|
SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1358099938 Message started by Dave on 01/13/13 at 09:58:58 |
|
Title: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 01/13/13 at 09:58:58 Today is the day that the project starts. Last summer when I bought my Savage, it was always my plan to do a Cafe' conversion. I rode the bike last summer while planning and gathering parts, and working the bugs out of the bike. Even though I bought a very low bike with only 262 miles on it - the engine developed a bad knock and had to be torn down and rebuilt with less than 1,000 miles on it. The left crank bearing was bad and the flywheel nut was loose.....but it runs like a dream now. I have ordered a number of parts from RYCA and they should be here in a few weeks. I am planning on using a Suzuki GT550 or Honda 360 tank....not sure yet. The tach and speedo will be a Vipertech unit with dashboard for mounting indicator lights. The headlight will be an 8" that I got from a European bike, the rear set will come from Dime City. The triple tree is from a Suzuki RM400 and it has much less offset from the stock one - the trees are about 3/8" narrower so I had to trim some material off the brake disc mounting surface on the hub, and the axle spacers will need to be trimmed. The RM triple trees will allow me to slide the fork tubes up/down as needed without installing the spacers inside the forks to lower the front end. I may have to add some fork spring preload as the Cafe' bike may shift weight forward with the lower forks, longer rear shocks and more forward riding position. I was able to buy a set of 12.5" Progressive 440 shocks off eBay that only had 200 miles on them at about 1/3rd the new price. The wheels rims are 18" Excel and the spokes are stainless from Buchanan Spoke and Wheel, I laced and trued them myself. The tires are Pirelli Sport Demons. The muffler will be a stainless megaphone that I got from Burns Stainless and I will make baffling to go inside...l..I don't want it very loud. I plan on doing the Kawasaki EN454 pulley modification that increases the front tooth count from 23 to 25 for better cruising. One of the things I have not decided is the turn signals and mirrors - as much as I want this to look nice - I want turn signals that are visible and can be seen in the daylight and mirrors where I can see behind me. I followed a sport bike the other day with a combination brake/turn signal LED taillight - and the thing was a joke as the turn signals were not really visible and did not get your attention.......you could only see them when you were looking directly at the light and the colors were not yellow. The bike as purchased last summer.....262 total miles! http://i45.tinypic.com/20i7zgw.jpg My bike on the Dragon Run last summer (with loud engine knock). Lancer, BigZuk, Serenity .http://i47.tinypic.com/2dhagw4.jpg My stand I built yesterday from scrap plywood....and the beginning! http://i49.tinypic.com/2u7vwb7.jpg Some of the parts I have gathered. http://i50.tinypic.com/14960lk.jpg 1980 RM400 triple tree next to stock Savage bottom tree. http://i45.tinypic.com/9kowag.jpg 8" headlight next to stock 5.5" headlight. http://i46.tinypic.com/osbdoy.jpg If everything goes well.......there may be a Cafe' Racer at the next Dragon Run! Time to go out and start pulling more stuff off! :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by paulmarshall on 01/13/13 at 11:38:48 I like the bike stand. ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/13/13 at 12:28:30 4756425B5A5645445F565B5B370 wrote:
Someone posted this elsewhere on this forum. Here is the link to the plans for the stand: http://www.bbcracing.com/old/box/ It is nice as it just slides together and can be stored flat or against a wall when not in use. I used scrap wood so I changed a few things from the plans. I made the top 27" wide as that was the wood that I had. I did not widen the front for tie towns as the wood I had was not big enough - so all the cross pieces are 27" wide to match the top. The 3 cross pieces were not long enough to reach the ground - but that is actually a better thing as the floor is never completely flat. Both side pieces on mine support the bike just fine, and I actually had to shim it to fit the floor after putting it together - as my floor is not flat over an 8' span and it rocked a little bit. I also had 8 old threaded eye bolts and I put them in the bottom about 5 inches off the floor for use with tie downs. To put the bike up on it I had 2 boards that were 2x8 lumber and about 7 feet long for a ramp. I don't believe you can load or unload a bike by yourself on this stand, and my wife and I pushed it up. For me I believe this is a nice cheap alternative to the metal stand. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by strang on 01/13/13 at 13:52:24 can't wait to see this one 8-) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by diamond jim on 01/13/13 at 16:21:04 The sides of the stand, which appear recessed in the pics, would be a great place to put magnet strips, socket holders, whatever kind of tool holders you want, maybe mount an air pressure line access, paper towel holder, spice racks to hold small containers and bottles, etc. just be sure to leave the bottom 5" clear for toes. You could also drill holes on the top, maybe an inch from the edges, to hold screwdrivers, etc. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/13/13 at 17:36:57 Well I had a pretty good day and got quite a bit done. I have a feeling that things will start to slow down.....when I begin to modify things and start putting it back together! http://i46.tinypic.com/xfokg5.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ZAR on 01/13/13 at 18:02:39 Wow! Dave I'm not sure you're going to want me and my stock ole yellar dawg for company on the Dragon trip when you get done with that one! Sooooo.......... when do you want me to bring the yeller dawg up for you to purdy up? ;) And just pile all yer cast off parts in the corner......me and oldfeller will pick'em up later ;D Seriously Dave, Looks like you'll have a winner by the time you're finished! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/14/13 at 04:36:16 4C5744160 wrote:
Good company is still good company....doesn't matter what they ride. I may be riding a bike that is not much for looks - we will see how much time I have. I am going to concentrate on the mechanical conversion stuff first and get everything working - then worry about paint and visual stuff last. I want to be able to ride this summer.....even if I am riding a Cafe' Rat! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/14/13 at 05:37:18 Here is the front hub being mofified to work with the narrower RM400 triple trees. I had to machine a small amount off the mounting surface for the disc so that the caliper could work without changes. The wheel spacers on the axle will also have to be trimmed, and the length of the axle reduced. http://i48.tinypic.com/wvtz5c.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by HoustonBussa on 01/14/13 at 20:29:08 Any reason for the 1980 RM400 triple tree vs the stock (other than it does look nice!) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/15/13 at 08:40:33 07203A3C3B20210D3A3C3C2E4F0 wrote:
Cruiser bikes seem to have a large offset on the triple trees and a large rake, sport bikes seem to have almost no offset in the triple trees and less rake. I believe the cruiser is set up for straight line stability - while the sport bike for manuverability. My attempt is to lighten the steering force up a bit and make the bike easy to turn. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by verslagen1 on 01/15/13 at 09:05:12 be sure to check clearance with the tank at full lock. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/15/13 at 11:37:36 716275746B6660626936070 wrote:
Yep.......That is all going to be part of this long process. The tank I am using has more of an angle at the front - which should provide better clearance than the stock tank. Additionally the RM400 triple trees use a different stop location - so I am going to have to modify the fork stops. I can make the stops wherever they need to be to clear the tank. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by teabowl13 on 01/15/13 at 23:08:53 This one's going to be awesome! I can't wait to see how it comes out! I'm still working on mine; been over a year now!! (long story!) Hope you make quicker progress than I've been able to... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ToesNose on 01/16/13 at 04:49:05 Looks like a good start Dave, I'll be patiently awaiting any revealed progress ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/17/13 at 10:08:51 Progress has been a bit slow the last few days.......I got very sick and am still not well. I had a fever that jumped between 100 and then down to 97....then back up to 100. I have barely had enough energy to sleep! I did get the engine/footpeg mounts cut back, and I used a sawzall. The frame is hard metal and it took a blade for each cut......the metal just wears out the blades in a hurry. My order from RYCA shipped yesterday, and I should feel well enough this weekend to get a lot done on the front forks. I posted an add in the Marketplace - I am looking for the electrical connectors and wires leading from both the left and right side handlebar controls. I don't need the controls so if you have some that are damaged but with good connectors they would be great. I am planning on using electrical controls that are smaller - but the connectors don't match. I also need the bottom nut from a speedometer cable to use to block off the stock drive on the engine. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/20/13 at 15:33:32 Well I was able to get the front end apart this weekend. http://i47.tinypic.com/1eop45.jpg This is the RM400 and stock triple tree comparison. http://i46.tinypic.com/34xjj3l.jpg http://i50.tinypic.com/2hpi1ia.jpg I had to machine the shaft as the original bearings were ball, and the Savage bearings are roller. I also had to weld some additional material on the bottom and cut it round in the lathe for the bottom bearing to ride on. http://i47.tinypic.com/a1o4gl.jpg http://i50.tinypic.com/2j2c58m.jpg I also had to machine a lip on the triple clamp for the different style seal. http://i47.tinypic.com/nfmyx2.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/5w6x2.jpg I then cut some aluminum blocks that will be welded on to function as the fork stops. They are a bit big in the photo - but after they are welded on I will trim them down to match and blend in. I have a friend with a TIG welder that will put them on for me sometime this week. http://i45.tinypic.com/2yo9vfd.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/dxmxci.jpg Once I get the post pressed back into the clamp - then I can mark and cut the opening for the fork lock. I just don't think I can accurately cut it with the thing apart.....as I have made the fork stops limit the travel a bit more than stock so that the clip ons are less likely to hit the tank. I can trim the fork stops down if they are too restrictive. http://i49.tinypic.com/jajk3r.jpg Tomorrow my order from RYCA should be here, as well as the bolts from Fastenal that I ordered for the shorter engine mounts. I don't have a meeting every night this week.....and with a few boxes coming that includes peg mounts, rear sets, seat, tail light, etc. I should have plenty to do! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ZAR on 01/20/13 at 18:27:27 wow Dave.....neat tools and the skills to use them......just great! Makes my "dirt floor tobacco barn" machine shop look like the joke it is. You're coming along nicely! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ToesNose on 01/21/13 at 04:43:06 Great work so far Dave :) @ZAR- Hey man as long as you have the space to do what you need to do, that's all that matters ;) But yes Dave's workshop makes me a bit envious too LOL ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/21/13 at 04:58:32 I LOOOOOOOVE my workshop, and I spend hours and hours in it. I was a bachelor until I was 38 and lived in an apartment without a garage, and then when I got married we bought a house and I had my first garage that was tiny and cold. I have spent a lot of cold hours working on things with mediocre tools out in the cold. We saved up money for 10 years and then were able to build the house and garage of our dreams.....and in another 10 years it will be paid for. We have an outdoor wood boiler and it heats the garage and house in the winter, and I have tubing in the concrete floor that circulates hot water from the boiler and my garage is nice and toasty! I bought a metal cutting bandsaw and a lathe a few years back, and I have a MIG welder......and those tools open up a whole world of possibilities. I have a freind with a TIG welder and the ability to use it......and sometimes that it better than my MIG for welding. Spending time in my garage is good therapy for me....... :o |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by braveteacher on 01/21/13 at 05:47:20 Like it...good job... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/22/13 at 18:11:50 I didn't get a bunch done tonight.....I guess MLK Holiday held up the delivery of the RYCA parts until tomorrow. I did spend a lot of time doing this tonight. Laying stuff out, finding the center, getting the tools out, building a jig all took a lot of time. Drilling the holes went pretty quickly once I was all set up. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by teabowl13 on 01/22/13 at 20:00:31 That's intense!! You are doing some fine work sir! ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/26/13 at 18:26:40 This week I got some done....but not a lot. We are back to working 5 day weeks...having Friday's off was nice if you don't mind losing 20% of your pay! Today was the only day I could do much this week, tomorrow I am helping a friend take the transmission out of his car. I did manage to get the fork stops mounted - I didn't weld them but used screws mounted from underneath. I then polished them up. Here is a picture of the original ones on the right, RM400 on the left. http://i45.tinypic.com/2dsolnb.jpg I then put a bit of grease on the fork lock, and installed the bottom yoke and stem. I then operated the lock and it left a dab of grease where I needed to cut a hole in the stem for the fork lock. The original one used some massive cutter that probably made the hole in about 5 seconds - but all I could do was use my drill press and a milling bit and it took about half an hour. My drill press is not a very good one and it bounced around a bit - but I went slow and it turned out OK. http://i47.tinypic.com/30rlmvt.jpg Here is what it looks like right now. http://i48.tinypic.com/15801w3.jpg http://i50.tinypic.com/1o7f4w.jpg I put the GT550 tank on and it appears the fork stop position will work pretty well. The tank has a hump on the bottom that does not let the tank come down in front as far as it should, and the petcock location is directly above the cylinder and the petcock will have to be moved back farther on the tank. The next chore is to mount the forks and adjust the size of the axle spacers to work with the narrower front end. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by teabowl13 on 01/27/13 at 21:38:22 DANG!! That's sexy... ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 01/29/13 at 05:09:45 I did not get home until 8:00 PM last night - so I did not have time to do very much. I had shortened one axle spacer, and in the shortening it removed the large shoulder that rests against the left fork leg. I shortened the spacer enough that I could attach a thick washer to replace the shoulder - and it turns out the best washer I had for the job was a brass one. I first soldered the brass washer to the axle spacer using acid core solder: http://i46.tinypic.com/35ld7rr.jpg I then used my Eastwood plating kit and put a new finish on it. http://i50.tinypic.com/eflx91.jpg Tonight I will cut the other spacer and get the front wheel mounted. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ZAR on 01/31/13 at 18:55:45 Dang Dave....I've got to get over to your place soon. I need to see this work in person. That's first class all the way! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Cloudy on 02/01/13 at 16:21:51 A question about the stock tree's that you show earlier in this thread, Do they have some built in rake? If so do you know approximately how much. Still waiting on the delivery of our first s40 so can't check for myself. I want to add a bit of rake to my trike and these tree's and forks might be an option for me. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/02/13 at 09:41:16 4B64677D6C715C7A61636D7A080 wrote:
I just turned the stock top yoke upside down and held it against the bottom yoke.....and they match. There is no rake built into the stock triple trees.....the fork angle is parallel with the steering stem angle. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Cloudy on 02/02/13 at 11:23:33 102B2631202C37312A222F30430 wrote:
I just turned the stock top yoke upside down and held it against the bottom yoke.....and they match. There is no rake built into the stock triple trees.....the fork angle is parallel with the steering stem angle.[/quote] Cool, thanks for that. Photos can be deceiving sometimes |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/03/13 at 18:14:01 Well I worked on the bike a lot this weekend.....it was just very slow work and doesn't look like much. I worked on the kickstand. I bought the RYCA part that holds the kickstand - but I did not buy their brace. I wanted to possibly mount the battery from the brace at the bottom of the engine - so I wanted to fabricate a good brace. I welded on a raised area that nests into the bracket that used to hold the guides for the brake cable on the right side. I threaded the right side and welded the left side onto the RYCA bracket. There is enough metal that I can weld on a bracket for the battery that would sit under the swing arm and just behind the engine. I am not sure I like that spot for the battery - it is low and out of the way.....but it will get engine heat and splash from the rear tire. I may end up with the battery up about where it used to be - behind the RYCA covers. http://i50.tinypic.com/2ymhs38.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/t8nbs0.jpg I also got the frame cut for the seat pan. http://i47.tinypic.com/2vw75m8.jpg I didn't like the open tubes on top, so I sanded down rubber stopper plugs to fit into the frame holes and provide a rubber top for the seat pan. I used black silicone to glue them into place. http://i45.tinypic.com/34942t1.jpg Once I had the seat pan properly mounted I could start on the tank. The tank is a GT550 tank and it looked like it would fit easily....but I was wrong. The tank hits the frame and sits too high, and the bottom right side of the tank hits the engine where the cam chain housing is. This is the bottom of the tank: http://i48.tinypic.com/2lj6rgl.jpg I stripped the paint of the bottom of the tank and started heating it and using a hammer I worked on getting the tunnel higher. Unfortunately I got about 1/3rd done and ran out of gas and the oxygen is low. I seldom use the torches and the tanks were last tested in 1996.......so the tanks will have to be tested before they are filled....Dang! Here is what I got done with my "blacksmith" skills: http://i49.tinypic.com/2v3kahv.jpg This is where I cut the tank to clear the top of the engine. http://i47.tinypic.com/omg4l.jpg This is the patch I started to put in tonight.....but there was not enough time to drag out the welder and get started. I just cleaned up a bit and called it a day. http://i45.tinypic.com/11iz6m0.jpg This is what things looked like before I started to lower the tank. At this point I have not lowered the forks and the rear may be a bit low, as I have 12.5 inch stick for shocks. The RYCA bikes use 13 - but I was going to try and keep it a bit lower. http://i46.tinypic.com/15q3d7d.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by braveteacher on 02/03/13 at 19:18:56 darn...looks good... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by teabowl13 on 02/03/13 at 20:40:31 That looks awesome! Actually, in your photo the tank height looks just fine to me; how much lower is it going to go? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/04/13 at 04:48:00 5F6E6A69647C673A380B0 wrote:
It is only going down 1/2" - 3/4" more. I need to get the front of the tank down until it is just above the frame. The front of the tank was sitting up too high and was going to interfere with the triple clamp bolt and the fork legs. This tank does not taper much on top and it has to sit down as much as possible......and there is not any room to move it rearward or it will be into the seat platform. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Smokestack on 02/04/13 at 13:30:08 Something to consider regarding the tank height; cafe racers look best, IMO, when the bottom line of the tank is is line with the bottom line of the tail section. Looks like you've got it pretty close now, so if you have to drop the tank, try to drop the tail section / seat by the same amount to keep the lines clean. Just my $.02, take it as you will... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by jcstokes on 02/04/13 at 13:46:15 Teabowl and Smokestack are right from the aesthetic viewpoint, hope you can drop the seat a little as suggested |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ZAR on 02/04/13 at 19:07:12 Wow! This is what I'm going to have to keep up with on the Dragon Run :o ::)???? Boy am I in for a loooong week ;D ;) Dave it's really coming around! Shades of the old Norton Manx! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/05/13 at 05:27:37 Last night I got the tank welded up where the cam chain housing interferes. http://i48.tinypic.com/2yoqz55.jpg Wednesday night I will work on making a new mounting place for the petcock....it needs to be farther back on the tank as it is too far forward and hits the cylinder. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/05/13 at 05:30:18 0A0313140F0B0513600 wrote:
It does look good right now.....but won't function well. I has to come down about 1/2" to make room for the forks to move. The top of the tank is sitting up level with the top yoke, and it has to come down to make room for the yoke to move around. I will get a picture of that so you can see what I am trying to fix by lowering the tank. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/10/13 at 17:23:34 Well.....It has been a long couple of days working on the bike.....but surprisingly little was done. I spent Saturday morning getting rental tanks for my torches....as mine were empty and need to be tested. I started about 1:00 on this: http://i50.tinypic.com/2dt62b9.jpg But in order to get it done low enough that the forks would work, I had to do this, and it took about 6 hours of heating, hammering and fitting: http://i48.tinypic.com/2mqut8g.jpg Then once I got the tank to sit low enough, I made the front tanks mounts: http://i48.tinypic.com/wsl1yb.jpg When I made the fork stops for the RM400 triple trees, I guessed about where they should stop and made them more restrictive than the stock ones - but it was not enough. The forks would hit the tank and they need room for the clip ons - so I made this stop to bolt onto the frame. I can trim this one as needed, and I will do the final trimming and shaping once the tank is mounted, and the headlight brackets and clip-on handlebars s are in place. http://i45.tinypic.com/1zzgzet.jpg Finally, the last thing I did tonight before coming in was weld up the stock GT550 petcock location - the petcock will have to be moved back to get clearance for the cylinder. I will have to grind the welds smooth and then weld on a mounting point for the Raptor petcock: http://i50.tinypic.com/2mecp5u.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/14/13 at 05:38:22 I have had meetings Monday and Tuesday night this week and I got nothing done. Last night I made a tool for the forks and cut some spacers. I spent a good amount of time just looking through my spare parts and metal supplies to find the right product for the spacers. My RM400 triple tree will allow me to raise and lower the forks without the spacers - but when I slid the forks down about 2 inches to what I beleive will be the right height - the forks seals were going to just bump into the bottom triple tree at full travel. I made these 1/2 inch spacers to limit the travel and provide some clearance, and to make some preload on the springs now that there will be a bit more weight shifted forward. I made the spacer from black iron gas pipe. I made the tool from a 3/8" drive broken swivel that I found on the street while I was measuring for a waterline project, and a bolt with a 24mm head. http://i47.tinypic.com/4qkf84.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/19/13 at 18:18:14 The work the last week has been slow going....lots of fabricating and fitting and welding and trimming, etc. I got the mount for the petcock relocated: http://i49.tinypic.com/5zmdm8.jpg Tonight I finished the project that has taken several nights to finishg. I now have the tank mounts made and the tank is now attached: The GT550 tank has this spot where it would sit on a rubber cushion on the frame: http://i48.tinypic.com/11j0pjq.jpg I made this mount and rubber block for the tank to sit on: http://i50.tinypic.com/wbromq.jpg I then used the GT550 rubber strap and made a new piece for the strap to attach that is under the tank instead of on the back where it hit the seat: http://i45.tinypic.com/2pysrwh.jpg http://i50.tinypic.com/1q25ip.jpg The angle of the tank and seat is just a bit off. I can work on lowering the front of the seat a bit and see if that solves the angle difference: http://i48.tinypic.com/wt80b6.jpg I put a straight line of tape to help illustrate the angle difference between the seat bottom and the tank bottom. http://i50.tinypic.com/xlmj3n.jpg The next thing I am going to work on is the headlight mount, so I can put the forks back on and then work on the seat mounting angle. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by teabowl13 on 02/21/13 at 14:28:05 That's amazing Sir!! She looks great so far... ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 02/26/13 at 05:19:58 I believe I may have been able to assemble the front end together again for the last time, and the front wheel is again on the ground. I had to build the headlight mounts so the forks could be put in the triple trees. The forks now have 15W Maxima fork oil, 1/2" spacers to lower the front a bit and the rest of the lowering will come from dropping the fork tubes in the triple tree yokes. I made the headlight mount from the turn signal mounts and some aluminum stock. http://i46.tinypic.com/f2msf5.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/308wa3q.jpg I was originally going to mount the turn signals on the arms for the headlight - but I don't believe the will be that visible that close to the headlight. Tonight I will make brackets to mount the turn signals on th lower triple tree yoke. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Boofer on 02/27/13 at 19:48:52 1A35362C3D200D2B30323C2B590 wrote:
I just turned the stock top yoke upside down and held it against the bottom yoke.....and they match. There is no rake built into the stock triple trees.....the fork angle is parallel with the steering stem angle.[/quote] Cool, thanks for that. Photos can be deceiving sometimes [/quote] Good looking job. One reason the Savage looks good is the 32 degree (I think) rake, but it is good to understand the need for keeping "trail" in the right range. I'm not saying you don't understand it, but reading up on it won't hurt if you're not fluent in rake and trail dynamics. Again, great job by a master craftsman. Just don't want you to get twitchy or have a tank slapper at 85mph--or have to find a field to turn around in. ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/02/13 at 07:17:05 5E73737A796E1C0 wrote:
I have researched and worked on this issue. The Savage has about 35 degrees of rake from what I measured - and my bike currently has 30.5 degrees. Most sport bikes are around 24 degrees. The trail is supposed to be between 3-6 inches - and mine is at 6.5 inches currently. Some of the change in trail has come from the steeper fork angle and some has come from reducing the yoke offset from 2.5" to the current 1.25". The trail is no less than the Savage had at nearly 8 inches - but it is still beyond the 6" of trail that is considered to be into the range that is considered "sluggish" handling. The frame and steering head geometry of the Savage makes it tough to change this. I think it will be fine as I don't want a really twitchy bike - and this is not a sport bike. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Boofer on 03/03/13 at 21:58:54 10-4. Sounds like have you thought out the handling. I was reading about some racers moving their forks up in the clamps by 2mm to get the handling they wanted. When I get that picky about my handling I'll just stop for a milkshake and change my center of gravity. ;D Can't say enough about your project. Great work. Boofer |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/10/13 at 18:20:34 This week/weekend was speedometer related. I first built a plate to hold the Vipertech on top of the triple clamp using the original mounts for the RM400 handlebars. I spent a lot of time measuring and building it and it was nicely positioned - but when I got it painted and mounted I realized how bad the wires were going to look on the backside of the mount with it being mounted so high. Plan 2 was to mount it on the bottom of th triple clamp. I started at 10 AM and took about 1/2 for lunch.....and I finished at 5:00 PM.....I just can't believe how much time this stuff takes! Black mount is the one I made first and won't use......silver one is now painted black and ready to mount when the paint cures: http://i47.tinypic.com/1051b28.jpg This is the speedo/tach in the new mount. The 4 blank holes will be for the L/R turn signals, neutral light and high beam. http://i47.tinypic.com/28vpnvr.jpg This is what the wires on the backside look like. I was not going to be able to tolerate looking at these when the thing was mounted on top of the triple clamp. http://i45.tinypic.com/2ztlerr.jpg The new mount being lower will hide the wires behind the headlight. http://i47.tinypic.com/3495id2.jpg My bike has 1,763 miles on it, and I wanted the odometer to show that accurately. The new unit came with 0 miles in it. I hooked the speedo unit to a battery, then I mounted a magnet on the wheel of a small grinder that I have an taped the sensor to the grinder so it would pick up the spinning magnet. http://i46.tinypic.com/1iilwg.jpg I set the wheel size really big in the programming, and I could really rack up the miles fast at 338 mph! http://i62.tinypic.com/2ugc9ed.jpg I let it run for a while on Saturday and got over 1,000 miles, and today I got it exactly at 1,763 miles. I had to watch closely the last few minutes to get it right were it needed to be. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/18/13 at 04:18:45 This weekend I worked on the right rear set and brake pedal assembly. The rear set brake pedal did not have any sort of a stop built in, and it was impossible to adjust the rear brake up snug or regulate the height of the pedal. The throw was waaaay too long as you could not adjust the slack out of the brake when the pedal did not have a stop built in. I solved the problem by making a new clamp for the rear of the footpeg what had an "ear" that I could thread and install a stop to limit the pedal travel. The stock one is the round clamp on the right....I made the one that is mounted to the footpeg. I think I can also use this modified clamp as the mount for the brake light cable. http://i49.tinypic.com/zty8lv.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/idtxl2.jpg I am planning on using a rea brake arm from a Suzuki C50. It is not offset like the cable operated Savage one, and I will be able to run the brake rod on top of the swingarm and avoid the conflicts with the exhaust. system. The lucky part is the splines are exactly the same and it will botl right on the stock brake cam. http://i45.tinypic.com/2vhwv41.jpg http://i48.tinypic.com/2cza3o5.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/18/13 at 18:24:58 Tonight I was able to finish the rear brake installation. On Saturday I tried a rod made out of 1/4" stainless. It was not a bad first attempt but proved that I had made too big of bends for clearance and the rod ended up too flexible and it would flex a lot when applying the brake. This may have softened up the tendency of the Savage rear brake to work like a light switch - but I was concerned that too much flex too often would result in the rod eventually breaking. Tonight I made the brake rod from 3/16" stainless and put a long soft bend in the rod. There is very little flex in it now and it works great. I will lower the suspension to make sure it clear everything at full travel, then make a cable for the brake light switch. http://i45.tinypic.com/2ef0sc8.jpg With the brake rod on top......I can do anything I want with the exhaust! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 03/18/13 at 21:29:29 Lookin all kindsa fine, |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ralfyguy on 03/19/13 at 08:07:38 Beautiful machining with the rear sets, kudos to you. However I'm not so sure about the brake rod solution. I mean it is your bike, but I could not get happy with the current looks of the rod. Like I said, none of my business, just saying... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/19/13 at 08:27:57 766568627D63717D040 wrote:
It is your business when I post it here.....and I agree with you. My attempt was to keep the brake business up outa the way of the muffler.....but it did not work. So....I did what all the other guys do: http://i46.tinypic.com/dgj7tf.jpg http://i48.tinypic.com/34xgmy0.jpg And it looks much better. It will also work with the muffler I plan on building. Here it is just pushed over the header pipe - it will be moved out and back a bit when it is all welded together.....and has some stuff on the inside of the megaphone. http://i49.tinypic.com/25qcigg.jpg http://i48.tinypic.com/s46kgl.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ralfyguy on 03/20/13 at 07:17:30 That looks way better and thanks for not misunderstanding my criticism. It just seemed to disturb the overall looks of the beautiful bike. I have another idea, which involves the unused mounting point of the rear footrest. How about a lever that has holes drilled in the middle and on either end, bolted to the footrest mounting point on the swing with the middle hole using a shoulder bolt so it can move freely. Then put the C50 brake arm back on facing up and fabricate a short rod to connect it to the upper hole, then fabricate another short rod to connect the lower hole to the brake pedal. This results in a push-pull action when the brake is applied, looks cool and is sort of away from the muffler? But it may not have enough clearance above the muffler you installed... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/20/13 at 07:40:19 574449435C42505C250 wrote:
That bellcrank arrangement is a possibility, and may be one that I work on next winter. There was one fellow that posted a system that used that and he got a lot of criticism about the movement of the swingarm and the effect it would have on the brake tension over bumps- but the mounting point of the swing arm is so close to the brake rod mounting point that there is little change in the length as the swingarm moves up and down. I do believe the rods would always have to be used in tension however - they are too slender and long to have any strength when pushing. I really don't want to let this riding season get away from me, and I want to get the bike running again within a month or so. I am planning on going on the Dragon Run in a couple of months with this bike.....and I need to get it running. There is a lot of work still to do. I might not get it finished....but I want it ridable. Things like the front fender, paint, Kawasaki EN454 sprocket, stainless exhaust system, removable luggage rack to hold my stuff, might all just have to wait until next winter.....or beome a series of small projects as the summer/fall seasons pass. I have been thinking about paint schemes.....and I am toying with the idea of throwing everyone off about what this bike is by using an original factory paint scheme.....I like these best so far. http://i45.tinypic.com/4v4sgk.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/33y10mb.jpg Although it is hard to beat the black and gold combination. http://i46.tinypic.com/263hm2v.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by singlesgoinsteady on 03/21/13 at 22:49:08 The middle paint scheme or just go gonzo and a big bold 70's race scheme. That bike is a belter! Sensational, love it |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by singlesgoinsteady on 03/21/13 at 22:50:19 Where do you get those ball joints that you have on the front of the rear brake rod where it attaches to the right rearset lever? PS GT380 was my first bike. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/22/13 at 02:53:46 342E29202B223420282E2934332226233E470 wrote:
The rear sets and heim joints came from Dime City. http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-chassis-tranmission-parts-universal-diy-rearset-rear-set-linkage-heim-join-spherical-rod-ends-dstf-6.html |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by singlesgoinsteady on 03/22/13 at 19:29:58 [/quote] The rear sets and heim joints came from Dime City. http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-chassis-tranmission-parts-universal-diy-rearset-rear-set-linkage-heim-join-spherical-rod-ends-dstf-6.html[/quote] Cheers Dave! -Dave |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Boofer on 03/22/13 at 21:59:34 Dave, Thanks for the Suzuki Triple photos. I was running the Kawasaki H1 and H2s back then. But your build pictures look like professional photos. Very good way to take us along on your build. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 03/31/13 at 15:22:37 I had a pretty good week. I got the clip-ons mounted, levers, brake master cylinder and throttle. I then made the throttle and clutch cables from the kits I got from Venhille. Today I made the decompressor lever system and made the cable. Here is the bracket: http://i46.tinypic.com/2mex3lt.jpg http://i49.tinypic.com/2a78myp.jpg Here is the clutch and decompressor levers. http://i47.tinypic.com/35d6cgk.jpg Here is the view from the seat.....Can't wait to sit in it and go for a ride! I bet that is still a month off. http://i46.tinypic.com/2aielwz.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by rfw2003 on 03/31/13 at 15:39:52 looking really good man R.F. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ToesNose on 03/31/13 at 17:16:10 Dave the project seems to be coming together quite well, can't wait till she's on the road :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by ZAR on 03/31/13 at 19:56:43 Everythings looking good Dave! It's gonna be one sweet scoot when you get it on the road. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Todd James on 04/02/13 at 00:22:47 Dave - As the others have said, thanks for sharing your build with us and for taking the time to document it with such good pictures and explanations. Even though you're on a tight schedule you've designed creative, well engineered solutions and crafted them with excellent workmanship. Your fellow Dragon Runners will be proud to have you as a riding mate. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 04/02/13 at 03:03:37 Todd James: Thanks for your encouragement. The Dragon riders last year were all great guys and I really had a great time spending a few days with them. I have never ridden with a "pack" before and I enjoyed it immensly. Last year they tolerated my loud loud and clanky engine that had a loose flywheel nut.....so this year I hope to just motor along smoothly without any issues. The schedule is becoming very tight, and I really need a a few weeks of riding and trouble shooting before I go to the dragon. All of these little projects have the potential to not work out without some tweaking.....and when you throw so many changes at a bike all at once it may take a while to get things worked out. The carb swap to a Mikuni will take a while to get jetted properly I imagine. I don't believe I will have enough time to get the front fender fitted, the side panels mounted, the rear swing arms mods and Kawasaki 454 front pulley mounted - or the bodywork painted. The bike will ride just fine without that work, and I will do it next winter. I can spend this summer getting the bike to run and ride well. Dave |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Todd James on 04/03/13 at 00:49:39 Take some rattle cans of various colors with you and let each of your riding mates contribute their artistic touches to the unfinished body panels during the course of the event. You'll emerge from the Dragon Run with a truly unique scoot :) ... and some photo and video memories that you can share with all of us ! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 04/07/13 at 18:02:45 Well I spent 2 long days this weekend on the bike. I got up at 5:00 and worked until 8:00 on boths days.......hard to believe some stuff can take this long. It took me about 10 hours to design, cut, build and paint this battery box. http://i48.tinypic.com/2pped4w.jpg The battery box also serves as the lower half of the rear fender. Today I was able to mount it. It has the battery on top, the brake light switch is mounted on the right side, the starter relay is mounted below the battery, and the igniter is located on the left side). I also got a lot of the wiring around the engine done today. http://i50.tinypic.com/fxw3up.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/29ndn68.jpg When you build this stuff one at a time.....it reallly makes you appreciate how much time and effort Ryan and Casey at RYCA went through to put their stuff into production. I am glad that I bought a lot of their parts instead of making them (seat, seat frame, peg mounts, body panels, etc.). |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 04/15/13 at 05:25:56 This weekend I worked on the exhaust. I bought a chrome megapone on eBay that had nothing inside - which would be too loud for me. I bought some parts from Meg's exhaust to make something to put inside. http://i49.tinypic.com/ruo4ro.jpg I was planning on making a baffle system in the front and a glass pack at the end - but 17" just is not enough room for all that. I ended up with a 1-3/4" baffle system up front where the exhaust enters the pipe and hit a bulkhead and must exit and flow into the megaphone - followed by the same system with a 2" pipe at the rear. The front baffle is removeable if the system proves to be overly restrictive. I hve absolutely no idea how loud this will be? http://i49.tinypic.com/2psqc76.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/9u12rk.jpg I then made a stailess adapter with a 10 degree bend to provide clearance on the bike. Tonight I will work on making a bracket to brace the muffler. http://i45.tinypic.com/66c1kw.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 05/03/13 at 06:17:54 I haven't updated for a while, just been busy working on it and the results are not impressive in photographs....but it has been work that has to be done and takes time. I was able to weld on mounts for the rear turn signals, and it took and entire day and a half to get the rear license plate worked out. I wanted a plate mount that would not hang on the back fender - and yet I wanted something that was legal anywhere I went. I finally located it on the side and tried vertical first, and then discovered that there was not enough room between my turn signals and pulley to give the plate room as the suspension bottomed out. So I ended up with the plate horizontal, which will make the bike more acceptable to law enforcement. http://i42.tinypic.com/acwuua.jpg I did not order the tail light mount that RYCA sells, and I first tried bending some metal to match what they did, and I finally abandoned that idea and just made a bulkhead from aluminum and fiberglassed it in. http://i41.tinypic.com/w8lrud.jpg The tail light that RYCA sells has white lights for a license plate, and the white would bleed over into the red tail light and make it pink. I opened up the tail light and there are six white lights. I found out that if you take one bulb out on each side - the other 2 don't light up anymore....they must be in a series of 3. Now I don't have a license light in the tail light anymore. http://i40.tinypic.com/2iqocxc.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/3167pyo.jpg The GT550 tank sits about 1/2 inch farther back and I needed to trim the front of the seat. The GT550 tank also does not need the notch for the rear mount that is on the LS650 tank. I pulled the staples and pulled the vinly back, and cut the front of the seat. I tried stapling with my heavy duty hand stapler.....and they would not go in. I stopped by an upholstery shop and they stapled it back together for me. http://i42.tinypic.com/6rj81e.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/339kdvc.jpg This weekend I will get th license plate lights working and bolt the seat on. Then with the handlebar electric controls wired in, front turn signals and headlights wired, and headlight mounted.....I might be able to mount the tank and put fuel in! I think I may have it rideable in the next week! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Dave on 05/05/13 at 17:11:32 In about a week it will be 5 months since I started this project (1/13/13). I have been working on it pretty steady - I have been surprised by how long some of the fabrication has taken. The battery box took me about 12-14 hours, the license plate mount about the same. I spent the last 2 days working on wiring the handlebar controls. I am using 7/8" bars and I got controls that will work with those smaller bars and look more appropriate on a Cafe' racer than the Cruiser parts the Savage comes with. I spent a lot of time right here......matching and splicing the wiring harness for the Vapor Speedometer and Tach, the left side and right side controls. It got a little tricky as the new controls have the emergency flashers on the left instead of the right, and the color schemes for wiring is not consistent. http://i40.tinypic.com/24qn1u8.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/33fbw3p.jpg The right control is from a Kawasaki KLR650. http://i43.tinypic.com/elcj2d.jpg The left control is from a Suzuki GSXR1000. http://i42.tinypic.com/5euwz4.jpg Remaining things to do are put brake fluid in the front brake and bleed, get the bike on the ground and adjust the controls, adjust the belt tension and tighten the front pulley, install the mirrors, install pulley cover, hook up the battery, check all the nuts/bolts for tightness, put in fuel..and see if it runs! It is supposed to rain until Tuesday....and I have a meeting that night....so expect the maiden voyage will be late this week or the weekend! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by Serowbot on 05/05/13 at 17:21:00 Ooh!... :-?, Ooh!... :-?, Ooh!... :-?, Ooh!... :-?, !!!!... PS...."Thumpin' Special......The project begins?"... :-?... Dave... I think this thread, is due for a re-title... It better,.. ...I've been waiting... ;D... WE WANT PICS!.... ROLLIN' PICS... ROCK N' ROLLIN' PICS!... ;D... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by Dave on 05/06/13 at 04:31:25 Right now it kind of looks like a Rat/Cafe' mixture. The front fender, side panels....and paint are just going to have to wait until I have time to address thiem. Right now the focus is going to getting it running and rideable, and work the kinks out before the Dragon Run in about 5 weeks. I may also need to spend some time in the saddle and see how it feels for a 3-4 hour ride session? TECH TIP: I had read on this site about using WD40 to mount grips. I had thought that was a bad idea.....as it was a lubricant. The rubber grips I was using were very tight, and I did end up trying the WD40...and it worked great. I had to spray both the handlebar and inside the grips, and they did slide on, and even as I was moving them into position they started to lock on tight. I am not sure where the lubricant goes....I guess it is absorbed into the rubber as the grips are now tight and don't slip. This may not work well on foam type grips....but on solid rubber ones it worked great. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/06/13 at 12:01:16 WD 40 goes away over time, even sprayed on metal. How did I learn that? My boss had me spray all the parts for a Big Ol OIlfield trucks transmission & put them up on a pallet, up high, outta sight in the shop. A few months later I had a reason to go up there & What did I see? Rust, allll OVER that stuff,, They even tried to accuse me of not sprayin it down,, but, I stuck to my (true) story.. & the transmission? Well,, it went into the junk pile, OHH,, Edit to add DUDE!! Youve done so much to that bike & its gonna look good, for sure, but, only Savage riders who really know their bikes will be able to look at yours & appreciate all youve done. YOuve got a great shop & youre a smart guy. Ride it, have fun, stay safe, |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by 87 savage on 05/06/13 at 16:19:39 Wow! Just read this thread in it's entirety. It's almost impossible to wrap my brain around the amount of design and fabrication you have done on this bike. The bike looks fantastic. The seat looks like it might be....how shall we say....firm? But it looks sharp. Nice work with the forks and triple tree. It is easy to see that you are an engineer with the quality of the parts you fabricated. Awesome job Dave!!!!! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by Dave on 05/07/13 at 05:37:13 Thanks for all the encouragement......it is getting sooo close. Last night I got the speedo wiring on the fork leg and the magnet epoxied to the brake drum, and programmed the wheel size into the Vapor. I then bled the front brake and it seems to have a good........."pedal"? I will bleed it once again when it is on the ground and I can turn the bars and try to move the high spot in the brake caliper around....on the stand the wheel is locked into a position that make a high spot at the banjo bolt. and there could be some air that is trapped in there. I sure hope this bike turns out to be a good rider, and not just something that looks different. Just before I tore it down I was having some mental issues.....as it was running great and it was a joy to ride. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by braveteacher on 05/07/13 at 05:44:30 Our bikes look very similar...trust me...you will get so much attention riding...I ride mine everyday to work and can not remember a day when some one rolled down a window and asked "what is that" "Cool" etc. http://https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8drtj-UG8_s/USwVqJfWNII/AAAAAAAABMQ/Ie88rSCZdbM/w1136-h852-no/IMG_9289.JPG Bike looks great! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by 87 savage on 05/07/13 at 15:53:39 764D4057464A51574C444956250 wrote:
Yup, I hope so too cause going "back to stock" isn't really an option at this point. Besides Dave, any doubt would be a great excuse to own a second Savage! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by Dave on 05/09/13 at 18:54:20 IT RUNS!!!! ;D Tonight I put gas in it, turned on the petcock, hit the starter...and it cranked and cranked and cranked and only got a few pops......Bummer. I had put a new Mikuni on it.....maybe that was the problem as I had checked the spark when I worked on the harness. I took the carb off and it had fuel in the float bowl and looked clean - but I took the jets out and blew through everything. I put it back together, and nothin. I was not sure what to check next, but the compression release cable looked tight. I took the cable loose and the compression release arm moved. I hit the starter.....and immediately notice the different sound as there was compression that was missing before....and the engine fired up! I warmed it up a bit and adjusted the idle speed and fuel mix. The pilot jet seems a bit too small for a good idle, and the Vapor Tach is not working correctly - so I have a few bugs to work out. The tach reads at idle - but as soon as you speed the engine up the tach rpms drop to nothing and don't register. I hooked the tach up to the power supply side of the coil as the instructions suggested - I will contact the tech department and see what they suggest. So....tomorrow I will work out a few bugs and go for a ride when the rain stops. The muffler I built sounds pretty good! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......5 months in 5 pages! Post by Serowbot on 05/09/13 at 18:56:49 IT'S ALIVE!... ;D... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by ToesNose on 05/10/13 at 03:43:33 Very cool Dave, I'm sure you're psyched to get it dialed in and on the road :D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by LANCER on 05/10/13 at 04:39:49 YE HAAA !!!! I am looking forward to seeing your bike sometime. The custom designed and manufactured parts you made yourself to solve issues as you progressed in the build are especially interesting to me. I wish I could do that. Congrats dude. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by gdrseeker on 05/10/13 at 08:10:13 Yeah me too, I have been following this thread since the beginning. Dave is doing some very interesting and inventive stuff. Can’t wait to see it running........you need to do a video so we can all share in your glory. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by Dave on 05/10/13 at 08:18:30 686B7D7C6A6A646A7D0F0 wrote:
I have a bunch more mechanical ability than I have video ability......but I will see if I can get something recorded and posted somehow. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by v-pilot on 05/10/13 at 18:59:20 I too have watched since the beginning. Glad to see all the effort come to a positive result. It looks awesome. Picked up a few things too...I'll be starting my AlumaRycaZuki soon |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by Dave on 05/11/13 at 09:31:24 Last night I mounted the bar end mirrors and mounted the oxygen sensor so I can jet the Mikuni. This morning I soldered in a resistor and it appears the tach is now working corrrecly, and I installed a longer cable for the compression release. If I try to start the bike and the piston is on the compression stroke when the starter button is pushed.....the starter is not strong enough to push it over top dead center. The engine has to have a little bit of momentum built up before the starter can overcome the compression. My little finger lever is not strong enough to pull the valve open - so I have to put the engine in gear and back up until the compression lever can move when the cam opens the exhaust valve. Not sure if this is going to be a problem.....I may have to install one of those hand levers if this doesn't work out - but I don't know if those are strong enough to open the exhaust valve with finger pressure either. My tank is so low that having room for your hand in there is difficult. The bike is ready for the test ride this afternoon. It rained all day yesterday and most of last night, and the weather is currently pretty gloomy - the sun is supposed to be out by 4:00. If I am really a chicken.....I may fasten the trailer to my car in case my wife needs to come pick me up....however I think everything is ready to go! I weighed the bike before I started this conversion, and the back weighed 200 pounds and the front 150 pounds. Currently the bike weighs 166.4 in the back and 151.6 in the front. I have about a gallon of fuel in the tank.....I have to go look at a previous post and see if I had fuel in the last time I weighed it. So....it appears the bike has lost just about 40 pounds if the bike was previusly weighed empty. I just taped the side cover on for this photo....the side cover and some paint will definitely make this bike look better. I will try and get the side covers mounted before I go to the Dragon run in about 4 weeks. I am definitely excited about the bike being rideable again! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by v-pilot on 05/11/13 at 15:04:55 "So....it appears the bike has lost just about 40 pounds if the bike was previusly weighed empty." So all that stuff that came off and only saved 40 lbs? Just over 10% is good for a light weight bike regardless...just thought it would be more |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by shovelbum87 on 05/11/13 at 16:55:43 WoW I am sooo jealous of your shop.... Wanna adopt me? I dont eat much and would only need a key to the garage?? :P |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by LANCER on 05/11/13 at 19:01:14 52494E57444D43544C1916210 wrote:
Wow, virtually selling yourself into servitude ... that's dedication ! ;D Where did you come up with the name "shovelbum87" ? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by Dave on 05/12/13 at 04:18:32 I rode the bike a total of 50 miles yesterday for the shakedown cruise. The bike runs well, and I was surprised that after the first ride around the block, the only thing I did was adjust the rear brake a bit tighter before going on the longer ride. I had put a gallon of fuel in the bike and switched the petcock to ON, and after about 15 miles I felt the bike start to slow down. I switched to reserve and stopped at the next station - and without filling to the very top it took 3 gallons! That should extend my range to 150 miles if needed....as long as my arms and butt will take it? My first impression is that my arms are doing a lot of work to hold my body up, and if I energize my back/core a bit it takes some of the weight off my arms. When I left the back roads and got onto the highway I found that at 60mph the wind in your chest takes most of that effort away and your arms have an easier time. The bike feels stable, I did notice that when I was following a car the bike was buffeted around a bit - but it is not any more severe than a normal bike.....I was mentally tuned into it more as this front end conversion to the RM400 triple trees is yet unproven. The jetting on the Mikuni VW36 is surprisingly accurate for this bike. I installed my O2 Sensor and the only thing that it looks like I need to do is raise the needle one clip. The engine is just a tad lean at cruising speed - it has a good mixture at full throttle, idle, and when accelerating. The muffler core I built seems to be a really nice sound. It is a bit louder than the Dyna muffler - but much quieter than the Supertrapp that I had. The combinatinon of this muffler and the Mikuni result in some burbling and slight popping during deceleration - but I do not remember any objectionable backfiring. I need to reset the alarms on the Vapor for the head temperature. The bike runs about 253 degrees at cruise and does get up over 260 at the stop lights - I have the alarm points set too low and they are on all the time. The temperature sender for the air temp is wacko.....I believe it is accurate when the bike is not running - but when the bike is running I believe the lights and circuitry heat up the case and it was 54 degrees during my ride and the temperature display said it was 71 degrees. It was a very succesful ride. And.....I do love my garage. It is the first nice garage I have ever owned and I had to wait and work until I was 52 years old to get it. I have spent plenty of hours working in gravel driveways, poorly lit and drafty barns, and unheated garages. I don't watch much TV, go to sports games, or spend much time in the house when my wife is grading her students homework....I go to the garage for therapy! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by Dave on 05/12/13 at 04:22:24 560D50494C4F54200 wrote:
I was surpised that it was not more of a savings - especially when I bought a Li-Ion battery that saved 7 pounds all by itself! I did add some things that are not on a Standard RYCA that do add a little bit of weight. I kept the muffler support in front of the back wheel and added a catch tank for the oil breather in that location. My fuel tank is larger/heavier and the mount for this tank is not required for the stock tank. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by ToesNose on 05/12/13 at 04:27:13 Quote:
You're not alone there by a long shot Dave, the bike looks great so happy that you are pleased with her now that she's on the road again :) Can't wait till she's painted, love that tank ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by 87 savage on 05/12/13 at 05:44:10 1F24293E2F23383E252D203F4C0 wrote:
Amen to that!!!!! :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by shovelbum87 on 05/12/13 at 11:29:02 434E414C4A5D1D182F0 wrote:
Wow, virtually selling yourself into servitude ... that's dedication ! ;D Where did you come up with the name "shovelbum87" ?[/quote] Thats a long story really but the short version is that I did archeological work when I was younger and shovel bum is actually an old (slightly derogitory) name for a digger, as far as the 87 well thats cause thats the year I was born. Sounds funny but it stuck.. As far as servitude... I could use the welder, and the lathe... I almost suspect that there might be a sheet metal break somewhere in there... My shop is well, less than ideal. you shouldnt have to climb over things to get to your bolt bins. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by LANCER on 05/12/13 at 19:58:07 100B0C15060F01160E5B54630 wrote:
Wow, virtually selling yourself into servitude ... that's dedication ! ;D Where did you come up with the name "shovelbum87" ?[/quote] Thats a long story really but the short version is that I did archeological work when I was younger and shovel bum is actually an old (slightly derogitory) name for a digger, as far as the 87 well thats cause thats the year I was born. Sounds funny but it stuck.. As far as servitude... I could use the welder, and the lathe... I almost suspect that there might be a sheet metal break somewhere in there... My shop is well, less than ideal. you shouldnt have to climb over things to get to your bolt bins. [/quote] Ah, a talented young lass in the 20 something's. It's good to have you here. ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by shovelbum87 on 05/13/13 at 14:58:44 Quote:
Well Lancer, Its a pleasure to be here. Its hard to find somewhere that appreciates learning and conversing with other likeminded indeviduals and welcomes newcomers, And in this case actually think about letting a girl tell them whats what. (That doesnt happen often!) As far as I am concerned I love this place and so far all of you! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by Cloudy on 05/13/13 at 17:30:37 6B70776E7D747A6D75202F180 wrote:
Jeeze, Don't tell my wife I have the love of another Woman! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by shovelbum87 on 05/13/13 at 18:15:22 755A5943524F62445F5D5344360 wrote:
Jeeze, Don't tell my wife I have the love of another Woman! ;D[/quote] Dont worry Cloudy its ok if its over 9300 miles away ;) Oh and I am very much taken so all of your wives, sweathearts and the women that put up with you can relax this chicka is off the market :-* |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......It's Alive! Post by Dave on 05/13/13 at 18:29:19 5C4740594A434D5A4217182F0 wrote:
Wow, virtually selling yourself into servitude ... that's dedication ! ;D Where did you come up with the name "shovelbum87" ?[/quote] As far as servitude... I could use the welder, and the lathe... I almost suspect that there might be a sheet metal break somewhere in there... My shop is well, less than ideal. you shouldnt have to climb over things to get to your bolt bins. [/quote] Well I do have a metal brake......promise you won't laugh? It is small but does come in handy for small things. http://i43.tinypic.com/346w4ll.jpg I had also hunted a long time to find a decent bolts bin and never found one. Then one day I saw an old library card catalog for sale, and I had my bolt bin! http://i39.tinypic.com/28m0jns.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 05/13/13 at 19:51:58 Oh my, a library card catalog cabinet made of real wood ! I am jealous now. :D That is a perfect storage for hardware. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by old_rider on 05/13/13 at 20:53:09 That card file is such a cool find! I'm gonna have to go lookin' now....but I don't think i'll find anything so usefull.... all my hardware is stuck in one of my toolbox drawers and in a plastic bucket in sandwich bags.... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by 87 savage on 05/14/13 at 01:37:13 26252D3B202D2C3B490 wrote:
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that organizes hardware in sandwich baggies! ;D ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 05/14/13 at 05:07:43 6A67696E797F3A3C32330B0 wrote:
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that organizes hardware in sandwich baggies! ;D ;D[/quote] Double zip-lock freezer bags are more durable ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by shovelbum87 on 05/14/13 at 15:19:41 HA! I love it! its so cute! ohh sorry I know men hate it when I say that. Hell its a better break than I have, I got a vice in the corner that I have to climb half over one of the other basket case ( 84 yamaha, boyfriends mistake of purchasing 5 years ago) while balancing one foot on a jackstand to try to use it, and my bolt bin.... Ah dont we all love the empty Dunkin donuts cups? HEHE I remember my old shop *sigh* An old dorman cabinet for everything circa 1960s I had everything in order and everything I ever needed. I miss that! Gotta say though I love the card catalog works great! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Steve H on 05/14/13 at 15:44:58 The card catalog is great. It's something I probably never would have considered if I saw one somewhere for sale. I, too, use ziplock bags to keep stuff sorted. And, I write on them what is inside and where it came from...just in case my memory decides to abandon me. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by 87 savage on 05/14/13 at 15:45:45 4952554C5F56584F57020D3A0 wrote:
Yeah it's cute as long as my wife doesn't catch me making off with the box off ziplocks! What happened to your "old shop"? :-? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/15/13 at 04:50:25 I had watched auctions, Craigslist and yard sales for a decent bolt bin, and they were all in poor shape and expensive. One day I say this card catalog listed on Craigslist for $ 200.....and it seemed perfect so I bought it. I had to take all the rods out, and buy a bunch of cardboad boxes to hold things in as the bottom of the drawers is somewhat open. I also keep the heavy stuff on the side bottom drawers and lighter stuff in the middle and top. I used the metal brake when making my battery box, brake line brackets, etc. And when I need to bend something heavier I do use a vice that I have installed aluminum inserts to keep from marking up the metal. I don't yet have a bench to mount the vice.....so my vice is just sitting on the floor and it is not very handy. I have the O2 sensor installed and I have been trying to chase down a slightly lean condition. It runs great everywhere and feels fine - but the O2 sensor is showing a slightly lean condition when you open up the throttle - then it stabilizes back to a good mixture within a few seconds. This situation does not happen when you slowly open the throttle - only when you roll on the throttle a bit faster than normal. The original CV carb did not do this. It took me a little bit of thinking, but then I realized this condition is normal on the Roundsdlide VM carb. On the original CV carb when you open the throttle the butterfly will open and the vacuum oprated slide will drop to keep the vacuum high and it will raise as the engine starts to pull more air.....on the VM carb when you open the throttle it is connected directly to the slide and the air velocity and vacuum through the carb will temporarily drop as you open the slide quickly. As the engine catches up with the new throttle position the vacuum will return and pull more fuel out of the jets. This condition is why some carbs have accelerator pumps built into them so that additional fuel is pumped into the air stream to compensate for the tempory lean condition. Now that I know this......I think I am happy with the current jetting and will no longer worry about this little issue - it runs smooth and seems to be jetted well. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 05/15/13 at 09:00:04 What jet combo did you end up with ? Needle clip position ? Stock slide or the one with the UFO ? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/15/13 at 09:33:51 535E515C5A4D0D083F0 wrote:
The carb as you sent it ran very wel right from the box once the idle speed and mixture was adjusted. I believe it came with a 185 main and that is perfect as the O2 sensor shows a good fuel/air ratio at sustained full throttle gong up a hill to 75 mph - which is where I decided I was going fast enough. At steady cruising speeds from 20 mph to 60 mph I was a tad lean so I dropped the clip on the needle one notch to the 3rd from the top. The idle air screw was happiest at only about 1/2 turn out with the original #15 pilot jet in. I put the #17.5 pilot jet in and the iidle air screw did not move out much farther, and I then installed the #20 and the screw is now at 1-1/4 turns out. The Mikuni tuning manual stated you should try and get a jet that allows 1-1/2 turns - so I may try the next larger pilot and see.....however it is running just fine. The VM carb has an air screw and not a fuel screw - so turning the screw out allows more air to mix in the pilot jet and leans out the idle mixture and also the operation of the pilot jet. This is the kind of carb the air bleed pilot jets are made for....the fuel enters the bottom hole in the pilot jet and the air that is controlled by the air screw enters the bleed holes. I don't have my scratch pad with me here at work - so I may have to revise the pilot jet sizes I listed here when I get home and look at what I wrote down.....I do know that I have increased the pilot jet 2 sizes over what was installed originally. I have a really big air filter now and I may need this extra big pilot jet to compensate for the low restriction from the air filter. Thanks for the great carb Lancer! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Serowbot on 05/15/13 at 10:09:44 Organawho???? :-?... ;D ;D ;D... http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/serowbot/nnbs_zps93714286.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by 87 savage on 05/15/13 at 16:04:37 Nice Vice!!!! :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/16/13 at 05:20:51 I went for my first ride on the Highway last night and rode for about 20 miles at 65mph. The bike ran just fine and the head temperature stopped just short of 290 degrees. I need to reset the Vapor warning and alarm lights for the temperature as I currently have the warning set at 275 and the alarm at 300. I will bump those up to 300 and 305. I rode over to a friends house so he could look the bike over and ride it to identify anything I may have overlooked. He has a considerable amount of experience road racing Norton and Ducati bikes and he rode my bike for about 20 miles. He liiked my bike and gave it a thumbs up......it handled fine and he liked the smooth power. ;D On the way back I stopped at Quaker Steak and Lube in Milford as it was bike night......there sure were a bunch of Hurlies in all forms. On the way over to the BikeNnight I thought my bike exhaust was a little loud.....while driving away I could barely hear it over the Hurley exhaust noise! When back on the highway I noticed my O2 sensoer light was showing my mixture was one or two bars leaner than it was on the way over. I stopped for gas and got 2.8 gallons which showed I was about 0.2 gallons from my reserve.....so a low tank can lean out the carb mixture! It is supposed to rain on/off the next 3-4 days......it might be a good time for me to try and get the side panels mounted. I am not going to try and hide the fasteners....I am going to use rubber grommets and large stainless screws like some of the vintage bikes had. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by 87 savage on 05/16/13 at 16:30:56 Do you notice much of a power gain with the new carb? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/17/13 at 04:59:14 767B7572656326202E2F170 wrote:
Well....with all the changes it is hard to tell. The muffler changed, the air filter changed, the wheel and tire size changed, the bike lost 40 pounds, my handlebar throttle control changed. It runs really well - but it ran reallly well before the carb switch. I used the O2 sensor to jet the original CV carb and it ran great and was very smooth. My initial impression of the VM carb is that it reacts much faster to your right hand - and with a small twist of your right hand bigger changes happen....I am not sure if that is a result of the carb switch or the twist grip being a quicker throttle. THe CV carb reacts a little slower and the vacuum operated slide helps to smooth things out. With the new carb and new muffler the backfires are different. I think the number has increased slightly - but they make less noise and occur when I roll off the throttle. I don't believe it backfires when I shift (however I don't close the throttle completely when I shift and that helps considerably). I can't comment on mpg changes yet as I have not run a tank of fuel through in a way that I can measure what I used or recorded the miles traveled. If you have a stock engine and a good running CV carb.....I am not sure I would spend the money and make the change. If you are doing cam, exhaust, air cleaner mods and want a faster bike.....then it is probably worth the switch. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/19/13 at 06:56:04 Oooh, I hated to do this....the bike was running fine and rode great. But I took it back apart yesterday. http://i43.tinypic.com/6eomx4.jpg I wanted to get the side panels mounted, and it required welding. I chose to use visible screws with rubber grommets. I think it works with the 70's tank in keeping a somewhat vintage look. For the top rear I made 6mm posts and held them in place with a tab I bolted to the shock mount. Wet towels keep the sparks from burning things up. http://i39.tinypic.com/2l9zj8.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/25turfp.jpg For the front I was able to dril the frame and tap the hole, then thread on the longer nuts and weld them in place. http://i43.tinypic.com/2w5sjl3.jpg The right bottom mount was welded to the frame, the left rear mount to the belt guard. This is what it looks line mounted: http://i43.tinypic.com/ab5a20.jpg Today I need to reposition the ignition switch, add some figerglass to the front bottom of the seat to keep it from flexing so much and rubbing on the side panels, and I believe I will put grey primer on the tank so it matches the side panels and seat frame. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by 87 savage on 05/19/13 at 10:20:55 1D262B3C2D213A3C272F223D4E0 wrote:
Don't do it Dave!! Paint the side covers and tail piece to match the tank. :o |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/19/13 at 14:18:20 666B6562757336303E3F070 wrote:
Too Late....the deed is done. I just wanted to do something fast, as the bike needs to be together and running so I can get a few more miles on it before I go on the Dragon Trip. The paint on the tank was not very good, and the left decal is brownish while the right side is gold. I guess the tank sat somewhere that the sun hit the right side of the tank for years. I got the ignition switch relocated....not sure if this is the forever position but it will do until next winter when the bike comes apart for the final bodywork and paint: http://i39.tinypic.com/ac6ivr.jpg I got the tank painted in primer and mounted: http://i42.tinypic.com/29zcspy.jpg I need to mount the shocks and put the fiberglass reinforcing in the seat before it is ready to run again. I did mount my new license plate! ;D http://i43.tinypic.com/2hhqfki.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by shovelbum87 on 05/19/13 at 14:49:09 78757B7C6B6D282E2021190 wrote:
Yeah it's cute as long as my wife doesn't catch me making off with the box off ziplocks! What happened to your "old shop"? :-?[/quote] Alas, My Ex kept it all, the apartment, the shop, half of my tools, my tool box, my racecar, my Fiat... But on the plus side I made it out alive and I havent seen that piece of road kill in years! You live and learn... I learned that if your gut tells you hes crazy... he probably is! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by 87 savage on 05/19/13 at 15:19:45 776C6B7261686671693C33040 wrote:
Jeez sorry to hear that!! But it sounds like you are happy and doing well now. :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by shovelbum87 on 05/19/13 at 15:40:18 7E737D7A6D6B2E2826271F0 wrote:
Jeez sorry to hear that!! But it sounds like you are happy and doing well now. :)[/quote] I have gotten over the loss of the material crap, I just value that I am safe and happy now, besides I now have a normal sane boyfriend! Its all good! ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/21/13 at 05:34:48 I an doing a little tweaking as the bike goes together again. When I got the side panels mounted I noticed how flexible the front edges of the seat base were. I could take my hand and push down on the edge of the seat and make it rub on the side panel - even though I had left about 1/4" clearance. I had read about others having a rubbing problem in this area. I took the seat off and noticed that the edges of the fiberglass seat pan where not in contact with the steel base. http://i42.tinypic.com/308umhz.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/35jm1l3.jpg I used Kitty Hair which is a fibeglass matt that is mixed with a hardener like body filler. I used a body filler applicator to fill in the valleys and make it flat across so that the seat edges where in contact with the metal base. It stiffened the seat edges considerably and gave it support, and it no longer contacts the side panels when you push down on the edges of the seat. http://i43.tinypic.com/dxl2tl.jpg The other thing I did was to change the tail light. I added turn signals and did not rely on the tiny little turn signsls build into the RYCA tail light. This new light is built the same - but does not have the turn signals and the running and brake light are much brighter and far more visible in the daylight. The RYCA tail light is on the left under the seat in this photo and the replacement is no the right. The camera shot was at about 100 feet in the daylight. http://i40.tinypic.com/9bc8sw.jpg This is the tail light I bought, and I did take it apart and disable the license plate light by pulling out two of the LED's....whidh disables that circuit and makes the other tail light LED's stop working. http://www.ebay.com/itm/330850269805?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/31/13 at 06:33:33 I have been riding and making carb adjustments for the last week or so. I do believe I have it where it needs to be, and I will be removing the O2 sensor and putting the chome header pipe on. I ended up with a 195 main jet, needle on the second notch from the bottom, and a # 20 pilot on the Mikuni VM36. It is running really good and it reacts instantly to a throttle change......this is taking a bit of adjustment when you are trying to cruise along at a steady speed, as a little twist of the throttle makes a quick change in speed. The bike runs and rides great, and I am getting used to the seating position. The steering is limited by the size of the tank and the lower bars - and I believe the stock bike will turn a tighter corner. This can fool you a bit when you are just getting underway and try to turn too sharp - but once out on the road it is never an issue.....you may not be able to turn around on the narrow country roads without having to back up a bit. I have made several 65 mph runs on the interstate and that is a breeze, and I haveridden the bike up to a tad over 80mph and it feels stable.....however I don't intend to ride much at that speed. I am very happy with the way the bike looks and rides....and I have no regrets about the Cafe' conversion. The front fender will be done sometime this summer, and the paint next winter. I plan on riding the bike a bunch this summer! Thanks to Ryan and Casey at RYCA for pioneering the idea and providing the majority of the parts, to Lancer for the carb kit and moral support, to OldFellow for givng me the motivation and unpublished challenge to prove that it can be ridden on a Dragon weekend, and to my loving wife who has been neglected a bit while I spent lots of hours out in the garage this winter. I am well satisfied that although this will not be a financial success.....it is an emotional and therapeutic success. http://i41.tinypic.com/jg02mh.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ToesNose on 05/31/13 at 08:21:27 Looks great Dave, really tight! ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 05/31/13 at 12:22:34 Nice Dave very nice. ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by caseyLA on 05/31/13 at 14:17:27 Cool project, looks great. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/31/13 at 16:39:41 Is it so throttle responsive that bumps make you wiggle & it responds? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 05/31/13 at 17:48:38 The tank looks very good on the bike, and I see that you choose a headlight that I have considered for quite some time for a build. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/01/13 at 04:11:46 57484E4954536252625A48440F3D0 wrote:
No, it doesn't change when I hit bumps. It is just hard to hold a steady 60....or 65....or whatever speed you are looking for. As you head up and down hills and have to add and let off the throttle the changes are larger than I am use to, and I wander around between 59 and 61.......not at 60. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 06/01/13 at 04:19:06 655E5344555942445F575A45360 wrote:
No, it doesn't change when I hit bumps. It is just hard to hold a steady 60....or 65....or whatever speed you are looking for. As you head up and down hills and have to add and let off the throttle the changes are larger than I am use to, and I wander around between 59 and 61.......not at 60.[/quote] Good morning Dave. 59-61 ? ? Picky picky picky. LOLOLOL ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/01/13 at 04:45:17 Good grief, dude,, thats just Terrible,, What ARE you gonna do? 59 to 61? Ohhh the humanity.. Heck,, Id just burn the blasted thing.. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by old_rider on 06/01/13 at 06:04:11 Yup, throw that throttle set away and buy/install a newer one..... :D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Jiggyfly on 06/01/13 at 09:01:41 Bike looks awesome! (Now we need video!) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Serowbot on 06/01/13 at 09:15:44 A mile a minute, focused on your speedo?.... Watch the road, Dave.... ;D... Yer'nearly as bad as me,... playin' with my camera... ;D ;D ;D.... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Blinky-FSO on 06/01/13 at 14:33:05 Excellent. The craftmanship and planning are evident if all you have is a twitchy throttle at this early stage of shake down. After you get back from the Dragon, maybe I can ride up there and take a look. Very nice Dave. Decided on a color scheme yet? Good hunting |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/02/13 at 07:11:33 The focus on the speedo was me trying to calibrate the Vapor. I was trying to keep 60 on the bike - while watching the GPS indicated speed. It ended up not being a workable attempt. There is a bit of a lag on the GPS as is calculates....and by the time it figures out what speed I am going.....I am not going that speed anymore! So instead I am calibrating it by using the odo and the mile marker signs. I have it real close right now. I fueled up for the first time with some accurate mileage recorded. I went 136 miles and it took 2.4 gallons.....so I got 57 mpg. I think that is good as about 60 of those miles were at 65 mph and I had a few blasts up over 75, and I had some strong wind over the last few days. I think this tank will get me about 160 miles before reserve. I am satisfied the carb is jetted well....so the Oxygen sensor came off and the chrome pipe went on. The bike can be ridden with very little backfire if you roll the throttle off gently and coast to the light without snapping the throttle shut. If you just chop the throttle......it backfires a lot. The backfires are not loud rifle shots...but a pop, pop, pop as you are slowing down. I am convinced that a bike that is jetted for good performance and mileage is going to backfire....and the rider needs to learn how to use the throttle and gears to minimize the conditions that cause it. I am not sure if this opinion is universally shared on this site.....but I can make this bike really quiet or really loud by changing how I use the throttle, gear shift and brakes. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/02/13 at 10:20:35 57 MPG AND good performance & good manners ( Not farting loudly in public). Thats good work,and its a good lookin thing, too,, |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 06/02/13 at 18:24:18 I call it "crackle & pop" when it responds like that on decel, while I reserve the term "backfire" for the "gun shot" type of decel sound. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/02/13 at 21:03:13 That rumblin grumblin growlin sound on decel just makes me grin,, Poppin & bangin is embarrassing, |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/06/13 at 05:26:40 So how tacky would this be? If I was to put a pair of these on my side panels. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 06/06/13 at 12:32:35 4E75786F7E72696F747C716E1D0 wrote:
I think they look cool. :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by gdrseeker on 06/06/13 at 16:32:48 Awsome looking cafe Dave. I like the special 650. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/17/13 at 14:14:48 Until next winter when the bike will be taken apart and painted.....this will be my last update. I just rode the bike about 700 miles over a 4 day period a the Dragon Run that the members of this site have been doing for the last 9 years. Last year was my first ride and my bike was stock, this year it was the Cafe' bike. The bike rode great and other than tightening one allen bolt that came loose - it needed nothing the whole weekend. The bike averaged 58 mpg over 3 tanks of fuel. The seat and handlebar postions turned out to be fine and after one 220 mile day my butt was a bit tired......not too surprising. I never did get sore. I did trade bikes with MM Ranch for a 10 mile stretch and his bike was far more comfortable as he has installed some taller rear shocks that are really cushy.......so although my bike was rideable it was not really comfortable. I have tried to ride my bike a few hours each work to get used to the seating and handlebar positions. When I was riding behind my bike I noticed the turns signals and brake lights can be seen in the daylight.....but they are not as bright as the stock items and may not get the attention of someone texting while driving. I may add a supplemental brake light that is brighter and see if there might be some brighter turns signals. Maybe red rear turn signals in combination with a controller that turns both turn signals on when you brake.....while still letting them blink as turn signals. I am really paranoid about getting rear ended by a "cage" driven by a driver while texting or adjusting the radio....etc. I am also planning on doing some pulley changes to get the rpm's down a bit while cruising on the interstate. The bike rode extremely well on The Dragon and I was able to lean it over within 1/4 inch of the tire edges......it seems to have a pretty good weight balance and was very stable. I am very happy with the conversion and how it rides! Dragon Trip 2012 http://i39.tinypic.com/117rzmu.jpg Dragon Trip 2013 http://i39.tinypic.com/30n9r2o.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 06/17/13 at 14:22:28 Well done Dave. I am pleased your trip went smoothly. Its illegal to drive and text in NZ, Is it not where you are? I suppose different rules for different states? Bike looks great. Now that you have broken her in so to speak, Any changes you would consider? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by jcstokes on 06/18/13 at 04:15:00 Please put the Special badges under the Eagle |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/18/13 at 04:20:41 090010170C080610630 wrote:
Eagle? That is a Dragon......the symbol of Hwy 129......the Tail of the Dragon! http://www.tailofthedragon.com/ I put the Dragon on for the "Coming Out" party at the Dragon ride this year. It was a fast and easy way to get something on the side panels. When the bike is painted next year.....I will probably buy and mount the Special 650 badges. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ToesNose on 06/18/13 at 04:21:40 Dave your bike came out beautiful, I'm so happy that you are happy with the outcome and that you are finally enjoying it to the most after so much hard work ;) BTW it is a Special 650! :D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/18/13 at 04:59:57 3021352C2D21323328212C2C400 wrote:
The only mechanical issue is the throttle control. I used a Maguara enduro throttle control.....and it seems to be a bit too quick. When you come up to a corner fast and close the throttle, then want to add throttle coming out of the corner.....it is hard to open the throttle up smoothly. The throttle seems to stick slightly and when it opens from idle it comes on too abruptly and cannot be done as smoothly as I would like. I will take it apart and lube everthing well and see if that changes it. It is not noticeable on normal rides - but on spirited cornering trips the throttle feels a bit sticky and it is hard add throttle smoothly. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Cloudy on 06/18/13 at 19:58:27 4352465F5E5241405B525F5F330 wrote:
It may be illegal, but doesn't stop all the knob heads doing it though! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 06/18/13 at 20:01:19 7956554F5E436E4853515F483A0 wrote:
It may be illegal, but doesn't stop all the knob heads doing it though! [/quote] True very true >:( |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Todd James on 06/19/13 at 00:01:59 Dave, Congratulations on your successful Dragon Run. If there were ever a place to test the meddle of a scoot's engineering, craftsmanship, and durability it would be on the Tail of the Dragon while dragin' the pegs for 700 miles over 4 days. Your journey was a special accomplishment considering your build schedule and your limited time for shake down and testing before you committed to the Dragon. I've enjoyed watching and reading your progress leading up to this occasion. Thanks for sharing it with us. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by thomasoconnor19 on 06/21/13 at 14:21:59 Hey Dave - did you ever purchase a rebuild kit for the GT550 tank? I'm not sure what year my tank is..but I bought this kit and it doesn't fit. http://www.hvccycle.com/images/suzuki1.jpg This kit came with 2 large o-ring gaskets that goes between the tank and petcock....my petcock only requires one, and it didn't fit in it anyways. Also for your emblems on the tank...do the screws just go right into the tabs on the tank or are there nuts behind it? I am CNC'ing my own emblems and trying to figure out which hardware I need to get. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/22/13 at 05:21:34 I converted my tank to use a Raptor petcock, I never rebuilt the stock GT petcock. The original petcock on the GT used a single elliptical seal similar to the Raptor. The tank badges have small tabs cast into them. The tank has holes that hold a small bushing, and the tabs on the emblems push into the bushings and are a friction fit into them. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by paulmarshall on 08/10/13 at 22:11:46 Dave can you please show me how you mounted the front tank mounts please. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 08/11/13 at 08:20:13 PaulMarshall: The tank mounts were made by drilling a hole in the frame gusset where I thought the mounts should be....some carefull measuring and marking and some luck were used. I used a threaded rod, 4 lock nuts, and 4 big washers that fit inside the rubber mounts. I first cut the rod so that is was the length necessary to go between the tank and leave room for the rubber cushions. The holes in the frame were made just a tad big to allow for adjustment up/down/forward,/back. I then inserted the rod, put a large washer on each side, then a lock nut on each side.....then inserted another lock nut on the outside and a washer, then the rubber cushions. Once I had the adjustments made I marked the positions of the washers on the frame, took them off and epoxied those washers, then tightened all the nuts and let the epoxy harden before I put the tank back on. There was no welding in this process.....just a threaded rod, washers, lock nuts, and epoxy. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 08/11/13 at 12:26:16 Thank You Dave a very clear and detailed explanation. :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/11/13 at 13:31:45 Heck yea,, Thats a REaders Digest level description if ever one existed,, |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 08/20/13 at 18:03:46 TON UP! 101.1 mph, 6,215 rpm. That was pretty much all it would do. The maximum rpm shown is not right. I should only be turning 6,215 rpm at that speed - I think I need a larger resistor in the tach wire as the rpm reading goes wacko around 5,000 rpm and spikes...then settles down. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 08/20/13 at 18:15:15 Well done you. ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 08/20/13 at 18:19:46 How did it feel? Did it get up there quick? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 08/20/13 at 18:35:05 It got up to 90 fast, then it climbed slowly and after 95 it seemed to climb pretty slow......although it probably was no more than about 10 seconds from 95 to 101.....but then it stopped climbing and would do no more. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 08/20/13 at 19:07:19 Thats awesome Dave. You must be the first to reach the ton and provide physical proof. ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ToesNose on 08/21/13 at 04:32:28 WOOTS!!! Well done Dave!! I know your scoot is heavily modified, how steady did she feel for ya all the way up there on the gauge? :o |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 08/21/13 at 04:40:37 Last night just seemed like the right night to try this. The wind was calm, the temperature was in the low 80's, traffic was light. I could only reach 98 going east......so I turned around and was able to reach 101. I guess there must have been a little bit of a wind that made the difference. The bike felt stable....the only shaking going on was me! I don't plan on doing this often.....I just had to see if I could do it. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 08/21/13 at 07:13:45 I just had to see if I could do it ;D ;D ;D Yea man ! ;D ;D ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 09/13/13 at 05:39:46 I have not been happy with the brightness of the turn signals. They are small and look good on the bike - but they use a small 23 watt bulb turned sideways and there is no reflector. This causes the inside half of the lense not to be illuminated well as that is where the socket is for the bulb. I found some really cool LED bulbs that are wired for 12V, have a high powered 1.5 Watt LED, and have a flat mounting surface with 2 sided foam tape already installed. http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-wired-bolts/plm-series-wired-one-and-half-watt-led/1141/#images This is the stock turn signal socket and light. http://i39.tinypic.com/2mp0n7t.jpg This is the stock housing with a stainless metal mounting plate I cut, along with 2 of the LED lights. http://i42.tinypic.com/16bk7di.jpg This is the light housing with the LED's mounted and wired. http://i40.tinypic.com/14tq4y0.jpg This is the rear turn signals which have not yet been converted. http://i42.tinypic.com/35he4c5.jpg This is the much brighter LED's in the front turn signals. http://i42.tinypic.com/66vr0w.jpg The turn signals are now much brighter.....and hopefully can be seen better in direct sunlight where the original bulbs were inadequate. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 09/13/13 at 05:45:12 Here is a video of the rear bulbs and the front LED turn signals View My Video (http://tinypic.com/r/2r20rc5/5) I will be doing the rear turn signals this weekend. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 10/01/13 at 05:42:25 On the Dragon Trip I was told by OldFellow that my brake light was not much brighter than my tail light.....in the dayhlight it was not an attention getter. In this day and age of inattentive drivers sending text messages on their phones while driving.....I have always wanted a brake light and turn sginals that are at least as bright as the stock items, and very visiable in the daylight. My attempt to get a bright brake light led me to this light, which can be set to light continuous. It is not very deep and tall....and can be hidden under the fender reasonably well, and it is completely sealed and waterproof: http://www.strobes-r-us.com/closeup.asp?cid=32&pid=720&offset=0 The mount I made is currently not painted, and it will blend in much better when it is painted black. http://i41.tinypic.com/2ilmro8.jpg The photo does not show the actual brightness .....and it is far too bright to be used without doing something to diffuse the light a bit. If you are within 30 feet and look at the light.....you will have spots in your eyes that last for several minutes. I am going to try putting a plastic lense with diffusers molded in, or maybe placing round black sticky spots over the center of each light. It will blind people following you at night the way it currently is working. When I ride at night and look in the rear view mirror and apply the brakes.....I can see the road, trees and signs behind me al lighting up red! http://i43.tinypic.com/ne994k.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 11/10/13 at 17:38:07 Today I was able to complete the pulley experiment that I had going on. The stock front pulley is 23 tooth, and it can be replaced with a 25 tooth from a Kawasaki EN454 LTD with some machining and adapting. It does however move the rear tire forward, and with an 18" wheel I cannot move the wheel any farther forward or the tire will hit the swing arm. MMRanch had reported that a Kawasaki KZ750 rear pulley had 65 teeth vs. the Savage 68 teeth....so maybe that would work. Well it does work....but takes some adapting. The center hole size is bigger than the Savage - so you have to make a collar to put on the hub to center the pulley. Then the bolt holes are on a different bolt circle....so you have to drill new holes, and the offset is different....so you have to cut some off the hub to allow the pulleys to run the belt in alignment. Also the left shock bolt head interferes with the smaller pulley - so I had to machine about half of the head away to allow clearance and replate the bolt so it didn't rust. Lastly the rear wheel is moved almost all the way back to tighten the belt properly.....so I have very little adjustment left and I will have to extend the swingarm slots 1/4 inch if I want to keep this change. I also cut some rubber floor matt and installed it on top of the rubber hub cushions - and this tightened up the wobble on the rear pulley and made it run straighter. EN454 25 tooth pulley http://i40.tinypic.com/2expz7b.jpg Machining collar and removing some material to correct offset. http://i44.tinypic.com/r9n6mc.jpg Cutting some shims from rubber floor matt to elimate play in rear hub. http://i41.tinypic.com/2wgf1mo.jpg Installed KZ750 rear pulley http://i42.tinypic.com/2a8lwg7.jpg The end result is that with my 18" rear tire and the stock pulleys - my engine ran 4,040 rpm at 60 mph. With the new pullies the engine is turning 3,300 rpm at 60 mph....and it feels much nicer to be cruising along at that speed. You now "know" when you are in 5th gear......and the jump between 4th and 5th is noticeable now. I suspect that 4th gear will be used for performance, and 5th will be used for cruising on flat ground. I only took it for a 10 mile spin today - but I believe it is going to be a worthwhile change. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by v-pilot on 11/10/13 at 19:25:17 You're an Animal Dave! I too was wondering about a different rear pulley to help drop the rpm's I haven't started the reassembly of mine yet but I do have the 454 front pulley. The kz440 rear should then also work, it has 66 teeth |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 11/11/13 at 05:16:01 The KZ440 rear pulley might be the same as the KZ750 - but with 4 hub holes instead of 5. The only eBay listing I saw for the KZ440 that had a tooth count said it was 65 teeth....same as the KZ750. There is one weird 60 tooth KZ440 sprocket on eBay - but you could not get a belt for that size pulley. I went with the KZ750 pulley as the hole spacing allowed me to drill the new holes half way between the existing holes....not sure how the 4 holes on the KZ440 would be converted to 5 holes for the Savage. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 11/25/13 at 18:30:50 In the last few days I corrected the compression release that was not working well. The Honda Hot Start lever did not have enough leverage to allow me to pull the valves open when they were closed....which is most of the time when I went to start the bike. I am using 7/8" bars....so this will not work for 1" bars and stock controls without some extra work. I went to the local bicycle store and bought a left brake lever for a BMX bike. The length of pull is far more than the compression release and I was worried about being strong enough to pull the lever....of breaking the cable.....so I made a longer decompression lever that would match the distance between the pivot point and cable on the lever. I had to make a new mount that would put the cable in line with the new lever. The new parts are painted black. http://i40.tinypic.com/et5g87.jpg I then mounted them on the engine and I use a bicycle brake cable that I cut to length and soldered on a proper end fitting. http://i43.tinypic.com/11m6sjl.jpg I then mounted the new bicycle brake lever on my clip ons. I had to angle the lever up a bit - so it did not hit the passing light switch when I pulled it in. http://i39.tinypic.com/2i8cepk.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/2vbwnj7.jpg It seems to work proper now. I have enough leverage to pull the exhaust valves open with my fingers. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 12/16/13 at 04:54:11 Over the weekend I was finally able to work on a front fender. Last year I was just too busy getting the bike up and running that I did not have time to get the front fender done. Since I had used a different triple tree yokes and narrowed the front end I was not able to use a stock fender anymore. I bought a NOS Wassel fender from eBay. It was an aftermarket fender made for British bikes, and was way too long for what I needed. http://i41.tinypic.com/s30plh.jpg I needed to make a flat spot on the fender so it would bolt up to the bottom of the TKAT brace. I tried to figure out a way I could cut out a piece of metal that would make a flat surface......so I turned the fender upside down and leveled it up against the wall with the mounting point at the bottom. I then put some water in the bottom of the fender until the level of the water was the size of the mounting point I wanted. I then spayed a light coat of orange paint in the fender.....the water prevented the paint from sticking to the area that I wanted to cut out.....and made a level surface? I then let the paint dry, dumped out the water, cut out the part that did not have paint on it, then traced the hole onto a flat piece of steel and cut it out to weld into the fender. http://i39.tinypic.com/n5sp4.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/15n0fa0.jpg I then mounted the fender to the bottom of the TKAT brace, and made a pair of stainless steel braces for the rear portion of the fender. http://i40.tinypic.com/mhhc5.jpg Now I am at the point where I can take the bodywork off and start prepping everything for paint! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 12/17/13 at 08:40:42 I like the way you think, Dave. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Serowbot on 12/17/13 at 08:47:23 Water...... That's brilliant... 8-)... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Gerry on 12/18/13 at 05:53:20 3523342931242932460 wrote:
Plus 1! You have done a lot of innovative thinking to create that motorcycle. Thanks for all the inspiration. Gerry |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 12/22/13 at 16:18:19 I have never liked the fact that I don't have anywhere to store a tool kit, or my registration and proof of insurance - and this weekend I made a storage place in the seat. First I cut a sheet of thin aluminum to fit in the bottom of the rear bodywork for the seat. http://i40.tinypic.com/29lfrdh.jpg Then I cut a hole just behind the seat back to use as the access. When the seat is installed it will not be visible. http://i44.tinypic.com/33kyxxc.jpg Then I laid two layer of fiberglass over the aluminum sheet to give it strength and to mount is securely to the bodywork. I placed two plastic mounts to zip tie the tail light wiring harness. http://i41.tinypic.com/o76jo7.jpg Then I epoxied some metal nuts to the seat bottom that are supposed to be used for making metal threads in wood....but I used them as dowels to locate the seat and keep it from moving around. I will use either some velcro or magnets to hold the seat down. http://i39.tinypic.com/2ymw007.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by strang on 01/17/14 at 05:00:22 Dave, reading over the triple tree/yoke swap you did towards the beginning - why did you go with machining the RM stem rather than welding the stock Savage stem into the the RM yokes? Are they not the same diameter? Would love to be able to drop the forks through the yokes rather than the large lowering spacer method which I am finding too harsh a ride. Don't have a lathe so trying to work out how much is involved before buying parts. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 01/17/14 at 05:26:30 Strang: The top of the RM stem and the upper yoke attachment was completely different than the method used for the Savage, and switching stems would have made for more work than fixing the top and bottom bearing mounts. The RM400 forks used ball bearings and the mounting surface on the stem was much shorter that the Savage Stem that uses roler bearings. The work on the stem was actually the least amount of work. Making steering stops that worked on the Savage was tough - but it also would have been possible to weld a stud on the front of the frame to work with the RM yoke. Also the front hub had to be modified to work with the narrower fork spacing, and then I had to machine a bit of the disc brake caliper away.....and the stock front fender won't fit anymore. I had initially thought about modifying a Savage bottom yoke with the fork clamp to fit on the top of the yoke.....that way you would have clamps on the top and bottom yokes at the Savage spacing. This new top yoke would not have places to mount your handlebars - but if you are using clip ons that is not an issue. I have an extra bottom yoke if you want to try this.....it would however need a spacer made as the top of the stem is not the same diameter as the bottom. I still have the parts for this change if you are interested.....if you mount the speedo and tach over the yoke.....not sure if you can make the converted bottom yoke look good. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Michael L on 01/27/14 at 23:23:26 This is a really good build.. I like how things are done pro, and in the best ways.. Those rm tripple trees really does alot for the savage to cafe conversion.. Maybe Ryca should make some cnc milled trees an option for their cs-1 pack, and a part of the tank and rear hub mod.. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/18/14 at 07:30:07 I took a break from the painting for a bit and worked on the rear swing arm. I wanted to eliminate the passenger peg mounts. So I driled and cut out the tubes that were welded into the swingarm, and made some metal patches with a hole saw. http://i57.tinypic.com/2z9f9c1.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/1zx1a9u.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/2uptjld.jpg I also wanted to get a bit more clearance at the front of the 18" tire in case I use the larger Kawasaki front pulley without the smaller back one, and in case I ever get a larger tire. I first slid the axle all the way forward and marked a pattern using a 3/8" drive socket extension for clearance. http://i61.tinypic.com/2w37x1k.jpg I then cut out the original metal, and made an interior stiffener to be welded inside, and a new plate to cover the part I cut away.b The stiffener plate is installed about where the green tape is located. http://i57.tinypic.com/2pshv0z.jpg I then welded it all together and made it smooth with my grinder. http://i58.tinypic.com/sav1wi.jpg I also wanted to get some extra travel in the axle adjustment for the use of the Kawasaki Pulleys.....so I cut the spot welds off the interior plate and removed it. http://i62.tinypic.com/2d7wnb.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/4fxqix.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/2uqei6b.jpg I then made some plates and welded on an extension of about 3/16". I still have to lengthen the holes and make new plates to replace the ones I cut off, and make the notches at the rear to hold the adjustment bolts. I may ultimately have to make longer brackets that hold the adjustment screws - but the original ones will work for the double Kawasaki Pulley set up. I might be a little soon to post this picture, as there is still work to be done....it is not yet pretty! http://i62.tinypic.com/jkanvr.jpg DONE! http://i60.tinypic.com/ffcoaq.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/iyq71w.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/04/14 at 09:44:48 I was not satisfied that the cut up rubber floor mat was the best solution to the pulley wobble. The pulley hub has a machined stub that extends into the wheel hub - but the sizes don't match and it allows the pulley hub to wobble. This is the recess in the wheel hub where the pulley hub slides into......and the wheel bearing is visible. http://i60.tinypic.com/110enm8.jpg I first bought a piece of brass tube 2" OD x 1.75" ID from Online Metals. http://i57.tinypic.com/2q0oqr6.jpg I then put the pulley hub in my lathe and machined the stub so the brass tube was a tight fit. http://i60.tinypic.com/350jwr6.jpg I then machined the brass to be a slip fit into the wheel hub recess shown in the first photo. http://i60.tinypic.com/29axgzt.jpg Then to allow more axle travel to the swing arm that I extended the lenght of the axle slots, I used some stainless pieces that I bought from Online Metals to make some axle adjusters that have more travel than the stock ones. http://i58.tinypic.com/2l9h2d4.jpg I then mounted everything to the bike. The pulley no longer has any wobble, and it appears that this is a better cure than the rubber floor mat pieces.....as long as it proves to be durable. http://i58.tinypic.com/34hz5gl.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ToesNose on 03/04/14 at 18:21:31 "Then to allow more axle travel to the swing arm that I extended the lenght of the axle slots, I used some stainless pieces that I bought from Online Metals to make some axle adjusters that have more travel than the stock ones." Interesting fix, I hope it works out :D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/15/14 at 14:41:52 I just finished buffing the paint, and put the bike together. The only thing left to do is finish the tank badges and install them. http://i59.tinypic.com/2aanat1.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/2vx389k.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/2ustnvs.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/2iiaoo1.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/kb226w.jpg I am very happy with the way it turned out. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by S-P on 03/15/14 at 14:44:32 Dave. VERY nice! Awesome job on the checkerboard. Congrats on a great build! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by bobert_FSO on 03/15/14 at 14:49:51 Great job. I like the looks of your tank so much better than the Ryca cut-down Savage tank. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Blinky-FSO on 03/15/14 at 16:05:34 Dave, Let me add my complements to what will be a long list. I hope you get to ride the rims off it. Good hunting |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Serowbot on 03/15/14 at 16:34:08 I'm holdin' out for a video Dave,.. gott's ta' see it on the road... ;)... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by pgambr on 03/15/14 at 17:09:32 1st class, "A" grade! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Todd James on 03/15/14 at 23:14:43 That's a great looking bike, Dave. Thanks for your detailed documentation of the build. Its an inspiration to all of us. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by gizzo on 03/16/14 at 01:47:07 That's a great looking scooter, Dave. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Gerry on 03/16/14 at 05:59:23 Dave, that is beautiful. Looks fantastic. That tank really sets it apart and the paint scheme and quality is amazing! Gerry |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Sheriff41 on 03/16/14 at 14:44:35 Wow! That turned out great! Well done, Dave. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by pgambr on 03/16/14 at 15:01:27 I even like the hound dog too. ;D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by old_rider on 03/16/14 at 16:55:37 Congratulations on an awe inspiring build! It surely is "Thumpin' Special" 8-) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/16/14 at 17:11:38 Thanks for all the great comments. I can't wait for a few hard rains to wash the salt off the roads.....and then some warmer weather. pgamr.....our Black and Tan coonhound Sarah is a great dog. Real easy going, up to do anything fun......or just sleep. The nice new paint made the late 70's headlight bucket look a bit shabby. Today I took the headlight bucket off to strip and paint it. http://i58.tinypic.com/2qarfc0.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/w1wye1.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/n3vywo.jpg I also found a silver sticker I bought for this bike that I bought from the Vintage Decals people. Just in case someone feels this bike is not road worthy...I mounted this on the right side of the swing arm near the pivot point! ;D http://i60.tinypic.com/jjyako.jpg It is hard to photograph the reflective surface...the sticker reads: SUZUKI HEREBY CERTIFIES THAT THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 03/17/14 at 04:59:21 Where did you find that sticker Dave ? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/17/14 at 05:06:14 737E717C7A6D2D281F0 wrote:
Here's the link. http://www.diablocycle.com/Safety-Standards-Decal.html They have all kinds of decals and stickers and badges for vintage bikes. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by strang on 03/18/14 at 14:49:20 yep just very very nice, I'd be stoked if that was my ride. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by gdrseeker on 03/20/14 at 01:08:28 Amazing bike ...you have such talent!!!! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/20/14 at 06:12:19 I have been blessed by having worked for some mechanics that have taught me some good basic skills, by having a good job that allows me to have some hobby money, and blessed with an understanding wife that allows me to spend a lot of time in the garage while she is grading her students papers. I feel that maybe I am "peaking".....my fabrication skills have improved but my eyesight for very close technical work seems to be on the decline. This is the first winter that I have had to put glasses on my face whenever I enter the garage to do any technical work. Changing oil and that kind of work can still be done without glasses - but anything that requires depth perception like welding, drilling or using the bandsaw or lathe now requires glasses. Last night I got the powdercoated headlight back on, put some fuel in the tank, pulled in the manual decompression lever, and hit the starter and it fired right up! It is so nice to hear it run again after it being apart all winter. The rain yesterday most likely cleaned the remaining road salt from the pavement.....and I might be able to squeeze an afternoon ride in on Friday for a bit....it is supposed to get up to 60 degrees. Saturday is forecast to be rainy, and on Sunday the cold returns. This weekend I will work on clear coating the gold anodized tank badges and then hand painting the area between the letters satin black. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 03/21/14 at 04:46:07 Sure is PERTY |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by wolfsgrin on 03/22/14 at 20:05:48 Wow, bahooga, Excuse me for drooling :D Nice build Dave(pics saved to deskstop) and I like your bike stand think I might build one to your specifications with the tools placement idea. What is your rear rim size? I see the excel rear rims on ebay 18x2.15, 18x2.5, 18x2.75. I'm in the process of building a bobber and like your rear wheel set up. plan on going with a springer front end next year and 21" Harley rim. Also what is your Pirelli sport demon tire size? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/23/14 at 16:27:19 677F7C76637762797E100 wrote:
My rear rim is a 2.50 x 18 with a 130/70-18 Pirelli Sport Demon. The front rim is a 2.15 x 18 with a 100/80-18 Pirelli Sport Demon. Be careful just buying any Excell rim from ebay. Most are set up for a more modern hub with a disc brake, and the punched holes in the rim will not be the correct angle for the drum brake on the Savage. The nipples may not screw onto the spokes - or if they do the spokes may end up not being straight and may have a bend in them (Not Good). |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by v-pilot on 03/23/14 at 20:52:50 Hey Dave, how much clearance do you have on the front/rear with your set up? I need to make rim choices soon for mine. I have the modified swing arm from Ryca...was hoping to go 2.50/3.00 |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/24/14 at 04:49:07 39623F2623203B4F0 wrote:
I don't think the rim width hurts anyting.....but you don't want a rim that is too wide for the tire you use.....and tire height and width is a factor with the stock swingarm and belt drive. The 18" rim and tire combination is larger diameter than the stock setup, and with the 130/70-18 Sport Demon there was plenty of room with the stock pulley set up. It might have been possibel to go with the 140 size....not sure. When you say the RYCA modified your swingarm.....I assume they clearanced the front for a larger tire.....as is necessary when you use the vintage tread tires. I modified my swingarm in order to allow me to use any combination of the Kawasaki Pulleys.....and I may try the 140 size tire next time if a larger tire will help handling any.....I have a friend with road racing experience and lot of street smarts that can help me sort that question out. When I see the tire options that are available in 17".....I wonder if that might be a better choice when shopping for tires. Most sport bikes use 17" wheels and it seems the sticky tires all come in that diameter. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Gerry on 05/12/14 at 08:24:21 Hi Dave, When you get a chance can you take a photo of your side cover mounts on the frame w/o the side covers? I have a couple of ideas on how to make these for my bike but I would like to see how you did it. No hurry, when ever you have the side covers off, don't mes with it just to take a photo. Thanks, Gerry |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/12/14 at 10:04:09 Gerry: The two scariest parts of my build were mounting the side panels, and wiring the handlebar switches. Next time I have the side covers off I will take some pictures - here is what I currently have in my files. I first established where I wanted a hole in the top rear, and then made a bracket that mounted to the upper shock stud and had a hole in just the right spot for the side panel. I could leave the flat tab bolted to the shock mount when I removed the side pantel.....and then I mounted a long screw through the hole with a piece of steel rod that I had bored and threaded - the flat piece bolted to the shock held the part where I wanted to weld it. Both left and right sides were the same so the tab could be used on both sides of the bike. The length was trimmed later. I had wet towels protecting the stuff I didn't want to burn up with the weld splatter. You can see the chrome acorn nut for the shock in this photo. http://i61.tinypic.com/2qibgp5.jpg This is what it looked like after trimming to length and painting. You can see the shock mount below the mount in this photo. http://i62.tinypic.com/2dwc6tg.jpg For the front I did something similar. I found a spot in the side cover that lined up well with the top frame tube. I drilled a small hole in the side cover at that spot - then marked the frame top tube. I then trilled a hole in the frame and tapped it to the correct screw size....then I put the screw through a barrel nut and put the screw in the threaded hole and then welded on the barrel nut. I once again trimmed it to length once I had them all welded on and could check the fit of the panel. http://i61.tinypic.com/b89wnk.jpg The bottom was done the same way. On the bottom right I welded a tab to the frame that has a nut welded in the correct spot. On the left side I welded a tab and nut onto the top of the belt guard. This photo might help to show about where they ended up. http://i60.tinypic.com/zssi06.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Gerry on 05/12/14 at 10:35:24 Thanks for the quick reply Dave. The photos you show above are excellent. They show pretty well how you did it. No need to take current photos with the side covers off. I don't have a welder, wish I did. I am going to go with a plan B I think. I'll touch on it in my build thread a little later. Thanks and again, you have come up with an excellent solution, nice work. Gerry |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by shorty on 05/13/14 at 05:45:58 gorgeous Dave...words escape me buddy ;) I will say that checkerboard running front to back is the perfect touch |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Jeff71 on 05/29/14 at 09:47:22 Dave, Is there a trick to painting checkerboards? I teach graphic design and know how to draw them in a variety of ways but I was wondering how you go about transferring them to the tank. Thanks! Jeff |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/29/14 at 13:18:15 Jeff71: I had a thread on the paint process....I learned it as I went along. Here is the link: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1387812207/0 The process involves lots and lots of taping, spraying, removing the tape and applying more, spraying, removing tape...then clear coating. If you ever get to the Cincinnati/N. Kentucky area let me know.....I would be happy to show you how this is done. Dave |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/08/14 at 15:28:36 Action Update: I have been riding the bike for about 1.5 years since the conversion, and I have logged around 4,000 miles in that time. Most of the riding has been on local country roads, and I have been on one group ride of 120 miles, and made a couple of Dragon Trips with the bike. I am not sure how many miles we rode on the Dragon Trip last year - but this year MM, Oldfellor and I rode 250 miles in the Lynchburg area, and MM and repeated the 250 miles each day in the 2 days we rode together in the Dragon and Waynesville rides.....and for me that included 6 runs up and down the Tail of the Dragon at a fairly aggressive pace (aggressive for me). I did have a group of Sport bikes and Motards with slicks that seemed to be doing twice my speed. I believe I rode about 900 miles total during those 4 days. http://i59.tinypic.com/o9fsk3.jpg I did find at the end of the Dragon Trip that my rear wheel spokes had an issue - I had 4 broken spokes. After a little research I found that I most likely did not have the spokes tight enough, and it is common to break spokes when they are not torqued tightly. I bought replacement spokes and a spoke torque wrench, and I have the wheel ready to go again. It may be good that we had wet roads for a some of the riding, as I may have broken more spokes with more faster riding.....with potentially scary results. I now believe that for an amateur wheel builder like me, that the spoke torque wrench is a necessity. I installed Pirelli Sport Demons on the bike during the conversion. When I took the tire off to work on the wheel, I dediced that although there is some tread left, there is not enough to justify putting it back on. I am surprised that I have worn so much tread off in just 4,000 miles. I don't do a lot of heavy acceleration and I try to corner aggressively - and yet I have worn the center tread down until only about 1/3rd of the original depth remains...the flat center is about 1/2 the tire width. The photo doesn't really show the flat spot like it looks in person. I would expect that if I left it on until bald, I would have gotten about 5,000 miles from it. The Pirelli Sport Demon is on the right in the following photo. It is supposed to be a Sport Touring Tire, and note even a soft SPORT rated tire. http://i58.tinypic.com/fcpow9.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/w86uds.jpg I decided to go with a Bridgestone Battlax BT-45 Sport Touring tire and try it out. This tire has a harder tread compound in the center for extended mileage with the sides being a softer compound for grip. Hopefullyl this will even out the tire wear and keep the tire from wearing out the center too quickly. This post update is not only to provide a warning to those who have built their own wheels to check their spokes frequently - but also as a way for me to chronicle a few things. The total mileage on the bike is 7,365 miles. The miles since the Cafe' Conversion and miles on the Pirelli Sport Demons is 4,000, the mileage since the engine upgrades (cam, Wiseco 95mm, Mikuni VM36) is 6,000. The bike averages around 54 mpg, and top speed to date is 101.1 mph. Dave |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by gizzo on 07/08/14 at 16:02:47 Dave, your bike never gets boring. Looks amazing. I love it. FWIW, my RE Continental GT has Sport Demons on as standard. Looks like they are wearing well on a bike that has almost no power. They have good grip and is fun getting them right to the edges. Be interesting to see how long they last. My 600 Pantah I use Battleax's on, the back one I expect around 10-12k km. They seem to wear really well and grip well. I guess I'm not that hard on this bike and ride it a bit gently these days. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by BalingWire on 07/08/14 at 16:50:35 Great information. Thank you. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by zipidachimp on 07/08/14 at 20:47:22 Dave: put your's up against a Ryca and there's no question your's has THAT look! terrific! The cut-down tank on the ryca is a mistake. Apparently Suz is aware of all the re-building, as they've given ryca some free bikes. Sure wish Suz would put a 'tracker' on the market, or give us the Tempter. I love that engine. :D |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by zipidachimp on 07/09/14 at 21:24:32 not that it's any of my business, and it's short notice, but I think your bike could easily bag 1 or 2 or 3 of these awards: http://www.caferacermag.com/bike-shows/ :D ;D 8-) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/10/14 at 04:12:19 6B78617875707279787C61110 wrote:
Well it would be a fun time to try....but unfortunately a family thing got in the way. My youngest niece is getting married on Saturday. My wife and I are stopping by the AMA Vintage Days on Friday on the drive up to Salem, OH......but Saturday not possible. :'( |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Oldfeller on 07/10/14 at 09:06:05 Listen to him being all mild and nice, whilst a' tearing the tread off his rear tire and bustin' all his spokes doing all them burn outs with MM ...... :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/21/14 at 04:42:14 Well it is back together after replacing the 4 broken spokes with 4 new spokes and a new tire....and I learned some useful things. 1) Check your spokes occasionally....especially on a bike where you built the back wheel. According to the folks at Buchanan's Wheel and Rim, rear wheel spokes most often break because they are too loose...not too tight. I had about 4,000 miles on this wheel and it seemed to ride really nice, and I had not checked the spoke tightness after the initial build. 2) I bought a spoke torque wrench, and it appears that I has spoked the wheel with too little tension on the spokes. Buchanan's recommended 60 in/lbs. for street bikes....and that is pretty darn tight. 3) I was having a horrible time getting the wheel true. I would snug up the spokes to get the wheel straight - then use the pattern recommended by the Excel Torque wrench to tighten the wheel. I would start with about 40 in/lbs and torque everything up, then go up in 5 in/lbs increments. The pattern they recommend for torquing is to go to the sprocket side inner spokes, then the brake side inner spokes, then the sprocket side outer spokes, then last the brake side outers spokes. Every time I did this I ended up with a low spot and wobble at the same spot on the wheel. I tried several times and each time it looked good for a while - then that same low spot would show up. It took me several tries and several hours before I learned what was happening. Each time I increased the torque I would go to the inside sprocket side spoke nearest the air nipple hole to start - I used the hole as a reference of where I had started. The problem was that when I started in the same place every time - it would pull that spoke more than the others - as it was the first spoke to be tightened at the new wrench setting....so eventually it would pull the rim out of round when you started to reach the higher torque settings. Eventually I figured out what was going on....and then I would start tightening at the new torque setting for whatever spoke was at the point the rim was the highest.....so it would tighten the rim more in that location and pull it more round. This worked much better. 4) The new Bridgestone Battlax tire has a really stiff carcass, has a lot of tread over on the sides, and must be made for some extreme lean angles. The tire looked like it might have wanted a wider rim as I was mounting it......it appears to be really tight radius across the tread and it makes it look like I won't have a lot of tread touching the pavement. This morning I looked at the Bridgestone specs online and they recommend this tire be used on a 3.00 to 4.00 rim....and I have it on a 2.50 wide rim....Woops! Looks like I need to change the rim if I want to continue to use this tire......Dagummit! And it may be that the modern tires are not made for the narrow rims that are being used on the CAFE' conversions, and that may be a reason I wore the center of the tire out so quickly. Here is a chart that shows the recommend rim widths for tires, and it confirms what Bridgestone recommends for their Battlax BT45 tire. I could not find a recommendation from Pirelli for their Sport Demons. http://www.c-note.dk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Motorcycle_Rim_Width_Tire_Size_Chart.pdf |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 08/17/14 at 04:41:15 My tail light stopped working recently. The tail light is the right shape and works well with this seat - but it is one of those cheap plastic and LED things that is not all that well made. After a few too many rides gettng caught in the ran chasing MMRanch around the hills of Tennessee and North Carolina, the light got water inside. http://i59.tinypic.com/2lji63o.jpg You can buy replacements on eBay pretty cheap, and this time I was able to find one with a red lense that matches the paint on my bike and blends in better. This time I took the light apart, and I have sealed all the joints with RTV to keep the water out! I would recommend that all you Cafe' and RYCA owners do the same. http://www.ebay.com/itm/390676538747?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT http://i60.tinypic.com/mubs03.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/ixqdjm.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 08/25/14 at 15:33:18 Dave how are you finding the seat? Is the width comfortable? If you were to make it yourself would you make it wider? I am measuring up for the sub frame at the moment and thinking of making the seat a little wider maybe to match the tank width. All comments are welcome. :) I'm looking at making the seat pan 10 inches at the widest point to avoid cheek over hang. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 08/26/14 at 03:10:45 Oh, definitely some overhang! The seat is just wide enough that the structural part of my butt is planted - butt like a bicycle seat there is matter hanging over both sides. You don't notice it much when you are on fun roads with lots of curves - you do notice it when riding down the interstate for extended periods. I am somewhat small at 5'-8" and 160 pounds, 31 waist and 30 inseam - so I am fairly compact. I have been in the seat for 10 hours (1-3 hour sessions) a day a few times, and it sure does feel good when you get off the seat for a bit. There is very little padding on the RYCA seat. I am taking the seat to Kent Auto Upholstery in Indianapolis next month to have him make me a leather seat. I saw some of his work a the Ton Up Rocker Reunion in Indianapolis and liked what I saw. I want a bit more padding on the edges, and also a raised hump at the front to help tie the seat into the tank. I tell people that this seat is like going to watch the concert at school and sitting on those wooden folding chairs for 2 hours.....it feels really good when you get off and get to stretch your legs. I have attached a photo that shows the padding on the RYCA seat. It is padded vinyl, and a couple of strips of 1/4" foam in the valleys with a full layer of 1/4" foam across the seat. It is not very cushy. Dave |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 09/24/14 at 07:22:13 I will post this in my build...for lack of a better place to post it. Maybe I should make a Tech Section Article someday. As I indicated previously in my thread, the RYCA tail light is not very bright and does not provide much notice of you using your brakes in bright sunshine. Oldfeller commented on my brake light the first time I took it on a Dragon event - he said the brake light did not stand out and would not get folks attention. The next year I installed a supplemental LED brake light under the seat. It is hidden pretty well under the seat at the point where the downtubes at the front of the wheel come up and meet the seat pan. You don't see the light while walking around looking at the bike - but when you are in a vehicle behind the bike it is clearly seen, and it is bright and gets attention. I actually installed some red tape over the lens to tone the brightness down a bit....so folks would not get blue spots in their eyes if they were sitting behind me at a stop light at night. The light I used was pretty expensive at $ 79.95 - but works well. http://www.strobes-r-us.com/closeup.asp?cid=32&pid=720&offset=0 http://i41.tinypic.com/2ilmro8.jpg The photo of the light in operation has exceeded the ability of the camera to show the difference in brightness.....the bottom brake light is about 4 times as bright as the RYCA brake light....it really gets our attention! http://i43.tinypic.com/ne994k.jpg This is what it looks like with red tape over it, the mount painted black, and my new red lense RYCA style tail light. http://i57.tinypic.com/ixqdjm.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/nod5s3.jpg I really think everyone should add a supplemental brake light like this one, as the standard RYCA style light just doesn't get attention. I just found a much cheaper light that most likely will work well enough, and is less than half the price of what I used. The light has half the lights and is a little deeper and taller - but still should be easy to mount and should be a big improvement over the tiny little pea sized LED's that the RYCA style tail light has. https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/strobe-fixtures/3-watt-vehicle-mini-strobe-lighthead/1042/ The lens is clear - but the emitted light is red, and they are really bright. The light has 11 flashing patterns - and one pattern does not flash and you choose that pattern for the brake light. It is not legal to have a brake light that flashes continually.....although it is legal to have the modulator that flash a few times before the light comes on steady. It is possible to use the modulators with these LED lights. http://i57.tinypic.com/vosopd.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/25/15 at 16:44:42 I have been working on the front end for about a month. I am converting to the stock fork yokes....the RM400 yokes increased the trail and made the bike steer sluggish. Part of the work is also putting on a GPS 120 mph speedometer and 9,000 rpm tach...with needles. The digital dash just didn't look right on the bike, as folks thought it is a vintage bike but the digital dash just didn't look vintage. It has taken a lot of hours to build this bracket and get it shaped and bent correctly. The 4 holes are for the turn signal, neutral and high beam indicator lights. The bracket is now painted black and the paint is curing. The bracket looks a bit big and cumbersome in the aluminum.....it will look less bold in black. http://i57.tinypic.com/2l8iurp.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/2it1lpf.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/2quhk3l.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Gary_in_NJ on 04/25/15 at 17:17:13 That looks good. Modern instrumentation with a vintage look. Exactly what an LS650 cafe racer needs. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by botticelli on 04/25/15 at 18:21:21 Very impressive Dave, I personally loved the work you did with the vapor but do agree this does jive better with the looks of the bike. As an added bonus, you can freely change gearing, and tire sizes, without needing to tune the speed-o! The gauge looks like it would need to be pretty thin to clear your massive headlamp. Any chance we could get a side photo of the gauge to show its height/profile? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by gizzo on 04/25/15 at 20:42:36 Nice clock. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by zipidachimp on 04/26/15 at 00:51:22 that bracket would look great in black 'hammertone'! 8-) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/26/15 at 03:33:33 The gauge is pretty thin....from the mounting surface to the back is about the depth to the first knuckle on my finger. http://i58.tinypic.com/72q7nl.jpg The wires originally came straight out the back, and were not sealed to the housing as the speedo is made for cars. Since it was being used on a motorcycle Speedhut sealed the cover, and I sealed the wires and wrapped them in black electrical tape, and the wired went straight out the back to the headlight bucket, where the wires were going to be connected. The problem was when I put the handlebars and controls on the clutch cable and throttle cable interfered with the wires whenever I turned the bars to one side or the other. To solve this issue I made a plastic piece that moved the wires to exit out the side, and the cover is beveled so the cables will just slide across the back of the speedometer. http://i58.tinypic.com/fozmue.jpg I also changed from the 100/90-18 tire to a 100/80-18 tire and the fender was too high off the tire - so I made an aluminum spacer to lower the fender. http://i60.tinypic.com/2mhvos4.jpg I also added ShawnRYCA's big brake kit. http://i62.tinypic.com/23h14c9.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Art Webb on 04/26/15 at 08:37:37 The more I see this bike the better I like the Idea of a cafe, if only they were more comfortable (comfort assumption based on sport-bike experience, I've never actually ridden a Cafe) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/26/15 at 15:11:14 I was able to get a bit more done today. After sitting overnight I put the painted bracket in the oven at 160 degrees for about 6 hours....cured the paint nicely. Now onto wiring things up! http://i57.tinypic.com/28ibzaw.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/149upft.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 04/26/15 at 15:45:08 Dave, that thing is just delicious. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 04/26/15 at 23:16:55 Very cool dude. ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/27/15 at 04:38:42 Thanks for your comments and support. This bike may well be the best thing I have ever built in my life.........I know it is a lot of fun to work on and to ride. I hope the new GPS speedometer works as well as it looks. It has an odometer set at the factory to match the current mileage on the bike, a trip odometer, clock, elevation, max rpm and speed recall, 0-60 timer, 1/4 mile time/speed. I am really going to like the ability to see how gearing, tire size and other things can affect the performance of the bike. The high beam indicator and turn signal indicators were just not bright enough to be seen in daylight - so I am not hooking them up and will be using LED indicators instead...they will arrive on Wednesday. The cable for the GPS that plugs into the back is interfering with the clutch cable (dagummit) - so I just ordered a patch cable with a 90 degree fitting - this will allow me to permanently seal the cable to the speedometer housing and then just plug the speedometer and antenna cables together in the headlight housing. The Trailtech Vapor was much easier to install as it was smaller, the wires were more flexible and easier to route away from the cables.....this one has caused some grief with getting the wires away from the cables that move around when you turn the front wheel left/right. I am going to miss the head temperature gauge the Trailtech Vapor included. I could keep track of the engine temperature when it got really hot outside.....but I suppose there really isn't any need to do that as I know what makes the engine hot (stop and go traffic in 90-100 degree summer days). |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Iceman4193 on 04/27/15 at 18:50:40 43787562737F646279717C63100 wrote:
Woah what? What is this sorcery? Where you get dat? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 04/27/15 at 18:54:13 It's a Speedhut.com gauge. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/28/15 at 04:11:03 6B5249531011200 wrote:
Yep....from Speedhut. You can order them with a lot of different colors of face, script and pointer style, and even special faces if you send them the artwork. They come in two sizes for the GPS speedo, and they can come with or without a tach and different MPH and RPM configurations. They are made for cars - but they can be adapted to other uses if you seal the places where the wires enter the housing. The only trouble I am having is in keeping the speedo close to my large headlight I am having problems with the cables rubbing on the back of the speedometer and interfering with the wires. With a smaller headlight this would not be a problem. http://www.speedhut.com/gauges/ |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by botticelli on 04/28/15 at 06:37:52 Dave, Any way to lower your headlight, perhaps new headlight mounting ears, with a larger offset from their position on the trees to the headlight attachment plane. Too low and you may block the front of your bottom tree, but that shouldn't be a deal breaker. Any idea of the speedhut gauge that you have would fit in the stock speed-o location? It looks like the one you have is the 4 inch version? This could let me get two birds with one stone, and figure out how to accomplish two goals with the same task. https://youtu.be/g7ZjEeSI6yc |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/28/15 at 08:27:13 It is a tough balancing act to keep the speedometer low so that it doesn't stick up above the forks and look weird, and having the headlight too low.....that headlight bucket is 9" and takes up a lot of room and it is already down as low as it can go and there is only about 1/4 inch between the bottom of the headlight and the bottom yoke. I have solved the wire/clutch cable issue by converting the wires to leave the speedometer sideways....not directly out the back like they used to. It was not an issue that I anticipated until I started bolting the handlebar controls back on. I used the 4-1/2 inch gauge.....it might have been a bit better fit with the 4 inch gauge. I didn't post a photo of it yet - but I Velcro'd the GPS antenna to the top of my front brake master cylinder, and it looks fine in that spot. IF I need access to the brake fluid reservoir I just pull the antenna loose form the Velcro. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/28/15 at 09:13:07 The USPS delivered the indicator LED's a day early...Woo Hoo! I am not sure which ones would work be best...so I ordered them both to give them a try. The set with the lenses and chrome trim are the ones Braveteacher used on his bike build. The other ones don't have any lenses and are bare bulbs that emit colored light. They both fit into a very small 7/32" hole. I need to see which ones are visible in daylight - and yet so bright that they blind you at night. My Kawasaki Super Sherpa had such a bright blue light for the high beam indicator - that is was distracting at night. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/28/15 at 18:35:58 Well it turns out the LED's with the threaded mounts are not going to work. The blue one is easily seen in daylight, the green is just barely visible if you really look closely and stare at it while you turn it on/off, and the yellow are invisible in direct sunlight as the sun lights up the lenses more than the light does. Out of the sunlight the lights are visible but not great......however the blue one would be too bright at night and would be distracting when the high beam headlight is on. The LED's with the black plastic mount are kind of cool - but waaaaay too bright and they leave spots in your eyes if you look straight into them. The mounts are nice as the light snaps out the back, then the black collars push into the front of a 1/4" hole - and the LED snaps into the back. The yellow and green are visible in daylight - but the blue is just blinding day or night. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to use them - but then I decided to use a hole punch and make a round dot with a piece of electrical tape - and I stuck it on the top of the blue light so it blocks the light coming out the center and you just see the light around the perimeter of the LED - it makes a blue halo. I think this will work better than having yellow turn signal indicators that you can see. It may also be possible to use some kind of tint to make the light dimmer. I did find out that you can put resistors inline and reduce the brightness of the DC powered LED's....but I have no idea what value of resistor to use. I can buy a whole bunch of resistors pretty cheaply from retailers on eBay.....I might just have to do that and then just trial and error to find the right one. In the photo below you can see that there already is a small resistor inline to reduce the 12v down to the 3.5 to 5.5 volts that the LED uses......when I did a search I found out that different colors need different voltages to operate at the same intensity....so hopefully I can drop the voltage down on the blue light and make it more user friendly. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 04/29/15 at 18:10:36 How about using a potentiometer for testing purposes? You can turn it up or down until you get a setting you prefer then measure the resistance at that point with a multimeter. Once you decide how much resistance you need, buy the closest value resistor and mount it permanently. It'll save you the time of trying 19 million resistors. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 04/29/15 at 18:18:16 http://extra-parts.com/images/potentiometer_single_pin.jpg Here's a random pic I pulled off google. Wire the middle terminal and either side terminal. Depending on which side terminal you use, you increase the resistance by turning the knob CW or CCW. I forget which terminal goes which direction. It won't matter for testing. You can't go wrong. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Todd James on 04/29/15 at 21:13:16 I think Kris has made an excellent suggestion about using the potentiometer. Even if you had the exact specs on your LED (Lumens vs Current), the desired light output will still be a subjective choice on your part. I would measure the ohms of the resistor that is already in line on your LED and use a potentiometer of approximately the same maximum resistance. That would allow you to select up to twice the resistance that is already present. A quick calculation with Ohm's Law on a standard Blue LED shows that the existing resistor is likely in the high 400 ohm range. 500 Ohm potentiometers are available on eBay for a few dollars. Or, you may be able to pick one up at a local TV repair shop. (Do they still exist ? ) By the way, the function of the in-line resistor(s) in a typical LED circuit is to reduce the current flow through the LED rather than the voltage presented to it. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/30/15 at 03:13:12 The potentiometer is a good idea.....however I just bought a set of 600 resistors for $ 3.45 and $ 1.45 shipping. If anyone needs some resistors let me know.....I am sure to have some left over! http://www.ebay.com/itm/281538447855?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I don't think it will take very long to find out how big of one I need. I will just pick one that makes the blue light "glow" instead of "glare" at night.....I really don't need to have it very bright as I really don't need to see it much in the daytime - I can always just take my thumb and see what position the switch is in on the handlebar control. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 04/30/15 at 05:53:08 I autopsy just about everything. I scavenge switches, pots, springs, and stash... |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 04/30/15 at 17:18:35 You too? ;D. I have a box of probably useless components that I've unsoldered from different boards. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/02/15 at 04:38:00 I was able to complete the work to change the way the cable for the wires and GPS antenna come out of the case. Originally they came straight out the back and interfered with the throttle and clutch cable movement when the handlebars were turned. Now they come out sideways and no longer interfere with anything. http://i62.tinypic.com/17g77r.jpg My job for today is to get the new speedo wired up and the headlight back together. http://i62.tinypic.com/qq7uc9.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/04/15 at 03:27:37 I got the bike all back together Saturday night, and all the electrical parts work. I don't yet have the resistor in the high beam indicator light, I expect the resister bulk package to come in the mail this week. The only weird thing I noticed is when the key is on and the GPS speedometer is energized, and I blow the horn.....the tachometer goes from 0 to the top end of the scale and the shift light come one. I don't know if that happens when the bike is running or not. Sunday I was going to take the bike outside and put fuel in it, and when I lowered the jack the front tire was flat!(?). This is a bit weird as a month ago when I mounted the tire....it aired up and I could not get one bead to seat. I let the air back out, put a bit more RuGlide on the bead, and then when I went to blow up the tire the tube had a hole in it. I took the tube out and patched a tear on the outside of the tire where the tread would be. It was not a hole or slice but looked like a jagged tear about 1/8" long, and it did not look like a pinch....and how does a pinch occur on the outside away from the rim? I always put the tube in the tire and blow it up to straighten out the tube - then let the air back out before I mount the second bead. I patched the tire and it held air, seated the beads, and balanced fine. It held air for a month - but for some reason it went flat in the last two days. It has never been ridden on this tube - and it has another tear on the inside of the tube about 1/2" from the valve stem. I don't trust this tube anymore. I have not pinched a tube in more than 30 years during installation....and for some reason this tube has failed twice and I have never ridden on it. The tube is an IRC and it looks fine - it is a 2.75/3 - 18 and although it works fine in a 90/90-18 tire.......it might be just a tad small for the 100/80-18 tire. I can only find one company that makes a tube listed at 100/80-18, and it is a Heidenau HT30018.....so I will get one ordered. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by botticelli on 05/04/15 at 15:24:18 Dave, Question, whats the LED light array under the headlight? I'm guessing a similar setup to what you did out back with the supplementary tail light? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/04/15 at 18:23:58 I disconnected the Passing light switch from the headlight high beam, and now it runs an LED strobe in the front (under the headlight). If I don't think someone sees me....I pull the Passing Switch and the strobe blinks with 2 yellow strobes and 2 white strobes. It has 21 different patterns it can flash...I picked one that looked like it would get attention. http://www.strobes-r-us.com/closeup.asp?cid=32&pid=923&offset=0 |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by botticelli on 05/04/15 at 20:49:34 Awesome! I sure that will wake a someone right up if their rear view lights up like that! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/05/15 at 02:54:37 767B60607D777178787D140 wrote:
I use it mostly when approaching an intersection, or if someone is pulling out of a driveway and it doesn't look like they notice me coming. You know the ones...........the folks that just keep creeping forward and make you wonder if the see you and are going to stop or pull out in front of you at the last minute. I found the thread written about this light. http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1372162554/0 |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by botticelli on 05/05/15 at 19:45:51 I am not fond of these people.... >:( 1B202D3A2B273C3A2129243B480 wrote:
|
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/09/15 at 15:55:56 Today I took the bike up to Ronnie Price upholstery in Fairfield to have a new seat padding and cover made. He is a really cool dude and really dedicated to knowing what you want....I am glad I found him. He is going to do the padding first and then I need to go up for a test fit, and then eh will do the cover. I also started the bike up for the first time since I installed the new tach and speedo. Everything looks like is is going to work. View My Video (http://tinypic.com/r/29y1hrq/8) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 05/09/15 at 21:16:30 Nice ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by botticelli on 05/10/15 at 16:22:29 Looks Awesome! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by KennyG on 05/10/15 at 17:11:18 Dave, Does Ronnie Price do mail order business? Kenny G |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 05/10/15 at 17:21:50 Dave, that tach needle responds pretty quickly. What sort of pickup does it use? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 05/10/15 at 17:31:45 Can you post a pic of this gauge at night? I'm really curious about the red numbers. Red light at night is not supposed to be as blinding as any other colors. How bright is it? Is it overwhelming at night? I'm just trying to sort out my options. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/11/15 at 03:36:02 The tach uses a wire to the coil. It scared me a bit at first as I turned the key on and was trying all my electrical switches to see if I had everything wired correctly before I started the bike. When I pushed the horn button....and the tach needle swung all the way to the top and the shift warning light came on - and I was worried I has going to have to change how the tach was wired. However....once the engine is running that does not happen and it all works fine. I haven't ridden the bike day or night since installing the new speedo or front end.....I currently don't have a seat or a front tire on the bike. The replacement tube for the tire should come in the mail today and I will get it in the tire tonight. I suspect I am going to have to put a piece of foam on the seat pan and go for a ride to test the new forks! Here is what the gauge looked like in the garage this morning with the lights off. The gauge has 3 levels of brightness.....I have no idea which setting it is on. It looks just fine to me and looks easy to read without being too bright. On the Speedhut gauges there a a lot of colors available for the face and numbers, and they even have some that are one color in daylight, and a completely different color at night. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/11/15 at 06:32:37 7B555E7342514358300 wrote:
Although he might.....his business is primarily local guys who drop stuff off. Most areas likely have this kind of shop available if you can find them. http://www.ronniepricetop.com/home Spencer seats are the king of "mail order" seat mods. http://greatdaytoride.com/Home_Page.php |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Martin71RS on 05/11/15 at 11:53:52 sounds good, love the gauge! 8-) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 05/11/15 at 19:39:06 Thanks Dave. I've been looking at Speedhut for a while but I can't decide on what colors I want. Since we need a gauge that always operates in "night mode" (lights always on), the daytime colors don't mean anything. I can't make up my mind on what colors what be good for both day and night riding. Others have said that black numbers on a white background make it easier to read but I don't want to be blinded at night! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/12/15 at 03:35:31 122B302A6968590 wrote:
I don't know about the daytime colors not meaning anything. I don't know what happens when the gauge is in the night mode - but in direct sunlight. The day and night colors are controlled by a wire that is connected to the headlights in a car - and on the bike I just connected the wire to the positive power source and it is in the night mode all the time....Speedhut says this is fine and the lights are durable enough to run all the time. If you wanted to be able to use both - it would only require you to put a small switch somewhere so you could control the power wire to the little light module (The entire instrument face is luminated by some kind of a glowing surface that requires a 200v power source and there is a small transformer). The intensity of the gauge face has 3 levels, and you can make it dimmer or brighter - I don't believe it will be too bright as the same thing would happen in a car interior. I am not sure what setting mine is on - but the black background and red letters is easy to read day or night. It is imperative that you get the holes where the wires come out sealed up from moisture....they are not sealed at the factory as they expect them to be in a car. They will seal the gauge face if you tell them to do so when you order it. Also if you get the GPS they can shorten the cable...I got mine at 18" and I attached the antenna to the top of my master cylinder with Velcro...and it looks just fine. I have clip-on handlebars and the cable can be short. In retrospect I would probably order the 4" gauge if I did it again....the 4.5" gauge is pretty big. My big headlight sort of ties it together...but a smaller gauge would have been just fine. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Kris01 on 05/12/15 at 17:31:20 Thanks Dave. The switch is a good idea. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/25/15 at 08:55:39 I took the bike up to the upholsterer Saturday morning and they fined tuned the foam, and this week they will be working on sewing the cover. It is going to have a bit more padding than the stock RYCA seat, especially down the sides. Later that day I taped some foam to the seat support/rear fender and I took the bike for a long ride to make sure it is all put back together correctly and everything works. The change in the fork yokes has made some changes. The clip-on handlebars are now about 1.5 inches farther forward - so I am leaning forward and reaching out a bit more than before. The initial turn of the bars seems about the same - but I have noticed that it is far easier to correct your line while turning. With the other fork yokes the bike was pretty stiff to turn when you got into a decreasing radius turn and needed additional steering while in the turn.....now that is far easier. It still doesn't steer as lightly as the little 250 Ninja - but most likely never will as the wheels are bigger and the bike is heavier. The big brake conversion is still getting bedded in....with new pads and a newly ground rotor this takes a while, especially when most of my riding does not require much brake as the engine compression slows this bike down pretty quickly. So far the big brake feels very smooth, and it is getting more responsive with each stop as the parts get broken in. The LED indicator lights are perfect and easily visible in daylight and direct sunlight. The resistor in the blue High Beam indicator light has proven to be good - it is visible in the daylight and not too bright as night. I did notice the the shiny glass on the speedometer can sure reflect a bunch of sunlight into your face....if it becomes bothersome I may put a satin film on the glass. I did get up to 82 mph in 5th gear and the new GPS speedo/tach confirmed what my gearing is like with the 110 rear tire and double Kawasaki pulley conversion. At 82mph I was turning 4,774 rpm, so at 60 mph I would be turning 3,493 and at 70 mph I would be turning 4,075 rpm! I love it! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by strang on 05/25/15 at 13:25:20 what's not to like :) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Gary_in_NJ on 05/25/15 at 16:00:09 Thanks for the update Dave. The weight of an EX 250 and a typical cafe conversion is about the same in the low 300's...close enough that the difference between one with a full tank and an empty tank and they could be the same. The real difference is the 16" wheels and the rake (27 degrees) and trail (3.3 inches). Those are some sporty numbers. I'm looking forward to hear the results of the seat reshaping. So far my bike has been comfort limited to about 25-miles. I'd sure like to go further. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/25/15 at 17:13:51 363C38323930343D636561510 wrote:
I have put about 5,000 miles on my bike since the Cafe' conversion, and ridden this bike on 3 Dragon trips. Some of those days have been 10 hours on/off the bike and it totals around 250 miles on most days as our speeds can be down in the 30's on the mountain roads, and we need to stop for gas every 100 miles for the stock tanked bikes (my GT550 tank allows me to go about 160 from full to reserve). We also sight see, eat, and sometimes shop at the Dixie Knife works and similar places. The thin padding on the seat has definitely been noticeable. I tell people it is like sitting on that wooden folding chair at the high school band concert......it sure feels good when you get off and stand up! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/29/15 at 04:01:42 I got a call from Ronnie Price.....and my seat is done! :) I am going up this afternoon to check the fit....and hopefully it will be ready to go. The fit at the tank where the flange sticks (where the fuel tank top is joined to the fuel tank bottom panel) was an area that worried me.....hopefully it is not an issue. I had the seat made with a slight raised area at the front of the seat to help break up that flat seat look that most Cafe' seats have. I am really looking forward to having a full inch of padding at the sides of the seat. http://i57.tinypic.com/2nr3u4h.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Art Webb on 05/29/15 at 07:58:21 Looks much more comfortable than the other one |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by botticelli on 05/29/15 at 09:15:01 Looks great, picture on the bike is required! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by swing69 on 05/29/15 at 09:41:45 seat looks nice an comfy!!!!!!! I'm going to hold off modifying mine, until I see if I can find a 4" longer seat......then heavily pad. let us know how it works! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 05/31/15 at 15:37:53 I got my seat mounted today. I had to do a little bit of work as he didn't understand exactly how it mounted, and missed getting the foam under the edges like the RYCA seat had. It didn't fit right, so I had to take it apart......they did a good job with the padding and sewing and I am not upset with them, as it is not a common way to mount a seat. I am happy with the way it looks. I went for a ride and it is better - but still not very cushy. I guess you can expect 1" of foam to be luxurious! ::) http://i61.tinypic.com/oq9m47.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/20a5c14.jpg |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by paulmarshall on 05/31/15 at 16:21:11 Looks totally awesome. ;) |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by HovisPresley on 06/01/15 at 06:30:32 8-) The red stitching is a nice touch, also |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by KennyG on 06/01/15 at 11:21:47 Dave, The seat looks really sharp. Is the covering vinyl or leather? Kenny G |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/01/15 at 11:31:49 634D466B5A495B40280 wrote:
It is vinyl, and it has very few seams on purpose. All those seams in the RYCA seat cover are not waterproof....and if you get caught in the rain the water goes down through the seams in and into the foam. It takes a couple of dry days before the seat stops oozing water every time you sit down. I got caught in the rain one year at the Dragon....and I had wet shorts for the next 2 days of riding! :( |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by inglourioushoko on 10/11/15 at 01:12:58 That seat combined with the paint work is stunning. Awesome build |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 01/31/16 at 09:01:32 Today I installed a bit lighter springs on the rears shocks...and it gave me an opportunity to show what I used on the shocks. http://www.jpcycles.com/product/ZZ70138?utm_source=shopzilla&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=ZZ70138&zmam=95452747&zmac=5&zmas=1&zmap=ZZ70138 I bought Progressive 412 shocks that are 13" in length. The shocks are made for Harley applications I believe, and they come with the needed 14mm bushings for the Savage. The shocks can come with Standard or Heavy Duty springs, and the standard are for solo riding and the Heavy Duty for those who ride double the majority of the time. They don't list the rating for the springs - but I recently found out the standard springs are 120/170 lbs and the heavy duty springs are 140/200 lbs. In order to reduce the travel of the shocks to prevent the tire from hitting the back fender/seat on the Cafe' bike, I had to install 2 spacers that are 1/2" each - for a total of 1" of spacers. The leaves me about 4-3/4" of travel before the shocks hit the rubber bumper on the shaft. http://www.powersportsplace.com/parts/pgr-30-5014?seid=pspse1&gclid=CjwKEAiA_ra1BRDV-byb_aDqpQoSJAA-ofB9p_evnASMq5ndbGVPeMrTBr3i5VnDrGiEvKaIXQ8kfBoCNvXw_wcB http://i64.tinypic.com/1zxqszt.jpg I have been running those springs for a couple of years on the lowest pre-load setting, and they have felt just a bit too stiff for my 170 pound geared up weight. So...I just installed a pair of 105/150 pound springs and set them on the 2nd pre-load notch....when the spring rains come and wash the salt off the roads - I will go for a ride and try out the new springs! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by smokin_blue on 01/31/16 at 17:16:14 4F74796E7F73686E757D706F1C0 wrote:
For anyone that is thinking about using Spencer, I had my Sprint ST seat done by him and I can say it is very good value for the money. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/31/16 at 19:03:48 Dave said I got my seat mounted today. Whew! Luckily, I was able to dodge That bullet. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by stewmills on 01/31/16 at 19:11:25 7E6062666463526F6178680D0 wrote:
For anyone that is thinking about using Spencer, I had my Sprint ST seat done by him and I can say it is very good value for the money. [/quote] I had my s40 seat done last year by Spencer. very pleased. great quality work and quick turnaround. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by DesertRat on 03/20/16 at 12:18:52 12292433222E353328202D32410 wrote:
http://i46.tinypic.com/osbdoy.jpg where'd you get the headlight? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 03/20/16 at 14:59:32 Yamaha 820 Virago. You have to shop around and search for bargains....complete units can go for $ 400! There is a Suzuki GS1100E that has a similar headlight - but the bucket has a larger hole in the backside. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by DesertRat on 03/20/16 at 16:10:39 thanks again Dave |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by savagekidd on 06/12/16 at 22:49:19 I really like this clean transformation from one spectrum to another on this build Dave. Very well executed. I noticed the hex head bolts in your bar clamps, in lieu of the allen bolts... What MM length did you use for those? 40... ? My 30 year old bolts are hard to deal with. Broke one off in the clamp, then broke an extractor inside of it... :P |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 06/13/16 at 03:33:46 6775627573717F7D7070140 wrote:
If the Savage (and most other bikes) are left outside, the fasteners and aluminum parts corrode, and it does become hard to get things apart after many years of corrosion takes a toll. I don't know/remember what size bolts......I just took the original bolts with me and matched them up at the hardware store.....and used stainless. We have a really good hardware store that stocks metric fasteners in stainless. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/25/17 at 12:04:38 774C4156474B50564D454857240 wrote:
That's so cool.. Good Going.. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by madmikesmech on 05/25/17 at 17:21:49 Nice work Dave, real nice |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......The project begins! Post by madmikesmech on 05/25/17 at 18:07:30 455A5C5B4641704070485A561D2F0 wrote:
That's so cool.. Good Going.. [/quote] |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by norm92de on 05/25/17 at 18:13:43 Dave, You do indeed do nice work! Really great! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by buster6315 on 05/25/17 at 20:44:10 Dave is talented with metal work indeed! I do better with woodworking. Wonder what that red vehicle in the back ground of his garage is. Years ago I even had a folding bed in my garage. Along with the refridgerator, TV etc. We basically ceeded the living room in the house to the kids, & spent our time in the garage. I swung by my pals house today; his truck was parked there, the garage door was opened, but I could not get him to come out; I revved the engine, I honked the horn, but no success! He is hard of hearing, so do I need 'more power' to get his attention? Like something that will rattle his windows? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 05/26/17 at 06:29:11 Yeah, I sometimes go deaf,too, Depending on who is trying to get my attention and what time it is. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by buster6315 on 05/26/17 at 06:39:07 Ah yes! The old 'dead ear' treatment! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Grinin on 02/22/19 at 09:20:31 Dave I've really enjoyed following this build. I know its written somewhere, but I cant find it. Where is the 8" headlight bucket from ? What was the reason for going with the triple tree change? Love to hear if you tested the 130 back tire on the 3.50 rim and what did you like best? Keep up the good work. Little is written about how to make the LS 650 better handling. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Grinin on 02/22/19 at 09:27:00 Found the headlight info. Still interested in the tire and fork answers. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/22/19 at 17:23:54 I changed the triple trees to allow the use of a top yoke with a clamp....so I could lower the forks without using spacers and limiting fork travel. It turned out the offset of the RM250 was less and it resulted in an increase in the trail....the bike became very stiff to turn. Since then I changed to an aftermarket top clamp with the stock Savage offset and it turns much nicer. I like the 3.50x18 rear rim and it allows me to use a 130/70-18 tire properly, and it looks wide like modern bikes - however I believe a 120/80-18 tire on a 2.50x18 rim is appropriate as well and provides plenty of tire to handle the weigh and HP......just looks a bit narrow if you are used to wide sport bike and cruiser looks - it is still wider than they used on the old Norton's, BMW's, Triumphs and similar bikes from the 60's. The 120/80 tire and rim assembly is lighter and will probably provide more performance. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Grinin on 02/25/19 at 05:22:58 Dave youve discovered ways to make LS 650 more fun and I appreciate it. You have mentioned switching to the Battleax tire for the harder center compound. Has that worked for increasing tread life for straight up riding while giving the corner holding traction you want? Youve mentioned that the 18" tire is a larger diameter tire. This seems it would through of the speedo some and make it a bit sluggish on acceleration compared to the stock diameter. You mentioned different Kawasaki pulleys. Could you share what youve learned about the pulleys. You also mentioned that maybe you should have have tried using 17" wheels instead. I believe you are going for the cafe look and the 18's would be more accurate but the 17's could be good. I wonder how that would look? I guess same height as stock but less chunky. I will look for pix. 8 I love the lightweight flat track look but only as a guideline. Im planning to use bits from several differents styles. Flat track handlebars, stockish solo seat and location. Maybe a modified fiberglass Harley front fender for a rear fender. Bigger headlight similar to what you did. It seems 7 inch headlights are easier to find. Maybe some kind of Lucas type tailight. Maybe a little different looking gas tank. The wheels, tires and suspension setup seems like the hard part for me. Im not a knee dragger but I like something that feels kinda fun. Im interested in sport bike feeling tires but love the looks of flat track tires and wire wheels. To me sportsbikes are just for going fast and I want more from a bike. I like a bike to look a little old school and not too high tech. Ive always liked the looks of the cafe racer but I've discovered I cant tolerate the squashed down feeling of using clipons or sportsman type handlebars. Oh well, to each his own. Thanks for your hard work Dave. I look forward to your reply. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/25/19 at 05:51:38 The Battlax BT45 had a noticeably harder center tread on the Ninja250 and you could see where the two compounds joined......but I never saw that on the BT45 tires mounted on the Savage Cafe' - the center of the tread wore out about the same rate as the Pirelli tires and I seriously doubt that it came with a harder center compound even though there advertising claimed it did (it has a flat center as if all I did was ride interstate highways)..........and the front tire has a blocky tread pattern that wears out on the sides quickly - I won't be using the BT45's anymore. My next set of tires to try is going to be the Michelin Pilot Sport Activ. I don't ever recall saying I wanted 17" tires......I may have said that there was more choices in 17" tire. The Kawasaki pulley conversion is a nice upgrade to reduce the engine rpm at cruising speeds. The change in gearing for the larger wheels and the Kawasaki pulley is fine with me, as I am not a drag racer and my modified engine works just fine with the taller gearing. The Kawasaki front pulley makes the gearing taller and works fine with the stock engine...the Kawasaki rear pulley makes the gearing even taller and works best with a modified engine (although Badwolf uses both pulleys with a stock motor - but he does lots of long distance touring and is not too worried about rapid acceleration). Most who have done just the front pulley say they don't notice any drop in acceleration after the change - but there likely is a small change. http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1384949185 http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1516107628 The 7" headlights work just fine and provides far more light than the stock Savage headlight. My 8" headlight is an acquired taste - some like it and some think it looks a bit out of place. If you are used to seeing the small 5" and 6" headlights that come on modern cruisers....my headlight looks mutant in comparison. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Grinin on 02/25/19 at 10:32:58 Thanks for the quick reply Do you have any info on how to recalibrate a speedo? Youve done a lot to raise the rear and lower the front. I assume to get it to steer better. I would be interested to read your impressions of how this worked. I will look forward to reading about your engine mods. Thanks again for shedding light on subjects my cruiser and sport bike friends have little or no experience with Thanks again |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/25/19 at 10:50:56 63766D6A6D6A040 wrote:
|
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by playhard67 on 04/15/19 at 16:21:41 43787562737F646279717C63100 wrote:
Dave, Do you have more detail on how you did this (page 12 on your build)? I purchased these LED lights from superbrightleds. I also purchased resistors. I am interested in putting two LED's in each blinker like you show here. Does that mean I have to install two resistors (one for each LED)? Do you have a drawing on how you wired it? I tried to view the video you had on page 13, but was unable to open it. Thanks for your help. The blinkers are and head/tail lights are the last thing for me on my build. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/16/19 at 09:08:32 I did not use resistors - I installed an electronic flasher module instead of using the stock flasher module. No sense wasting electricity in a resistor when an electronic flasher is cheap and more reliable than the mechanical one. I don't have many photos of the turn signal mod. The Superbright lights have a sticky foam tape on the back, so I just made a small metal plate that would fit in the turn signal housing and epoxied it in place with JB Weld. I then could run the wires behind the plate. The wires from the lights are spliced together (splice together parallel circuit) inside the turn signal housing and hidden behind the plate. With LED's you need to be sure the polarity is correct - or they won't illuminate. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by playhard67 on 04/16/19 at 14:47:00 OK. Thanks Dave. I ordered an electronic flasher module from superbrightleds. I also ordered a diode kit. Looks like I may need this for the instrument panel flasher light? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 04/18/19 at 05:00:56 6F737E66777E6D7B29281F0 wrote:
Nope....you don't need the diode kit. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Grinin on 08/22/19 at 22:39:34 Dave I like the big headlight look but I cant seem to find 8 inch headlights or buckets. Im told there is a 7 incher that will make the night look like day. I will be riding on tree lined country roads a would like to see well. Have you any suggestions on 8 inchers or have you seen a great 7 incher? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 08/23/19 at 04:22:28 If you want a big 8" headlight - you have to go vintage as nobody makes new ones. They were used on the Suzuki GS1100 - but I can't remember which year......the also used 7" lights on the bike so if you are searching eBay they need to tell you it is the 8" light. The bucket on the GS has 2 round and one oval hole for wiring. If you install a good LED bulb they throw out a lot of light. Here is one that is a pretty good price. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-Suzuki-GS1100-OEM-LARGE-8-Headlight-Complete-GS1100E-ES-83-82/352667973485?hash=item521ca6376d:g:jo0AAOSwQBBc4LZO The headlight that I used is from a Yamaha 920 Virago. It has only 2 holes in the back of the bucket. I don't see any on eBay at the moment, you have to be careful as they also made 7" headlights and they look the same. They are expensive when they are for sale if the seller knows the market. If you want a 7" you can do it considerably cheaper. You can buy new ones like this one from Dime City.....or there are lots of ones available on eBay from used bikes. Dime City also has lights that are chrome or have the domes backs like British bikes used. I used the one from Dime City on the little Ninja 250 that I built as a Cafe bike. It was a good headlight - the only flaw was the paint on the inside of the bucket did not have complete coverage and I had to paint the inside before I used it. The inside of the light is a little cramped for wiring when you add an LED bulb that has a driver separate from the bulb - but I was able to make it all fit. The British style lights with the domed back most likely has more room. https://www.dimecitycycles.com/black-and-chrome-7-inch-metric-style-headlight-assembly.html Mounting any of these headlights requires you to buy brackets to fit the sides. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/04/20 at 04:04:39 In order to rebuild the photos in this thread, I need to find a place where I can create and store the URL's that TinyPic destroyed when they stopped hosting photos. As a Moderator I have the ability to trim/delete posts - so likely I will also clean up the stuff that does not have any relevance anymore. In the mean time I will post a few photos to show the end result. This is the bike as it currently exists. I have put about 12,000 miles on it since the build, worn out 3 sets of tires, and had an issue with a fork brace that put lateral pressure on the fork tubes and wore out the lower tubes and bushings: |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/04/20 at 04:08:15 This is a close up of the large 8" headlight from a 920 Yamaha Virago. The headlight mounts were made from the stock turn signal mounts. The bulb is a Cyclops LED and is very bright. I switched over to 7/8" handlebars so I could lose the large cruiser style handlebar controls and switches. This shows the Honda master cylinder from an ATV (had the brake light switch built in), the right electric switch is Kawasaki KLR 650, the clutch lever is Suzuki GSXR 650, the left electrical control is GSXR 1000. The fuel tank is Suzuki GT380/550. The speedometer is from SpeedHut and has a both speed and tach in the same housing and the antenna is Velcro'd to the top of the master cylinder. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/04/20 at 04:13:27 Here is the photo of my current front fender mount. Previously it was bolted to the bottom edge of my fork brace - but when I removed the fork brace I needed a place to mount the fender. I cut up a stock fender and removed the metal brace that is underneath. I had to cut a small bit of the bottom and drill new holes to lower the brace to fit my 18" wheel and small 90/90-18 tire, and clean up the rust. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/04/20 at 04:15:22 This is what the new fender mount looks like. (I have another fender I am working on that will not need this mount and it will just bolt to the fork legs....it also has the metal reinforcement underneath to help stiffen up the forks). |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Ruttly on 07/04/20 at 17:01:00 Looks good Dave. Did you steal that headlight off a train ? It’s huge ! You should try a speed run without it , I bet you time and/or top speed would be better. Nice job , really stands out , straight out motorcycle porn. Outstanding work , love that tank. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 07/04/20 at 18:25:18 052223233B2E570 wrote:
There are two motorcycles that had the 8" headlight for a year or two. Suzuki GS1100E, and Yamaha 920 Virago. BMW also had an 8" headlight for a while - but their headlight bucket is really deep and wouldn't work on this bike. I think you are correct about the speed runs. When I get close to 100 the bike begins to wander badly.....the front end feels like it is just skimming on the pavement and it won't hold a straight line. It is really scary! I have only tried to find the terminal velocity on this bike twice - a year apart. The first time I wanted to see if the bike could "Do the Ton", and it went 101.1 mph and I had a TrailTech Vapor speedometer driven by the front wheel. The second time I wanted to see if I could do better and confirm the top speed with my GPS speedometer - I got exactly 101 mph again. There was one forum member who mounted a tool roll on the front of his forks under his headlight, and he got the same unsteady steering that I believe the big headlight creates. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Ruttly on 07/04/20 at 20:43:20 The large headlight has a very European Cafe styling. The bike was stripped and everything was down sized except the head light it got bigger. And the endurance road racers would use giant headlights for racing at night. I think they were using small aircraft landing lights way back when. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 05:20:04 I have about 17,000 miles on the bike since the engine was modified using a Wiseco 95mm. When I built the bike Verslagen was not making the modified head plug and I installed a factory plug - that lasted about 6,000 miles before I got a head plug leak while riding down in TN...thankfully the leak only lasted a short time and then healed itself. When I got home I took the head cover off and installed a Versyplug. The head is has been dry at the plug since that time. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 05:21:15 The Suzukibond has been doing a good job of stopping any leaks at the head cover. The wire at the left rear head stud is my the sensor for my temperature gauge. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 05:21:57 The front stud is dry. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 05:22:25 And the rear stud is dry. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 05:25:12 However - On the last ride I developed a leak at the left rear cylinder stud. This stud has the top located in the cam housing and is subject to the oil spray in the head. I used Neversieze on the nut and washer....it lasted 17,000 miles and is now leaking pretty good. I will take it apart and fix it.....it is a bit surprising that it waited nearly 12 years and 17,000 miles to start leaking. This time I will use the DragBikeMike method of sealing it with sealant. http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1576269113 |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ThumperPaul on 02/05/24 at 06:32:37 Leaks suck. They make an awesome bike appear to be a POS. Get that fixed! Do I see a spring on your decomp cable? Can you talk about that? I have my decomp adjusted well and working, but I do have some cable stretch (or extra free play). I can wiggle the lever 1-2mm even when it's in adjustment correctly. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Ruttly on 02/05/24 at 07:41:38 12 years , you did good ! But definitely sucks. Spring is near. Are you still building another project Savage ? After 12 years its the engine wanting a little more attention , she desires you touch ! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 14:44:05 427E637B6673644677637A160 wrote:
My decompression lever is not normal. I did not have room for the decompression solenoid under the GT440 fuel tank. I had to go to a manual lever - the lever on the engine was extended and a new cable mount was made. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 14:45:26 And I modified a BMX bicycle brake lever to operate my compression release. It is mounted on the handlebar just above the clutch lever. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 14:47:38 614647475F4A330 wrote:
Yes, I still have the Retro Thumper project going. It is a long term project with a year or two more to go on the build. Spring is coming slowly to this area - there are still lots of days left to hide in the garage from the cold. The Cafe' bike will likely get a Wiseco Flat Top piston replacement for the current Wiseco pop top........just to see how that piston work. The current engine runs great - but maybe it could be better? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ThumperPaul on 02/05/24 at 15:13:42 112A2730212D36302B232E31420 wrote:
Now that's ingenious, Dave!! I guess I'll just live with my wiggle room in the cable (if it ain't broke, don't fix it!). |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ThumperPaul on 02/05/24 at 16:42:25 566D6077666A71776C646976050 wrote:
Yes, I still have the Retro Thumper project going. It is a long term project with a year or two more to go on the build. Spring is coming slowly to this area - there are still lots of days left to hide in the garage from the cold. The Cafe' bike will likely get a Wiseco Flat Top piston replacement for the current Wiseco pop top........just to see how that piston work. The current engine runs great - but maybe it could be better?[/quote] Question: At what age or mileage should you stop attempting performance enhancements? Maybe I'm not asking this right... For example, swapping out the stock cam for say, a Web-Cam 466 (mild cam). It's a change that doesn't require doing a lot of other valvetrain work/changes. If those parts have normal wear and are still good, would the new cam be of benefit? I hear and see people making performance enhancements, but I'm always wondering if its worth it if other parts are aged and getting tired. I guess it depends.... Like you considering the flat top piston to replace the pop top. Note - I have no idea what all needs to happen with this type of piston swap either. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/05/24 at 18:27:46 695548504D584F6D5C48513D0 wrote:
My engine has 18,000 miles on it, and that is likely barely broken in for a modern engine.....other than perhaps the cam chain guide and tensioner issue and head plug. The Savage engine can go a very long time with regular oil changes and reasonable care. Neglected bikes can have engine failure prematurely. I don't believe a cam change has much affect on the engine reliability or longevity. It allows the engine to breath a bit better and make a bit more power - but it is not changing the compression ratio or rpm at which you ride. If you start changing to a higher compression or larger piston with that cam change - you may make enough power that a worn clutch will need to be improved. And....there is always a need to keep your eye on the front pulley nut and make sure it is not coming loose. The stock engine doesn't tend to break or wear out parts - most damage to Savage engines comes from neglect by not keeping fresh oil in the engine or using the wrong oil - or from too low of idle speed. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by DragBikeMike on 02/06/24 at 00:24:23 Dave, I never get tired of admiring your cafe. Sweet ride. Is there any reason why you have an acorn nut installed in the right-front location? Any chance you installed the flange nut with the open top at the right-rear location? That would result in a leak path down the stud and could explain your current leak. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/06/24 at 02:40:37 Mike: I am pretty sure I installed acorn nuts on all the studs. Especially the right rear one one that is in the constant oil spray. |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ThumperPaul on 02/06/24 at 07:38:56 Dang Mike, you have a keen eye for detail!! When I was doing the head R&R on Woody, I was questioning why there were 3 acorn nuts and then a flange nut down the rabbit hole. I decided there must be a structural and logical explanation and just accepted it. It's cool to see that Dave got a acorn nut on the odd man out. I was afraid an acorn nut would be too shallow and wouldn't torque down correctly on the stud. Dave proved that wrong! Or he found an acorn nut that is correct depth. (I feel like a squirrel talking about acorn nuts.) And Thumpin' Special is really special!! |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by LANCER on 02/06/24 at 19:14:08 Is your new name going to be Squirrel ? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by Dave on 02/07/24 at 03:41:28 2C212E2325327277400 wrote:
I hope nut! :-? |
|
Title: Re: Thumpin' Special......On The Road Again! Post by ThumperPaul on 02/07/24 at 09:14:22 Lol. I’m not crazy, just nuttier than a squirrel turd!! |
|
SuzukiSavage.com » Powered by YaBB 2.2! YaBB © 2000-2007. All Rights Reserved. |