Debated on pulling the bike out of the garage but my girl does not feel like giving up th e garage yet. I also don't feel like repeated washing of the bike in this kind of weather. It might just be the right idea and let some of this upcoming rain wash the shit of the road.
anyone want to get together and do a sunday brunch ride or something of the sort soon?
Took Samantha off the battery tender today, fired her up... warmed up nicely then shut her back off. I still have a small mountain of snow blocking the garage door. Boooo.
Passed 300 mile mark yesterday. Still havent seen another Buell on the road yet. Would like to find someone to ride with, new rider stuck in a white collar neighborhood.
never been to Farrows, bought my bike in Mansfield Hales Hd, both salesmen there ride Buells. how is Farrows Service? Sun is out-no work today-time to ride
Today, I saw 2 Buells on Riverside Rd about 5pm! One is red Lightning. The other is blue Firebolt. Both riders had white-ish jackets on them. I did not get chances to talk to them. Was anyone here riding Buell today?
I was on the R all afternoon, but alas, quite a bit further South than Riverside Drive. Can't wait for the rains to come and clean off the salt, ash, and sand!
My wife bought her first bike a few months ago (a former Rider's Edge Blast) and is taking the beginner course in Delaware next month. I was wondering if there are any active females in the club?
She and I don't work well in a teacher / student relationship and I think she'd benefit from talking and riding with someone else until she's comfortable on the bike.
I'm excited to be heading into Iron Pony tomorrow to get my tires so I can ride! (I figured it's time to change once I could see the steel mesh under the rubber...lol)
I take the rear brake caliper off because it makes it a lot easier to get back on by yourself.
I also take the pinch bolt all the way out for the rear tire.... this way I remember to put it back in. I lost one because I forgot to tighten it... LOL
Remember the front is reverse thread (Righty=loosey)
ANTI SEIZE! don't forget to put it on the axle and a little on the inside of the bearings never hurt.
Chuma, I was on Riverside Dr yesterday on my blue lightning, but it was earlier, about 11:30 AM.
FARROW'S VENTING: Went to the parts counter to order the brake and clutch lever bolts (to remove the hand guards) as well as a muffler strap. He was flipping through the parts manual, landed on the handlebars page, looked at it for a minute before saying, sorry, the whole front brake lever comes as an assembly. 30 seconds of awkward silence. Me because I knew I can get them separate online, him because he had given up and was done looking. I ordered the strap and left. About ten seconds into looking at my parts manual at home (forgot to check before I left) I find a page specifically on the front brake setup. Including the bolts I needed. So back to Farrow's I go, part numbers in hand. Now I have them on order as well. I didn't say anything, although about a million comments were running through my head. The most prevalent being "Isn't this your job?"
You better believe I won't forget to look up my own part numbers from now on. At least I got the COBRA 10% discount.
Well, after a longer Sunday then originally anticipated, I do have ONE shiny new tire on the bike. Ended up going with the Power Pilot 2CT instead of the Road Pilot 2CT. the pricing went waaaay down compared to when I looked a few months ago. The rear was $200, today...just $135!
So here's how my day went.
1. First I had to devise a way to get the rear tire off the ground. Settled on slightly leaning one side against the garage support pole with a thick towel, then using the floor jack to barely raise the rear tire. Oops! Bike starts to slip away from pole. Used some rope to rap around the muffler support and the pole. That kept the bike straight up. But given the somewhat precarious position, decide to leave the bike on the ground until I loosen/remove everything possible.
2. Caliper, rear pinch bolt, and axle loosening went fine. Didn't have the right hex socket, but the same size torx worked fine. Decided to check the size on the front pinch bolts - doh! Different size and no hex or torx bolt that fits.
3. First trip to hardware store. Pick up necessary torx and hex sockets.
4. Back to house, remove idler pulley cover then the idler itself. Remove lower belt guard, then attempt to remove rear fender. Two of the five bolts are stuck tight, and all I have is the little torx wrench from the Buell tool kit and my long handled torx.
5. Second trip to hardware store. First one doesn't have a T-27 socket. Second one...nope. Third time's a charm - Auto Zone to the rescue.
6. Back home, successfully remove rear fender with new socket.
7. Jack the bike up off the ground, hold breath. It seems to stay with jerry-rig. Remove axle, find that it's half covered in lovely white corrosion. Wheel is off - yeah!
8. Decide I better do one tire at a time given my gimpy little contraption for keeping the bike up. Plus it's closing in on 4pm.
9. At Iron Pony at 4pm. Settled on Power Pilot 2CT. Takes almost an hour to put the tire on. While I'm waiting head to Auto Zone for oil & filter for the SUV...oh, and get the loaner torque wrench. Glad I remember that now instead of having to make yet another run after getting home.
10. 4:50pm and the tire's on. Hey look, that's what a tire is supposed to look like - round and with tread! LOL
11. Back home, figure I can put it all back together pretty quickly. Wait..what's this? Anti-seize on the axle? Oh crap...
12. Back to the hardware store. First tried Meijer...nada. Back to Auto Zone. Thank goodness they're open until an unseemly hour, even on Sunday.
13. Back home with anti-seize in hand. Decide to tempt fate and use just a little brake cleaner on the axle, followed by lots of water and scrubbing with a soft cloth to get as much white crap off of it as I can.
14. Goop up the axle with anti-seize and slide it home. Bike stays upright in my jerry rig. Whew.
15. Everything else goes back on pretty smoothly now that I have all the right tools. The torque seems awfully light on the idler pulley and the axle. The axle makes some sense since it's rolling in a tightening rotation, but the idler bolts? Put a little loctite on the bolts even though it's not called for...just to be safe.
16. 8pm...everything's put away and I'm back in the house to stay. Whew!!
I'm glad I did the rear tire first. The front tire looks a lot easier...that is, alot less to take off. Just not sure how to get the front tire off the ground yet. The one and only jack point I see on the muffler raises the rear up and puts the weight on the front tire. Is the front muffler clasp also a jack point? I don't see any symbol on it.
I'll probably get to the front on Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
And then....I can ride!
(We'll just have to wait and see exactly how far I ride before the wheels fall off...lol)
Is the front muffler clasp also a jack point? I don't see any symbol on it.
Its right in that general area... If you are going to start doing a lot of your own service.... it may be time to buy a motorcycle lift. Harbor Freight has them and so does Sears.... and don't go crazy with that tq wrench... sometimes the feel of the the wrench is good enough.
Why did you remove the idler pulley for a tire change? Is that recommended? I didn't need to for my tire change. Didn't need to for the belt change either.
After the parts guy gave me my total amount, I ask "Does that include my 10% COBRA discount?" he said no, then gave me a new slightly lower total.
Thanks Mark, I'll take a look at the motorcycle lifts when I refresh my funds. :-) I did already know about the oil plug torque issue before I changed my oil the first time...and I don't use a torque wrench for those type of things anyway. Like you said, the feel of the wrench is usually pretty good. But the axle I felt it was important to be as precise as possible. And as long as I had it, I did torque the caliper bolts and the idler bolts to spec too.
Why did you remove the idler pulley for a tire change?
The shop manual does have a step in there to loosen the axle up, remove the idler pulley, and then remove the wheel. But you know, when I put it back together, it does seem like it's not really necessary to remove the idler. The belt slipped onto the tire just fine with the idler back in place first. I'll probably try it without removing the idler next time.
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