saddlebum

Not necessarily, If it were a huge miss-alignment maybe but that is highly unlikely. On the other hand a small misalignment could take quite a while, even years to develop into a leak. You have to keep in mind the seal is flexible and to some degree forgiving when it comes to alignment issue but even it has its limitations. I work with seals on a regular bases from 1/4 inch diameter up to 10 inch and occasionally larger seals as part of my job and have seen all kinds of seal issues including seals improperly installed that should have leaked almost immediately go for thousands of miles before they did. On another note I am curious about wht you don't like about the E4. I am on my second set have been quite happy with them other than I found after a while the rubber got hard before the tire wore out and started loosing grip in the corners.

When you pull it apart don't be surprised if you find it already has progressives installed by a previous owner. I pulled both my 89s apart and found both had progressives in them already. They are identifiable by the longer overall length and the closer spacing of the coils at one end. When installing progressives I always install the tight group to the top so as to not increase the live weight to the lower half of the forks.

Cause it's the computer age And those computer geeks love to invent their own language just so the rest of us earthly folk remain in a state of perpetual confusion.

If the lower size goes in freely and the upper size does not go in at all, I am happy. Keep in mind, though its true clearance decreases with, age this usually occurs mainly during the break in period 1st 60,000 miles after that they really don't change all that much and IMHO too loose means more engine noise and reduced valve opening.

Except for the dried blood from the beating I would endure if Marita ever caught me doing that.

I agree with Marcarl. you could over torque the axle nut to the point of stripping the threads and you still will not hurt the seal. If the seal is worn the usually factors are age, bearing wear or (and this may be a bit far fetched ) misaligned pumpkin. Before you reassemble it, loosen off the four nuts on the drive shaft tube just enough to allow some rotational movement in the tube. snug up your axle but not to full torque. re tighten the driveshaft tube nuts and then perform final torque on the axle nut. Having said all that don,t forget to check the axle bearings before you reassemble it.

Wow it almost sounds like he hit deliberately. More than likely he was on his cell and did not look up before he pulled ahead. Glad your around to talk about it those type of accidents tend to be a lot worse.

What you got against 1st gens? You prejudice or what? Or are we just too dang fast to see ? As far as the third gen goes I cannot say I was overly impressed. Maybe I expected more due to all the hype but after road testing the one at WNY rally I was more than happy to climb back on my 1st. Gen. It seemed to me the throttle on my 1st gen was more responsive feeling a bit of delayed response on the 3rd gen. I also was not crazy about the engine vibration coming up through the seat. And finally waiting for the bike to go through its checks before firing up versus just turning the key and go was something I was not fussy on. ( Not that I plan on robbing any banks ) Otherwise I thought it was a very nice bike, ride and handling was great but I would not give up my 1st gen for it and I really do prefer the V4. Now if I was in need of another bike and was looking to get a new one it would for sure be at the top of my list of bikes to consider. Like @sleepy2 says it really does boil down to personal preference on this bike.

The descant air dryer comes apart real easy, there is a snap ring at one end you just press the end plate in a bit so you can remove the snap ring, then carefully remove the end plate as there is a spring behind it. then there is a screen and a filter to remove. Behind that is the desiccant. You can buy the desiccant pretty cheap from places that sell automotive painting equipment, as well as harbor freight in the US or princess auto in Canada. It comes in various size packages and is used to replace the desiccant in spray painting air dryers. just replace the amount poured out of the dryer with the same amount. When you reassemble push the end plate back in far enough to reinstall the snap ring. how far back is not an issue as long as you can get the snap ring in. A little shot of air into the fitting hole will pop it into place. Another trick I heard some have tried is to simply remove the desiccant place it on a tray in a small oven and dry it out then reuse it, I my self have not tried it as we don't have a small oven and my wife closely guards the big one ever since I used it to warm a pair of boots so the waterproofing wax would melt well into the leather.

everything I save turns into junk and everything I ever tossed became valuable......Go figure

That was the day I stopped following directions

Yup that's the way @Marcarltold me how to do it the first time I did them. then he quickly moved and stood at the other end of the garage as I proceeded to follow his directions.

If once you drain the air down as far as possible using the manual setting on the class control panel and if there is still air left in it you can slowly loosen the air line either at the forks or at the compressor unit at the rear of the bike to finish bleeding off any air that may be left in the system.

Track? As In she knows were I am? As in she can find me? As in theres no hiding from Her? Not even in the garage or basement?

Wow that has to be the fluke of all flukes. Glad you came out of it ok as it really could have been a lot worse and within hair of being so. I hope you had spare underwear, jeans and boots cause I imagine they were not in the most sociable condition after that incident.

So thats why its called a power washer. It requires good shoulder power to make it run.

ALL this time I thought you was befriend'jn me you was only just informing on me......I'm hurt why do you think I sneaked over to Carls house? of course that was before I knew he was an informant

Use Permatex gasket remover on the stater and other clear coated parts. It will remove the clear coat. No more clear coat streaking.

Are you insinuating I only volunteered so as to get outa peeking in to the honey do jar. That is so unfair. To make such an assumption. and then to publicize your unfounded guessing. Ok so maybe there is just a teeny weenie smidgen of truth to that but I ain't-a-gonna admit it

Sorry you ended up a victim of Murphy's Law. Hopefully the rest of it goes a lot smoother despite the extra work you are now into.

Sure you already tried but is there enough lip to grab with vise grips ? Now if you have a welder protect the surrounding area ( home dept sells plumbers flame protector which is great for this ) https://www.homedepot.ca/product/oatey-bagged-9-x-12-flame-protector/1000420496 Cover the head but make hole where the lifter is. Weld a bolt with the head cut off. Grind a 1/8" shoulder on the cut end and then weld the cut end, to the top and center of the lifter. The bolt should be long enough with ample thread length at least 1-1/2 times longer than the length of the lifter. Use stainless welding rod it tends to not make as brittle a weld as other rods when welding to hardened steel ( if you only have an AC welder instead of a DC welder make sure the rod spec states it can be used with AC otherwise go with 6013 rod. Use a rod less than 1/8 say about 3/32 0r 1/16 ). A mig welder will also work. Bend a flat bar into a deep U shape to bridge the hole and deep enough for the lifter to come up into. Drill a hole in the center for the bolt go through put a nut on it and draw the lifter out. (you can also use a piece of pipe deep enough and large enough for the lifter to fit into. Cut enough out of the side of the pipe so you can see whats happening as you attempt to draw the lifter out. Drop a washer larger diameter than the pipe on top and over the bolt add the nut and start to draw the lifter out. Another trick is to weld a long threaded rod to the lifter drop something heavyish like a deep heavy socket over the rod double nut the end and use as a slide hammer ( in this case I am not a big fan because the shock of the slide hammer blows may be too aggresive and instead of drawing out the lifter it may only succeed in cracking the weld. WARNING; MAKE SURE YOU TAKE ALL PRECAUTIONS WITH REGARDS TO ANYTHING FLAMMABLE AROUND THE WORK AREA AND BE AWARE EVEN OIL GIVEN ENOUGH HEAT CAN IGNITE SO USE EXTREME CAUTION.

Vash ....Vat is dis vash..

Yes Carl thanks for the effort but it appears the deck was stacked against this round. Next year may be a better round.