What did you do to your bike today?

[Qman]

2 minutes ago, Tonik said:

So what you did here was put a strong enough spring on it that unless the bike is leaning on the side stand it pops up?  Damn clever.

Older Ducati's had this for decades....i think it was a method to increase their left body panel and clutch lever sales.

[Gixxus Christ!]

3 hours ago, Qman said:

Older Ducati's had this for decades....i think it was a method to increase their left body panel and clutch lever sales.

Old bimmers had em too. I'm not a fan. 

[TimTheAzn]

Hey every suzuki stand I've dealt with does that! Even when I got pulled over on my buddy's gsxr a few years back, damn bike fell ontop of me when I got off to talk to the officer. Went to the ground and took me with it. Probably why I didnt get a ticket 

Almost have dropped the SV a few times because the stand didnt go all the way out. And of course I'm blaming the bikes, user error isnt in my repertoire.

[ludwb675]

I'd much rather have the kickstand neutral switch. But the outcome of dropping the bike cause of an automatic stand is much better than going into turn 1 (lefty) with the stand down. 

 

[cptchaos]

Obligatory nice weather ride followed by quick detailer wipedown, right hand control adjust, and aluminum polish for the rear sprocket. Checked the license plate bolts and they were loose.

[JustinNck1]

Rode it to work this morning. Still covered in the bug guts from yesterday's trip home. Might hit some twisties on the way home after work.

[Qman]

16 hours ago, ludwb675 said:

I'd much rather have the kickstand neutral switch. But the outcome of dropping the bike cause of an automatic stand is much better than going into turn 1 (lefty) with the stand down. 

 

Real race bikes don't have kickstands!!!  

[thompsonian]

Added a little something to the sides

[2talltim]

4 minutes ago, thompsonian said:

Added a little something to the sides

Adds horsepower 

[Tonik]

I like it, subtle yet spiffy. And I pretty much hate everything so it must be good.

[Gixxus Christ!]

Rode into work this morning and parked my dirty sticker covered Jap bike next to all the clean shiny Harleys.

[Qman]

34 minutes ago, 2talltim said:

Adds horsepower 

Covers scratches...

[Gixxus Christ!]

Finally wrapped up my oil cooler install on the vintage muscle Honda. It fought me every step of the way but I eventually beat it into submission. 

[cptchaos]

Oil change, long version.

I like to believe that for those of us that wrench on our own bikes, we have a spirit rider watching over us, guiding us during repairs. I recently picked up a Harley V-rod and at first I thought my spirit rider would be some kind of awesome German engineer named Hans or something. Turned out I was only half right. Tonight was the first oil change since I bought the bike last fall, initial eyeball testing told me then that the oil could wait until spring and as we have the ride this weekend, it was time. I assembled all my tools, oil, and filter, got a new box of rubber gloves, and set out to get it done. I should have known better that it would be "Git er dun!"

Hans wasn't alone since this is a Harley. This particular bike is American with German development. My other spirit rider I'll call Dusty. Hans speaks softly over the tree frogs croaking after tonight's rain, "Ya, you can do zis no problem. You wrench ok so jus get to eet." Dusty laughs in the corner, opening a beer I imagine, "You ain't seen nuttin yet fellas, that there is American iron don't you forget it."

First up, drain the oil. Well for the love of Willie G., the bolt is a bit rounded and I have to swing the radiator away from the frame but it's not so bad. "Yet," calls Dusty. I look at him confused. "Naw, it's ok, you're doing fine monkey boy, go on now. You might consider gittin' that paint tray for the oil there professor. No, the big wide one." Dusty is right, my regular drain bucket is too tall for the V-rod. The paint tray is for a wide roller so it will hold about 6 quarts or so. "Ya but vat is eet in liters?" says Hans as he's looking through my tools. "And vats vit all dis no-name tools?"

I put the tray under the plug and unscrew it, half the battle is done! "Heh, I like ur optimism home skillet," dusty says. The oil drains out, I clean the plug up and put it back in. I have a vacuum pump that I used to use on my car so I start sucking the oil out of the tray so I don't make a huge mess trying to pour the old oil back into the recycle jug. "Well hell genius, you could have just sucked it out with that now couldn't you?" Thanks Dusty, where were you 15 minutes ago?

Old oil in the jug, now it's time for the filter. On my old Yamaha, the filter is in front, pointing forward so I could grip it easily to spin it on and off. "Not so on this here iron, Willie G. didn want no pointy bits moving the radiator out of the airflow so ya git what ya got." Shit, he's right, it points to the left and it's inside the frame tubes and has no socket head. Dusty laughs, "Ha ha yep, that's some cheap shit there boy." Hans is suspiciously quiet and then says, "Ya that wasn't mine idea."

"Boy, you know what you need to do now don't you." Uh, hammer and screwdriver? "You damn right now do it and let's get the hell on with this show." I wound up having to punch the screwdriver through twice to turn it enough that I could move it by hand since the PO put it on too tight. Luckily, the replacement has a socket adapter on it so this won't be a repeat performance.

Dusty gave me the nod as I wrapped up and said, "I knew you could do it, I just wanted to see you beat it up a bit." Hans patted my shoulder and said, "I make it wit lots of power, oil filter eez not mine idea." Thanks fellas, I think.

Any similarities to any persons real or imagined is purely coincidental. The moral of this story is that I salute all the wrenchers out there from all nations and am happy to be a part of the motorcycling brother and sisterhood! See you this weekend.

[Qman]

Curious how you find the lean angle on that unit.  I guess we'll find out Saturday!   My demo ride didnt end well back in the day..    they weren't happy about the radiator grille and foot pegs being ground down!

[Tonik]

8 hours ago, Qman said:

Curious how you find the lean angle on that unit.  I guess we'll find out Saturday!   My demo ride didnt end well back in the day..    they weren't happy about the radiator grille and foot pegs being ground down!

Lay a piece of plywood next to it then tilt the plywood up until it hits the bike. You could go to Home Depot buy one take it out to the lot and do it. Then return the wood.

 

[cptchaos]

8 hours ago, Qman said:

Curious how you find the lean angle on that unit.  I guess we'll find out Saturday!   My demo ride didnt end well back in the day..    they weren't happy about the radiator grille and foot pegs being ground down!

I don't think the lean angle is terribly shallow but the front suspension is weak so consequently the radiator and frame grind a bit in sharper turns. Long sweepers are no problem since the suspension doesn't load up as much. I'm going to replace the front springs this year. 

[Qman]

27 minutes ago, Tonik said:

Lay a piece of plywood next to it then tilt the plywood up until it hits the bike. You could go to Home Depot buy one take it out to the lot and do it. Then return the wood.

Very funny!

[TimTheAzn]

Loaded the 1k into the trailer and drove to work. Ready for PIRC this weekend.

[Killer_kaw]

Finished up rebuild of calipers and master cylinders yesterday and installed them. Attempted to install new custom made lines but turns out they were custom made for a z1000 not a ZRX. 

[Gixxus Christ!]

took the Honda for a spin. Pulls hard but has some carburetion issues. Really need an ega and a wideband, would save me a ton of time and work. 

[Connie14]

 Mounted up a new pair of Bridgestone T30 Evo GTs.  I am ready for the Epic Ride and the Ozark route to Deals Gap. 

[2talltim]

17 minutes ago, Connie14 said:

 Mounted up a new pair of Bridgestone T30 Evo GTs.  I am ready for the Epic Ride and the Ozark route to Deals Gap. 

Did you take her for a spin? How did you like the 55 rear?

[Connie14]

29 minutes ago, 2talltim said:

Did you take her for a spin? How did you like the 55 rear?

Just ran it down the road for a minute (in total squid style).  No vibration at 110, so I got a good balance on the tires.  I didn't get to take any good turns yet.  That will come tomorrow.  

I can tell the difference in the tire height.  I am now on my tippy toes.

[JustinNck1]

9 minutes ago, Connie14 said:

Just ran it down the road for a minute (in total squid style).  No vibration at 110, so I got a good balance on the tires.  I didn't get to take any good turns yet.  That will come tomorrow.  

I can tell the difference in the tire height.  I am now on my tippy toes.

The T30s felt kinda slick for the first 30 miles of curves for me. Then they got real nice and stuck like glue.