Dan M

Hey Tom, My '02 is the same way. I havn't done anything yet but hear good things about the Harley wrinkle paint. If you pressure wash be very careful but by no means sand blast. You'll be asking for trouble. It seems like the stuff is pretty soft when hot. I think when I get ready to do mine I'll get the engine hot and scrape the stuff off. A heat gun will help too.

The company's insurance backs you (her) in a suit. Like said above, the other people involved want some money, it's a suit happy world.

Clearly my favorite

Rossopuro has them in several colors. I don't know how price compares, service is reportedly very good.

I've gone as much as 25 miles with the light on steady without running out. I'm sure it varies from bike to bike though. A little different bend in the sensor bracket may mean 10 miles either way.

Cool, great choice. Plenty different from the MG. Good luck with it. I've liked the S3 from the beginning, but the latest is the best. You may want to keep your license pinned to the outside of your jacket as you will probably have to show it often.

Glad you got through it safely. Sure seems like there has been a lot more of this stuff the last couple of years. Scary.

Welcome Tom, Nice looking bike (same colors as mine) I'd swap the relays just because it's cheap & easy. I've had no trouble with mine, but changed the spring & the relays over the winter as preventative maintenance. Switched to shockproof heavy trans fluid too - much recommended. Good luck with it, you'll love it.

When doing mine I noticed that the spring was wound quite tightly and was pretty much at the limit of it's travel when down shifting. I simply reshaped the spring for far less tension on the pawl, I don't think there is much fatigue at all now. Seemed pretty clear why the springs would break when they are twisted until nearly binding on every downshift. I'll confess I have just done this over the winter and have only several hundred miles on the new spring, so no "proof" as to how long it will last. Between that little mod, Redline heavy fluid and fine tuning the adjustment under the acorn nut, shift action is much improved.

Aint it the truth. My "gear closet" door opens with the same kind of thump as a poppin' fresh biscuit can. Of course I won't throw any old, no longer used stuff out. It's just my little way of getting back at the, um, woman.

I agree. Do you know how they accomplish this? Tube type rim flanges are a different profile and not designed to make an air-tight seal. And I've only had a couple of beers.

Bummer. I don't think there is any rebuilding of them. Find a automotive starter rebuilder in your area. If he can get the parts he can rebuild. They use Valeo on some cars. My local rebuilder has gotten motorcycle starters for me in the past far cheaper than going to the dealer. I've never tried him on a MG starter though. Good luck. edit: Sorry , don't know how the double post happened

Bummer. I don't think there is any rebuilding of them. Find a automotive starter rebuilder in your area. If he can get the parts he can rebuild. They use Valeo on some cars. My local rebuilder has gotten motorcycle starters for me in the past far cheaper than going to the dealer. I've never tried him on a MG starter though. Good luck.

Six years ago I had an addition built onto my garage that is for motorcycles only,with tools, heat, light, music, and just steps from the refridgerator, it has everything I need and I can probably fit another one or two in if I get creative but I'll have to reclaim what I gave up in the "old section" if I want to bring in a boat.

I love these things. I've swooned after these classics for years. Just what I need, another perpetual project. "Honey, would you mind parking your car outside this winter?"

Matt, You should have close to battery voltage at the big wire on the starter always. When the motor actually cranks it'll drop to about 10 volts. You should also have approximate battery voltage at the little wire on the solenoid when you push your starter button. (I know it's hard to hold in the clutch, push the starter button and have your volt meter connected all at the same time but that is what you need to know) You need !2V at the big wire and it doesn't drop low when the starter button is pushed. and 12V at the little wire when the button is pushed. I'd suspect you are losing voltage at one or the other while attempting to crank the engine due to a poor/loose connection. If you are not losing power and your ground to the starter is good, then you may have a faulty starter. It just would be quite a coincidence. Tip: Hook your volt meter ground lead directly to the starter mounting bolt when testing for power at the starter wires (if voltage doesn't drop when attempting to have the starter crank you'll know the ground circuit is good as well. ) Hope this helps.

Very unlikely that you hurt the ECU or anything else for that matter. Look close to see of all of the wires are connected to the new battery. Maybe one eyelet slipped down and didn't get attached when you hooked things back up.

Interesting indeed. Very cool. I wonder what they weigh. I just changed my tires for the first time and was surprised at how heavy the stock LeMans rims are. Sure would be a great place to lose a few pounds.

Ahhh, this explains why a Christmas present arrives in late March.

Here, Here! Not to mention achieving perfect stoichiometry , Watching trans fats , and adjusting white balance In a few years you won't be able to operate a wristwatch without a 150 page instruction manual. Half of which will be on how to use it safely, warning not to do things like to swallow it because that may cause choking, severe injury or death.

Thanks for the tip I was all ready to buy Z6s (fabulous tires by the way) But now I've ordered the rear and sent the claim for the front. The Stradas are likely similar since Metzeler owns Pirelli and the tread pattern looks the same. Great deal!

Thanks, I'll take your word for it. I was thinking about this just now on my drive home. I always try to use a common sense approach to these matters (although after more than 25 years in the car business I know that common sense & engineering are not always dovetailed ) I realized that you have to have the fork blocked up to do the spring job anyway so it would follow that you would keep that position for filling and spring installation. Thanks again for the shove

Ratch, My question to Todd was: Should the 100mm air gap measurement be taken with the forks fully compressed? His reply was: No, it should be measured with the forks fully extended. Hard to misunderstand any of these terms - I think neither Todd or myself would mistake compress for extend or the reverse. Perhaps Todd is thinking of a conventional fork. I don't know. I guess I'll measure what the gap is now both compressed & extended, measure how much old fluid I extract and decide from there. To further confuse me the illustration in the German instructions show 1) a conventional fork & 2) measurement taken before springs are installed with no illustration of the fork being proped up. :!: It would make sense that the air gap difference would be approximately the forks travel - 120mm+/- So 100mm compressed would be about 220 extended. Or maybe less of a difference since the piston & valving are taking up a lot of fluid space below. ??? Anyway, your input is much appreciated and I'll let you know further progress.

Ratchet, I'm also in the midst of getting mine dialed in. I'm using Wilbers' progressives from Todd E. I've done quite a bit of searching here before I started in and thanks to you found plenty of good information. I have to go a bit longer on my spacers; I have 26% unladen sag with the stock ones. But here is the rub. In a prior post you say to prop up the fork to fully retracted position when measuring for 100mm air gap. The directions do not illustrate this. The directions are also in German so not much help to me. Anyway I asked Todd and he said to fill & measure with forks fully extended. It makes sense to me to fill with them extended, and that is how I've measured air gaps on other (non cartridge) forks but you've clearly done your homework on the Marz 40. Whadda ya think?

Arai has been my choice for the last two lids. Great quality, nice interior. But like others have said, fit is everything. Try it on first, this is one area where Internet or mail order can be a mistake.