RedEye
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Posts posted by RedEye
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Did anyone ever get around to making a custom thingamabobber to allow you to use the standard top steering stem bearing? Cuz I have the forks and triples from a brand new zero-km '14 on the way and I could surely use one
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If you have any wiring skill at all, any Euro style switch pod can be made to work. It wouldn't surprise me at all if other Honda switches would work without mods . . . and there are plenty of models out there whose parts are so common they're practically free on ebay. Of course, I'd ordered an expensive XX switch from ebay.co.uk before I thought of that, and it turned out to be a complete piece of shit. Not much I can do about it now since I had a friend in the UK buy it for me and forward it to Canada unopened.
You could also look for switches locally from European brand bikes.
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When I bought my XX the seller said the front 021 was brand new. Since then I've put about 4000 km on it (mostly highway commuting) and it's cupped badly. Tomorrow I'm going on one last 600-700km road trip and that'll be the end of it. The roads are heavily frosted in the mornings now and there's (more) snow in the forecast for Monday so after this weekend I'll probably be putting the bike away for the winter. I have a nice Diablo from a parts bike I'll be putting on the front.
Oh, and my 021 rear finally started showing the cords a few weeks back so I had to replace it. I have no idea how many kms were on it, but it was just starting to show the wear bars when I got it, and it lasted another 4000 km. No complaints about the tire, but with so many others I'd like to try I wouldn't get another one unless it was super cheap. I didn't want to buy a new tire just before the end of the season so I got a used Qualifier locally with about 2/3 tread left for fifty bucks to get me by.
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I can't use the rear lenses with my aftermarket tail lights, but pm me if you're interested in selling the fronts separately.
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I think this thread is the only place I've ever seen anyone preferring Dunlops for the Bird . . .
Anyhoo, people seem to really like the non-GT 023. I was going to order one, then found a better price on a PR2 so I was about to order that instead . . . then found that sometime on my last ride the cords started showing through on my current tire.
So to keep my Bird on the road I'll just swap the nearly new BT-021 rear from my gf's Katana, she won't be riding it any more this year anyway. And by the time my front 021 dies of premature cupping early next spring, the verdict will be in on the longevity of the 023 front tire on, ummmm, bikes of substance. -
In Canada that would be a steal. XXs are damn rare here, mine is the only one I've ever seen in the classifieds for less than 5 grand. $3200 for a 98 with 47,000 km and some fairing rash . . . and the guy wanted to weasel out of the deal because he got about 2 dozen calls on it while he was outside showing it to me. Bikes are so much cheaper down south, but not worth the drive and the hassle for something in that price range for someone as far from the border as I am.
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I've been looking to upgrade my exhaust and my searches have turned up a few hidden gems. I was originally going to get some Blue Flame cans; their website says 20% off all bike exhaust orders and when you look at the products page the prices say "price includes discount". That price is what you see when you add something to the cart, but when you go to checkout the price will be reduced by 20%. That plus the relatively low shipping cost makes them pretty cheap compared to other dual carbon-tip style cans I've seen.
But on to the good stuff. I was hoping to put the Blue Flame cans on high mount midpipes and found that Hindle has the XX high mount midpipes on their factory direct blowout sale page for $149.
I've also been checking the Delkevic site regularly and the XX headers are always out of stock, so I emailed them asking if they still made them. Here's the reply:
They are actually re-designing these to be more year specific. (pre-fuel injection and fuel injection models). I actually have a couple sets of theDelkevic original downpipes but they need tqueaks for proper fitting. The new pipes are still a few months out. If you want to try the older pipes I can sell you a set for a steep discount than what they were going for ($250). If you want the original delkevic model you can get a set for $160.00
If I'm not mistaken the tweaks are needed to fit these pipes to FI Birds as they're designed for carb models. But $160 for brand new SS headers . . . shit, you can hardly find used stockers on ebay for that. I used this form to contact Delkevic.
And of course I'll be having none of this fancy stuff . . . I was ready to pull the trigger this morning on all 3 of the deals above and set up my ride with a sweet-ass new exhaust, but cheap bastard that I am I just had to check ebay one last time before I committed. I ended up getting a full 4-2-1 Akrapovic system for $200. It's pretty beat up -- there's a dent in one header pipe and another on the can. Bling factor essentially zero compared to my original plan but the price was certainly right, especially since I can probably fix the header and the shiny can will be replaced at some point anyway.
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Anyone using them? I need a new rear tire to replace the BT-021 that came with the bike. The 023 is supposed to last 30% longer than the 021, and the GT flavour is supposed to resist the accelerated wear from use on heavy sports-touring bikes. Reviews seem favourable but I haven't come across any reports yet by anyone who's put enough miles on them to comment on the extended treadwear claim.
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I emailed Danmoto and they confirmed that their full size cans are unbaffled like the MotoGP minis, so no Danmoto for me. I think I'll be getting the Blue Flame dual outlet triovals instead; dead sexxy and removable baffles in all 4 outlets.
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I thought maybe someone here might be interested:
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Looks great. At that price, you'd sell it in seconds here in SK.
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Thanks, I'll get the rod smoothed out and leave well enough alone for the moment.
Just ordered a VFR front sprocket and a chain slider, I have a shock shim and CCT here waiting to be installed, cush drive, air filter, full set of Sixity brake pads, knockoff rear wave rotor and iridium plugs all on the way. She's slowly coming together.
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Today I finally had a chance to get my wrench on and follow up on my shifting issue as chronicled here. I figured I'd start with cleaning the clutch lifter rod so I could check and clean under the front sprocket cover at the same time. I could tell it needed a good cleaning out because yesterday I rode 230 km on the highway, and immediately afterwards cleaned and lubed the chain. Since then the bike has been pushed off the center stand and rolled 15 feet into the garage, and then put back on the center stand for today's work. And somehow in that ~16 feet of travel the chain went from spotless to this:
But anyway, I removed the sprocket cover leaving the clutch slave cylinder attached, and this is what I found:
The little twerp I bought it from told me the sprockets and chain were all new. I believed him because the chain and rear sprocket looked good, but it's been a long damn time since anyone's taken that front sprocket cover off. The sprocket is worn to shit, and more relevant to my shifting trouble, the rod is completely mired in about a decade's worth of rock hard oily sludge.
After about an hour of careful cleaning I was able to get the rod out (actually I could have pulled it right out at any time, but it took that long to be reasonably certain I could find the hole again to replace it). The rod appears to be a writeoff, the exposed portion is pretty mangled:
There are also a couple of fairly deep, very precise scores around the rod as seen here:
Which brings me to my first question: Are those score lines supposed to be there, or is the rod supposed to be smooth? The marks really are uniform enough that they look like they belong, and if that's the case I should probably not be sanding them smooth
And my second question: does anyone know what else is likely to need replacing based on what you've seen so far? The Bird is my main vehicle and I can't take off the clutch cover and start tearing into it right now, maybe in a few weeks I'll have some time. If there are other parts that will probably need to be replaced along with the lifter rod I might as well order them now and get everything shipped at once. In the meantime I'm sure that cleaning up the rod as much as possible will keep it roadworthy until I have time to work on it again. And speaking of cleaning up, I don't quite believe it but the book says the slave cylinder piston is somewhere in here:
I'm kind of scared to go poking around in there; anything I should know before I have at it?
Anyway, so far I know I need a new lifter rod, front sprocket, a clutch cover gasket if I need to go in from that side, and a god damn chain slider. I decided to take the slider off so I could clean around it . . . I really should have seen this coming. Top bolt off, looking good so far . . .
Take out the bottom bolt, and oh you deceitful whore:
This is what I get for buying a bike at night in a howling monsoon. I crouched down far enough to look at the chain and sprocket, and I could see the bottom mount of the slider. And that's all there was, this 2 inch stub that fell onto the garage floor :icon_banghead: The bottom of the swinger is looking a tad worse for wear:
Fun and funner
But I'm still happy with the old girl. I've seen exactly one other XX for sale in the province this summer: 2 years newer (a 2000), 10,000 more km, and nearly as rough cosmetically as mine . . . and asking $6500. Good grief. -
I'm thinking of getting the same exhaust. Not much info out there, but what little there is seems to be positive. Here's a video of a Blackbird with the smaller GP cans. Sounds pretty mean, if the bigger cans are similar but a bit quieter I'm sold.
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I'm painting, so colour doesn't matter. Nothing much matters as long as no mounting tabs are broken off.
I just had a brainwave -- I measured my tail fairing and got a shipping estimate from Yellowknife to Saskatoon. God damn that thing is bulky -- packed as efficiently as possible it would still be at least $40 just for shipping.
If we can arrange it, maybe having my friends pick it up would be best. Their son lives in Yellowknife; I paypal you, you drop it off at his place, they pick it up next time they visit.
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Bump . . . XX_Rider, any news? PlasticxxHead, pm me with a price shipped please.
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My new favourite place is Mike's Cycle. Prices are comparable to the other discount parts dealers, but shipping to Canada is much, much cheaper. Cush drive rubbers were $35.39 (list price $48.02) and shipping was just six bucks.
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Sounds awesome. If shipping is high (its still a bulky package) I know some people who'll be in Yellowknife in a couple months, if you'll hang onto it for me.
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Need a tail fairing, any year any colour, pretty much any condition is fine as long as it's in one piece. I can fix cracks or rash, but the front mounts on mine are broken off and I don't think I can rebuild that from scratch and make it look good. If you've got something, please reply with price shipped to s7k 3j8, Canada. Thanks.
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My engine's pretty coarse as well, especially around 4-5k. I have a new CCT (from John's Bike Bits, great service btw), hopefully I'll have time to install it soon. Balance shaft adjustment will have to wait until fall.
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I was just looking around, found them as low as $36 + shipping. Can't remember where, I just put the part # of the damper set into google and did some browsing.
I'll probably order a set online even though shipping to Canada will kill me, since I emailed the local dealer about it and the stupidity of the responses annoyed me too much.
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Thanks for the input guys. Now I have to find a tail fairing with the front mounting points intact, that doesn't cost a fortune to ship. Damn shipping makes even a rashed up smashed up tail cost over $100
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Looking for a solo seat and rear cowl for my '98 XX, or a least a nice rear seat cowl to go over the stock seat. Here's what I've come across so far:
Powerbronze:
Pros - cheap
Cons - looks cheaper
Pyramid:
Pros: still affordable if you shop around, better looking than the Powerbronze
Cons: not sure about underseat access with cowl in place
Sharkskinz:
Pros: looks awesome
Cons: discontinued as far as I can tell, have to remove entire tail to get under the seat
Corbin Smuggler:
(only pic I could find without the beetle bags)
Pros: everything but the price
Cons: costs twice as much as my truck did, heavy
Airtech Race Tail:
Pros: Airtech quality, not too expensive considering it's the whole tail fairing and I need one anyway because mine is broken
Cons: Airtech quality (no predrilled holes or cutouts), looks like the Powerbronze, stock 2-up seat is still hiding in there
If anyone has any experience or input on these, or there are any other products I've missed, please let me know. I'm tempted to cut off the rear of the stock seat and make my own Smuggler-style solo tail, but my tail fairing is missing half the right front mounting tab so I've have to buy an intact tail first just to make a mold for a starting point.
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Ok, thanks guys. I'll start with the clutch fluid and rod and work up to more complicated and/or invasive procedures if necessary. I do try to shift with authority, the lever feels like it's hitting resistance and getting slammed forcibly back down. Except yesterday after I found the sweet spot, then it was like shifting a ZZR 250.
ZX-14 Front End Mod Question
in The Garage
Posted
When my parts come in I'll do my best to get you the information you need -- it'll probably be a week or so until they arrive.