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felix42o

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Posts posted by felix42o

  1. There's one that just arrived on a trade at the shop near my g/f's house. A little rough, 9000 miles, but with lots of accessories. (Bags, windshield, pipes, etc). Seems like a good buy at around $4,000. Anyone here have one of these? I need another bike like I need another mother in law. But will I be able to resist? Must...fight...the...urge... :unsure:

    Plus, the girlfriend says it looks like something she'd like to ride on, so there's some practicality involved.

  2. It really seems to depend on the coverage in your area. I liked Cingular, but the coverage wasn't great. I now have Sprint, which works everywhere really well (driven cross-country twice this year), but the customer service and billing leave lots to be desired. I've also heard Verizon is good, but two guys in my office have it and I usually have signal where they do not (in the office, that is).

  3. Yeah, the Volt is cool. I saw one at the LA auto show this past weekend. They wouldn't say who, but said that "yes, we do have a supplier for the LiIon batteries now, thank you" so I guess it's a go. The big deal about it, besides it being a 'true' hybrid, is the battery setup. Lots (140 or something) of little packs arranged in a T shape that allows for better weight distribution and interior room. Apparently, the square shape of the LiIon packs also allows for better cooling and more precise, even temperatures throughout the cells themselves, which (according to Chevy) is a critical part in the range and life expectancy of the packs.

    Neat stuff. Plus, the whole chassis is kind of flat and modular looking, so maybe they designed it to support different bodies on the same platform in the future? The Chevy spokesman wouldn't say, but said it wasn't out of the question.

  4. My bike had the same setup installed when I bought it, and has the same issues as well. It's just not enough all the way around. There's alot of people making aftermarket led panels that fit into original sockets, mostly for the classic car scene. I bought them for my '64 Chevy truck. I wonder if they couldn't custom make one for the stock housing?

  5. The hybrids (as they are now) have a big advantage in stop and go traffic, where the regenerative braking can help out the most (or so I have read). This is why the city ratings are higher than the highway, and also why the EPA's testing system is unreliable for the hybrids. As for the EV1, and most early electric and hybrid attempts, batteries have always been the big issue. The range just wasn't there, nor was the battery pricing / life expectancy. I doubt very seriously that any of the conspiracy theories out there hold any water.

    As an aside, does anyone remember when Dodge introduced an early (say 1996 or so) hybrid based on the Intrepid sedan of the time? IIRC, it was all aluminum-bodied, used electric motors up front w/ a small gas engine, and got 80 MPG or so. There was a full write-up on it in Car and Driver or something, but I can't find it. I'll post a link if I come across it.

     

    Edit: Here's the wiki story (fwiw), if interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Intrepid_ESX

  6. I always liked the Honda CX500/650 especially the turbo version. Seemed the motor was put in the 'right' way :) After the first year they actually got the electronic FI sorted out too. Fuel hog though.

     

    I saw a later Honda that looked like it had a V4 in the proper configuration. It had a lot of fairing around it so could not get a better look at it. Never saw one again so don't know if it was my imagination or not.

     

    charlie

     

     

    The Honda ST series is set up like this. I know it's bad, but I look twice every time, continuing to confuse it with the new Norge :doh: ...

  7. It's easy to say that the Big 3 (as it were) were asking for this, but the UAW has as much, if not more, of the blame to hold here. These guys have been squeezing every last penny off the top for years, and a little research into the U.S autoworker's compensation program goes a long way to explain some of the problems. Add in the current trade agreements for autos coming to our shores vs the ones we're allowed to sell overseas and costs of running a pension-based industry and it's stacked against the domestics pretty heavily. Not that they couldn't have done more sooner, but their hands are bound much tighter than those of foreign car manufacturers. As for big ass SUV's, sub-prime mortgages, interest only notes, and air-cooled, 2-valve bikes that suck more gas than they should...well you can holler all day about the plastic-faced corporate "bad guys" making this stuff, but when does the guy buying this stuff (the end user) have to take his share of the blame? What happened to caveat emptor? Stuff doesn't stay on the market if people don't buy it.

  8. Well, that should get me going in the right direction anyway. It's exacerbated by moisture, so my thoughts were targeted at handlebar switchery or the ignition itself, but inspection turned up nothing unusual. I think, as Ratchet offered, that the new coastal environment, while scenic, is going to expose a new round of gremlins that the Nevada desert covered up. :bbblll:

     

    Gstallons, the battery is new (

     

    Thanks all for the help. Fortunately it's no real issue day to day 'cause it stays on a tender, but it's a new issue that's been working it's way up the priority list.

  9. I know I'm overthinking this, so I'll submit this problem for ideas from you all. My bike has either a very slight, or a very intermittant short which drops the voltage down low enough to prevent starting if left to sit for more than, say, three days. I've checked most of the connectors, grounds, etc. but it could be anywhere. Any ideas on troubleshooting a short down to a circuit? I know there's a way to do this, but I'm drawing a blank.

  10. :stupid:

    These things run really lean as is; only gets worse once you start freeing things up with intake/exhaust mods. There are better, less band-aid oriented ways to fix it, but for most of us the Power Commander (with a good map) seems to be the ticket.

  11. Afer readind an article in the area newspaper about a local owner/operator of an aircraft dying because of the oil filter backing off and losing oil. This taught me it is not that big of a deal to remove the pan. I do and will attatch a hose clamp to the filter after installation.

    A buddy was servicing his Jackal and found the filter "finger" tight. A hose clamp is $1.00, how much is a rebuild?

     

    I'm guessing it was the crash, not the filter, that caused the pilot to buy the farm. Just the same, I try to remove the pan each time as well. It only adds a few more beers to the process. B)

  12. My first bike in high school was a '72 CB500 that the guy wouldn't sell unless I found a buyer for the 185 TwinStar next to it. After some convincing and price haggling (I think he wanted $450 for both) I talked a friend into buying the Twinstar so I could get the 500. A short bus ride across town and the deal was done. Unfortunately upon arrival, we couldn't get the little 185 to start. Both had sat for quite awhile and the carbs were all gummed up. So, seeing as how the 500 was running (kind of) and there was a good length of rope laying there we concluded that the obvious fix was to tow the one with the other back to the house. After very little talk about the risks involved, Don rode the 185 in trail, with me piloting the 500. Amazingly, other than a lot of clutch slipping and a few near rear-endings, we made it the whole 7 or 8 miles through town without either crashing or getting busted by The Man.

    My Dad was always telling us "you damn kids'll never learn. You'll just either survive or you won't I guess". Sounds about right.

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