Motorcycles

[poissa]



When I was in high school I twice went on a motorcycle trip with four co workers of my dad where we crossed the border into Mexico and traveled for four days on dirt roads and no roads. We had to carry our own gas on the backs of the bikes on home made rigs. At the half way point we stopped at this adobe "store" in the middle of nowhere that had a single old fashioned pump where we refueled and completed the rest of the trip. Awesome.

Wow. An Odyssey. That's a rich experience! Makes me want to explore. Any suggestions if I ever get around to taking on a trip such as yours on how to lug around an SLR with a couple of lenses ;-)

 

[John Doe]

I'm sure if you look around online you could find specialty hard case camera bags with extra interior protection that are designed to take abuse. I don't know of any such company off hand.

 

[TRINI]



Wow. An Odyssey. That's a rich experience! Makes me want to explore. Any suggestions if I ever get around to taking on a trip such as yours on how to lug around an SLR with a couple of lenses ;-)

I imagine you can get hard side cases for your bike and you can put them in there.

 

[poissa]



-I imagine you can get hard side cases for your bike and you can put them in there.

I'd like to avoid luggage. Who knows if I'll change my mind on that.

 

[BostonHedonist]

Avoid luggage on a long trip?

Just get ones with a quick disconnect so you don't have to take them around everywhere all the time.

 

[Steve Smith]

My riding includes off road (and primitive road) trips. Here is an easy on, easy off, tough as nails alternative. I have read trip report after trip report where riders have broken or cracked the mounts for their hard bags. No mounts, no hard bags.

Mine is gray. $400+, but that is very inexpensive compared to putting luggage mounts on two or more bikes. Looks a little more organized than the usual system of dry bags. Allows you to put heavy items very low to help keep the center of gravity low.

http://www.giantloopmoto.com/products/great-basin-saddlebag/

 

[Texastyle]



That said, I saw the www.vintagerides.com recently and want to do just that. Anyone up for taking a trip to India or South America to do a week long trip? I'm thinking December / January.

If I somehow come into money then I'd be up for it . That really would be a dream trip.

 

[Texastyle]



When I was in high school I twice went on a motorcycle trip with four co workers of my dad where we crossed the border into Mexico and traveled for four days on dirt roads and no roads. We had to carry our own gas on the backs of the bikes on home made rigs. At the half way point we stopped at this adobe "store" in the middle of nowhere that had a single old fashioned pump where we refueled and completed the rest of the trip. Awesome.

That reminds me of that old Cycle South movie. It was a little corny, but it shows them going to some pretty interesting places.

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[otc]

Weird...ordered 3 pairs of gloves from Revzilla and today I got a box with only one of them.

This pair is ok...fits a little snug but I think they will loosen up (and the next size would probably be too big. The other pair was more interesting though so I want to try them before making a decision. Hopefully they come tomorrow.

 

[KnowYourRights]



Hey question. I'm going to do an airbox removal on my Triumph. Anyone ever done that themselves before?

Yup. Did that on my old '04 Bonnie. Super-easy. Took me about 3 beers from start to finish. There's a way to wiggle the air box out of the frame intact, but it was like a ******* puzzle. Had to hacksaw it. What year is your Bonnie? Carbs or FI?

Best thing you can do to those bikes. Pipes alone don't make much difference. But rip that air box out, rejet the carbs, and then add the pipes. It was a whole new bike after that. Absolutely worth doing. But don't get caught in a heavy downpour. The pod filters can get soaked and choke the motor.

Ditched all the emissions crap, too. When/if you do this, keep a handful of the rubber vacuum caps in your jacket. They like to harden, crack, and fly off the intakes at the worst times. A dab of blue RTV can help keep them in place. But be very stingy with the RTV. A little goes a long way.

I also dropped progressive springs in the forks. Upgraded to Ikons in the rear. Clubmans, bump seat, lowered gauges and headlamp.

Did it all myself with no special tools. Go for it. It super-easy. You can do it.

EDIT: I sold the bike years ago, so I can't remember the jet sizes I used in the carbs. Triumphant.net has a million threads on air box removal. You can find the pilot/main jet sizes there.

 

[BostonHedonist]

Yup. Did that on my old '04 Bonnie. Super-easy. Took me about 3 beers from start to finish. There's a way to wiggle the air box out of the frame intact, but it was like a ******* puzzle. Had to hacksaw it. What year is your Bonnie? Carbs or FI?
Best thing you can do to those bikes. Pipes alone don't make much difference. But rip that air box out, rejet the carbs, and then add the pipes. It was a whole new bike after that. Absolutely worth doing. But don't get caught in a heavy downpour. The pod filters can get soaked and choke the motor.
Ditched all the emissions crap, too. When/if you do this, keep a handful of the rubber vacuum caps in your jacket. They like to harden, crack, and fly off the intakes at the worst times. A dab of blue RTV can help keep them in place. But be very stingy with the RTV. A little goes a long way.
I also dropped progressive springs in the forks. Upgraded to Ikons in the rear. Clubmans, bump seat, lowered gauges and headlamp.
Did it all myself with no special tools. Go for it. It super-easy. You can do it.
EDIT: I sold the bike years ago, so I can't remember the jet sizes I used in the carbs. Triumphant.net has a million threads on air box removal. You can find the pilot/main jet sizes there.

Hey thanks man. Yeah I've dropped in progressive fork springs, put 440 shocks on the back and just installed D&D slip ons (some popping on decel, so I think it's running lean). It's an '03 Speedmaster. Check her out:



Once my airbox removal kit comes in, I'm going to do that too, probably by jacking it up and wiggling it out the back. Then I'll decide if I want to rejet myself or have the local Triumph shop do it. Today I'm going to figure out how to plug up the air injection. There's a good guide for this on Triumphrat, but it only covers the EFI bikes. BonnevilleAmerica.com is great too, for those of us in the cruiser side of the Bonnie family.

What do you ride now? Pics?

 

[otc]

That reminds me...I've been having a bunch more popping on decelleration on this tank of gas in my kz400. Could it just be a difference in the gas? Last tank was from a BP station and this tank came from Shell (and those are the only two fill-ups I have done this year...came out of storage with some stabilized fuel from who knows where).

It was popping occasionally when coming off the highway but now its popping all of the time after it gets warmed up (like when I stop for a light or a stop sign on normal roads)....I've seen it suggested that this might be an air leak at the carbs but I can't seem to find one. Could it be due to not enough backpressure in the exhaust? I've got some generic slip ons that a previous owner installed and they are pretty open...I've heard that stock Sportster mufflers work (and are dirt cheap on ebay)...they should have a little less flow.

Otherwise should I just keep buying from BP stations? Is the gas really that different?

 

[KnowYourRights]

You're running rich. Unburned gas is making it's way through your compression chamber and igniting in the exhaust pipes...pop, pop, pop.

As the bike warms up, you'll notice more popping (and you may see bluish smoke from the tailpipes on hard acceleration). When it's cold, the bike likes it a little rich (like when you pull on the choke in the morning), so it will seem to run fine. As it heats up, it wants a little more air in the mix. If you're running rich, it's going to show up as popping and blue smoke. Before you go on your next ride, pull the plugs and look at them. They should be a nice tan/mocha color. If they're black and sooty, you're running rich. If they're wet, smell them. Smell like gas? You're running rich. Smell like oil? You have bigger problems.

If the plugs look good, you can try adjusting the fuel/air screw a bit on each carb. Turn it in to richen, out to lean. In your case, try turning the screws out 1/8-1/4 turn when the bike is nice and warmed up. See if that helps. Remember, do equal turns on each carb. If you make the adjustments and the idle speed increases a bit, bring it back down using the idle adjust screws.

Carb tuning is half-science, half-*******-voodoo. And I am not an expert. Just a lot of trial and error on my old Brits.

If you're running lean, the bike will be harder to start when cold, run hotter, and you'll notice a power loss the longer you ride. If it really bogs when you crack the throttle open or you notice the idle speed has increased mystically, could be an air leak on your intakes. Check the intake rubbers for cracks. If they're solid mount, check that your carbs are tightened properly.

I've noticed some performance differences caused by gas quality, but they're slight. Nothing that would drastically affect the state of tune. The local 76 station carries 100 octane. I use that in my '71 500cc. But I use premium in my '79 Trump and my Norton without any issues.

And hey, running rich is better than running lean. Rich, you'll pop...waste some gas...maybe foul a plug or two. But lean, you can burn up your valves.

 

[KnowYourRights]



 
Hey thanks man. Yeah I've dropped in progressive fork springs, put 440 shocks on the back and just installed D&D slip ons (some popping on decel, so I think it's running lean). It's an '03 Speedmaster. Check her out:



Once my airbox removal kit comes in, I'm going to do that too, probably by jacking it up and wiggling it out the back. Then I'll decide if I want to rejet myself or have the local Triumph shop do it. Today I'm going to figure out how to plug up the air injection. There's a good guide for this on Triumphrat, but it only covers the EFI bikes. BonnevilleAmerica.com is great too, for those of us in the cruiser side of the Bonnie family.

What do you ride now? Pics?

Nice bike. I sold my Hinckley Bonnie. I rode it while I was getting my '79 Bonnie and '71 Daytona on the road. Once those were running well, I never rode the Hinckley. Sold it to buy a '64 Norton N15.

Keep searching TR.net. I know there's a thread on air box removal/jet sizes. You may need to tweak a bit, but if I remember correctly, there was a good starting point posted. I used it and only had to make minor adjustments to the mix. The jet sizes were right on. If you like your bike now, you'll love it without all the restrictions.


Here's the only pic I have of it. This was before the bump seat and rear sets.

 

[BostonHedonist]

Bad to da bone.