What did I do to my bike today

[KevinB]

Farkles waiting for a host...

[LawnmowerRG]

New handle Bars
New bark busters
New lower crash bars
New luggage system
New tag

[LawnmowerRG]

Top box to come. I just didn't have the correct bolts and spacers.

[01YZF6]

I can't stress enough how important it is to check your bike before you ride!

Wanted to ride with my son the other day, so he goes out and does his tclocks pre-ride inspection.

Well he does mine too, and comes in to say "dad, you are not riding today"

While checking the tire pressure on my rear the valve stem all but disintegrated.
Now I change my stems very tire replacement, so I mam baffled.

Anyway, today I get off duty at 6 am, head to the store, get stems, and proceed to tear the back end of the bike off.  Get the bead broken, replace the stem and voila!  Back in business!


Hmmmmm..... nope!  I have air leaking somewhere, so I soap up the tire, and #$%@!  Me...

There are about 6 splits in the sidewall of the tire that air is seeping through.  Further inspection shows that the tire, which is less than an year old with about 2k miles on it, is actually beginning to separate where it meets the tread/carcass overlay.

Needless to say, I called the vendor I bought from, sent pics, and should hear back within 2 days.  Hopefully for a replacement to be sent!

I also emailed continental the same info.

These are contimotion , contipro series touring tires.

This will be my 3rd set in 5 years, and this is the first issue I have had.

So since the bike is up, and exposed , I decide to clean the Dickens out of it.  Wow the amount of inner swingarm gunk was atrocious!  Heheh

Decided I may as well bleed the rear brakes too, but that didn't happen.  When I pulled the caliper plate off , the pads all but crumbled apart too.   Sigh...

So i ordered some new pads too.  Sad part is the pads had at least 50% left on them. They were new 3 years ago.

Wtf Murphy, you can stop anytime!

[LRobinson]

Unloaded it - in the rain - after a 12 hour trip to get it. 

[VWCarlos]

Finally found the style rack I have been wanting for my bike. Now my luggage won't sit on my fender anymore!

[merc16]

With Alabama heat the way it is, I thought some cooling system service: thermostat, cap, hoses and better fan was in order.


out with the old fan..


in with the new Kewl Panasonic fan with custom bracket


all done for the heat now..

[Chitza]

Bought it and brung it home :D

[lazeebum]

New chain and sprockets. I switched from a 43 tooth rear sprocket to a 42 tooth.

Sent from my Z812 using Tapatalk

[Nice Goat]

I've been wanting to install highway pegs for over a year, but I have not been able to find any options that I like.  I decided to bite the bullet and install SW-Motech crash bars with the (whatever brand) highway pegs.  You have to remove all the side fairings to install an additional bracket, and I managed to shear the cooling line bolt after installing the right bracket.  I felt it go plastic and knew that I was screwed.  Luckily, enough of the stem was showing that I could grab it with the vise grips.  But I had to move the cooling line out of the way to do that.  May as well change the coolant too!

Broken bolt, replaced with 8.8 from my "cup o' bolts".



To drain the coolant, put the bike on the side stand, remove the radiator cap, and then remove this bolt (the stream will shoot out about a foot, so have a long catch container):



Drain the reserve tank also by disconnecting the hose at the radiator cap.



My OEM coolant was green, but I like pink, so...

Go to big box retailer and get distilled water (3 gallons) and new coolant (one gallon, no silicates).  I get the pre-mixed because I'm lazy.



Drain out green coolant, plug drain, fill with distilled water, drain, repeat, repeat.  Finally, you can put in new coolant.  Run bike to 210F, shut off, wait and check coolant levels.

Bolt replaced, I'm back on track with installation of crashbars.  Also installed a radiator guard and a fender extender.

All together, it took about six hours to do all of this.

Highway pegs





Fender Extender



Radiator Guard



As she sits...

[2smoke]

(Not done in one day  :o )  'Betavarna' kickstand

[Ryanbroome]

(Not done in one day  :o )  'Betavarna' kickstand

Looks great Smokes! Was it a lot of work or pretty much a bolt on project?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[2smoke]

Thanks Ryan! This was my second plate haha. The first one had too much wiggle with the mounting points close together. The spring on the stand is very strong. Cutting the plate to emulate the Beta frame tab was a bit time consuming trying to get it close. Used a small grinder, dremel, and file on 1/4 in plate. Man I wish that little grinder would hold a cutoff wheel. The grade 8 bolts/nuts from Fastenal should hold lol

[Nice Goat]

Got my other tire mounted today.  Had 2,444 miles on the original tires.  Both axles were basically dry, and I was getting a wierd semi-harmonic noise before I greased up the axles.  It's fixed now!

[IceCold4x4]

I just played in the back yard on the Kazuma.