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george_park

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Everything posted by george_park

  1. george_park
    I'll add another vote for the Butler mods and cast one out there for the Mustang seats as well. I did not opt to get a back rest at any time and really regret it now. I just did a round trip from PA to Southern Vermont (yes, I met Irene there and it wasn't pretty) and had my tour bag behind me the entire time - really made clear that a backrest is a necessity in the future... gp
  2. george_park
    After installing the Baron's slash cuts some of the folks I ride with informed me that they were a little loud. I really couldn't understand them as my hearing still hadn't come back. That being said I installed stock harley road king cans on my '06 using a mounting kit. They sound great without being too loud and I can use just about any harley muffler to dial in the sound. Now when I'm motoring along I can hear the radio, but the bike no longer sounds like a 1300cc weed wacker. Just a suggestion, worked for me but might not work for anyone else.
  3. george_park
    Hello all, I'm in the process of documenting the install in a PDF document but here are the final pix for the installation. Based on GeorgeS' comments and feedback from the vendor I may revise the final wiring but all of the wiring is soldered and shrink wrapped at all connectors (including the 1/8" audio connectors) and run through the stock wiring locations. Due to the fact that there is very limited space I mounted the amp under the right side of the gas tank. All of the cabling is hidden as much as possible (or at least blended) with the speakers inside the windscreen on the bars. Once mounted the system works and sounds great, I'm very happy with it so far.
  4. george_park
    I have a Garmin Nuvi 760 which can take an SD (removable "flash" memory) card. It's mounted on my bike using a RAM Mounts Aquabox (foul weather) or Garmin mount. Since it can play music files it's hooked into my speaker system. Portable music players - like the iPod, Zune, etc. - come in two general flavors - those with a tiny hard disk (mechanical) and those without (solid state). The solid state units are smaller,lighter and their batteries last longer. I use a solid state iPod shuffle most days - it just randomly plays the music I put on it, if it's on there I like it. For longer trips I use my Garmin or an iPod "classic" (hard drive). While there are many "MP3 players" on the market (I have all iPods) please keep an eye on the file format you save your music in. Mac uses a format called ACC which can only (generally) be played using iPod or iTunes and contains "Digital Right Management" (DRM) code (copyright software). Change the defaults (in iTunes settings) to save your music as "MP3" format - which iPod can also play. The MP3 format can be played by nearly all "portable music" players as well as many CD, DVD and Car Audio systems (playing songs saved on an MP3 CD). It's totally portable, does not have (generally) DRM and can be recorded in various "quality levels" which save or take up space on your device (more space = more quality, less space = more songs). So if you like your cycle tunes you can record the MP3 files on a CD and have 8-10+ albums per CD or just a jumble of songs. If you have an MP3 CD compatible car stereo with a changer you could have # of CDs times the number of albums on board with you at any time (for me it's about 60 albums). "Gadget"
  5. george_park
    If you look at powerlet's site they have a number of plug options with accessory cords and make a very nice fused battery multi-tap specifically for motorcycles. They also compute the Excess Electrical Capacity (EEC) of any bike (not already in their list) for the asking. Here is my set up: - 300W Amp & USB charging port (warm electronics) hardwired back to the black/brown accessory plug. This is a 5A fused link which operates only when the key is on or in ACC. - Right side low profile powerlet plug hardwired back to the battery. This is a 15A fused link installed in the plastic panel in front of the hard bag. This is used for battery tender plug-in (powerlet to SAE cable) as well as for driver heated clothing. - Left side low profile powerlet plug hardwired back to the battery. This is a 15A fused link installed in the plastic panel in front of the hard bag. This is used for accessories (cold electronics - powerlet to cigarette plug for radios, etc.) and passenger heated clothing. - Handlebar mounted powerlet plug hardwired back to the battery. This is a 10A fused link used for bag mounted accessories or as an aux plug when carrying a passenger. I have (2) RAM mounting points installed on the left and right controls. These provide 2-3 positions on which I can mount GPS, iPod, phone, etc. I have a "fair weather" GPS mount as well as a "foul weather" aquabox. The USB or powerlet port are used to keep the front side electrics going. Ride safe.
  6. george_park
    No matter what you ride stop and take a break, especially to get some water. I found that as I age my need for water - for whatever reason - has really increased so I carry a camelbak/molle pack with a hydration bladder. My first long ride of the season I forgot that tidbit and nearly became road pizza. I really like Rick Butler's seats as well as the Mustang, like any seat they will take time to break in (and I can't ride with a back rest). Some of the folks I ride with use sheeps skin, others gel packs. In the end it's about riding comfortably so if you need a 'wing to do it work that delusion as hard as you can until it's sitting in front of you.
  7. george_park
    Congrats on the new bike, I have a black '06 which I baby like crazy. I'm in the process of putting an amp and speakers in for road tunes/GPS prompts (even though I have speakers in my helmet). I've added air to the rear shock to level the bike out, put Harley Road King stock mufflers on, replaced the seats, installed highway pegs on the lower bars, put RAM GPS mounts on, cut the windshield down 3" and raised the bars. I'm also in the process of installing powerlet power taps front and rear (for heated gear, power plugs, etc.). You will hear that the transmissions whine, it's a known issue with no real resolution but to try replacing some parts. Mine does it but I ignore it since there are so many other reasons to love the bike. I would really suggest taking the MSP ERC (Experienced Rider Course) to get familiar with your bike. Go here http://www.msf-usa.org/ and look up your state. You will use your bike and the courses are generally free. This is a great way to practice stopping, turning, etc. low speed before you hit the road. Best of luck with the new bike, ride safe.
  8. george_park
    Hello all, I've mounted a set of Pyle speakers, USB charging port, MP3 shelf, and volume control along with 2 RAM handlebar mounts (pics to follow) and have all of the wiring run back to install the 300 watt amp and USB charging port to power. I don't want either the amp or the USB charger to operate with the bike off - neither have "off" switches - and I'm looking for the best place to tap into the electrics. There is a white plug behind the battery with black and brown with gray stripe wires. I've not yet broken out a multi meter but I'm hoping these will supply hot & ground for a tap. If someone could confirm this (and to what amp fuse it goes to) I would be grateful. If there are any other places to tap in I would appreciate knowing where and what color, pix a huge plus. For my "always hot" connections I use a powerlet tap direct to battery so I have that covered.
  9. george_park
    I used the R-Mark kit with the brackets and clamps (search hills on ebay). One note I will pass along is to get a tailpipe expander (the stock RK mufflers are bent a little when installed with the stock clamps) and some high temp RTV sealant as the connection is pipe to pipe without a gasket. When I did mine I loved the look but hated the ^#$@#! popping on decel which drove me crazy. Once that was taken care of it was smooth sailing.
  10. george_park
    I was looking at getting a set of the magical wizard lights for my RSTD, once I figure out how many LED bars I'll need (2 for engine, two for bags, two for ground, etc?). I'll post back, I don't have much experience with the different LED companies out there but will see if I can post to find out.
  11. george_park
    I was riding after dark when a car in front of me slammed on it's brakes and moved off to the side of the road a little causing me and the person I was with to have to make a quick move to the center of the road to avoid hitting the car. About a mile up the car rolled up beside us and said my high beams were on. When I told him (showed him) they were not on he said they were too bright (bright enough to cause him to almost run me off the road). When I got home I checked the aim of the headlamp and it was pointing into the sky - right where at proper following distance a rear view mirror would be. I had replaced the stock bulb with a silverstar and had not changed a thing. Lesson learned, from now on I'll check where the headlight is pointing...
  12. george_park
    If you have not found one yet I use this walking, skiing, riding, etc. - very small, takes a beating and has am/fm radio: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11036580
  13. george_park
    Bike runs well other than the popping, going in for service soon so I'm going to have them give it the once over, if they decide it needs to be jetted and I agree it will be...
  14. george_park
    I have a set of baron's bag slash slip-ons and stock air scrubbers and popping on decel is so bad I'm going to have to get it jetted. I didn't want to add the K&N because I didn't want to find out what would happen if I changed anything else :-) We have two other people out of about 50 with slip-ons on their RS and so far both have had to have their bikes jetted. I asked probably every person on this board if rejetting was needed before putting on slip-ons so this may be unique to this area of PA, the way our bikes are set up, etc. I've also eliminated every possible source of vacuum leak so it's not that... Regards, gp
  15. george_park
    Well, you don't have to vote but with zero whine you are certainly in the minority of the people who have! My bike started out whine free but developed it about 2K miles in so I hope all of the quiet bikes stay that way. Now if someone would only make h cut gears for the RS models out there, I think I'll wait until 2010... Regards, gp
  16. george_park
    Can you make your own brackets and source your own HD mufflers - probably - but not without tools, labor and sourcing bits and pieces from here and there. The kit is very clean, a pro job, the guys at R-Mark are very helpful. They sell the mounting kit solo if you have HD muffs already. With this kit you can mount any type of Road King mufflers (stock, CVO, etc.) and they look great. The clamps they send are chrome and massive (unlike the stainless pipe clamp in other kits) while being securely mounted under the bags with brackets + 2 bolts at the top of the muffler. You can tune the stock mufflers or trade up to CVO. I keep the stock slash cut HD mufflers unmodified as my "quiet" set. I'm sure I have a post about installing them but here are some tips: Watch out when installing used HD mufflers. The way they are clamped on crimps the pipe which makes it tough to get on without an expander. The fit is very tight - dry fit everything before you put it on. Clean the exhaust pipe before installing them. Use a flat head screw driver to wedge the clamp open if you need when putting them on. There is no gasket between the muffler and pipe for almost every slip on kit. Get some high temp RTV sealer and apply it before clamping everything together. Regards, gp
  17. george_park
    No prob Goose. If the light is angled down and I have the bike flat against the wall the beam is going to be almost dead center on a mark from the ground to the center of the light. Based on the angle and distance from the wall the farther away the more the light will fall lower on the wall - if it didn't do that the light and the ground would never intersect and I'd be UFO hunting instead of looking for squirrels... My point was that my garage is not long enough to get 25' away so my low beam falls somewhere between the 36.5" centerpoint of my headlight and the 34.5" "two inches lower" mark on the wall as expected since I can't get the bike far enough from the wall to allow the angle to max out at 25'. Once I can get 25' away from something I can take a look to see if it hits the 34.5" mark - in any case my headlight hits the ground (so it's not pointing up), I don't tail gate, didn't have a passenger, have lost 95lbs (so the bike should be higher in the back), was going down hill and didn't have the high beams on so I have come to the conclusion that while my headlight may be a little off the cager in front of me was being a total knob. Regards, gp
  18. george_park
    To be clear I want my headlight to be properly angled so that I don't blind anyone and so that I can see at night. I'm not going to try and irritate anyone (especially those driving a 2 ton block of iron at me), although I may do that by default.. I've been riding with my light at its current setting for 2 years without complaint, it's recently passed inspection, has a full charge of air, is not lowered, etc. If I'm 10-12' from the distance used to calibrate the light I would expect it to be high so I'm not saying it is ok - although it might be. For instance mine is at the 36.5" height from the ground to the center of the lamp @ 15' with me sitting on the bike while at low beam from 25' it should hit at 34.5" (and according to PA State code no more than 4" off center). Once I can get it to 25' (and out at night) I'll know for sure if it's OK and that cager was nuts / a general grump or if I was blinding him thorough the rear view. In any case I can't remember ever slamming on the brakes when there were a set of maladjusted low beams sitting behind me...
  19. george_park
    Thanks all, since my headlight caused someone to take an action that could have caused serious injury or death it caught my attention but as we all know cagers seem to run hot/cold with cycles. My garage is only about 18' long so 25' is going to be a problem as I've a sloping downhill driveway - I'll have to find a place I can take care of it. At 17' it's only slightly above the center line. I'm not too far away from Valley Forge Park and ride with (and maintain the web site for), among others, the Valley Forge Chapter of STAR Touring #326. We get to MD quite a bit - nice roads, nice people and real good eating. Any talk of a Venture Rider meetup in this area? Regards, gp
  20. george_park
    Hello all, I was riding tonight when some &$%!!## stopped dead in front of me and the person I was riding with and pulled slightly to the side of the road. At a stop light a half mile ahead we were turning left, the putz in the car pulled up beside me to go right and said "your high beams are on". When I told him they were not (showed him) he said they were too bright and in his eyes. Yeah, he stopped in front of me because he does not know how to flip up his mirrors and no, I wasn't really happy about that and kindly let him know it. Even though I felt bad that I may be blinding someone with my Silverstar bulb it wasn’t worthy of a possible death sentence. And no, I didn’t do the typical freak out thing, while he might not like bikers I didn’t want to fuel the fire. When I got home I checked to see what the official "correct" headlight height was for where I live (SE PA). I can't find it. Fog lights yeah, the big shiny light – nah. So I looked on line. Ooookay… 17’, 20’, 25’ – the only thing people seemed to agree on was “measure to the center of your headlight and then down two inches” for where the low beams are supposed to be. It seems pretty elementary to have a measurement for the headlight – can anyone help me here with the “official” way to aim a headlight? Thanks, gp
  21. george_park
    Just hop on anywhere and take a ride, out to Lancaster, towards Hershey, take a detour through the towns along the way (find the Windmill - go up the big Hill, great ride!). There are some really great roads in PA - time to post 'em! gp
  22. george_park
    I'm getting ready to install the Baron's rear kit (just arrived, burned a gift certificate at the dealer - 4 weeks later here it is...) and was wondering how it impacted the overall ride (better handling, etc) and how easy/difficult the installation was. I'm going to have the dealer install the front lowering kit (BA-7503RS Baron's performance front lowering kit) when it's in for service. We have a few lowered RS and they had the dealer lower the front forks when they were in for service, seems like they are really used to doing it - I would be worried I would have one longer than the other :-) Regards, gp
  23. george_park
    If the wiring is cracked and the damage is localized you can look to retool the wiring using splices, solder and shrink wrap but I would still recommend replacing the harness and doing it yourself. If the wiring is cracked and moisture has gotten in it's probably just a matter of time before you have other problems as the cables foul up or decay. The new harness will [hopefully] be made of newer wire better able to handle the heat - if not you can also try to rerun the cabling away from the heat or sheild it (carefully). My 2 cents, Regards, gp
  24. george_park
    I cut mine by 3 inches (took it to a local glass company). I recommend measuring what you want cut only after you change your seat! Once I changed seats and rode a little higher maybe I would have only gone 2 inches. I cut mine down because in the rain I could not see a thing (the fine "after rain" dirt was impossible to see through). Regards, gp
  25. george_park
    Pipes: a. Loud: Barons Bag Slash: BA-1030-00 b. Pretty Loud: Baron's 4:2:4: BA-1000-00 c. Quiet to Loud: R-Mark Harley Muffler Conversion kit (look on ebay) + stock RK mufflers (or any of the CVO mufflers. NOTE: You will need some high temp RTV sealer for these applications. Luggage Rack: a. Yamaha: STR-5VP51-30-00 b. Custom World International: CWI-05-2622 NOTE: You can use these for mounting a rear box in many cases. Lowering: a. Using two kits for front and rear - BA-7530-00 Baron's rear lowering kit and BA-7503RS Baron's performance front lowering kit b. Using the rear kit and revising the front forks with spacers BA-7502-00 and GVEs (Gold Valve Emulators) c. Using the rear kit and having your dealer move the fork tubes up in the front. Pegs: a. Kuryakyn Longhorn Offset Dually Highway Pegs - 1" Clamps: 7980 The lower engine bars are 1" Floorboard lowering (passenger): a. The way the stock boards are mounted to the frame you will need to make some mods to mount another vendors boards - up until the '01s Kuryakyn had splined adapters; Cobra, CWI and Jardine all make floorboards. b. An adapter of some kind to move the stock ones down? Lights: Tough call there, people opt for the $50 Walmart or $400 Kuryakyn... a. Yamaha Halogen: STR-4NK35-10-01 b. Baron's: BA-3006-00 c. Kuryakyn: Bullets - KY-2305; P-Clamp or other mounts; Bolts - KY-2289 Seat: I'll add this... Keep an eye on the seat, don't cut your windshield until you modify it! a. Rick Baker stock seat mod - See this site, very comfortable b. Mustang - This will raise you up - passenger as well (floorboard issue taken care of? c. Corbin d. Ultimate Good luck, gp
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