| Author | Message | ||
     Vicenzajay |
Yeah - that's what I've been reading here over the last day. Wish I had known that earlier, because I know I've been running with those nuts overtorqued now for at least 6000 miles (when I changed out the Dunflops for the Pirellis). I suppose I've been lucky to date. The bike had been run for 15-20 minutes before we got to the shop. Probably sat for 20-30 minutes before it came to mind that I should check the bearings with the wheel off. Not sure if that qualifies as warmed up or not - probably not very warmed up, in retrospect. Love any further advice. Nothing I can do right now as I don't have a wrench/socket large enough to use on the rear axle nut to loosen it. I'll bring it back in to Nick's place and have him loosen and properly torque both rear and front nuts....hoping that not too much damage has been done. Today I sent Nick a complete service manual copy. I'm doing a good bit of maintenance myself, but some tooling/machinery I don't have - leading to needing to bring it in from time to time. From now on we're both going to review everything from soup to nuts in the manual. He's quite experienced and has a great reputation (and he's very fair), but he's obviously just learning about the Blast. | ||
| Speedcityles |
Yahooo! I am officially a Buell owner, now in Austin, Tx. Picked up a 2001 Blast from a friend who hadn't ridden it in 2.5 years. Truly looks brand new except where something spilled on front wheel. Knowing the way he usually cares for vehicles (& that I totally trust him) I am not too concerned that it is not currently running. So far on the list to do is, replace battery, change spark plug, oils & fluids. Un-stick front brake caliper. I have started digging though this forum to find tech discussions such as what to replace the calipers with (if they don't rebuild well). I have always loved improving performance using OEM parts. In this case, braking and handling is all I want since it will be used to teach my 3 daughters to street ride. I welcome guidance to any existing threads. Cheers!}} | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Congrats on the bike! For mine - got back home from down south and torqued the axle nuts correctly...like a boss. Used blue locktite as outlined in the service manual as well. Hope the weather allows me to use the bike for the commute next week. We've had one of the wettest and windiest month's on record this past month. The cold didn't stop me - but the flooding and constant rain did. I'm ready to start riding regularly again. | ||
| Ronbob43 |
VJ-weather looking good all week. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Yeah - but I had to come down to work yesterday because of duty today. So...no Blast for this trip (wind was up to 60mph yesterday with driving rain). I'm contemplating doing a yo-yo tomorrow afternoon to get her....it's a debate as it would be biting off 5+ hours on the road extra this week. I'm ready for the season to change....I don't mind cold, and I don't mind some rain. But the constant sheeting rain and high winds for Feb/early Mar have been awful - especially as they have occurred precisely on my commuting days. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Changing the subject.... What's the current state of fork braces for the Blast? Is the Superbrace about "it" on the market? Do I need one? I have a 2000 with the steel brake line - I'm getting more and more aggressive with the bike when I ride it...that being said, it's been solid for me. I've read the threads on here from 2006, 2008 and 2010 - but would love the current thought line of those here. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
deleted this post and posted on the front page. Still interested in fork brace info/advice, though! :-) (Message edited by vicenzajay on March 11, 2014) | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
The SuperBrace is it and its better than the obselete Crossroads Brace. If you have the steel brake line you should get one. And dont forget to tell SuperBrace that: A) Badweb sent you (you might get a discount) B) EZ and Erik Oberg (Gearheaderiko) highly recommended their product. EZ is responsible for getting them to ever so slightly modify the Ninja 250 brace and market it for the Blast. I went down there and furnished them with forks, twice, so they could get the dimensions. Sycho bought the first prototype and Blast SuperBrace ever made! (Message edited by Gearheaderiko on March 29, 2014) | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Erik, Thanks - will do. That being said, can you walk me through the correct steps (in the order you recommend) for "stiffening up the fork internals"? I have no problem doing that as well as part of this process - I have the front (and rear) bike stand as well and use them often - even for just cleaning and inspection work. I just don't know the right way to go about any fork work. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
First-and this is important as everyone will do it sometime: DO NOT LET THE WEIGHT OF THE BIKE BE ON THE FRONT AXLE WHEN YOU REMOVE THE FORK PLUGS! People forget and it sends fork plug, springs, spacers and the impossible to find or buy, circlips skyward!! Basic fork modification involves increasing spring preload and heavier weight fork oil. Cost=$5 in spacers and a half quart of oil. The next step is better fork springs and fork emulator valves. $250+ When the Blast is new the front fork springs are fairly stiff, but they break in quick. Usually adding a 1" spacer to each fork spring and the heaviest weight fork oil you can find does the trick. That said, its a lot like carb tuning. Your preference, riding style and weight will change what you need to do. More or less of a spacer and lighter or heavier fork oil may be preferred (engine oil comes in heavier weights and is generally thicker than fork oil). There is a formula to figure it all out and a way to measure "SAG", but for street riding i would go with whats comfortable. Any improvement is better than stock. If you run fork emulator valves, $150+, you can run thinner fork oil which helps soak up more bumps (keeping the tire ON the ground), but that costs money. The more you spend the more you get. But very little money (as above) can get you a huge improvement. WARNING: as said above be VERY careful when you remove the "stop rings" or circlips that hold the fork plugs in. They are very easy to lose and impossible to buy as a Blast part. After you add preload to the springs, it becomes even riskier. My guess is a generic circlip can be used, but you'd better have a good transmission supply store close by. All in all adding preload is very easy. Changing fork oil takes a little more work. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Okay, Since I'm a motivated, yet very new DIY mechanic, I'll ask a couple of simple questions to make sure I don't screw it up: 1. Will the front triple tree stand work to make sure I don't put pressure/weight on anything that would cause issues while doing these tasks? 2. Adding spacers - is there a procedure for that? I don't remember seeing anything like that in the service manual. 3. Any other advice on fork oil? This is my commuter and all around fun bike - I weigh 156 lbs and am 5'8" tall. I don't mind a firm ride at all - the rear suspension on the Blast is already way more comfortable than the Sportster, on which I've set the rear suspension to the next to stiffest setting. Bottom line is that I don't mind the front of the Blast being fairly firm while at the same time responsive. Appreciate all the help and advice - if there are any tricks/steps I should really pay attention to changing the fork oil I'd be grateful! Jay | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
1) yes 2) you can add an additional spacer at the top, either large washers or a short length of PVC or swap out the spacers the Blast already uses with longer lengths of PVC pipe. Washers are easier. Pop off the rubber fork cap plugs and measure tube diameter and get washers just smaller diameters. No danger in popping off the rubber/plastic fork caps. 3) I use a stiffer set up and I'm almost the same weight. I use 20w-50 engine oil which is definitely thicker than the 20w fork oil you'll be using. You could experiment with different grades (which would be suggested). You might also use a dipstick oil changer to drain fork oil or I think motion pro also makes such a thing for draining fork oil (haven't tried either so I don't know). Otherwise you'll need to pull fork tubes and turn them upside down to drain (not hard really). Or you can drill and tap drain plugs! | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Thank you - sounds like something I can do fairly easily. I would like to find a solution to not have to pull the fork tubes unless absolutely necessary, so I'll research dipstick oil changers. Yet another question - are these brake pads good ones for the Blast (front brake)? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Kevlar-Carbon-Brake- Pads-2005-2006-BUELL-Blast-/160996973574?_trksid=p 2054897.l4275 | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Generally you get what you pay for. They may or may not be good, if you just need pads the'd be fine. I usually go for the best EBC pads I can get for front brakes. Rear pads-I go cheap- they dont matter-unless you're doing some stunting. Whatever else you find on this site concerning pads is what I'd go with. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Copy - I can go for EBC easily. I suppose I'm looking for sintered pads? Or what buzzwords should I be using for the search? | ||
| Ezblast |
Galfer - non sintered - is better and gentler on the disc. Buy a drill pump - cheap - and you can empty the forks quick. the magic number is 13cm from the very top. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-BUELL-BLAST-500CC-Galfer-GG-Rated-G1532-Compound-Street-Front-Brake-Pads-/400375480620?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ABuell%7CModel%3ABlast&hash=item5d383d012c&vxp=mtr I use 7.5 fork oil. EZ (Message edited by ezblast on March 18, 2014) | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Concur on the brake pads-EZs pushing some serious weight over the front tire, so I'd trust that. 7.5 weight fork oil is if you're using gold valves. I'd imagine without the valves and extra preload and your front tire is going to bounce all over the pavement with thinner fork oil. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Anyone have offhand the diameter of PVC pipe to use as the spacer (or diameter of washers - even better)? Would be nice to buy those parts before opening up the forks. What type of washers is best - material-wise? I can just measure the diameter of the pipe, of course - just would prefer to do all at once (open, drill pump the oil out, replace oil, replace stuff with added spacer, close). | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Just pull the plastic fork caps off and measure the diameter. There's nothing under those caps to pop out (until you pull the ever so precious circlips/stop rings). PVC only comes in so many sizes, so do washers. I prefer washers for ease of adjustment.The size isnt critical-just big enough to fit without forcing them-not hard to find. If you use PVC, you'll probably need a couple washers anyway. I do encourage you to experiment a little. I like a firm front end. If you run a lot of rough road, thinner fork oil might be beneficial. I prefer a front end that only moves when absoloutely necessary. Again, preference that leads to confidence is key. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
I'm excited for you. You'll find huge improvements can be made on the Blast for very little money  But its addictive......... | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Okay - hopefully last question. I assume the 13cm that EZ refers to is the distance from the top of the fork to the fork oil when full? So if I use the drill pump to pump out the oil, I refill each side until the level is at 13cm from the top? Oh - I'm assuming metal washers...stacked to add a half inch to an inch of spacing? Jay | ||
| Kenny_gilgore |
Jay, When you do your forks how about taking some pics. I would like to do my forks but I am not at all mechanically inclined and pics would be worth a thousand words. Kenny G | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Kenny G, Will do - might even get to it beginning of next week. I might mess it up :-), in which case the pictures might be more entertaining than instructive... Jay | ||
| Kenny_gilgore |
Jay, I usually need some entertainment when attempting mechanical work on my Blast. I did the clutch last month and had a fit figuring out how to take it apart. The thing that almost killed me was a part number that had been transposed 10 years ago and never corrected. I managed to get the clutch back together and it works much better now. If you ever do your clutch I have pictures. Kenny G | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Yes, metal washers. 1"=1" (if you space the rear shock: 1/4" spacer = 1" ) I assume the same about the fork oil. Never measured it, but that it a handy way to do it! My question would be: is that 13cm with all internals installed? Minus spacers? Minus springs? ? | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Any drill pump experienced recommendations? There are several out there, but the reviews are pretty "not good" on most of them, to be honest. Would love to get an opinion from someone. That being said - can I drill pump and replace the fork oil without removing the stuff from the top of the fork tube? I'm assuming I'm going to need to pull everything out before I get to the oil. Jay | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Okay - looked in the service manual and it says that the stock oil is type "E" fork oil. Looked that up and it would seem to be 5w oil. Is this true? Wow - so even 7.5w fork oil is heavier/etc. than stock? If that is the case, I think I might start with 10w fork oil and experiment from there. Given that Erik mentioned rear shocks - let's talk about them as well. How to get in them, etc....should I replace the oil there and add spacers? All the same stuff... | ||
| Ezblast |
I thought stock was 10 weight? - pretty sure it is. B is 5 weight. Racers use 7 or 7.5. That has seemed like the perfect weight with my other mods. I'm a big guy though. EZ | ||
| Vicenzajay |
So EZ - that 13cm comment - like Erik asked, is that with everything out or everything still in? Is it from top of tube to fluid once replaced? Just want to do this right. Jay | ||
| Vicenzajay |
For the rear shocks - if the bike is on a swingarm stand, would a spring compressor still be required to shim it? What's the overall process for the rear shocks? obtw - I have a pump and fork oil ready...will get on this probably next weekend (not this one, however). |
