Archive for the ‘Motorcycle Gear’ Category

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New Mirror On The Concours

Monday, October 10th, 2022

Now all I had to do was figure out how to mount it.

I tried to find a used mirror at Steele’s–with no luck–and when I looked on the Concours Owners Group forum to see if anyone was parting a bike out I found one note that said “don’t waste everyone’s time asking for a used mirror, just buy one from Murph’s.” So I did.

By the time the new mirror arrived I had pretty well figured out what I needed to do. First I needed to remove the windshield, which was easily accomplished by removing the screws along its base. Easy enough. Then I needed to remove one screw just inside the base of the windshield, which was now reachable because the windshield was off. Then reach in each of the two pockets in the fairing and take out one screw in each spot. Theoretically the dashboard of the fairing then comes off. In reality, that took some jockeying and trial and error. Plus, I was concerned about getting it back on again. But I managed.

Now I’ve got access to the mounting bolts.

Then it was a simple job to undo the two bolts holding the mirror assembly onto the fairing. And it turned out not to be difficult to put it back together. Could it really be this easy?

No. I now had the new mirror on but it would hardly move. That armature within the accordion boot connecting the mirror to the fairing was supposed to allow the mirror to be moved in and out, up and down, and rotated on its axis. It would not do these things. Now what?

 Here’s what broke. That ball and socket are supposed to allow the movement of the mirror.

With the old mirror off I could now take it apart and see just how it worked and what had broken. There’s a ball and socket and the socket had been snapped. But you’ll also notice the big nut there holding the two together. I reasoned that if that thing was loosened it would allow the joint to move freely. But how do I get to that nut?

Here’s where logic and common sense come into play. To get inside I had had to first disassemble the mirror housing. There is a deep cup and a thin border piece. I slipped a thin screw driver between the two and popped them apart, then popped the mirror itself out. Now I could remove the bolt that attaches the housing to the armature.

The rubber boot was like a bag with the open end at the mirror side and at the fairing side there were just two holes in the bottom of the bag for the attaching bolts. To get inside I had to come from the mirror side. Peeling back the boot gave me access to the big nut.

This was very good. At first I had thought I might need to take the fairing apart again but when I saw all this it meant I would not need to do that. Phew!

So I loosened that nut a bit and tried flexing the armature. Sure enough, it moved the way it is supposed to. Hooray! Then it was just a matter of reassembling the housing. But that didn’t want to work.

The thin border piece that was supposed to snap onto the deep cup would not hold. Close examination showed that what holds those two pieces together are small tabs on the cup side that a lip on the border side is supposed to slip over. When I had popped the border piece off it apparently had not just slipped over the tabs, it had broken many of them off. Dang.

At this point I was ready to just get it done, so I took some small strips of the Gorilla Tape I had used to temporarily fix the broken mirror and used them to hold the two housing pieces together in strategic spots. Kludgey once again but I can live with it. And now I’ve got two functioning mirrors again.

Biker Quote for Today

No therapy in the world can do what burning a tank of gas, chasing the setting sun can do for you.

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Posted in Kawasaki, Motorcycle Gear | No Comments »

A Fruitless Trip To Steele’s

Wednesday, September 28th, 2022

Multiply this scene by a lot and you’ll have an idea what a visit to Steele’s is like.

I dropped the Concours and busted the left mirror when we were in Angel Fire so I’ve been looking to get that fixed.

I checked online and a replacement is available from about $95 to $150, depending on if its new or used and who you buy it from. I wondered if I could get a better price from a salvage yard. Time to check with Steele’s. They have a website and on the site they tell you you can send them a message asking if they have what you need. I tried that but after no reply over a week I just got on the CB750 and rode on over there.

   This is a Concours but this is not a stock mirror.

First I checked in at the front desk and the guy checked in their computer to see if they had one listed in there. No. So he told me I could go look around the yard myself. He told me not to just take something off one of the wrecks, but to shoot a photo and come back to them and they’d decide who should do what.

I don’t know if you’ve ever walked around in a motorcycle salvage yard but it’s kind of like a fantasy land. In fact, after I’d looked at what they had out front and didn’t find anything I was about to leave when another employee asked me if I’d checked in. Yes I had, but I didn’t find anything. Oh, there’s more, he said. It goes all the way around the building. “Have fun.” So I went and looked further.

Lots of side panels but not the one I would want.

I did find three Concourses but they were all in almost totally stripped-down shape. No mirrors, except on one. And these were not the stock mirrors, they were clearly aftermarket. This suggested to me that busting a mirror was not all that uncommon, and some people opted not to replace with stock.

Around back I found shopping cart after shopping cart filled with assorted side panels. Many years ago I did lose one side panel off my Honda but I found a replacement. Still, it is from a different year so it doesn’t actually match, even though it fits. I figured if I came across the real thing I would at least ask what they wanted for it. No dice. Lots and lots of side panels but not the one I want.

The dogs were having fun.

Different parts of the yard were devoted to different things. In one section there were lots and lots of wheels. There were great numbers of stripped frames. And there were all kinds of bikes in all kinds of condition just in pieces everywhere you looked.

There were also the proverbial junkyard dogs, although during business hours I guess these guys are friendly enough. They were rough-housing so hard and so obliviously that twice they crashed right into me as they chased each other around, having a ball.

I didn’t find anything. I’ll have to get something online. But it was worth the run over there.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: If your motorcycle doesn’t look good, you can paint it or get better parts.

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Posted in Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle problems, motorcycle touring | No Comments »

Stock Or Aftermarket?

Thursday, September 8th, 2022

Now here we’re talking seriously making a bike your very own.

I’ve read more than once how one of the things bikers love about their motorcycles is customizing them and making them uniquely their own. Sometimes this means practical things like a more comfortable seat and other times it’s basically just farkles.
What the heck is a farkle? In a 2017 article by that name in Rider magazine, Jenny Smith offered this definition:

Farkle (n): A modification to a motorcycle that satisfies the following criteria: creates “bling,” serves a purpose (the usefulness of which is in the eyes of the farkler) and is most likely expensive. Often used among touring riders to denote or convey status amongst their peers. Ex: “I picked up a new farkle for my ST today: a GPS-based burger joint locator!” (v): To farkle; to accessorize one’s motorcycle with farkles. Ex: “Boy, John really farkled out his K1300GT; it’s even got a cup holder!”

I got to thinking about this the other day when I spotted a 1980 Honda CB750 Custom at 1 Up Four Down while getting a new tire on my V-Strom. Asking about the Honda the guy told me there was a problem with an aftermarket exhaust system. He then asked me if I still had the stock system on my Honda. Yes I do.

One thought leads to another–the proverbial train of thought–and that’s how we got here: a discussion of my own practices regarding farkles and aftermarket equipment.

In short, I’m not much into farkles but I do modify my bikes to make better them fit me and my style of riding. When I bought my first bike, the Honda, I immediately added a windshield. I have never enjoyed the powerful blast of wind against my head and chest so I added that right away. Then Bill and John and I started going on longer rides and I discovered I needed highway pegs and a throttle lock. Plus I got a case guard to protect the motor in case of a get-off.

That’s it, that’s all I’ve ever done to the bike other than replacing the sissy bar pouch it came with when that rotted away.

Next came the Concours and another immediate purchase: risers. Stock, that bike had me leaning way forward and very uncomfortable. I got some Helibar risers that moved the grips up and back a couple inches and it was a night and day difference. I wouldn’t have been able to ride that bike without them.

Then of course I had to get a throttle lock. But adding highway pegs was a tougher project. There didn’t seem to be any good way to do it, and the not so good ways meant doing permanent damage to the body work. Then Murph save the day and came out with a cantilevered solution that allowed you to mount the pegs without cutting into your plastic. Done.

That was it for a long time, until last year I finally satisfied a desire and got a top bag with a good mount to hold it. And that’s all I’ve ever done with that bike.

Comes the V-Strom and it already had aftermarket Givi side bags so I didn’t need much. Of course I added a throttle lock but I also put on a case guard and highway pegs. Then a top bag and that bike is set. What more could I need?

Well, of course, I do have tank bags for all three bikes, just as I have saddle bags for the Honda but those are not added on as parts of the bikes, they readily come right off and would not go with the bike if I ever let go of one of my bikes.

Yeah, if the aftermarket depended on people like me there would be a much smaller aftermarket. But mostly that market depends on people like Dennis, who is now on his fifth or sixth bike in the 15 or so years I’ve been riding with him. Somebody has to keep the wheels of commerce turning and I figure better him than me.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when your biggest decision of the day is left or right.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear | No Comments »

New V-Strom Tire, Hello To A Cousin

Monday, September 5th, 2022

1 Up 4 Down and Let It Ride are right next door, which makes things extremely convenient.

I’ll be leaving soon on this year’s OFMC trip and I plan to ride the Concours. So I got a new tire put on the V-Strom.

You have to understand, one of the best things about having more than one motorcycle is that if you’re planning to ride and find at the last minute that the bike you planned on has an issue, you just take a different one. I’ve run into that situation more than once.

Most recently, I was loading my Concours the night before departure on the Great River Road ride and found that the valve stem on the rear tire was totally rotted out. I immediately unloaded and moved everything to the V-Strom. I don’t expect anything like that this time but I wanted to be prepared just in case.

And man was that front tire in need of replacement. It wasn’t down to the cords or anything like that, but ever since I’ve had that bike I’ve run 80-20 Shinko tires that have an 80 percent bias for street riding but a chunkier tread that provides the 20 percent bias toward dirt. The thing is, in reality I don’t get off on the dirt all that much, but this tire doesn’t seem to like the pavement very much so it had a really odd wear pattern.

In fact, the guy at One Up Four Down, where I had the work done, commented on what an odd wear pattern it had, how the cupping was very unusual. Basically, the chunky tread along the outside was still thick but sloped down to almost nothing diagonally at an angle, while the inner portion of the tread was almost down to the DOT lines. Weird.

So I decided OK, I’ll just go with street tires. The guys next door at Let It Ride, where I bought the tire, recommended a Metzeler so that’s what I got.

   A 1980 Honda CB750 Custom just like mine.

In the meantime, while the guys were putting the new tire on I looked around at all the bikes they had in the repair shop. In the front of the shop, in an area where I was told the bikes were either ready to be picked up or were waiting for parts to arrive I spotted something very startling: A 1980 Honda CB750 Custom exactly like mine, except looking a lot more shiny and polished than mine.

It seems this bike, though, has an aftermarket exhaust system that has gone to crap and now they’re having a hard time finding something to replace it with. I still have the stock exhaust on mine and it works fine so whoever took theirs off and replaced it might have made a bad decision.

But there it was, looking very pretty and otherwise probably in a lot better condition than mine. I’m glad to see there are still others out there loving this old bike.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 38. “Am I dating an adult or a 10 year old” you’ll wonder sometimes.

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Posted in Kawasaki, Motorcycle Gear, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Two Batteries, Both Claim ‘Best’

Thursday, August 25th, 2022

Yeah, getting in here under the seat to push a button to jump start the bike would be a heck of an inconvenience.

I’ve had motorcycle batteries on my mind recently because one of my bikes has one that is a bit long in the tooth. I’ve had battery troubles while on the road before and I’d rather be preemptive than have to interrupt a trip with problems.

So it was with some interest that within two days I got emails, both from Adventure Rider, about two hot new batteries, both claiming to be the best ever. One is by Shorai and the other is Antigravity. I’ve never heard of either of them. So what do ya got?

Shorai says this: “Originally founded in 2010 in Sunnyvale, CA, Shorai LFX has quickly become the world’s most popular lithium iron phosphate power sports battery. Shorai LFX™ batteries deliver more energy faster, with less weight and with less wear on the battery per start cycle than any other brand or technology available on the market today.”

I figured I’d take a look at what they have for my 1999 Concours. Wrong. Their selections don’t go back to that model, so I looked at other model bikes that might use the same battery. What I came to was the Shorai LFX21A6-BS12, which listed at $245.95. OK, that’s pricey. Maybe check for a battery for the 2006 V-Strom 650.

OK, that brought me to the Shorai LFX18A1-BS12, which lists for $209.95. That’s still a bit high but I guess it depends on what you get for the money. And that’s actually kind of hard to get a handle on. Not surprisingly these lithium batteries are much lighter than their lead-acid counterparts and they claim to provide better starting power. How long will this thing last? I can’t find anything on the website that speaks to that.

And by the way, the lowest-priced battery in their line-up lists for $109.95. It gives the size specs so if that one works in the space you’ve got it might do the job. But all in all I’m not satisfied with the information provided.

As for Antigravity, they say: “THE BEST BATTERY EVER?!!!
That’s a bold statement… but we feel it holds true if you are looking for the best Starter Battery for your Motorcycle, Powersport vehicle, or even your Car. Antigravity Lithium Batteries offer a first-of-its-kind Built-In Jump Starting that will save you from being stranded; they also offer more REAL Amp Hours than competitors, which increases starting performance in cold weather and offers more overall Capacity for your Bike. Additionally, we have Heavy Duty (HD) versions for those needing even more capacity and power.”

OK, so one key thing here is their “built-in jump starting.” That is, even when the battery is theoretically dead, there is a separate compartment or reserve somewhere that holds onto enough juice to get you going so you can get out of the boonies to some place where you can get service. That could be a very handy thing.

Again, I could find nothing specified for my Concours but for the V-Strom they offer two, the ATX-12 RESTART and the ATX-12 HD RESTART, for $224.99 and $259.99, respectively.

Now here’s an interesting thing. To jump start when you’re otherwise dead you have to push a button on the battery. That’s not generally a very easy thing on most bikes so they also offer a remote device that makes it easier–at a price, of course.

They do also speak to battery life, claiming that their battery will last up to twice the life cycle of other lead acid and/or lithium batteries. And the battery comes with four posts, not two, so it will fit in your space and connect properly regardless of whether your set-up is oriented one way or the other.

So OK, maybe I’ll look into one of these Antigravity batteries. If I do you can bet I’ll have a follow-up report down the road.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you can’t find your oil filter.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle mechanics | No Comments »

Electronics And Motorcycling

Thursday, June 9th, 2022

There were times when we were right on the river bank but other times it was nowhere to be seen.

Along with pretty much all other aspects of our lives, electronics have infiltrated motorcycling, and it was very evident in this recent Great River Road ride I did with the RMMRC.

Right from the start we headed out with three people linked via helmet communicators. One, Dave, was in the lead, and Bob and Charley spaced themselves out throughout the group. This way Dave, up in front, was relieved of the age old concern of the leader to make sure everyone got through a light or saw we were turning. It was remarked that ideally, Roy, who always rides sweep, would be connected as well but Roy is pretty tech-phobic. So Charley stayed close to the back and reported to the front.

Several people had GPS units on their bikes, including Bob and Dave. As we were gearing up to take off from Patty Ann’s in Kiowa, Tom was fumbling with his GPS unit but unlike other times he had used it he could not get the suction cup to hold onto the inside of his windscreen. He finally gave it up rather than continue to delay because we were all just sitting there waiting for him. I don’t think he ever tried using it again the rest of the trip.

This trip had been planned as one in which each person would go their own way, either alone or with a few others, following their own preferred itinerary, with the only constant being that at the end of the day we would all end up in the same place. Roy had distributed maps showing the general route and everyone had a sheet listing the stops each day. Plus, everyone now has a cellphone and with Google Maps and other tools there should be no one who can’t find their way.

It didn’t work out exactly like that. On the third day Tom got separated from the rest of us and I don’t know if he hadn’t looked at the general route, didn’t want to bother checking his phone for location and route, or what, but while the rest of us were headed to Hannibal, Missouri, he ended up heading away from the river, up through central Illinois in a direct route to Davenport, Iowa, our stop for the night.

Then, in Hannibal, we were talking at lunch and I said I intended to head off on my own. Bob was concerned:
But you don’t have GPS, do you?
No, but I can find my way.
Can you find your way to the motel in Davenport?
Yes.

Yes, of course I can, and I did. I have paper maps and I have my phone. What more do I need? But Bob said he has depended totally on GPS for years now. Does he mean he has forgotten how we got around before GPS? I haven’t.

And the GPS didn’t always do us such a good job. Entering Dubuque Dave was leading and I don’t know what difficulties he may have been having with GPS but we went every which way, turning around, retracing our steps, back and forth till we finally found our way out of town. That’s what I see as a weakness of GPS: if you miss one instruction you have to recalculate and go through contortions to get back on the route. When I travel I look at the roads before I get there and I know what I’m looking for and generally where I’m going so if I miss a turn it’s not hard to correct. And besides, maybe I want to take a different route than what GPS selects. With GPS as your only guide, if you just follow that arrow you don’t really know where you’re headed, you’re just following the arrow.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to technology. For one thing, with your phone you can zoom in on an area and see roads that even the best maps don’t show you. I love that. And being in voice contact with other riders is terrific. At least it is when someone gets separated from the group, or when you’re leading and can’t see the end of the group. I would not want to be one of those who are in constant touch the whole ride because I like living in my head all by myself when I’m riding. But it’s sure good to have at least a few people staying connected.

Regardless of whether you yourself use it or not, technology is here to stay and has changed motorcycle riding just as it has changed so many other aspects of our lives. I’d say on the whole it’s a positive. Just let’s not be totally dependent on it.

Biker Quote for Today

Run the race of life at your own pace.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle touring | 2 Comments »

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