injection systems use this RPM/TPS combination to completely cut fuel to the motor as the bike coasts down. It does wonders for their passing the emissions cycle. Check your TPS voltage with the throttle closed, key on, motor off. If it is above that 0.600 volt number it might requre adjustment as previously stated. I'm heading out to supper in a while and I have a pretty good grade outside to test on. I'll let you know what I find.

I'm pretty sure the TPS does more than just provide rate of change of throttle position for accelerator pump function. Near as I can tell, without access to the code, the PGM is an n-alpha system and the base maps come from TPS vs RPM. The standard modifiers apply, MAP sensor, Coolant temp, air temp... etc. It would make more sense to me to use rate of change of MAP sensor signal as a key for accelerator pump action, but what do I know? BTW, mine did something really strange when my TPS sensor wire got cut. After about 50 miles of running, it seems like the computer just disregarded the TPS altogether and ran the engine from the MAP sensor signal only. I idled OK and ran under steady throttle OK but, there was a "softness" about acceleration since there wasn't any map position data for it to interpolate. Makes sense. There may even be a non-TPS map, or MAP sensor only MAP built in as a fall back in case of component failure. Wouldn't surprise me to see it act the same way if the MAP sensor failed. The system may be a whole bunch more sophisticated than that little box looks on the outside. Clever folks, those Japanese, you know.

Back in the saddle again. Did 335 miles yesterday and a little over 500 today. The bike is running better and better. Resetting the computer apparantly dumped all the long term running data and it took a couple of tanks full for the bike to re-learn my riding habits. Fuel consumption started out at around 34 mpg for the first tank but has steadily been improving. 160 miles to the warning light on the first tank, 190 miles on the last tank but this one and I'm at 150 miles with 5 bars showing which means I should be at better than 40 mpg. For reference, 20 miles into the warning light for me usually results in 5.3 gallons to top up. It might be a good idea, if you have been running around town a bunch, to reset you computer before setting out on a long trip. Remove battery negative lead for 2 minutes and the reconnect. You should see the same thing. BTW, I was not, by any means, just trolling along. Moving average speeds, including some heinous traffic and about 60 miles of 40 mph roads, were 76.4 mph for the entire 840 mile trip. I saw 5 over a couple of times while getting around knots of cages as well.

Eric, The TPS base setting is 0.4 to 0.6 volts with the butterflies closed. It actually, from what I can gather from the manual, is some percentage of that based on the 5 volt power supply peak output. They show something like base voltage x peak voltage/5.00. So if your base voltage is 4.85 volts, 0.388 to 0.567 should be right. If the PGM is anything like the Motronic system, there is a fuel cutoff point if the the engine is above 2K RPM and the throttle is closed as defined by the minimum voltage setting. Fuel should cut back in below 2K RPM to prevent stalling. Honda may have complicated things a bit more with the vehicle speed sensor. I would try adjusting to some intermediate voltage, say around 0.500 volts and see if things clear up. You should probably reset the computer after making this adjustment and I would think that key on/throttle full open to full closed, twice, might be a good idea so the CPU can learn the throttle position range. No direct knowledge that this is needed but, it couldn't hurt. BTW, I think the voltage reading is obtained, key on, between the red/yel and grn/yel wires. I'm a bit confused on this as, at least on mine, there are two - red/yel wires. Let me know if I can help to add further confusion.

I know, I know. I can do all of this stuff. Used to do it for a living about 30 years ago. I still make my living as a field service engineer, calibrating and repairing scientific instruments. I even have a full shop set up in a storage warehouse near me. Problem is, I have zero time to work on my bikes. Home on Friday or Saturday, out on the road again on Monday morning or sometimes Sunday night. I use the bike quite a bit on business travel and that pretty much puts me at the mercy of local dealers. I was due for an oil change, figured, what the hell, bring it to the dealer and be done. Riding during the soggy portions of FUXXT convinced me that the squared of D208 wasn't going to make it for my upcoming 3400 mile round trip to NJ and back. Hell, I'm already at the dealer, right. Go ahead and throw a pair of Pilot Roads on there. My fuel consumption had been a bit high as well so I had them put in a new air cleaner. I knew I was in trouble when it took the guy 2 hours to put the rear wheel back on after the tire change, kept locking up as soon as he would tighten the axle. I still don't know what he had fucked up but it rolls fine now. Then, to make matters worse, he mounted the front tire backwards, resulting in the front wheel not mounting right in the forks. That took another 2 hours. Aw, fuck it, you guys don't need to hear all this. Thanks again for all the help and support. The bike is fixed and now starts and runs like it should. BTW, the fucked up dealer is Ocala Motorsports on highway 441 in Ocala. Be afraid, be very afraid.

About 5% more HP.

I'm gonna be on the phone to them Monday morning. Trust me, I know how to chew ass. The only thing the guy managed to get right was the oil change. There is no excuse for this. Worse yet, the wire cut off flush with the top of the connector and I have to bugger the connector to get to enough of the pin to solder a new lead on. Hey Furious, can I borrow your sig for the weekend?

Got it!!! When the clown up in Cocoa did his thing to replace my air cleaner, he pinched the wire coming off the harness. Green=signal or ground, I don't remember which. Anyway, the wire actually has a chunk out of it. Time to dig out the soldering iron and a little shirnk wrap. Thanks again for all your help.

Well, the reset thing didn't work. As soon as I throw a load of clothing in the dryer, I'll go back down and run the voltage and continuity checks. I pulled the ECU connectors and took a peek in there and didn't see any corrosion but, that doesn't mean I don't have an open wire someplace. More to come.

Gotcha, and thanks a bunch. I'm headed down to try that now. Be back in 1/2 hour.

Reset computer??? How? I'm new to the 'bird, relatively, which pins do I short and which connector? 2001 Blackbird.

Was up in Titusville the last couple of days doing some calibration work for one of the NASA contractors. Bike running great all the way up. Parked it for 2.5 days under the portico of the hotel. Went to start it this morning and no-go. Reluctantly, it started but was running like crap, wouldn't idle. Way rich and missing at steady throttle. Funny thing was it ran OK under heavy throttle, just rich. Got it down to a dealer as I was scheduled in there for a chain and sprocket change. Still running bad. We had some torrential rain over the last couple of days, like 2-4"/hr. Plus I had been riding in quite a bit of heavy rain on my trip to NJ last week. I figured I'm only 150 miles or so from home and I'd probably make it just eat a bunch of gas. Riding along down 95 after the chain fix and all of a sudden the bike cleans up and starts running fine but the FI light comes on. This about 30 miles down the road after I left the dealer. It burned about 2.5 gallons of gas going that 30 miles, btw. I decided to take a break at a rest area and the thing was reluctant to start again, requiring a lot of messing with the throttle and nearly 3/4 throttle before it would fire up. Ran fine albeit fuel consumption was down. Pulled up in front of the apartment and put the side stand down, FI light starts flashing. 8 flashes, then a pause, then 8 flashes again. A look in the manual shows 8 flashes are a TP sensor fault. Gonna get out the DVM and go checking things out. I'm hoping water just got in there and shorted the thing. Should know something in an hour or so. Betcha it's gonna be expensive. Chain, DID Xring, and a front sprocket set me back $325, installed. Dealer didn't have a rear sprocket so I'll pick one up at Ron Ayers on Monday. I'm riding up to Greensboro NC Monday morning and should have time to get one on the way. TPS sensor too, if I need one. BTW, Champions, in Cocoa has a good technician, unlike the idiots in Ocala who took 7 hours to change 2 tires, oil and filter and an air cleaner.

Yes, the EFI adjusts for altitude. It will keep the mixture at the proper level, however, that does not mean it will make up the HP loss due to the altitude, it just won't be any worse cause the carbs went all rich on you.

Your problems may only be starting. First a little zing. Your torque wrench is probably 1/2" drive and goes to either 150 or 225 lb/ft. Torque wrenches are designed to be most accurate when used in their mid-range. At 14 lb/ft you are in the bottom of the range and shouldn't expect anything like accuracy there. 2% of full scale in the mid range would be a pretty good one and, at that, I would only expect that accuracy on a recently calibrated tool that has been properly stored. You could easily have been off by 5 lb/ft in that range which is 30% of the required torque. Next time just use a 1/4" or 3/8" drive ratchet and a socket to install the plug. With a new washer, finger tight and a little grunt is all you need. OK, back to your problem. Chances are the threads are buggered in the, hopefully, oil pan or cases. Oil pan, you are lucky and can remove the pan to keep chips and such out of the engine. Cases and you have some work on your hands. The reason the plug feels tight now is that the threads are galling (steel in aluminum) and will likely be destroyed the next time you remove the plug. Good news is you sometimes can fit an oversized plug, available at a good auto parts store like NAPA. Bring your old plug down and see what they can do for you. They may even have a kit with a tap. You are not the first guy on the block to do this. If drilling and/or tapping is needed, pack the flutes of the tool with heavy grease like a wheel bearing grease, available at the same source. That will help in keeping chips and swarf out of the crankcase. Slow and easy with the drill, using very light pressure and stopping a couple of times to clean and renew the grease. An hour or so of cussin' and maybe a cold beer at the end and you should be good to go.

My current system consists of a Givi Wingrack (monokey system) with a pair of E360's for side cases and an E460 top case with optional top rack. I think I have about 800 total into that. Capacity is all you need for even two up on a weeks worth of riding. In addition to riding gear, I carry a laptop and a whole bunch of misc tools, Honda cleaner, rags, chain lube, etc, etc, and the bags are by no means stuffed. If I had it to do over again, I'd use the same set of bags but go with the SW Mototech rack system for reasons already stated. I can live with the looks of my wingrack and it really isn't all that difficult to pull off but, once you get used to the convenience of running around with a top box, or a pair of side bags, it is hard to break the habit. One really nice thing about the Givi system is that, with a new mounting kit, you can transfer the rack system and cases to your next bike. I have another Wingrack on my VFR and can outfit it the same way. I like the idea of only having to buy the luggage and rack once. Get a new bike? Just get a new mounting kit and Bob's your uncle.

Unless the disk is getting really hot, the noise you here is probably normal. There is nothing to retract the pads/pistons except the disc. In other words, the pads will only retract to the high point on the disc and no further. The noise you are hearing is the pads touching that high spot. I wouldn't be concerned unless I felt a pulsing at the brake pedal under moderate to hard usage. Take a ride in a pair of flip flops (we won't calll you a squid) and see what you feel. It is not a good idea to machine rotors. The calipers are too small to accomodate much travel beyond the wear limits of the pads and you could find yourself without brakes at some point.

Nothing wrong with your Autocomm. It is your XM radio that is giving you the problem. The antenna really should be on about a 4 x 4" metal plate with a very clear view of the sky. Get it as high as you can as well. Riding through trees growing close to the side of the road will cause the signal to fade in and out. Even getting your body between the antenna and the satelite is enough if the antenna is close to you. A motorcycle is not the friendliest place for these things.

I use a Helen 2 Wheels BMW top case liner to keep all the small stuff from flopping around. Fits in a 360 with room to spare, has zippers on both sides plus a pouch in the top. I have some mesh stuff sacks that I picked up somewhere that allows me to separate the small stuff and still see what is in the bag. That all lives in my 460 top case. The side bags are packed with clothing and my laptop. Clothing all folds into Eagle Creek packing cubes and I carry a dry bag for laundry. The Eagle Creek stuff is really cool. I have about 9 or 10 of the packing cubes in various sizes, some for tools, some for clothing, one for a toilet kit, I also use their folder to store a pair of jeans and a pair of chinos so I have something to wear into restaurants and the like. A pair of light weight loafers will flatten nicely and you can even fit a laptop in there. BTW, small laptop zipper sleeves make pretty good tool holders. If you wanted to get fancy, you could even put in some elastic straps and sew or rivet them down and have your tools organized. A scary thought.

I got a set of shorties on the group buy thing. Those things are perfect. I did go for a bit of bling factor with black levers with adjusters for my redbird. The comfort compared to the stockers is well above expectation and I would buy another set just for that. Additional advantage to the shorties is the bar end will take the brunt of a tipover and you won't get nailed for a lever as well. DAMHIK!!!

Go get some Shell Rotella 10w40 and try that. If the clutch still slips it is the clutch. Almost any oil sold these days will be fine in normal duty on a bike. Trouble is, you don't have a bike. Plan on beefing up the clutch and don't drive the thing till you have done so. At the very least, I would go with 20% stiffer springs and I wouldn't put some form of centrifugal assist as too far out of the reahlm. How much does the car/driver weigh?

Use a 3/4" - 3/8 drive socket, a long screw and a flat washer. Put the open end of the socket against the end of the bar, put the screw through the square and, using a flat washer to prevent pull through just tighten away. It'll come out as easy as pie.

I have actually thought about something similar to what 'flipper is contemplating with the exception of cutting the collector behind the merge but just in front of the Y to the mufflers. It doesn't look as if it would be too hard to fabricate a transition pipe and build from their to a single outlet exhaust using a can of adequate capacity of course. Then I looked some more, thought about the penalty in noise and the PITA exhaust fabrication is when you don't have a TIG welder handy and just decided that the stock arrangement is fine for me. I bought this bike for touring after all and probably don't see redline in more than second or third and that only once or twice a week. Screw it, with 60 odd pounds of luggage distributed through 2 Givi 360's on the sides and a 460 on the top rack, I ain't beatin' anybody anyway. Why, I'll bet I can't even stay with a stock '02 with a pipe.

Add another 33% to your age and you might qualify as an old fart. My 64th comes up in 28 more days.