MikeXX

I had a VFR with linked brakes also and the only con I've had was the VFR would lock the rear wheel if you downshifted too hard and did not match the revs. I learned this on the VFR and have not done it on the Blackbird. What the hell does engine braking have to do with brakes, linked or otherwise?

Ummm, no. Why would you believe your swingarm to be bent, other than the tracking issue? If that's your only evidence, I would look elsewhere before I started shopping for a swingarm. Was the bike involved in an accident? A serious accident? Well, yes, at least one that I was aware of. Previous owner was my brother, who hit a dog, got the front in the air, panic braked and locked up the front wheel while in the air, dropped front wheel locked to the pavement with the inevitable result. Other than replacing all the plastic and the forks, I'm not sure what happened to the back end.. (I got it relatively cheap and with twins on the way and psychotic ex-wife setting fires in his yard/garage I wasn't checking it's teeth... I'm a soft touch for family). Yup. Yeah, as added.. it could well have taken such a hit. He also retorqued frame/mounting bolts while he was "in there" today. I agree it's masking the issue.. which is why I think I need a new swingarm.. Are there other options? Also, I don't think my brother was so good with chain maintenance.. which might be related =/

So got a new chain and rear shoe on the bike today, and mentioned to the mechanic the bike seems out of alignment (strong tendancy to head to the left if you let go of the bars) He took a look and agreed that it was out, and felt that the swingarm was bent to the left, making the rear point out to the right, and hence tend to want to turn left all the time. Now.. to make it track straighter (and hopefully stop scrubbing my rear prematurely ) he's turned in the righthand adjustment futher than the left (by 1/2-3/4 of a marking), and suggested that it should be safe enough at sub-light speeds. Sound reasonable to ya'll? Or should I be in the market for a new frame/swingarm?

Indeed =) Guy comes highly recommended though. In fact, works from his own home as I understand it and booked out weeks ahead w/ repeat business and word of mouth..

Thanks for the heads up, Pete. I already had it booked in for a service next week, so I'll be sure to get someone who knows WTF they're doing to look at it. Some good may have come from my incompetence yet :icon_wall:

Yeah.. Dad's about your age and in the Ulysses Club here after a 20 odd year break from riding. Got himself a shadow. The sportiest thing I saw the vintage riders on was an ST1300 =)

Goodo, thanks for your help everyone Extra points to Joe and the Kiwi FYI: Test riding at 1:30am in Canberra wearing jeans is not really a wise idea in winter... I think my thighs are frost bitten :icon_duh:

These are the hoses (marked for easy reference) C is the hose that fell off Is it supposed to be here Joe? (sneaky putting things at the back....) Edit: resized them to something reasonable.. sorry. Also, appologies for the fuzziness, it's too dark under there to work the focus well at the moment.

Where's the right place? I couldn't see anywhere else to put it...

Lifted the tank today to put a shim in.. when I did so the fuel line came off, or I believe it was the fuel line (thin one that comes out out the bottom where the fuel switch is). I'd deliberately run the tank low on fuel to make this easier, so no fuel actually came out. When I've put everything back together, it's running fine for a while, then seems to be having trouble getting fuel to the point where it will stall altogether. A minute or two on the side of the road and things are back to normal, but only for about 1-2 miles, then the cycle repeats. My thought is that I've managed to either a) introduce a air bubble in the line when I disconnected it, washed some contaminent that was in the fuel tank down to the drain point when I've lifted/lowered the tank and it's blocking the carby/injectors, then falling back away when the bike is off for a minute. Any ideas which of these, or others, it might be and what I can do to fix it..? -- Mike.

That's a scary thought.. I'm 5'10" and I think the pegs are too high now...

Graphed up FiXXation's data... Trend line added by Excel (least squares, if you're a geek) which seems to show a pretty linear relation between mileage and tread (at least given the data collection method). Sadly, my wear on Pilot Roads is nothing like this.. too much slabbing and a strong right hand

Thanks Red, need a new rear and chain... so I'll give this a go after they go on if it's still not tracking. Not sure where the avatar's from Found it on break.com (I think) and laughed as well..

Okay, so I know my bike has had the front end repaired before I bought it from my brother (he hit a dog), but it doesn't seem to track straight with hands off the bars. Remembering that we Aussies drive on the left side of the road, and the camber of the road will tend to push you left off the road as the bike attempts to be "normal" to the road surface, and therefore leaning slightly left; it seems to want to head off into the gravel quite a lot if I'm not holding the bars. There's not much in the way of vast, open, dead-level parking lots around here to test taking the camber out of the equation, so is there any easy way to check if the bike is straight?

Is there any scientific data that I could read on this? http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/octane.htm By "efficient" here I mean financially efficient, given there's no benefit from putting 98 in your vehicle if 90 isn't knocking.

Ya'll know what the octane rating is right? http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm If it's not knocking you're not going to get any more "power" out of higher octane rated fuel. The lowest that works is the most efficient.

I your idle fan kicking in?

If you don't get lower temps while you're rolling, you know the problem isn't with the thermo. Likely the radiator is blocked/fins bent, or there's something else wrong; water pump, blockages, etc...

That's how it works with cars... I had endless trouble getting a thermostat that would open early enough on my old cage, f'ing thing was always hot.

I get about 40MPG on my '97 slabbing at ~80MPH, but by the time I run the tank dry I'm more than happy to have a stretch :icon_duh:

Thanks for the replies Mine fits one much the same as WestTeXXas and Bad-Dog. It's a little.. irritating that something "made for" the XX doesn't actually fit per the instructions, but that aside it worked very well this weekend. At speed didn't really notice it at all, down around the 20-30MPH range it seemed to add some instability, but nothing drastic.

The manual says to "remove and discard the central tie-down pins, retain the washers and body spacers", and pretty much the same for the rear. Now, apart from not "discarding" OEM parts from my bike I can *not* get this thing on with the OEM washers in place. The rack mounts don't fit inside the "steps" in the washers, so it adds a full 1/2 inch across the back, which means the rack is 1/2 an inch too narrow. The kit came with "spare" washers that keep it from contacting the grab rail directly, and the centre/front mount has the body spacers so it rests on that. Physics suggests the greater portion of the stress will be across the bolts, rather than towards the rear fairing, so I think it should be ok, or are there some super secret differences between the 97 and 00-02 washers that make this thing fit with them in place?

Cheers

Good call, seems to be quiet with the clutch pulled in. Doesn't do it for very long, and never warm.