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LilBeaver

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Everything posted by LilBeaver

  1. Yup, that's what I use too. For what it is worth, my rears wear evenly as one may or may not be able to see from the picture.
  2. Good to know!! I'm due for a clearance check and am certainly not looking forward to it...
  3. Here are the rears that I said I was going to post and had forgotten about...
  4. Ironically, after writing that last post I went out for some lunch. Some doofus pulled up next to me, in my same lane I pushed the horn button and got nothing but the stock 'tweet'. I was disappointed to say the least. Turns out my voice carries quite well though... Yesterday I had my annual Texas mandated 'safety inspection' and it worked fine then. Looks like I'll have some troubleshooting to do when I get home... Regardless, here is the picture.
  5. Now THAT is talent!!
  6. I guess I will be the odd one here. Mine has marks in the top of it (I'll get a picture up later). i don't know if it is melting or if it is just marred from the vibrations and dinking up against the heat shield. It still toots, so that is really what matters to me.
  7. Hey Jack, I don't know when the last time you changed/flushed your coolant, but since you are going to be replacing those plugs it really isn't that much more work to go ahead and do the coolant too. Just a thought.
  8. Your logic is fine but I believe that many have reported (myself included) that the odometer is not nearly as far off as the speedometer is. I believe all you could safely say is that your actual mileage is somewhere between 54000 and 60000kms. Hope that helps.
  9. Glad to hear that you all are okay. Thanks for checking in.
  10. I made a similar run last July (Followed US 101 most of the way). Vancouver down to Sacramento, mostly coastline. A few comments that I have: 1) There was an absolute TON of traffic (for what it is worth, it was a Thursday) 2) Average moving speed was really quite slow which was a bit disappointing although I was on a bit of a time table to get home and tried to pack too much into the couple days I had to get home. 3) I was absolutely astonished at how much the weather varied. As can be seen in my pictures, it went from 90+ and sunny to cloudy, damp, uncomfortable and ~40 degrees in a matter of 15 minutes or so. I turned inland for a while to warm up and stay dry and the temps were back up with clear skies again. 4) The riding was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I would love to do it again. My preference would be to find some time that would be much less populated than it was and now that I know what kind of pace to expect, I would plan to make it more of a leisurely trip than what I had done. 5) I thought that Washington was not nearly as pretty as Oregon but if I were to do it again, I would still ride through Oregon (Unless I was up against some time constraints). As far as things to see, "crater lake" would be worth a visit if you have the time I don't know how helpful this is but feel free to ask if you think I can be of more help. Have a great trip!!
  11. Metric hardware is not carried 'everywhere' and you may have a limited selection but I have had good luck at various Home Depot, Lowes and Ace Hardware stores. Just take an old bolt in with you and use the little 'sizing card/sample' thing-a-ma-jig and you'll be set. You could always get extra long bolts and a few of those chrome 'tube' spacer thingies if you wanted your lamps further away from your fairing. I have one of the 'ugly' spacer blocks in mine MOSTLY because the way mine were positioned one was resting up against the fairing and the other was within 1/4" or so. I don't really know why it is like that but that is how it was. Don't forget your dielectric grease while you are picking up your bolts!
  12. I just heard from a friend of mine and then saw some pictures on the news; looks like Tuscaloosa got nailed pretty good. Luckily my friend is okay, she was not home when it ripped through but she still has not been able to get back to her house. My initial thought was that I hope that all of our members in that area are okay, and I do think that, but really - I hope that everyone else is able to pull through as best as possible...
  13. Haha - Been there done that Far more times than I'd like to admit. To answer this question it is important to understand the actual purpose of using the dielectric grease. Dielectric grease, as the name suggests, is a substance that is electrically non-conductive with the main purpose of helping prevent corrosion build up, oxidation, etc on the electrical contacts caused by moisture that will collect on the contacts themselves. In light of this, you want to balance the amount to allow for good covereage and protection of the electrical contacts but not TOO much so that you are insulating (and thereby preventing) electrical contact all together. In essence, "a little dab will do ya". After you have completely cleaned each connector you indent on using this stuff on, put a little dab on each pin then firmly press the connectors together, then separate and inspect. You are looking to make sure that the pins are finley coated without having excess 'globs' of the grease anywhere. It is not an exact science, in fact, once you get it all cleaned and everything connected up - do a complete test of your radio and communication system to make sure everything works fine. If all is good then you can button everything up and not worry about it. If you find something doesn't seem to function correctly; clean and reinspect the appropriate connector and try again. As long as you use the grease sparingly, you shouldn't have a problem. My notes from an older thread basically explaining the same thing but the O.P. in that thread asked if there would be any problems associated with using dielectric grease on any of the other connectors: The only 'problem' you may encounter when using [the dielectric grease] directly on the connectors (where it ought to be used) is if you put too much of it on. You want enough to provide a very light coat, but [the dielectric grease] IS an insulator - so use it sparingly but keep in mind that the metal on metal contacts are pretty tight so the grease will move as they get plugged in. If you are unsure (or even if you just want to potentially save yourself from having to take it all part again) you can do the following: 1) Disconnect and reconnect each connector several times (to clean the pins) 2) Spray some QD Electric contact cleaner (or equivalent electric contact cleaner) rather liberally on both the male and female connectors - Use caution as you probably don't want this stuff touching a painted (or plastic) surface for an extended period of time. 3) Connect and disconnect several more times 4) use compressed air to blow out each side (and to make sure the cleaner is completely dried) 5) Put a dab of the grease on each connector before reconnecting -- disconnect and connect one more time if you'd like to make sure that you have good electrical contact in each connector and wipe up the excess grease (off of the rubber housings) 6) Turn the bike to the ACC position and test your radio, communications, etc. 7) If all seems to function appropriately, then turn bike off and reassemble. If NOT, then disconnect the connectors, start over but use less grease. Other methods for doing this exist, this simply is what I find works for me. CAUTION: Be very careful when you are buying your tube of grease to make sure that you pick up the DIELECTRIC grease and NOT the conductive grease. There are appropriate applications for conductive grease, but this is not one of them. Hope this helps
  14. Absolutely! Sounds like you've got it figured out!
  15. Oops, Just saw your post. Sorry, nothing new as of yet. We didn't end up getting out last weekend due to the weather and the holiday. The weekend before that I was out of town. We'll see how this weekend goes though,
  16. Shaun: I am really tired so this may be a really dumb question but here it goes: Are you saying that there is a 'special' ride like a pro, that is specifically for the 'tail of the dragon'? Or is your statement that there is a retailer located in that area that sells the RLAP videos?
  17. No kidding, these specs are about what I see on my RSV... and WE have the bigger tank!?!?
  18. When was the last time you cleaned the carbs and how often is this bike ridden? Reason I ask is that I had a 96 Bandit 600 for a while and even AFTER I cleaned the carbs (took off, disassembled, dipped, etc etc) and even after that if it sat for a few weeks it would run terribly until fresh fuel with a little sea-foam ran through it. So if you haven't cleaned the carbs recently or if it sat for a while, you may have partially clogged jets or whatever... It may not simply be a carb sync issue. Just a thought.
  19. Thanks boss, how about 1sttenor?
  20. I have read of a member or maybe two that have had issues with the part that the sidestand mounts to bending. I believe one of them happened when strapped to a moving trailer or something. Inspecting the sidestand for cut marks where someone may have shortened it as well as the mounting location for damage may have bent the mounting ponit. Regardless, as already stated - what you describe is not normal.
  21. If by 'business attire' you are meaning suit/tie type arrangement - I agree with nicely folding the jacket and putting it in the trunk over whatever else you have and that ought to be just fine. If by 'business attire' you mean a uniform, duty belt and all - for the time that I worked for a small department I kept my uniform, duty gear and all in saddlebags and the trunk and just changed when I got in. At some point I managed to keep 3 or 4 days worth in my locker and just transport the essentials back and forth with me which would then need to include a large bag at some point to transport the old dirties to get cleaned and the clean ones back in. Also this was not on my RSV, but the other bikes I had did have hard luggage. It seems that there are plenty of good ideas here though so you can get it figured out.
  22. Nicely done. Nice lookin scoot too! Although, I certainly do not envy you having to repack that every morning after an overnight stop!
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