Silly Time

[007]

Its that time of year again where the temperatures dictate more time reading about farkles and less time riding. Of course this means upgrades and "maintenance" but mostly the former no matter how much I justify the latter. This ends up with silliness of expensive upgrades that are hopefully well worth it but will not be fully evident until the next riding season.

CB500X:
The touring motard received its 16K service, which was a great time to also add SS brake lines, JT steel sprockets with taller gearing to make first and second more usable, and EK 3D Z series chain, which is both incredibly strong and lightweight. The stock chain was garbage from day one and regularly would develop kinks that were more time than they were worth, despite maintenance after nearly every ride. The replacement gear also seems to have less rolling resistance and seemed to reduce some of the vibrations. The accessory fuse block was moved from under the seat to the vast space under the right front fairing to improve underseat storage. The majority of trips will be with a magnetic tank bag instead of the giant recycle bin / parachute on the back, which should improve aerodynamic profile and center of gravity.

VFR:
LSL superbike bar kit with Honda 919 bars installed for less neck pain for 2-up touring duties, tapered steering head bearings, front fork service with fresh oil and seals while the front end was apart. New Bridgestone S21s should improve the sporting intentions along with stainless steel lines, which was a major undertaking of 13 lines on the VFR's antiquated ABS system. I have not ridden it yet, but my friend who did the work brought it back last night. I hope the weather cooperates a little for a test ride.

[Bob]

Physician heal thyself.

[Brick]

Good stuff all of it. However you got it done two early in the winter season.


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[LeeDavis]

Not silly - cold weather is major maintenance time so the bike is ready if a nice day comes along! Along with his forks, Brick graciously carried my DRZ shock to Cogent for rebuild so as long as things are apart:

Might as well take advantage of the proximity to clean and repack nasty pivot arm and swing arm bearings.

Further investigation revealed one exhaust valve on the edge of spec and the other .001" too tight so shims arrive Fedex today. And coolant is due for replacement and brake fluid and spark plug and ...

[Brick]

Lee you are a mechanic! Cool!


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[Ed]

Been sneaking in some maintenance and upgrade projects here as well-

SV1000... valves lashed, coolant changed, iridium plugs, oil changed, tuning mods
Hayabusa... new tires, new front pegs, replaced clutch, new front pads, new front brakelines, iridium plugs, changed fork oil
Bandit 1200... GSXR-750 USD front end, new brake lines, new brake pads, carb swaps, iridium plugs, new oil-cooler configuration

Hell... even changed the oil and sparkplugs in the standby generator

.

[tireatr]

Winter means it's time to find some tire deals. Whatcha selling this year Steve?

[Bob]

Hell... even changed the oil and sparkplugs in the standby generator
.

Thanks for reminding me--time to roll mine out and make sure it cranks.

[Ed]

Hell... even changed the oil and sparkplugs in the standby generator
.

Thanks for reminding me--time to roll mine out and make sure it cranks.

Yep... I don't wanna be out there d*cking around when the time comes.

[007]

Winter means it's time to find some tire deals. Whatcha selling this year Steve?

I haven't changed out any bikes or bought tires I don't like, so nothing to sell this year. I also burned up most of the ones I purchased.

I didn't have a choice when I could do the work on the CB because I was already over the mileage for the 16K service and it is the winter bike. Otherwise, I would have waited until about January. It was convenient to just go on and have the other stuff done. Then of course it made sense to just do the other bike since I can only ride one at a time. Waiting on parts was also a concern, especially with braided steel brake lines for the VFR being on back-order. It turned out they came in after only a couple weeks, and the mechanic was able to complete the work over the week I was working. He even picked them up and dropped them off. Can't beat door to door service!

I could care less that the fluids will be 3 months older. This gives me a few runs to weed out problems when the weather isn't worthy of any hardcore hooliganism and won't be missing any time on the road when the weather warms.

[007]

What LED fog lights are worth the upgrade? The CB can use a bit more lighting up front. I would like some good stuff, but prefer to avoid the $300 price tag of some of the options. Does it matter if they are DOT approved?

[Bob]

What LED fog lights are worth the upgrade? The CB can use a bit more lighting up front. I would like some good stuff, but prefer to avoid the $300 price tag of some of the options. Does it matter if they are DOT approved?

No DOT approval needed or any other kind for that matter. If you're looking for daytime recognition type lights, these are what I'm running.

https://www.amazon.com/Kohree-Spotlight ... rds=kohree

Crazy bright. No need to spend a bunch on this stuff.

And this wiring harness-->>
https://www.amazon.com/PIAA-34085-Lamp- ... ng+harness

Also these clamps on crash bars-->>
https://www.amazon.com/WARN-85338-1-5-U ... arn+clamps

[007]

Daytime visibility is a plus, but how are they for night riding? Now that the VFR has absurd headlights that virtually recreate daylight with high beams on, I'm hoping for more in that department on the CB, too.

[Bob]

I have 2 Rigid Dually's i'll sell ya. Will fry a deer.

http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/20111

Or you can pony up $800 for some Clearwaters. I see they now have a cheaper light, $500.

https://clearwaterlights.com/

[007]

I have 2 Rigid Dually's i'll sell ya. Will fry a deer.

http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/20111

Or you can pony up $800 for some Clearwaters. I see they now have a cheaper light, $500.

https://clearwaterlights.com/

I'm looking on the cheaper end. There should be some trickle down technology in the cheapies at this point. I like how the Clearwaters all have names of women, probably to make the buyer feel better after his woman leaves him for spending so much money on a light.

[007]

These look interesting. 3,000+ reviewers can't be too far off. The video of the lights taking a beating is at least worth $20 to find out if the lights are decent.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G6 ... MEDO528TGN

[Bob]

These look interesting. 3,000+ reviewers can't be too far off. The video of the lights taking a beating is at least worth $20 to find out if the lights are decent.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G6 ... MEDO528TGN

Those look huge. But the price is right.

The video of the lights taking a beating is at least worth $20 to find out if the lights are decent.

Hah! Thats pretty funny, after a few minutes I'm thinking WTF is he gonna do next?

[Ed]

If you're looking for something low-profile, and it doesn't "have to" be LEDs... I run a single Hella FF75 on my Bandit as a supplemental light:

http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/products/auxiliary-lamps/halogen-lamps/ff75-series/ff75/

...and it is indeed hella bright while fitting into a limited space.

[LeeDavis]

I replaced the weak headlight bulb on my DRZ with a replacement LED "bulb" by Cyclops. It's seriously bright! They're available in the standard H4 and H7 sizes plus lots of other specialty sizes and kits. http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/l ... bulbs.html

[Bob]

Good point--easy way to upgrade without having to mount/wire aux lights for nighttime riding, and the hi/lo beams are already focused properly. Then add your $8 baby-lights for daytime recog if ya want.

[007]

Already running this:

http://stores.advmonster.com/h4-r3-led-headlight/

But I want more!

[007]

The shock on my VFR is on the way to Traxxion for winter refresh. When it gets back, the CB is due and will go to Cogent. The CB actually needed it more, but the VFR was already over there. I'm told the VFR was having problems because the tapered steering head bearing was too tight. You're only supposed to tighten until you feel it drag just a wee bit, then back off a RCH. I can't say what that means because this is a family forum. Anyways, it supposedly worked!