docc

Less than a week to The Raid and I've had worse nightmares. Like when my high school girlfriend missed a period. Three times. Indeed it appears the cartridge ( or some part of it) has 4 or 5 mm play up and down. The anchor bolt is tight. So tight , in fact, that it is no longer a hex drive. More of a round drive. And 8mm is certainly bigger than a #5 screw extractor. Where could the play be coming from and how in the world to get the thing apart now??

Yeah,this is my fourth oil change and if I've overfilled them a little (or more) each time they've gotten progressively harsher with less and less air gap. I've gotten somethng munted though. The rebound fork makes abit of a clunk when compressed and doesn't appear to be damping. I don't think I set the thread height above the blue lock nut correctly.I spun it all the way down then brought it back upto lock the cap. Back to the shop now and try to sort it out.

You'll be amazed what can be accomplished right on the tarmac of the motel. Looks like Bullock will be joining us on the TDM.

No, really, I had the forks apart and the Ohlins springs don't fit. Something must be awry with the OD measurements on the springs They are a little funky to measure and I didn't retry as I was all anxious to get it back together to ride. Meeting some folks today for a painfully slow cruiser ride with a novice wife-rider in tow. But it is riding and her hubby is a fine fellow and a State Trooper. He actually let me go on a 64 in a 45 on the Sport before we met otherwise. It is , as g.forrest has said, time to ride.

Look for a fuel line lying too close to the cylinder fins, especiaaly on the left side. Otherwise, a cracked or loose intake rubber could give these symptoms . . .

0.007" assuming the measurements were all good. I didn't take time to remeasure. I didn't like the Maxima 5wt oil I used. It was clear and colorless. Not hardly as interesting as the blue Silkolene I've used before. I'm looking forward to trying the synthetics. Are they more compliant? I was surprised that the volume to set the 100 mm luftkammer varied from 355 ml to 300 ml from right to left. Made me feel like I'd screwed something up. Before I'd used the volume measure ( to +/- 0.1 mL). I must have had much less air spring. Should that make the forks less harsh now ( with more air spring)?

Nerts, Dave was right. The Ohlins springs won't go in the Marz forks. I suppose I'll change the oil ( the crap that came out is nasty) and try to set my 'air spring' like a good boy. I'm pretty sure I can change the sprinngs without taking the forks off the bike, so I'll have to source some springs and come back to it later.

Zerk on the shifter . . . that is stellar! Gini, has the clutch fluid been bled? I did mine today after an embarrasing three years. It looked like vegetable broth coming out. Why is it the clutch fluid gets so much worse than the brake fluids?

Truly, taking something meant to be rugged and trying to make it pretty is like putting make-up on Army Rangers. It comes out weird looking and pisses off the Ranger.

Was it Patton who said ( something like), "There's nothing quite as exhiliarating as being shot at and missed." Glad you're OK and the Sport has only a little 'experience.' Here's to good gear.

Indeed, it sounds like a dead switch. Try removing it and cleaning/cycling it a few times to rescusitate it.

These bikes are really not about off-road. True, the Husky or something like Honda's XR650 is the ticket there. No, this is more about an all-road bike. Fast freeway, twisty bits, bad pavement, no pavement, creek crossing all the while with an open, comfortable riding position, more suspension travel than a sportbike, good lights,mirros and luggage. Did I mention it can't be too tall, too heavy or have a big slow-turn radius? Plus, it needs to look rugged and in fact have tip-over protection. And a torquey understressed twin would be good. Big gas tank with 200 mile range and alternator to spare. That's a lot to package into one bike. The new meld of the duel-sport ( too off-road), adventure tourer ( too tall and heavy) and the supermotard ( too stripped down) may be bringing us the perfect tool. Then again, you may still need five different bikes and a trailer . . .

We're looking like 7 Guzzis and perhaps three other bikes leaving Columbia for the 200-230 miles to sweetwater. Good to hear Scott's bringing his fine looking Ballabio and ( I can't believe it!) The Professorhisself is stomping in from duties in NH. This is gonna be some music!!

Check out this lengthy thread: Serious Horns On the back roads I find that its the dogs that need the encouragement. "I had a bad experince with dogs . . ."

The RA rallyes are good events. This one sounds really special. At least one of the guys planning on riding over with us is heading on the the Biltmore. Maybe we can make that our Saturday loop.

Just a 'heads up' to chime in for the ROLL CALL on the Meetings Forum. Thought maybe you North Carolina guys could use a push . . .

ROLL CALL! We're ten days out and time to get a bead on who's coming. Not required, you can always just show up. Leaving the Cracker Barrel on Friday morning: 99d12 and his son (Cafe Sport, Huntsville, AL) Josh ( Spot 1100, Nashivlle,TN) Italytn (1100 Sporti, Columbia, TN) Mowtofo V10 Centauro, Franklin, TN) drm 53 (V11 Sport, Crossville,TN) nose2wind (V11 Sport, Dallas,TX) There may be a couple non-guzzi rides tag along with us heading toward a BMWRA rallye at the Biltmore in NC. So far the only rider I'm expecting at the other end is Bill Hagan on his Rosso NOR-geh.

Listening to you guys I feel like I've never been anywhere. I remember waking up some far-Easterner to check into a dive in Daytona Beach, Florida in the wee hours back in the eighties. Keying the lock I noticed the door jamb all splintered away. So was the one between the rooms AND the one to the back balcony. Uncle Jack* and I slept pretty soundly nonetheless. (* 1911A1 GCNM)

You're sure it was a 'black' snake and not a HOG nosed snake?

Aye, I had to use a breaker bar to get my custom steel dipstick out today. First time I'd ever seen the oil light flicker under acceleration. Down 600 mL. after 5000 miles. Coated the 'stick's threads with copper antiseize . . .

They think we have minds??

I remember this being a HD part for the sportster motor ( also Buell). Surely somebody can hone us in on this?

No biggie . . . here's a link to the thread on Accessory Fuse Block.

The Ohlins springs are a lot shorter ( 9 5/8") and only 0.007" bigger in diameter. I wonder if they can still be made to fit . . .