Zero Knievel

To fix the damage to my bike, I'm looking at $500 for a basic paint job done by someone I know does EXCEPTIONAL work. He's a friend, so he will do it at a significant discount. He will do everything but the tank for that price. I doubt I could replace only the damaged panels for less than $500. For all the talk of fixing plastic myself and painting it myself, I know (from experience) that if you don't have the right tools, even if you have the right paint the end result can look like crap (never mind the time and energy you have to invest when you can spare the time). As much as I try not to fret over imperfections, I do care about how good the end results look. Those who have been down this road, is the price right versus other options (replacing panels via hunting them down on eBay, DIY repairs, etc.)? About the only practical way I see to do it cheaper is if I can get the replacement panels dirt cheap on eBay already in black in perfect condition. Knowing what plastics cost, I doubt people are giving them away that cheap. I know I could probably knock the $500 price lower if I choose to only have him fix what's damaged, but to be fair, if you paint the left side, you really need to do the right side so it matches. Excluding the tank, all I could drop from the list would be the rear cowl and the grab rail behind the seat. So, I don't see the price going down all that much.

Since both mirrors have gotten their share of battle scars, I have two options. 1. Get new assemblies. 2. Fix/paint the damage and replace a damaged wire harness in the left side one. Anyone see a new set of these floating around for sale?

That's a thought, but you know what they say....You get what you pay for. I might save a couple hundred and end up wishing I just bought the HEL system and saved myself the aggravation. Sometimes saving money has hidden costs.

$539! That's a bit too rich for my blood. :icon_doh:

I wonder if my front shocks could use replacement springs loaded for my weight range (200-210). My old Kawasaki could be done that way. I'm not interested in replacing the forks with different ones if all I need is stronger springs. Anyone done this?

After my recent trip, I'm thinking of changing the brake lines on my XX. Links on this thread don't work anymore. Any updated links?

Mine are all busted (the connections cracked). Putting the sprocket back into the wheel is a PITA.

When I get home, I'll put a multimeter to the leads running the Datel and see if the readings match. If yes, the Datel is fine and it's the connection I need to work on. If the readings don't match, it's the Datel that's defective and not the connections. I'm not an idiot with wiring, so I'm figuring it's possible I got a faulty voltmeter, but since I noticed this problem after the lowside, there's a chance something came lose.

CALCXX brought his multimeter on today's ride. He's of the opinion that my Datel has a bad connection or is defective, but my R/R tests fine.

Talking with CALCXX, we think it could be an odd connection of the Datel, but we can't be sure. It's not that it goes below 12v and stays there. It's that it bounces from 14.5 down to 8v at random. Supposing I have no problems the rest of the way, I'll need to connect the Datel and a multimeter to the battery and see what both read when I test. The odd behavior is prominent when I push past 5K, more so past 6K. Under 5 and definitely under 4, it's fairly stable. At least, that's what I've noticed so far.

No. I'm not sure what's up, but it starts and runs fine. I don't see anything anomalous unless I get it up over 5-6K. I might just gamble that I won't have a problem for the rest of the trip. If I didn't have the Datel installed, I'd not even know something was odd.

Well, here is where I stand. For the most part, I suppose the system is working normally, but the whole dropping below 12v (down to 9 or 8 for a moment at a time) happens when the RPMs are upward past 5-6K. Keeping it around 4-5K, the voltage stays in a normal range. I'm in Bend, OR right now. A guy who suggested he might be able to put me up never PMed me back, so I suppose I'll find a motel for the next couple of nights.

Thanks. I hope it isn't serious. The system seems okay when I'm parked and testing by revving the motor, but I'm wondering if I should replace the R/R when I get to Bend, OR, but getting a R/R might be difficult on short notice, and I won't get to Bend until Saturday afternoon...late. If the local Yamaha shop has a compatible R/R, I could reimburse someone for picking one up. So long as nothing fails on me tomorrow, I'll get to Bend and can switch out R/R units.

Here I am in Oregon, and on today's ride I saw the voltmeter drop to less than 10v and even flicker. No loss of performance in the bike, I was going around 80 at the time. I've been doing a lot of hours in the saddle for the last 6 days. This had me worried, but when I eventually slowed down, the meter jumped back up to 13.5-14.5 on a consistent basis. I suspect the R/R is going, but what are my odds? It's not overcharging (greater than 15v), but I'd think if the battery was at full charge, it would hold steady at about 12v. Should the R/R be failing, what is likely to happen? I'm hoping I can make it back home without being stranded.

Interesting. I put a Datel on my bike. Normally, it reads around 12v when turned on, but not running. At idle, I normally see it reading 14-14.5. When the bike's been running for a while (especially highway miles) it starts to jump from 14.5 to the 13 range, sometimes down to 12 and back up. I figure the battery has a full charge and it's clamping down voltage as it should. In the morning, the bike starts and has 12v, so I don't worry about it.

I have an automated chain oiler. It runs straight 30 weight oil. I just like to wipe down the chain every now and then to get the dirt off.

I know I could do the whole trip without cleaning, but if enough gunk gets on (dirt/dust), it's nice to give it a quick once over to get the crud off. That's why I pack a oil rag. I thought WD-40 would work. I'll pick up a small can of it for the kit.

I normally just use kerosene and a rag. I have an old jelly jar I keep my cleaning rag in, but kerosene does not transport that well. What o-ring safe cleaner is cheap, preferably in a small can, and does the job of cleaning gunk off a chain? I'd suspect WD-40, but I wasn't sure.

Weren't we all looking for that in 2008?

Yikes! $130 for something so small?

WHY MUST YOU TEMPT ME?!?!?!?!?! Don't have that kind of money to swing, but I wish I did. Someone will be very lucky.

It's not a matter of paint, but of finish. It got a bit scored up trying to pull it back out and some work with a fine rasp helped, but not enough. Good thing it's not very noticeable unless you look closely.

Well, I opted to put the frame caps on my XX to make the holes look a bit nicer. You are warned on the packaging to test fit the caps as all 4 holes are not identical in size. Well, on one side, I test-fitted the small cap, but it was too small. Well, let me say it better....it went right in and got stuck. I tried everything I could to pull it back out. I even got some slim tools and tried to see if it could be used to get a hook and pull it back out. No luck. What I wound up doing that worked (should have done this first), is that I took the nut off the other side and used a brass drift to drive the bolt out the other side. The bolt popped the cap right out. Now I have one brand new frame cap with a scored up edge because I didn't think of this step first. FYI should it happen to you.

True, but at $5K I'd consider buying a later model XX. They've been about starting around the $5K mark. Granted, all the later models offer is different colors and the chance of having a LCD display instead of all analog gauges.

ALWAYS! It's cheap insurance against frozen plugs later.