Furbird

Sounds like the cold did it, which means its the battery. You can buy one from Walmart, but it's a crap shoot. I've heard people getting 3 years out of them, some people get less than a year out of theirs. Mine lasted a little better than a year. Then I bought one off of ebay for even less money than the Walmart one, and it's been in there about 3 years, even through an episode of a regulator taking a dump, then the stator taking a dump, killing the battery both times. Must be a pretty good battery!

A leaking injector or a leaking regulator will show up with a fuel pressure gauge. I know for a fact that if you can find a spare line (hydraulic shop or something of that nature), you can cut the line and splice into it with brass fittings and hose clamps and it will not leak. The line on my bike now is like that, as it is the original line that I ran with my nitrous setup. It's a brass T, two brass hose barbs with 1/8" NPT fittings on the end, 2 hose clamps, and not shit, a Harbor Freight $3 air tank pressure gauge. I literally have like $10 invested in it, and it works. I can read pressure that way and it is accurate enough to detect pressure failure in the system. If you do this, it would narrow the issue down to two things, a failed regulator (highly unlikely since you don't smell any gas in the vaccuum line) or a leaky injector. If it leaks down overnight, there's a problem. If you can't find a line, you can try (KEYWORD TRY!) to hook up one on the return line that goes back to the tank. I would clamp off that line and hook up the fuel pressure gauge directly to the outlet on the regulator. Pressure up the system (without cranking the bike) and see if it holds. If it drops overnight, then you know what's up. I can't guarantee that will work, but it's worth a shot. I know that on my bike if you don't crank it, the fuel flows out the regulator if it's not hooked to the tank.

Mine had a leaking main line which you could only "see" it leak when the bike was running. I thought it was the regulator, ended up putting a bad one on, and it flooded the motor. If you have no smell from the vaccuum side of the regulator, I would definitely check that main line.

That's what I do. I dial what I actually run, maybe adding a couple hundredths just in case. I used to cut killer lights before they switched to an LED tree, but now my timing is off. It's the sandbaggers that usually do lose, especially the ones that pull that "dial whatever he's dialing" BS. I love those guys, because I get them on the tree, they try that crap where they keep a nose out on you, you can chop the throttle, they hit the brakes, then you throttle back and pass them staying within your dial-in but beating them to the finish! I race clean, but when you try to play games, I'll test to see who's the better gamer.

When you bracket race as much as I have, you see trends. I have always been one of, if not THE, slowest bike at the track. I have always cut really good lights, and have only redlighted one time in eliminations, and that was a heads-up race. The guy who leaves first has the advantage because the faster bike is sitting there going "he's getting away, he's getting away, come on tree....." RED! The faster bike is also going to do everything he can to catch you, which sometimes means he shifts better or leaves harder or does something and ends up breaking out. Trust me when I say the slow bike has a distinct advantage. All you have to do is cut a halfway decent light then all the pressure is on the other guy.

I run the 12/49 on mine with the stock tire size on the wheelie bar and it doesn't hit the chain guide. I also have my strut set at maximum safe height (sitting about 4 or 5 threads in). 12 is tough on a chain, but I can run my stock chain length with this gearing so I can go back to whatever/45 when I want to ride it on the street. I can have the bike from drag setup to street setup in about an hour now.

Just so you know up front, you won't be competitive in a heads up class without going turbo. So that means bracket racing, which is what I do. I've left mine stock as I don't really see the point in a built motor when you are bracket racing, as it is much easier to stay consistent when you are slower. You also get to leave first, so that increases the other guys chances of a redlight. But I digress. To stay NA, you will need a built motor. Higher compression the better, but once you go so far, it's race gas only from that point. Ported and polished head, bigger valves, new cams, forged pistons, blah blah blah. Tranny will have to be cut, and you will have to have an airshifter, preferably an autoshifter like MPS offers. Extend the swingarm or add a wheelie bar, as bracket racing has no rules against those. Whatever you do, do NOT do a 520 conversion, as it will probably break. For gearing, you need a lot more than 16/45. If you do an autoshifter, you can go 12/49 in the 1/8th and go through at the very top of 5th, and the sprockets won't be outrageous (anything 50 teeth and up go up in price). 1/4 mile, you can probably go around a 14/47 or so and still be able to have gearing left, but don't quote me on that as there is no local 1/4 mile so I don't have a setup for that. You will want a fuel cell, that way you can run on about 1 gallon of gas and save a ton of weight over the stock tank weight. They do make fake fiberglass tank shells so you can make it look stock. You can also do a new upper fairing with a painted on headlight, which will allow you to mount some things in the nose to move weight up front while creating an overall reduction in weight. Mickey Thompson makes a slick that will fit our wheels and you don't have to have a tube. It is much larger than the stock tire though, so you would need to increase your gearing accordingly, not to mention a longer chain will be necessary as the highest you can go on a stock chain length is 12/47 and even that is REAL close. Don't get mad when a Busa with a 40 shot beats you with 1/2 the investment though, because I'm telling you, nitrous is the easiest way to add horsepower. But even with that, the turbo boys are still going to annihilate you.

There's not enough nitrous in the world to clear the cylinders of all the gasoline that was in them. Sometime this coming weekend I get the wonderful task of once again painting the bike, thanks to the 6 foot pressure washer of fuel from 3 different cylinders that hosed my garage down.

It's all up and running fine now. I took it out after I changed the oil and got it up to operating temp. Rode about 15 minutes or so, then put it up to the limiter on a "pass" out on the highway in first and second. No issues. Fuel pressure is still holding just above 30 psi after 2 days so it's not leaking anymore. I did go ahead and call University Motors and order all those parts I posted about earlier just so I can have them on standby if the shit hits the fan sometime in the future. I'm also going to take my main feed line to a hydraulic shop sometime tomorrow and have them make me a new one that is longer with some additional fittings. That way I can have a fuel pressure gauge and my nitrous feed line all hooked up at the same time when I put the gas back on it.

I had installed another fuel line last night (the one I use for nitrous, which actually now has a fuel pressure gauge in the position of the fuel feed for the nitrous system), and it held pressure all night long. I dry fired it with no plugs again, and no fuel came out of the cylinders, and there was no fuel evidence in the throttle bodies, as all the stuff I found last night had evaporated. I pulled the vaccuum line off of the regulator, and no fuel is coming from it, either sitting or running. Now keep in mind this is NOT the same regulator that I had on the bike earlier this week, so now I know this one is good. No leaks anywhere, and it maintains pressure over time, so I should be good to go. I fired it up for about 3 seconds with the existing oil, and it made no weird noises, so I'm hoping that the hydrolock (since it was on startup) didn't do any damage. I'll know in about 30 minutes or so when I go test ride it. The oil is draining now, and it has got at least a quart more fluid in it than it had when I changed the oil about 1,000 miles ago, so that takes care of 1 quart of my missing fuel. The rest I'm chalking up to the leaking main feed line and the fact that my garage will smell like gas for about another month. Oh, and not to mention that whole having to repaint the entire bike again thing. I believe that I got enough water poured on the gauges and handlebar controls so that they are not stained or foggy, so that's one less thing I'll have to worry about hopefully. I'm going to call University Motors on Monday and get a new main feed line, new regulator, and all the corresponding sealing washers. If I start smelling fuel again, I'm just going to start with those things and work my way forward from that.

Northman, if the regulator is bad, please explain to me how it could be bad. What do I need to do to see if it is really the problem? How is fuel getting into the engine? Through the vaccuum line?

I thought about injectors leaking, but there is no fuel around the injectors, which means the only way it could be leaking would be inside the injectors. I have a fuel pressure gauge on this line, so I pressured it up last night before I went to bed. If the pressure holds, it's not the injectors. The fuel I bought is from one of only 3 stations in town I buy gas from with any regularity, and my van has gas from the same station in it now with no problems. Yes, it most assuredly hydro-locked the motor, that's why I had to pull the plugs. I also checked the bottom part of the airbox again last night, and fuel had been standing in it at least 1" deep near cylinder one, and about 3/4" deep near cylinder two, judging by the water line (in this case fuel) on the velocity stacks.

OK, this one has me relatively stumped. I've been smelling gas for a while and noticed increased fuel consumption lately, so after doing some searching on here, I came to the conclusion that it's more than likely the regulator. Replaced it with a used one off of a spare set of throttle bodies I had, no big deal. I ride the bike to work and noticed that it hesitated once on the way, but I didn't think much of it. When I go to leave work, I crank the bike (it has remote start) and the starter stops for like a half second or less, then continues to fire up. On the way home, I'm still smelling gas and fuel consumption is still high. This was Monday, 10/15. It's rained all week, so the bike has been sitting in the garage, on the sidestand. I go out there tonight to bolt on the flags for a Patriot Guard mission I have tomorrow. I open the door and get blasted with a wave of just raw fuel smell. Before I touch anything, I raise the tank and can see wetness on the 2 left throttle bodies, rubber boots, and it continues down the side of the engine. I figure that the regulator I put on must be leaking, so I replace it with the original one. I get that done, and with the tank still up, I turn the key on and find the problem. The main fuel line is leaking, from BOTH crimp fittings, so it's a hella leak. I drained the tank and replaced that fuel line with a spare one. No leaks now, so I decide to go ahead and attempt to start the bike to make sure there's no more leaks (base of injectors, other lines, etc.) A couple of turns, and the starter stops. Hmm. Hit it again, and you hear the relay click and the lights get dim. WTF. So I move the tank out of the way and pull the lid off the airbox. Cylinder 2 has fuel sitting level about 1/4" ABOVE the closed throttle body plate. I open the throttle up, and Cylinder 3 has fuel standing, but not quite so high. Shit. Off comes the airbox, coils, and plugs. Now I get the wonderful fun of bumping the starter and washing gasoline off my motor, but only if it hasn't bent a rod. Yay for me. I bump the starter, and I am not kidding, fuel sprayed all the way to the ceiling. 1,2, and 3 were completely full of fuel. My rattlecan paint job is ruined, I have gasoline sprayed all over the garage, myself, and the entire bike is covered. I sprayed the enitre bike down with a spray bottle. I'm lettting it sit overnight to make sure it doesn't fill up again, and to try and make absolutely sure all 4 cylinders are cleared before I reassemble it. So now the question is WTF happened?!? There is evidence that fuel had been standing in the left end of the airbox, which is understandable since it was sitting on the sidestand. I'm missing about a gallon of fuel from the tank, but trust me, I found that in about 1 second when I hit that button. I originally thought that fuel had been running down that fuel line all week, and filling up the air box, eventually finding it's way into cylinders 1,2, and 3. But the more I looked, the more I realized that for that to happen the fuel would have had to have done some weird snaking around to get into the airbox. I'm also thinking that the intake valves on 1 and 4 were opened, hence the cylinder full of fuel on 1, and they were closed on 2 and 3, hence the throttle bodies full of fuel on those two. Another possible explanation would be that the regulator is bad on the vaccuum side, but if that were true, then cylinder 4 should have had fuel in it too. Other than that, we would be talking about a fuel injector sticking, but if that were the case, it would have had to have been #3, since 4 (which is uphill of 3) was the only dry one of the bunch. Then again, maybe the fuel was in the box, and when I put it on the centerstand to start working on it, it poured all that fuel into 1,2, and 3, but why didn't it make it to 4. I'm trying to make sure I don't run into this again, and every scenario I can think of has something telling me that can't be right. As it stands right now, I'm back to the original fuel regulator (since it obviously wasn't the problem, the fuel line was) and I've replaced the fuel line from the pump to the rail. I have no fuel leaks now from the pump to the rail and back to the tank. That's the only thing I know for absolute sure.

I like these guys. #1 is that their product doesn't pull the grips in like the canyon dancer does. #2 they use cambuckle tiedowns, which I have had people practically crucify me for using them for the past 12 years. #3 they haul with no rear straps because the front straps are plenty. I've had more people jump my ass about the rear straps than I ever did about the cambuckle tiedowns, so now I have rear straps. The only downside is that it seems to me that their design might be closer to the fairings than the CD. Those of you who have this, please chime in, because I might switch products if it places the straps farther out.

I'd buy that if I could get it here. I have enough bodywork to make it decent, and I could turn it into a dragbike to campaign next year. Don't know how customs and all that works though.

Well, splash that idea, as that writeup says it would have to be controlled down by a PCIII or the like, and I don't have one. So I guess it will be stock or nothing until I decide on a turbo.

I might turbo in the future, but right now I think I have an injector leaking. Gas mileage has started going down, the bike smells rich, and I popped the oil cap off and it smells like fuel is making it to the crankcase. I swapped out my pressure regulator for one on another fuel rail I had, and the problem is still there. So, I'm going to try the regulator test I found (pull return line and if fuel sprays out without the engine running it's bad) on both regulators. If they both fail, that's the issue. If they both pass, then I'm going to replace the injectors. I do have a spare set of used stock injectors (same rail as the regulator came off of), but it's always nice to know what injectors I can use that I don't have to pay 3 times the cost of as a replacement on the bike. I can't think of any other reason why it would be dumping fuel, so if you guys can help out with some ideas, let me know.

What injectors fit the bird? I remember someone saying that factory S2000 injectors are the same size and could possibly even be an upgrade for the bird. If so, what year range should I look for?

You shouldn't have to mess with tuning. The factory ECM can handle it. Eventually, you'll want to get a PCIII or something to tune it for more power, but I never have. I have a 99 that has never had a tune on it.

Exhaust gaskets at the head.

I had an old jumppack that the charging part of it had taken a dump, so the only way to charge it was by hooking up the leads to a regular battery charger. I dissassembled it, and it just so happens to be able to fit between the metal brackets on the rear subframe right where the grab handle goes, and clear between the ECM and the plastic at the top, and between the flat bracket where the seat latch is and the taillamp. Placed the battery there, foam on the sides to keep it from moving, and fortunately the battery pack has the positive to the rear, so there is no way that the positive terminal can touch metal. I ran the hot lead down and mounted the rotary switch from the jump pack to the side of the subframe. You slide your hand down between the subframe and the side of the rear tail plastic to turn the switch on (no way for it to accidentally be activated, and it can't be turned by reaching through the grab handle hole on the brake lever side of the bike). The battery clamps fit where Honda put enough room for a U-style wheel lock to go. I top it off about every two months, and it has enough juice and enough leads on the cables to actually jump off a car if necessary. The greatest thing is you would never know it was there with the seat on and I don't keep anything under the seat anymore because I got in on that Fastbag deal a while back. The extra 4 or 5 pounds doesn't hurt anything out back, and it does not interfere with the seat coming on or off. Believe me, I didn't plan on it to work out the way it did, I just took it apart to see if it would work, and everything fit with very little persuasion. Why did I do it? First of all, the ability to jump off a Harley with a sportbike would be so cool that youtube would pay me for the video. Secondly, when my stator took a dump on me while I was on a Patriot Guard mission, I was wishing that somebody had a jump pack or jumper cables, so the idea became reality that next weekend. Now if somebody needs a jump, I got 'em covered.

The XX's battery may be bigger, but it is not designed to handle that kind of a load. Jump packs are gel cel batteries that act more like a capacitor, specifically designed for high output amp loads for short periods of time, which is why they recommend you recharge them after every use. A motorcycle battery is designed for a short burst of amperage for the starter, then the stator recharges the battery while supplying voltage for the lights and things of that nature. Get a jump pack if you want to be jumping off cars. I actually have a jump pack permanently mounted on my XX just in case I ever need to jump off somebody else or even my own bike. Much safer than risking an ECM or popping your own battery because of human error.

The simplest way I could explain it would be that the motorcycle battery just simply does not have enough cranking amps to turn over a car efficiently. You could attempt it with the battery out of the bike, but not with the bike running. It would pull so much current that it would probably pull the ground current through every electrical component of the bike, putting excessive strain on the regulator and stator if the bike were running.

I reload my own ammo, and it has saved me a fortune. Reloads are significantly more accurate than storebought and cost less money in the long run, but it requires patience and a good bit of setup time. Once I'm setup, I can run about 200 or so rounds per hour, and I don't have any auto-loading on my press other than the primer part. I have a Dillon Square Deal B I think it's called, very easy to use, low maintenance pistol caliber press. Rifle presses are more involved as case length and reshaping is more critical in them, but if you plan on being deadly accurate, it's the way to go. The more money you spend at startup, the less manual labor you'll have to do. Mine rotates through all the stations, but I have to load my own cases and bullets. The guy I bought mine from had a completely automatic setup in his shop, you literally poured bullets, cases, primers, and powder into separate stations and flip a switch. He could do 1,000 rounds an hour if he had enough brass cleaned and ready to go.

We've had a couple of discussions on this in the past, and most people on here either didn't know either or simply have not replaced it. The last I heard, a few folks were going to start looking into it to find an aftermarket alternative, since the dealer wants mega bucks for something that should be less than $5. I'm at 42k miles with no issues, I believe somebody in that thread was over 60k on the factory filter with no issues.