Tom
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Posts posted by Tom
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It would be kinda cool to have the cluster look stripped down I agree
Forgot to ask - I bought 3 packs of 3528 SMD LEDs (PLCC2), rated at different intensity - 1000, 1200, 2000. Any idea if the 2000 mcd intensity would be too much, causing hotspots of light?
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So I decided to change the orange lights in my cluster, and also change the "old" rev gauge face with the new one, the one with blue strip. Bought the late model cluster for that, if this whole operation goes well I'll sell it.
I took the clusters apart, the rev gauge faces are made from pretty solid cardboard material, with halftone pattern printed on the bottom side, to disperse the light from those 2 bulbs that light up the rev gauge. So my idea of designing my own gauge face was nulled, I don't think any aftermarket guy doing gauges can make them on such precise level, and I prefer OEM look tbh. I put both faces against the light, it's clear that old model has orange tint so the color of 2 leds doesn't really matter on that one, the newer one though will look good with updates led bulbs down there.
Which leaves us with the LCD lights, both sides are surrounded with orange leds. At first I feared that the LCDs are orange due to some colored film or something, just like the main rev gauge is. But when I took it apart and connected it on the bike for test, I was happy to see that the LEDs are actually orange. Now they need to be replaced.
Since I have 0 experience with soldering (I went to electrical engineering high school....no comments on that) I'm reluctant to go DIY route, although I probably should. I went around town the other day with the cluster in my backpack, visited 4 electronics repair shops and asked them if they would do the LED swap - they all turned me down saying it's risky to do it, the chances of short-circuiting the board are high etc.
So any of you have some advice I can't pickup on YouTube when it comes to doing this, what kind of equipment I should get, preferably something cheap because I see no point buying a soldering station just for this one job. I saw some ytbers use tweezers, some use only soldering iron and flux, others have fancy air guns etc...I'm aware that the indent on the smd LED is negative polarity so that's also a thing to watch for, but what would be the safest and cleanest approach to do this right and not mess up the board, with minimal equipment is possible? Thanks!
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Thanks for the advice hawk! One more question though, last year my mechanic did the regular service on the bike and mentioned that one of the main loom connectors, not sure which one but one of the "main ones" is going bad, I think he was saying that it started to show signs of corrosion, or something akin to it - not sure. Either way I will strip the bike down during the winter so I'll have a better look - but lets say one of those main loom plugs is showing signs of toast - is it possible to fix it without buying the loom from ebay or, yikes - Honda
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Noob question fellas - is there a way to check the wires/installation on these bikes, given that they're 20+ year machines now for the most part? Other than visual "corroded plug" inspection, how would one test if a wire is going bad?
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One question about LED lights and circuit issues - is it true that putting LED's on a Bird results in significant drop in load of the circuit, making rectifier work hard to dissipate the excess and leading to faster failure?
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I'm digging around japanese web trying to find if there's some new trick to the front fork business
SP1? RC45?
This is a SC59 bridge...did anyone convert the Bird's fork to SC59?
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Thinking about doing something with the Bird over the winter, and there are so many threads on these topics, figured I'd try to make one and distill all the info as much as possible before diving into this, since I'm not really a garage guy.
As far as I managed to read, Busa front forks (2006 model year?) are easiest to install, RC51 are "easy" too but those bike are very rare as of late. I found few pics of Nissin big brakes with USD forks, apparently WP branded...any ideas what's the source on these forks? KTM usually puts WP pieces on their bikes...
As for swingarms, I saw few threads mentioning TSR swingarms, and they are very cool looking (there's one incredible, fully spec'd out red Bird here that has (had) one) but they remind me of 929 swingarms, with a bit of material welded on
TSR aside, 929 should be the direct fit right?
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Just a sec, does this mean I can't buy those generic bar end weights that are sold on eBay, Bird requires special kind? Or not?
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In the meantime I've sent a inquiry to Carrozzeria and this is the response;
Hello,
To fit a wheel to this bike would require all new components to be engineered and produced. We do not have Data related to this model and have no plans to make wheels for this model. Sorry to say, The investment required to roll out a new wheel heavily out weighs the market for this model. There may be another wheel brand out there that does have an application for this bike. I wish you luck.
Its a great bike, Hope you enjoy it.
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Just out of curiosity - why can't regular XX sprocket be included in the aftermarket wheel setup, something on Honda design part or something else?
I can't wrap my head around it since I never had any deal with aftermarket bike wheels, my brain is wired to think in car terms, bolt pattern/PCD, offset, J width, center bore...
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Oh nice, was the ZX sprocket featured because of practicality with their stock, or some technical issue that prevented them for making the wheel ready for Bird's OEM sprocket?
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Been looking thru some topics on this subject but my knowledge of bikes is too simple, I need someone to walk me through this. Knowing that bike wheels are nowhere near as simple as car wheels, swapping them needs knowledge and attention.
So first question, well not really since I think I know the answer - is there a set of wheels from Honda that could fit 2002 Blackbird straight up?
But more importantly, if I was to order set of aftermarket wheels (I've seen Carrozzeria is a popular choice here) do they have the set for the Bird, in a way that I don't have to buy any additional gear, i.e. leave the stock brake discs sprocket and all that, just put the new wheel instead of 3 spoke oem atrocities and go? Or are there some measurements I need to know and give it to the wheel company, like you have the offset, J values on car wheels etc.
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2 hours ago, Aunt Zero said:
Well, first thing’s first....what happens if you let the bike idle?
Does it boil over?
Does it get to the H but the fan kicks in, brings it down some, then shuts off in a narrow heat/cool cycle on the temp gauge?
Tested this today, went for a short ride. Expressway ride, bike kept completely normal temp like it always does. Pull up, shut the bike down, nothing happened. Then went on a slower ride, temp got up very close to fan switching level, pulled over, let the engine run, gauge was at 103'C meaning the fan should've started to operate, nothing happened, 105'C still nothing, 107'C still nothing, shut the bike off, coolant dripped out from above the center stand.
1 hour ago, blackhawkxx said:This could be something. I would call and ask him to explain.
Yeah, I will...don't know what attitude to take though.
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Is there a chance that the coolant dripping is a sign of something catastrophic (gasket etc?) and also, theoretically is the bike good to ride now if I drive it on open road where fan doesn't have to come in?
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Hey folks, first post worst post, bike troubles
brief introduction, started riding 2 years ago by getting myself the Bird since I always like that specific bike when I was a kid, made quite some miles on it, made my first stoppie, wheelie, traveled around and became even more of a fan of this turbine smooth easy going machine.
The only thing that bothered me was cooling. I know it's not the ideal bike for the city, but at times it would get to that dreadful above 120'C zone so for this year's service I gave my mechanic the new rad (aluminum ebay thing) and OEM rad cap, cap gasket and thermoswitch. He assessed that the rad cap and switch were ok so he didn't change them, they're in my parts box.
I have no hands on mechanical experience nor the means to learn, I live near the city center, so giving the bike to the mechanic is my only option. I don't know if this mechanic is sloppy, but he has a good reputation (Honda bikes mainly, owned a Bird 10 years ago etc). But the bike doesn't cool good enough. For example I expected that the cruising temp. would drop a few 'C on the new aluminum rad, that didn't happen, still 84'C. City scooting was as usual, quick to go into 100'C+ and there were few instances when it would go into 110+.
Also, I noticed a pattern, not sure if this means anything but on the days when I would ride open roads, cooling was a complete non issue, temps all low and normal. But if I made the bike go into 104'C and more, it would have a hard time coming down, and it would often have some sporadic fan operation, sometimes I would hear it coming on at those temps, sometimes not. Without blaming the mechanic, how the hell is this happening on the "new system", with new rad and all. Is it possible that the bike is tough to burp? Or could it be the faulty fan, since the mechanic mention something about the fan needing the replacement on my next service.
Today the bike went into 110'C in the city, I pulled to the side and after half a minute water started to leak from above the bike stand. How do I fix this, or better yet, what the heck do I tell my mechanic to do this time?
EFI gauges LED color change
in The Garage
Posted
Here they are, just snapped a pic of them. The strip on the left is the ones I bought, Sloan SMD-WPLCC-02 is the name.