cyoungesq

very sorry to see someone else with this problem. i had the same thing happen - it's how i found this forum & my first few posts were about the same problem. turned out that while doing routine maintenance for which there was no excuse that i did not do it myself (except the guy owed me & i thought he was competent), the nuts holding the fuel pump to the tank were overtorqued and warped ever so slightly the contour of the tank. result was the same as your problem ... a weeping fuel leak from around the pump gasket. Before diagnosis with the help of this forum, I got a new tank thinking the old one had a shot weld where the bolts met the tank. I had the same guy reinstall everything. Im pretty sure he used an air wrench. Same problem. So I got a new fuel pump. Same problem. all kinds of goop - aerobic & anaerobic - didn't work. Finally got another new tank, did all work myself, & voi la - really annoying and expensive problem solved. Overtorquing was the cause. No amount of gasket building, bending, or rigging fixed it for me. I can now remove the tank & all associated components in the dark & in my sleep. good luck - if misery loves company, you're not alone.

The stock regulator for '01 and up is 50psi. The '99 and '00 were 43psi, I believe. how bad would it be to have installed an '01 50 psi in a '99?

Pat - I don't know what caused it ... I first noticed it last year after putting new tires on it - the dealer didnt' balance it at all & I thought it was a balancing issue. I took it off & brought it to a more trusted shop where they agreed that it was over 1 oz short on balancing, but they also showed me the pretty significant wobble in the tire's rotation that more likely caused the heavy vibrations between 85 and 110 mph. Balancing it just about cured the vibrations ... then on a trip thru the White Mountains last week, I hit a pot-hole at about 60 mph with a dip & lip that really slammed the bike pretty hard. I typically can avoid these, but was following a vehicle too closely & it "jumped" into my line of sight without time to avoid. It has happened before over the miles & I suspect it was a hit or two like this that may have tweaked the rim. It now wobbles again at 85+. I'm also gonna check the steering head bearings & probably replace them anyway as well as the front & back wheel bearings just because. Jon - a perfectly straight OEM for $50 sounds like a God-send right now ... thanks! I'll take it. I'd love to go with something like Carrozzeria and will keep doing research. Thanks for your replies!

the front rim on my 99 is pretty dinged up ... guy at the shop put it on the digital balancer to show me some pretty obvious wobbles where the rim is "flared." He put weights on it to try and reduce the wobble I get @ 85 mph and up, but its seems clear I need a new rim. Any suggestions on sources or on different materials? Any thoughts on ceramic bearings while I'm at it? Thanks for any thoughts or experiences.

I had a nightmare experience with this when the "shop" did this routine maintenance ... two new gas tanks, a dozen new gaskets, a new fuel pump assembly and multiple tubes of gasket goop later, I finally figured out that they had OVER-TORQUED the nuts that hold the inverted pump assembly to the tank. I must've taken the setup apart and reassembled at least a dozen times before I realized that the tanks (yes, two) had been warped by a dealer mechanic who didn't heed the very particular torquing requirements. Be VERY CAREFUL in re-torquing the nuts for the pump assembly when you re-assemble & tighten them in the order described in the manual ... like putting your car tire back on. Gently tighten opposing nuts & then re-tighten/torque to spec again in opposing fashion. 1+ on the fuel filter replacement.

Its much quieter than my carbon fiber HJC, not quite as quiet as my Shoei RF-800 ... all said more on the quiet side than windy. Up to 60, pretty quiet ... 60+ gets a little more noise the faster you go (guess that makes sense . Pretty quiet under 60 or so. The volume on the speakers when playing the ipod via BT is adequate up to about 85 ... after that, the music volume & quality begins to get lost in the wind. Surprisingly good base with these speakers. I haven't tried it with ear plugs .... no where near that noisy to want them. My HJC a different story. - for that i used ear buds jammed in my ear canals that blocked most wind noise & provided really good tunes despite the speed. This helmet has the panel that velcros under your chin to further reduce wind noice & mic interference. It works pretty well. Not much wind noise at legal or close to legal speeds. I emphasize the "sport" part of sport touring when I ride, so I am wondering if I can plug my earbuds' jack into the jack for the helmet's speakers to get the benefit of earbuds jammed in my ears with the great BT qualities and the intercom functions of this helmet. Would only want to do that for long distances at sustained high speeds - i.e. the way I like to ride. For legal - or off-track - riding, there really is minimal wind noise with this helmet.

Tested the rider to rider communication today with a buddy who went and got the identical helmet. having had the chatterbox set-up before, I vastly prefer this helmet. After "linking" the helmets, the touch of a button opens the line of communication. Audio is phenominal. The best part is that it is an "open" line of communication where one can talk "over" the other - unlike chatterbox which is more like a CB - one talks, then you have to wait to clear the line for the other. With these helmets, it's like having a normal conversation ... no taking turns necessary. It's range seemed to be maxxed out at about 100' where it started to break up. The two of us (or others who can keep up) typically ride in formation where this distance isn't a problem. For those who want to talk to others they can't see .... stick with chatterbox or its equivalent. Sound is great .... transmits effortlessly ... no shouting or "push to talk" required. Very clear. I imagine this would be fantastic for rider/passenger set-ups too.

Having just obtained an Element (made by O'Neal) bluetooth helmet two days ago, I gotta say (with nothing in it for me) that this helmet is awesome! Flawless linking to cellphone & ipod (I use a Sony bluetooth adapter/transmitter $38 for the ipod) with easy to use one-hand controls. Volume is perfect, even at high speeds, and phone conversations are, if anything, too easy. Microphone transmits no noise ... people have no idea im on a motorcycle. Music is auto-killed to accomodate phone and then when phone call is over, music resumes where left off. The only thing i haven't tried yet is rider-to-rider linking.

I just got my O'Neil Element bluetooth helmet yesterday and have hooked up both my cellphone and my ipod to it. It works GREAT!!! I love it. It is comfortable, very easy to use, very good quality sound, volume goes way up so that u can hear "at speed," super-easy controls for use even with gloves during riding. I am very very happy with it. It is a STEAL at $300. Most quality blue-tooth adapters/helmet head set units cost near that much ... then throw in a comfortable DOT approved helmet to boot for the same price. Not too shabby. The only problem is now when I miss "that call" I will be hard pressed to say "but I was on the bike & couldn't talk." Think I'm gonna keep the phone availabilty a secret for as long as possible.

supposed to be great. I've had one on order since feb ... still not in yet. tested by local store guys who raved over it.

Have you sold this item yet?

Nope. Heard they're good. Just put 2k on the Stradas and am THRILLED with them.

Just got back from a 2k mile trip from CT thru rural Carolinas & back with my RX65 mounted via suction cup to the windscreen & used its earplug jack to my helmet and earbuds for audio alert. Saved me 4x. They use Ka down there (K on the NJ Parkway) and the RX65 gave incredible advance alert. Delaware used instant on Ka with great hiding spots...only limit-abiding, flowing with traffic, or a jammer would help there. Even up around 140, the suction mount held really well. During daylight hours, I am too busy looking around to trust a dash visual alert - impossible to miss the audio via headphone jack. Gotta find a "splitter" so I can run the MP3 to the headphones and have the RX65 interrupt the music. As it was, I had to choose between tunes or RX65. Be nice to find something like a "bluetooth" (wireless), self-powered visual alert that could affix inside the helmet. Waterproofing would be nice too. Nice set-up & great detector!!

Happy ending to my saga Just installed a brand spanking new tank with a new pump and new gasket last night and no more leak. In comparing the fit of the pump on the old tank to the fit of the pump on the new tank, it was crystal clear that the tank bolts onto which the pump housing mounts had been WAY overtorqued. The new pump seated snugly and evenly as compared to an ever so slight rocking on the old tank that I had attributed to the pump "skirt" catching on the bolt threads. LESSON LEARNED: When the oem specs call for 9 ft/lbs of torque (very little) on the 6 nuts that hold the fuel pump, there is very good reason. Beware of shop mechanics who are air-gun happy and too lazy to use a hand wrench. Ignoring this torque spec will RUIN your tank. Thanks for all the replies. Even anaerobic sealer wouldn't save the old warped tank. Anyone want the old tank that is in really good shape but for the overtorqued pump bolts?

On the first few sealant attempts, I didn't wait but rather re-assembled when the stuff got "tacky" and torqued to 9 lbs. When that didn't work, I disassembled and discovered that the sealant was still pretty gooey and hadn't really hardened up. So I tried "stickier" sealant, and then tried letting it go beyond tacky to relatively firm before assembling. Essentially tried many variations in efforts to seal and tried to adhere to mfr. rec. 9 lbs. torque. Light torque b/c it apparently could bend the bolts projecting from welded tabs on the tank or even crack the tank welds (I think). I didn't previously use anaerobic sealant and will try that next. I cannot find any apparent or appreciable warping, bend, or other imperfection in the surfaces being mated that appears to be a problem or that the gasket wouldn't adhere to.

I was told by some buddies at the local dealership that, after the new tank purchase did not fix the problem, they switched the fuel pump from a newer bike for sale on the floor. This led me to belive that I was working with a new tank (confirmed) and new pump for ideal matching of the surfaces. I never actually doubted them, but also never double checked. Maybe they didn't after all . . . I'm headed out to the garage to scrutinize. You may be right. Thanks.

I gotta say, recollecting all the different gasket sealers tried, I'm pretty sure anaerobic sealer wasn't one of them. On at least one prior attempt, I had drained the tank, applied sealer to surfaces to be bonded, then re-assembled but left tank lid open and finger-tightened the 6 nuts & let set overnight before torquing nuts. Now, I got the tank off again, a new gasket on order (I use a new one for every fresh fix-attempt . . . on about #12 now), and a new idea to try. Thanks for the renewed hope at least.

New to this site . . . apologies if someone has already enquired as to my utterly frustrating problem - gas leaking from the base of my tank on a 1999 Blackbird. Visual inspection shows fuel weeping at a noticable rate (puddling) from the oval gasket that is to form the seal between the inverted/inserted fuel pump and the tank. Had a Honda dealer try, on their advise - replaced the tank. Didn't work. Over time, I have since replaced the gasket numerous times, was very careful not to "overtorque" the 6 bolts on the pump housing, finally resorted to a variety of gasket sealers, all to no avail. Don't know what else to do. Anyone hear of a problem like this? Any suggestions?