"WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR MOTORCYCLE TODAY"

[oldironnow]

Allred wrote

oldironnow wrote

Yes. A good, small shop did the work. They did the 20K service. This was 40K. He said the bushings, likely, will be on the next service. Maybe they are due now?

Fork bushings usually last many, many, many thousands of miles, and an obvious sign that they need replacing is juddering of the front end/forks under braking.

Testing for play can be detected by removing the front wheel (and any fork brace) and pulling on a single lower fork stanchion while the fork tube itself is held firm, there should be zero play. (not to be confused with play felt while pulling on both fork legs......that indicates loose/worn triple clamp bearings)

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 Okay - Juddering is officially the word of the day. Love it. it came in late, but the day is just beginning for me, so, rules is rules. Juddering will be on my mind until three in the next morning.

Not getting any juddering on the Buell. The feeling is a random dip and a weave at low speeds, especially when under the brakes lightly coming up to a stop sign. Sometimes, there's a half-cycle of disconcerting vagueness when initiating an aggressive tip-in on a city street turn. The kind of thing that would make me check up, finish the turn and glance back for a 'did I run over something' look. But I'm used to it now. I just use the looseness to turn, ironically, with more aggression and confidence. But it's not true or right to the bike.

It's almost exactly like the feeling my suffering Sportster 883R gave before its unfortunate death impaled into the right fender of an old Honda car.  We'd trackday-ed, crashed (two lowsides before the car-piercing), and off-roaded that wonderful beast, and it started doing this odd head-shake when approaching a stop sign. Sometimes enough to cause a quick-dab. I took it to a geometry checker to see if we had twisted it, but the dude said everything was in spec.... It got killed before I figured it out. What I always suspected was the front isolator.

I will check the front end by your prescription. I have been messing with the forks as a unit to check the steering head bearings, without negative results. I need to try them individually and also feel for variability between the slider and stanchion.

[Allred]

LOL....I didn't realize that "juddering" was so "chiefly British"!  It's a great word because it indicates a certain type of vibration, specifically of a back-and-forth vibration, or judder.  

As well as checking the steering head bearings for back & forth play (which I think you already have), also check for rotational tightness and/or dimpling. If the steering head bearings have been adjusted too tightly they can cause some weird steering/handling problems.

If the steering head bearings have been over-tightened at some time, even if they have subsequently loosened to the correct tension, they can leave dimples in the head races which the ball bearings, or even taper bearings, insist on centering into. This causes a mild resistance of the bike to turn in, and then a sudden acceptance, followed by another resistance, etc, giving the rider strange feedback.

Another thing that can happen is if water gets into the head race bearings, it can cause rusting and pitting, which can give similar results, or in extreme cases mild-to serious seizure.  

Several years ago a young lady I worked with decided she wanted to buy a motorcycle and bought a very used 750 Yamaha Virago. As she had never ridden a bike before she went through the usual learning process but kept commenting to me how she had problems leaning into corners. So one day I offered to jump on the bike and take it for a test drive........Holy Smoke, the steering head races were almost seized solid with rust!! As she knew no different she didn't realize what was wrong. We put in new head races and of course it cured the problem.


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[oldironnow]

Way to be a good guy!

[oldironnow]

A voltage regulator shaped thing has arrived.

[Fatfatboy]

[motogrady]

Well that's certainly the best looking voltage regulator Ive ever seen.

Would almost be a shame to hide it behind a side panel.

Where you gonna mount it?

[oldironnow]

Stock location. Kind of right in front of the left side of crankcase.
Some folk say it should be relocated to a 'cooler' place, which makes me want to swap it into the space occupied by the oil cooler.
But I don't have time to mess around, and i'm jonesin' so bad to ride again. Just hoping it's plug and play.

[motogrady]

Ya I'm with you on that. Most every one I've seen is behind a side cover.  

But hell, a guy could mount that one on the handlebar, like a kill switch or horn button.

"Oh, that?   That's the electro mechanical variable amp voltage circuit adjuster."🙂

[oldironnow]

Someone from Spain keeps calling me...
Likely it's Dorna.
I bet they need a replacement for Marquez.




Noted that the VR mounting bolts were barely snug.
I thought they'd be a bear to undo, but, they were just on the otherside of finger-tight.
So i've set to imagining that the VR vibrated to death in situ.

[Fatfatboy]

I bet the first ride the Buelly felt like it had swallowed one of those little dots on a video game and started chasing corners like Pac-Man on acid.

[oldironnow]

Honestly, running sketchy on some short errands, but the trend seems good.







The plugs were 'plugging' poorly. Partial depth, then, nothing. I thought the metal prongs were defective, but it turned out to be plastic flash at the interface between connector and wire. A bit of bending with a screwdriver and tearing with a needle nose cleared the way.

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[Fatfatboy]

Why does Unagi come to mind?

[oldironnow]

Not sure, but I had some unagi nigiri last weekend.

[Fatfatboy]

You’re a braver man than myself.
The closest I get to unagi nigiri is the Baja barramundi that I made a few nights ago.

First time I ever had barramundi.  Really tasty piece of fish with good meaty flakes.
I think I like it more than fish and chips.

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

I bet the first ride the Buelly felt like it had swallowed one of those little dots on a video game and started chasing corners like Pac-Man on acid.

Were you being poetic or prophetic?

Maybe it's just being weeks away from the last ride, but on the first commute, the Buell seems to run stronger, smoother and throatier.

Positively crisp.

Can't wait to see if the disappearing mileage returns.


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[Smoke-dog]

Replaced the starter clutch in the Grey Goose, one of the rollers was completely gone!!!
She turns over like butter now!!!







Now if you want some more cranking POWER, get you a battery from Antigravity. I picked up the 1201, now when you have 360 cranking amps it doesn't matter if it's hot or cold!!!

[Smoke-dog]

I also converted the OEM R/R on the VFR to a mosfet R/R



After mocking up the new position with mosfet mounting plate (see above) i started drilling the new mounting holes and mounted the mosfet R/R...

 

Next was to cut existing wires running to OEM R/R to install new plug ins for the mosfet R/R...

 

First were the AC wires, slid on the rubber insulators, crimped and soldered the female terminals then inserted into the quick disconnect...

 

Once the AC wires are inside the quick disconnect, click the retaining ring in to hold the female terminals in place...

       

Then repeat the process with the DC wires...

 

All that's left is to plug in the mosfet R/R, check output voltage and take a test ride of course

 

[motogrady]

Smoke Dog!

Last time you were on here you were turning those old v-stars into monsterbikes.
I thought that was the coolest.

Good to see you drop in guy👍

[oldironnow]

That Grey Goose is still insanely cool, and it haunts me when I think about it.

Bigger pics, when possible, Señor Smoke-dog, por favor!

[oldironnow]

&$#@!

And the weather's just turning good, too!
Actually a touch warm last night.