Thread Last Poster Posts Pages Last Post Blast primary adjustment Gearheaderiko 6  1  07-01-08  02:24 pm Archive through June 11, 2009 Johnnymac 30  1  06-11-09  09:09 am Archive through October 23, 2008 Fast1075 30  1  10-23-08  06:32 am Archive through September 25, 2008 Robi 30  1  09-25-08  10:07 am Archive through September 15, 2008 Robi 30  1  09-15-08  11:28 am Archive through August 23, 2008 Robi 30  1  08-23-08  11:33 am Archive through July 30, 2008 Reuel 30  1  07-30-08  09:27 pm Archive through November 29, 2007 Lostguy 30  1  11-29-07  05:13 pm Archive through November 05, 2007 Joey 30  1  11-05-07  05:09 pm

Ok, I got all excited thinking about this and decided that I can make shoes tonight, but playing with the primary is easier in the day light.

Here is a picture of a primary shoe after 4k miles. 1500 with the factory spacer and 2500 at 24 in-lb plus 7 flats out. A new one does not have the grooves. The grooves are .095" deep. The rough spots are where it is worn down to the webbing and chunks were pulled off.





SO, with that in mind here are the results. I did each adjustment 3 times and averaged my answers. The distances are between the bottom of the tight lock nut and the top of the bolt head.

1. 24 in-lb and 4 flats out: 0.190" gap

2. 24 in-lb and 8 flats out: 0.238" gap

3. Engine warm and running. Finger tight nut up to where you feel it touch the primary chain. Back off 1/2 turn to get 0.297". One full turn gives 0.320".

4. The cat in the bag method gives 0.345"

To point out, a .05" difference in the primary adjustment can make a huge difference in shifting and noise.

For the curious, I ended up putting it at .320" out to split the difference between the methods. The weather is ugly and getting worse, so I did not ride each combo. From experience 1 and 2 are bad. 3 at 1/2 turn is pretty good, but may still be a hair tight.

Paul


Eds Sound Method:
Ride bike for a half hour - then park while running on flat level ground, take 2 adjustalbe wrenches - one for the adjuster and one for the locking nut - loosen till you hear a change in sound, then tighten till sound goes away - stop - hold adjuster bolt in place and tighten locking nut - done.
Note - if you suspect your chain is too loose - then tighten till idle drops, then loosen till you hear a change in sound, etc.
EZ

Author Message   Garlic_sauce Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 10:36 am:        "Trusting that a dealer has performed all services when the spacer is still there is like trusting your child to the hands of a pedophile for a week in a secluded cabin deep in the woods." Awesome analogy! Perfectly put John. I was throwing my money away at a dealership when I first got my bike, When I still had that bad ignition module I brought to a dealership and they said, "We had it on the dyno and we couldn't get it do what you say it's doing. We think your lugging it, There's nothing wrong with this bike. That will be $67.09 by the way for the diagnostics". They also had my bike for a week! Bastards, I knew I wasn't lugging it and that something was wrong with the bike. Luckily you guys on Badweb helped me diagnose the bad module.(among other things), and fix my bike myself. I HATE dealerships, now I can pretty much fix anything on my bike and will never let anyone else work on my bike(because of Badweb). Thanks guys, this site is invaluable. DEALERHIPS   Robi Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 02:27 pm:        Curious how many dealership personal peruse this page to get their learn on. Thanks from here too. Does badweather have a facebook group?   Johnnymac Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 02:47 pm:        It sure does. Here is the link: Bad Weather Facebook Group Johnny   Gearheaderiko Posted on Friday, June 12, 2009 - 01:49 am:        The point I was trying to make was that the previous owner may have taken the bike to the dealer at every service interval and thought they got every service done and thats what they paid for. Our collective experience has been that many have not gotten what they paid for. I bought a 2000 Blast from someone I know who was meticulous about getting the services done. She even had the rocker cover gasket and pulley recall done. Yet at 8000 miles the spacer was still there when I bought it. So even though the spacer was still there dont assume the PO was lying when they said the had "all services" done. "The only way to be sure maintenance is done correctly is to do it yourself." Yes, thats why we often preach doing your own maintenance on this site. However, some people are incapable of doing their own work is why we then recommend being as knowledgeable as possible before they take it to a mechanic so they know that they are getting what they pay for.   Gearheaderiko Posted on Friday, June 12, 2009 - 01:54 am:        A thread on dealership ratings. May help to sort out the good from bad and there are good dealerships out there. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/3608.html   Ezblast Posted on Friday, June 12, 2009 - 02:04 am:        Bravo!   Reuel Posted on Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 02:25 pm:        I paid something like $120 for the 1K service and still had to remove the spacer myself. All subsequent services have been done by me.   Kenster32 Posted on Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 05:54 pm:        if i had the 1000 mile service done at the dealer should i have expected that spacer to be gone when i got it back? could they have determined it dident need to be adjusted or did they just fail to do the adjustment did i pay $170 for 2 quarts of oil and a filter? i really wanted all the factory recommended things to be done on that 1st visit (especially the primary adjustment) and then planed to do the future work myself. Finding the spacer still there makes me want to call them and ask wHaT ThE FOrk any monkey can change oil and tighten nuts i can do gravy work for free or im i mistaken k   Gearheaderiko Posted on Sunday, June 14, 2009 - 12:27 am:        If the spacer is still there, then it did not get adjusted. There isnt any reason to leave the spacer there (manual states to discard it) and its highly unlikely that the adjustment would've been exactly the amount of the spacer anyway. If you recently got it 'done', I'd take a copy of the manual and get a refund, have it done, get some free shirts, or oil or whatever. Yes you probably paid $170 for a 2 qt oil change and they kicked the tires and maybe test drove it (or if you're really lucky, they left it outside all week and you got it back filthy-like I did). At least if there any future problems you can show you brought it in for the 1000 mile service. I'd certainly take a picture of the spacer still installed, then keep the spacer as proof it wasnt done. ..and yes I know how much this sucks. Did I mention the dealer I bought mine at, a friend of mine worked there for 15 years. Needless to say things went downhill from there and my next bike I bought from Glendale HD/Buell (now a Badweb sponsor-ask for Ernie) where they know what customer service is about, whether you spent $5k or $20k for a bike.

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