nonextant

When I was a younger, more inexperience rider, in Phoenix, I had a major problem with "bluehairs" merging into my lane constantly. The irresponible part? My roomate taught me how to brace my leg like a jousting lance and send the "offenders" sideview mirror skipping across their hood. Not something I'm really proud of, but I was never run off the road either.

Well, I'm gonna order my tires tonight. Since my bike is used I'm not 100% that the correct tires are already on so I want to double check my sizes before I order. I'm going with Ronayers.com... best price I could find. I should have ordered from jakewilson last week, as I could have gotten both tires for $209. Not that 10 bucks will kill me or anything. 314411 ELITE 3 MR90-18 FRONT 1 http://www.ronayers.com/co/img/plus.jpg http://www.ronayers.com/co/img/minus.jpg $108.99 $108.99 314422 ELITE 3 MU90B16 REAR 1 http://www.ronayers.com/co/img/plus.jpg http://www.ronayers.com/co/img/minus.jpg $109.70 $109.70 Subtotal $218.69 Soon as you guys give me the ok I'll hit the checkout button... again, thanks for the help, as always... Mark

Well, I replaced my throttle cables yesterday. much smoother now. Still found a little sticking, but shot the throttle and upper cables with some WD-40 and now it snaps back like it should. Only thing left on the tuneup is syncing the carbs, changing the plugs and one final oil change. I've got most of my plastic either repaired or replaced (Thanks again, Bongobobny) I am finishing up rattlecanning them just so they match, but will probably strip them and take them to the paintbooth this winter. I still need to pull the wheels, but wanted to wait until my tires are ordered. I found a good price on elite 3s but forgot the sizes when I went to order. Will have to dig around on here again to make sure I have the correct sizes and then place the order. I also still need to fabricate and fiberglass my housings for the GPS and Radio controls, and need to buy some marine vinyl for the top of the fairing panels. I've bought a 2nd seat and have removed the cover for my old one. I need to order marine vinyl to recover that one and I'll be just about done. I am anxious to get the bike back on the road so I can start my next project. I've been looking to build up a lighter cruiser for my commute to work, while setting this bike up as my ultimate long distance ride. I finally got my lighter bike last week and want to start taking it apart. I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for their help and advise. It is so much easier to crack into a new project knowing the amount of experience and helpfulness available on here. Thanks again, everybody.

I hadn't thought of adapting my own headphones, so I will look into that... I like the idea of "repurposing" items (well I must, or I would just try and track down a stock CB/Radio/Cassette system and install it. perhaps I can take an old boombox or something and circuitbend it to use as a headphone amp. The amp for the helmet speakers is the biggest stumbling block right now, as most portable headphone amps I'm finding just boost the signal some... I'd rather install something that can control and amplify a line level signal.

Well, It turned out my channel for the return cable was a little tweaked... the cable wasn't all the way in. The throttle now returns, albeit very slowly.. I'll lube up the cables and see how it goes. All of the plastic is now off the bike and going through some much needed repair... many cracked pieces. Next big step will be removing the wheels... gotta go buy a couple of ratchet straps first.. Thanks to everyone for their help and input.. Mark

Well, Since I have the bike all torn apart right now... I figure it's time to start a project I've been long putting off. I bought a plain old vanilla venture. My previous bike was a BMW R1100RTP so I miss all the electrical doo-dads (that's right, I used doo-dads in a sentence) Anyway, I have an Idea of what I want on there. I have already got some of the items, and I know what I want for some others. I mocked up a rough diagram attached below. The Items with pictures are Items I already have or have picked out. I'm planning on running the XM audio through the input on the tablet pc.... that way, I can always hear the GPS nav prompts. I'll run the audio out from the tablet pc into a switch or splitter of some kind. The audio on one "branch" will run to a 2 channel amplifier powering the roadmasters in my fairing. the issue I am having here, is finding a suitable amplifier that has some kind of remote variable gain knob that I can mount on the fairing. If anyone seen anything please let me know. The only thing I've been able to find are some chinese products on ebay, and I'm leery of the quality. The other branch will run to an amplifier driving some helmet speakers. Again, I'm having trouble finding the right product here as well. I used to just plug my earbuds into the tablet pc, but I don't want to have to deal with in ear phones as helmet speakers are more convenient and don't hurt my ears on long rides. I'm concerned about volume being an issue though, and would rather have a fairing mounted volume control here as well. Lastly, does anyone have any recommendations for a good set of helmet speakers? I have a Schuberth Concept helmet, it that will affect the choices at all. I may add a CB at some point, and am thinking about a bluetooth cell phone kit. (It won't need to be wired in, as I won't talk on the phone while riding, but something on the "dash" so I know if my wife is trying to reach me I would appreciate any advice you may have, and maybe someone will have an even simpler way to accomplish the same goals. Thank you very much Mark

I did end up taking them back off. The biggest issue is that it's so hard to see in there, it's not very intuitive how it should fit.

nope, that's how it sits... granted when the slides are placed in the junction the cable lays across the cam like so....

just cant get the trottle to return. I pulled the cover on the linkage behind the left side fairing. All cables move smoothly until I slide them back into the housing. once reinstalled the throttle is a little stiff and no return still. I should also note, when loose from the housing, the throttle is smooth, but of course doesn't return on it's own. I want to double check my connection for the return cable at the carb, so I am attaching a pic. the cable is represented in red... the end "cylinder" is pink and the brass one is yellow. Any help is GREATLY appreciated... if you need photos of anything let me know. Thanks, Mark

Well, I finally got the cables back on. at least I think its correct.... On the return cable, the cylinder at the end (silver) is in the slot with the cable run through the guides... the other cylinder, (brass) is loose and rides on the "cam" My throttle now stays open (doesn't return when twisted) I forgot to wipe down the handlebars before putting the grips back on, so maybe theres some dust and sand in there... so now I need to undo the cables.... again... grrrrrrr. and remove the handgrip and clean it up real well and see what happens. It definitely feels more powerful, but now the idle is all jacked up. Wants to Idle really low but when the adjustment "knob" is used to raise it to 950, If I twist the grips then bring them back forward it wants to hover at about 3500. Biggest change I've noticed is how quickly it spins up to redline... much quicker than before. I'll be building my sync tool shortly and we'll see how it's doing once I've got all the carbs properly working together. Mark

The fitting I broke is.... well it's hard to describe. it's on the bottom rear of the number one carb. It looks like a black round plug thing that sticks out towards the inside of the carb assembly with a nipple facing down. the black hose (about 6" long) that attaches to the nipple feeds straight out the side of the carb assembly through a hole in the brass "frame" attaching #1 to #2. each carb has a similar hose for a total of two hoses sticking out per side. If you look below the diaphram covers, there is a sticker that says something about seeing the service manual before messing with the carbs. it is centered between the hose ends I'm talking about. I'll check the cable connection during daylight tomorrow. Can it be reattached with the carbs installed? I disconnected them with the carbs halfway out, so I could rotate them around some, but I'd hate to have to disconnect all the hoses again to pull it out some. I think I actually broke the fitting while I was removing the cable while the carbs were halfway out. I'll make sure I have some play in the cable, and thanks for your response. Mark

Well, finished up a great deal of carb cleaning today, and wanted to get everything installed in order to keep the dirt out. Getting the carbs back in the bike was much easier than removing them in the first place, with two notable issues... 1) I broke the fitting on the number one carb that attaches from the bottom inside front to a hose that runs out the side to the stick out of the piece with the service manual warning. I need to dig through the service manual to find out exactly what that hose does in order to determine how stressed out I should be about it. Is that fitting replaceable? 2) I was able to reconnect the choke cable and the throttle cable that is pulled when twisting the handgrip to accelerate, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to reconnect the other one. It's smack dab between the carbs and I just can't see or reach well enough to reconnect it. Is there a trick to hooking that one back up? I went ahead and put on the air box to keep dirt out in the meantime. While I had everything mostly hooked up, I cycled the key several times and cranked it over to see if it would run. Fired up with only a few cranks but wants to idle at 4k. I'm hoping the Idle is running so high due to the other cable being disconnected. Seems to be running much smoother and needed no choke to start for a change. I will need to replace 2 diaphrams (1 pinhole in each on the right side and #3 wasn't seated correctly by the PO so about a quarter of the edge is just smooshed. Filled up the tank with some heet to absorb what water was in the tank. Will continue that for the next few tanks then change the fuel filter. Will also start a "seafoam regimen". Next big job is tires. I'm debating wether to pull the wheels and take them up to be changed which will keep me off the bike till probably next week or to just drive the bike up and have them do it all, which will get me on the road as soon as I get the carbs sorted... hopefully tomorrow. Guess I should call and get some estimates. Next big project... the broken plastic. I was able to glue one lower side fairing back together... ugly but smooth and strong. Good excuse for custom paint. I'll have to fiberglass/rebuild the front 2 inches of the left side. I thought I had lost the front "crossmember" that holds the two peices together, but found it in a box in the barn today.. woohoo! The upper fairing has cracks around most of the bolt holes and the "glove box" doors are all looking pretty sad. (my bike doesn't have radio, cruise, cb, class, or any of the other cool guy stuff) I figure I need to go over and "glue/fiberglass" the cracks in the upper fairing and I might as well do some customizing there too. I'm thinking about filling out/rounding off the inset section below the turnsignals. that will allow me to increase the cargo space in the fairing quite a bit and I may inset some driving lights into the front of it. I'll probably scrap the "doors" and install some gadgets in the panels. I am certainly open to any suggestions and welcome any advice. I appreciate the help, once again. Thanks, Mark

First I wanted to thank you for the words of support. It's always nice to hear. Secondly, thank you for all the advice. I keep thinking about getting a newer bike, but frankly, I like a project. I would never learn half the maintenance techniques on a bike that rarely had major problems. It's great to know that there is an excellent safety net, here on this forum.

Well, back from Iraq and ready to hit the road.... well almost. In my Brigade, we're required to go through the MSF course everytime we return from a deployment... so..... I buy a battery, go get my tags renewed and drive up to the class. Here I am sitting next to 5 Harley Davidsons on my 84 XVZ1200 with no side plastics. (a note.... when you leave for 15 months, leave the tupperware on the bike... one of my wife's friends backed over all my right pannier and all my side plastic except the left side engine cover piece) Anyway, I digress.... So I'm sitting there with the Harley (all under 2k on the odometer by the way) and the instructors start thier safety inspection..... guess who needs new tires? I drive away.... denied. On the way home I have several problems I have previously posted here. Well, since it will be another payday before I can get new rubber... I undertake the dreaded thorough carb cleaning. I got the carbs off the bike and so far I have checked the left side diaphrams, rubber is good, just very dirty. I'll be off to buy carb cleaner tomorrow. I dread splitting the carbs, I wish I could get to the bowls without disassembling any further , but I'll just have to have at it. While I'm in there, I plan on replacing all screws with hex head screws as suggested here. I looked a a couple of assorted metric o-ring packs at auto zone, and am not sure if I should go that route or Just clean the ones I have as well as possible. Also, as my diaphrams seem good, when I put the covers back on, should I use a thin coat of sealant around the edges or do the old diaphrams seal well enough.... I mean, the things are probably over 20 years. probably never been changed as the cover screws were all stripped out. Anyway, the long winded reasons for this post: 1) I originally had rags stuffed into the inlet holes after removing the carbs, but It seems my dog had nothing better to do today than remove them from the bike..... all four of them. I have since put heavy duty freezer bags over them and secured them with the hose clamps. I am somewhat concerned about what might have gotten in, as Colorado is extremely windy this time of year. Does anyone have any suggestions as to any precautions I should take before reinstalling the carbs? should I stick a vacuum hose in there before I put the carbs on? 2) Right now, the carbs are off, the front fairing is still in place and the seat is awaiting an ebay replacement. I'll hopefully be taking the wheels off soon, so I can take them up to have the tires changed (not allowed to drive the bike up to the local deal... sometimes the army sucks). Is there any maintenance that has probably been neglected that should be done while the bike is this far apart. I'm already planning on greasing the splines and changing final drive fluids, and would welcome any suggestions. Thanks for all the help you guys always provide. Mark PS: I don't suppose anyone has an Idea where I can get most of the 1st gen plastic for cheap? I was able to glue one lower fairing (L shaped piece), and the other is only missing about 2" of the end that attaches to the front plastic "crossmember" I can probably fiberglass something up for that one, but no luck at all on all the rest.