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Message started by BuckRYCA on 09/17/12 at 07:55:26

Title: Riding the Ryca
Post by BuckRYCA on 09/17/12 at 07:55:26

I received the following message (in italics) from a fellow Forum Member recently. Through the magic of Forum Messaging I was unable to directly reply. I've hidden the sender's identity and am replying in public.

My replies are in yellow.

Sender: XXXXXXXXX
To: BuckRYCA

Subject: Riding the RYCA
Date: 09/12/12 at 11:31:55

I bought a very nice LS650 with the intention of buidling a RYCA. I bought a very low miles (262) 2007 model....and then the problems began. For some reason the left crank bearing got loose and the flywheel nut was finger tight at 1,000 miles. I have completed the engine rebuild and it is now nice and the knocking is gone. I have no idea why it went bad with so little miles.

I saw a RYCA conversion at the Mid Ohio Vintage Motorcycle days......and I have some mixed feelings about it. The rearsets seemed very cheap compared to the stock setup. The rear brake pedal operated very poorly and had no return stop. Both the left and right rear sets appeared to have the toe pedals way too far out, and it appears cumbersome to get your toe over and under the shifter.

The rearsets are cast aluminum Tarozzis. They're not cheap to buy. As for looking cheap that's a matter of personal preference. I like their look a lot. As for their function, once they are adjusted and lubricated properly, they work all right.

I also don't like the way the tank looks and I have purschased both a Honda CB360 and a Suzuki GT550 tank as potential tanks. The GT550 tank will allow the use of the stock decompression solenoid as the tunnel is wide enough to fit right on to the stock LS650 frame.

Again, it's a matter of taste. The Ryca modified tank is small (2.2 gallons) and does not have the strictly proper cafe racer look. But neither do the Honda or Suzuki tanks you mentioned. Adding a manual decompression lever is not hard, and means one less electrical bit to go bad or out of adjustment.

What is your experience with the rear sets? They do not look like they are designed well - every motorcycle I have ever ridden has the toe shifter and brake pedal set in to the inner 1/3rd of the peg width - while the RYCA pegs have the toe pedals even with the outisde of the shifter. Maybe by having your feet back so far your feet naturally splay out a bit more. I am also considering modifying a bottom triple tree to fit the top - to allow me to move the fork legs up without putting a spacer in that limits the fork travel.

The rearsets work for me, although after a couple of hours my old knees sometimes complain. Your idea to modify the triple tree so as not to use a spacer in the forks that reduce its travel is worth pursuing. The front can be punishing over rough roads.

For the muffler.....I just plan on making my own megaphone with a chambered baffle inside. The perforated tube and packing just aren't effective at making a bike with a reasonable sound level. I have a SuperTrapp on my bike right now, and they do have packing inside.....and they are much louder than than a stock or Dyna muffler.

I've got two crumb cups on the Ryca megaphone now. With a recent re-packing it's sounding good. Without the crumb cups and quality packing it's far too loud and crude.

Finally....everyone (including Oldfellow) and all my neighbors are trying to talk me out of converting my bike to a Cafe racer. I really only ride in 1/2 - 1 hour local trips and the Cafe Racer would be fine - but I did go to the Dragon ride this year and we spent 4-5 hours a day on the bikes. We did stop every 2 hours and take a break.

My typical outing on the Ryca is a 110 mile back road loop with a stop at a cafe in the middle. Comfort is OK, but it's no easy chair. But then again it's not meant to be, nor does Ryca advertise it as so. They say it was developed as an urban hopper (To quote the designer, "I was in the market for a new motorcycle and wanted a lightweight thumper to get around the streets of L.A."). With higher bars an old guy like me can handle it for a couple hours at time. I would say in all sincerity that if the bike does not speak to you at some significant emotional level that you should steer clear of it. The kit is neither cheap nor perfect. Have you considered a Blue Collar Bobber kit? This gives you a customizing experience while retaining the ergonomics of the stocker.

Thanks for you input.
XXXXXXXXXX

Title: Re: Riding the Ryca
Post by Gyrobob on 09/17/12 at 08:31:22

Great response!

I agree with just about all of it. I have 130 miles on mine. I am still tweaking it here and there.

To toss in my toosentz,...

The rear sets are NOT cheaply made. They are premium stuff, and they work really well for cafe racer duty.

The rear brake linkage/rearset, installed CORRECTLY, works perfectly. Mine has about 1/2" travel before the brakes start to engage. The rear brake works very cleanly,.. positive engagement and release. That said, the LS650 rear brake is not a very manly brake. I have adjusted the rear brake light switch to come on at 1/4", so I can tap the brake pedal as a signal without actually braking. The one thing I did NOT like about the RYCA set up was the way the brake light switch cable was installed. I spent way too much time coming up with a more solid way to actuate the brake light switch. See the Double RYCA build thread. The rearsets are not cumbersome at all. They work as well as any other rearsets or stock crotchrocket linkages I have used.

The tank works fine. True, it does not look have an aggressive racer look, but it works. My main bellyache with the tank was the amount of work it took to get it ready to paint. I shudder to think how much work it would be to get a tank from some other bike to work.

Forget about the stock setup for the decomp solenoid. Too heavy, too much electrical crap,.. too much space used. The RYCA decomp linkage works fine, once you get it adjusted to just barely lift the exhaust valve. Much lighter, and quite a conversation starter. I am intrigued with the idea of even scrapping the RYCA linkage and using a tiny lever mounted directly on the exhaust valve lifter.

The triple tree modification is unnecessary. The RYCA spacer trick for the front forks works great. I got the upgraded springs. Handling is good, but man, what a rough ride.

The muffler is too loud, and the packing it comes with is about as durable as toilet paper. I'm working on a modified crumb cup mod.

"everyone (including Oldfellow) and all my neighbors are trying to talk me out of converting my bike to a Cafe racer." Tell them to buzz off. You'll have huge fun building and riding this thing. You can always get another stock LS650 later.