bbolesaz

BMW Airhead guys recommend walnut shell blasting. No worries about remaining grit and it won't pit the aluminum if the blaster gets too close.

I'd be in for one.

Dig out your physics books or google Centripetal Force. All will be explained. Spoiler alert, less mass in a bicycle wheel than a motorcycle wheel.

I've always thought that the first time an instructor takes a 1st time rider, they should get the bike rolling, then make the student open his hands, meaning not grip the bar. They should only be allowed to push on the bar with their palms. Doing this would imprint counter steering immediately and learning it would be almost instant. Plus, newbies wouldn't death grip the bars, another rookie bad habit.

What is the stock fork spring rate?

Isn't it supposed to ? http://www.nitronine.com/how-does-moly-grease-work/ Lotta perfectly happy Airhead and Goldwing splines running around on Honda-60.

So, assuming you have a plain ol 55W headlight, it is pulling about 5 amps. You don't say where your reference line connector physically is, but in any case you are dropping 0.1V along the headlight circuit between your battery and where the reference circuit is. Ohm's law tells us 0.1V / 5A = 0.2 ohms of resistance loss between those 2 points which is very low (i.e. good). Nothing wrong with that system !

No worries Mike. Didja happen to take any pix of mocking up the Sport 1100 fairing?

PM sent.

Hopped into this rat hole on the I-net and found out that the latest shiz in the opinion of BMW spline aficionados is a 50/50% mix of Wirth Sig 3000 and Honda Moly.

Honda has a moly paste that is WAY cheaper than Staburags. It used to be called Honda Moly 60 but replaced with Honda M-77. At your local Honda dealer. Used and approved by many of the "cheapest thing on a BMW Airhead". the rider !

Roy, I like that your solution doesn't route lamp power through 2 relays. But in the end, I decided to simply copy the 1999 wiring. The G8HE relays are good for 20A on the normally closed (NC 87A) side and I don't have the voltage reference.

No need to drill. Vice grips to the rescue.

For the starter circuit, I think the earlier wiring not routing through the ignition switch is preferable. So I agree with your assessment. As for the voltage regulation, while the 1999 schematic voltage regulator has a separate sense line tied to the headlight relay driven lighting circuit, the 2004 schematic (and my 2002 Scura) did not have this regulator sense line. On 2004 schematic, the sense is common with the battery charging line. Sensing from the headlight circuit is probably a preferable method as it can account for the lighting circuit loading and compensate the alternator output for that. But, I think history has shown it is less reliable because of the long wiring route the sense voltage has to make. The 2004 regulator schematic and my 2002 regulator (and the EME unit I replaced it with) does not have the sensing line so the sensing wiring is a moot point. So, in the end, it seems you have a choice of - 1999 wiring - good starter, and maybe better but less reliable voltage regulation. 2004 wiring - maybe startus interruptus and maybe a more reliable regulator. So, I've rewired only the starter and headlight relay circuits. I will also re-iterate that my 2002 Scura closely matched the 2004 schematic. On the "livin easy" issue - The circuit here is intended to shut the headlight off when the starter is engaged, to allow more electrons to the starter and maybe start on a weak battery that wouldn't be able to supply the starter and headlight at the same time. The 2 wiring diagrams achieve that in 2 different ways. In the 1999 diagram, the battery connects to the center pole of the relay(30). The relay either switches the battery current to the starter(87) or to the headlight (87A). The headlight relay then forwards that to the lights based on the key switch. This one was called living hard, because the headlight relay was passing the lighting current during normal run time. In the 2004 diagram, the battery takes a route through the switch but still connects to the center pole of the relay(30). It again switches the battery to the starter(87). However, in this case, when the starter button isn't pushed, the 87A terminal supplies much less current to the COIL of the headlight relay. Hence, living easy. The headlight relay center pole (30) has it's own connection to the battery. In any case, the headlight relay still passes all of the current for the lighting system. So, in the 1999 case the lighting current passes through both the starter and headlight relay. In the 2004 case, only through the headlight relay. So, OK, maybe the 2004 case is preferable. Unfortunately, you cannot modify the 2004 starter schematic without also modifying the headlight relay schematic. (Yes, I started rewiring stuff without really thinking it through and found this out the hard way.) The headlights could not be turned off. Since the headlight relay passes the lighting currently continuously anyhow, and I've used the same super high quality forum approved relays in all 5 slots, I don't think it is an issue if the starter relay also passes lighting current while not starting. My $0.02

Chuck, still got the remains of the Sport fairing?

If the spade lugs on the relays were all the same size, the rewire could be simply re-arranging the terminals. I used Posi-Lock connectors on mine, JIC I want to go back to the 2004 style wiring.

Looking at pictures of a Sport 1100i on ebay right now and thought "That fairing would look nice on a V11". I'm guessing the only issue would be if the tanks have a different shape. Anybody know if it is possible ?

Yea, I might need those. I ordered the bolts, bushings and rubber bits from Harper's but the website showed what it shows if something is either NLA or substituted. Here's hoping Harper's can come through.

Well, it would pop in and out if the PO hadn't also removed the rubber plug and standoff and replaced them with what looked like the captive square nuts inside of battery posts then nutted the other side. Maybe he was worried the fuses would vibrate out?

That's what I thought also. But I tried small picks and big magnets to get it out. No dice.

Ah yes, forgot about your blown fuse. Mine just wouldn't pull the started solenoid. BTW, I re-wired my bike's starter and headlight relays away from the 2004 schematic and matched the 1999 schematic. It now starts with AUTHORITY ! I had previously replaced the voltage regulator with the EME version, so I don't have the regulator sense on headlight issue either.

Yep, that's a bit too small hex key jammed into the bolt head, then sheared off after it wedged in. This is the rear bolt holding the fuse block. Fortunately, the bolt had just enough shoulder to get a vice grip on it and remove. And P.O. is Previous Owner, not parole officer, post office, purchase order, . . .

If your 2002 is like my 2002, the starter solenoid current goes thru Relay #1, then over to the key switch, then back to the battery +. If the key switch is bad, there's too much resistance thru the key switch.

Dadparent, I'm dealing with a nearly identical situation on my Scura. On mine, I'm sure it's the key switch. BTW, KiwiRoy's diagrams are for early models. My 2002, the starting circuit is different. If you can find the wiring diagram on line for the 2004 bike, that seems to be very close. I have noticed some wiring color differences. See http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19531&p=230662

Does pulling the rotor require a "Special Bolt" like the Airhead BMW's do ?