dlaing

During normal operating the injectors should stay rather cool, as the air flows throught, but I imagine after sitting for a while the heat from the engine will be retained in the intake manifold, trapped between the throttle valve and the intake. The heat will move from the engine to the throttle body. How much? I have no idea....

I imagine unless a fuel line is resting directly on a cylinder head fin, the hottest place in the fuel system is right at the fuel injectors. Could that be the problem?

I have trouble getting the pen type tire gauges to fit tightly. My dial guage with hose and right angle works like a charm! Gas station hoses have not been a problem, except once when the hose had a huge hose clamp on it. My pet peave is that one of my cheap pen gauges reads 36psi, another reads 35psi, while my $30.0 guage reads 32psi.

Yep, I ordered it. But it is getting delayed because they are trying to tune out some vibration issues. As you know, our bikes have some vibes up around 4-5000RPMs. I am glad they are taking this seriously. One of my concerns is that when the bars are extended vibration could increase. They are busting their butts to minimize the vibration, experimenting with different geometry, materials, and weights. I do not expect a miracle, but if they can keep vibration at or below the level of the stock sport bars, I will be happy. A couple days ago they told me it will take about two more weeks. If it takes longer, I may bail out and get the TwoBrothers bars, which also likely exhibit vibration issues due to the length.

And forks are more difficult to measure because of stiction. I think one technique is to measure the sag with the stiction holding low and then the stiction holding high. Repeat enough times to average out.

How do you get the grips to go over the elements? Normally I lube the grips with alcohol when putting grips over bars.

I seem to remember someone on the Oz list saying that they measured them with the engine hot because it more accurately indicated the clearance approaching zero. They set the valves to something pretty tight, like .002'' or .05mm. Steel, Aluminum and Titanium all behave differently. I was under the impression that clearances get tighter when hot with Aluminum and not so much with chromoly steel. Does anyone know for sure?

I'd say go to zero compression, and dial up as needed to prevent bottoming. Push the the bottoming bumper up and see if it starts to bottom out under a mild ride, a medium ride, and a wild ride. Dial in just enough rebound to keep it from wallowing. And check your rear tire pressure. I am suprised you get that much of a difference in sag measurements based on technique, especially since most of your weight is over the tank. What is your front sag?

Gio, Excellent Work!!! I hope the shielding can lower the temperature enough. It is odd that some fail and some do not. Despite climates, etc.

As I suspected, something is amiss with Mike Stewart's measuring system. But atleast it takes out the tire sag factor...

I don't think it should be a matter of recall, but in your case a matter of warranty. Your measurement technique is fine, unless your tire pressure is way too low. I think something may be wrong with your spring. But let us be sure that we have all the facts correct. You weigh 165lbs and not 165Kg. You ride all the way forward in the seat. You dialed the pre-load till you ran out of thread and not just to the point where you reached some magic number of 149mm of spring length. I weigh about 220 lbs in riding gear and sit all the way back in the seat. I still have the ability to add more pre-load. I have zero bike only sag and about 1.5 inches of rider sag, giving a total of 1.5 inches of total sag. I need a heavier spring because I should not be at zero bike only sag in order to get the other sag correct. I still bottom out frequently. Reducing sag with pre-load should not bike feel harsher until you reach the zero bike only sag point. And even then I am not sure. Having too much sag could cause bottoming and thus a harsh ride. But you say you are not bottoming out. I am really suprised that you cannot reduce the sag beyond 1.75inches. You probably need to lube the threads for the pre-load rings and be sure you loosen the lock ring. At your weight, I guess I am not suprised that you are not bottoming out. I would check your bike only sag and your compression setting. Try setting your compression damping to the softest setting and see if you still bottom out on the biggest bump you face. If you do bottom out, then you need to reduce sag. If not, forget about it. The large sag number and unknown spring rate work fine for you. Unless you are at zero bike only sag, in which case you need a heavier spring. Maybe you do have a White Power shock???

You also did twin plugs. Were the pair of twin plugs hooked up when you dyno'd?

I guess you don't want photos

Hmmm, My Buell turn signals went on fine on the rear but I had to drill and tap them into the front extenders. I probably have the bigger ones. I love having them rubber mounted. I have bumped them with my legs many times and getting the cover on an off the bike is much easier now. One caveat, they do droop a little. Perhaps mine are bigger so there is more drooping, esp. after a few months of use. The rubber mounting should improve bulb life, too.

I was curious as to what is the most miles someone has on their relays without a failure. I can't remember when exactly I replaced my mine. I guess it took 15,000 miles for it to fail. Has anyone gone further? If so, do you use your horn or flasher?

Chong Chong, If that is a picture of you in your avatar, you must need new springs. Read some of the threads about sag. That will help you determine if you need firmer springs.

So is that step in John T.'s valve picture the difference in wear? I am at about 21000 miles now. Assuming I have 6 times the wear, it must be time to get the bike to a nunnery, before she gets f.....

Some good news! Dan P. searched and searched and appears to have found a suitable replacement relay. Instead of being rated at the Bosch's 20A/10A it is rated at 25A/20A and should fit right in the socket. Dan will send me one to try out. If it fits, I'll give it thumbs up. Of course the real proof is a few years down the road....

I like the idea of putting an HID "bulb" in the stock lamp. It uses less power and produces more light. However I don't like blue light and the bulbs are expensive. I expect the price will come down a little by the time that I hit 40

You might try switching to synthetic, which should have a wider "real" viscosity. John in Vancouver and others have recommended the Redline shockproof heavy duty gear oil, to give you a "schlick" shift! You might want try a the LightWeight shockproof, based on your experience and what time of year this is. Here are some redline shockproof descriptions: Heavy can be rated as a 75W250 Gear Oil, but has the lower internal fluid friction of an SAE 75W90. LightWeight can be rated as a 75W140 Gear Oil, but has the lower internal fluid friction of an SAE 30 motor oil. SuperLight can be rated as a 70W90 Gear Oil, but has the lower internal fluid friction of an ATF.

Nope, I am suggesting that if they are not the same from side to side, it may cause one cylinder to run rich or lean. By different I meant that US settings are one thing, world settings are another and raceco are still another, and all are proper. You may also go between the settings. It is possible that assymetrical valve adjustments may have benefits, but I would reserve that type of adjustment to a mega genius, or someone with great equipment like a dyno and emmision analyzer, and lots of time. Although some would argue that the US spec and or the RaceCo spec are too extreme in either direction. I believe US spec is 0.05mm intake and 0.10mm exhaust while RaceCo is 0.20mm intake and 0.25mm exhaust. I would stick with what you have it set to, as that is what I use. Not that other settings are wrong. But you should set it to what it was dynotuned at, assuming it was dynotuned. As Mike suggests, valve adjustment is the best starting point. I only do throttle bodies first, because it only takes a minute or two to check, while valves take me much more time. It is important to adjust the throttle bodies after the valves are adjusted, and I am told when the engine is at operating temperature.

1. How rich the cylinders run can be controlled by: a. balance, ie the harder it pulls the leaner it runs. b. idle bypass screw, with individual control for each cylinder. c. MDS Motorcycle Diagnostic Software. For a few hundred bucks you can buy software that can adjust the 'trim'. I believe this mostly effects idle mixture, but is also usefull for determining that the TPS is set properly and that other sensors are functioning properly. http://www.technoresearch.com/Diagnostic.htm Note that many things can cause one cylinder to run rich or lean. If one cylinder is off I would ideally adjust the valves first and then the throttle body balance. However, many times I just adjust the throttle body balance because it is more prone to falling out of whack. I just bought a TwinMax. It works great, so far. Avoid dial gauges. The mercury sticks also work great, but have environmental, health and mechanical risks. If you get real good, you can do it by ear!!! But that may be reserved for Master Guzzi Gurus Can you tinker with it? If you mess up, your warranty and bike may be messed up, but aside from that, go for it. 2. They probably won't mess with the map on your PCIII. But if they adjust TPS it could throw it for a loop. Also adjusting valves to a different spec could throw the effect of the map off. Did you have a map custom made on a dynometer? If you ever do, it is a good idea to know what the TPS and valves are set to. If you explain to the mechanic that you have a custom map and that you do not want the TPS changed, and that you are concerned that the valves not be changed so much that your map is thrown off, they SHOULD take good care of your baby. Moto International has an excellent reputation, so you should be fine. But do talk to them about your concerns. They may not know that people use valve specs and TPS specs that work fine but are not to factory spec. If they cannot relate to that, find someone else. The safest thing would be to tell them your concerns and that you only want a quick throttle balance without messing with trim, or TPS. If all else is well, they should be able to balance it in five minutes. They might not want to let you know it only takes five minutes. If that is the case, ask them why it takes so long. The balance should clear up the mixture problem. If not, it will need a proper tune up or more.

Oh good! Nothing to worry about. And speaking of nothing to worry about, Jim Phillips' house, motorcycle, and cats are all well. But it was close!

Forgot about that under piston thing. Yah, it works pretty well as is.

How about a two stroke conversion?!? It could make an easy 100 RWHP. But I never liked the sound of two strokes... I guess that would need a whole new head and possibly a new piston as well as a new ignition and fuel system. But it would smooth out some vibration, have no tappet noise