[XXGUY]

Re: What I have been doing the last few evenings!

As I have delved into the world of doing my own Motorcycle Maintenance I have become aware of more things through self education and doing a lot of reading on this and a few other forums. 90% this one though. Changing out brake and clutch fluids is something that I never did and I paid the price for it. I have a 1984 Goldwing that has dragging brakes and that was after spending somewhere over $500 at a dealer and they still were dragging. Grrr. That's what catapulted me to where I am now. Finally got some time to work on the XX and first on my list was clutch and brake fluid exchange. Taught a young man how to replace a wheel hub/ bearing assembly first and he is gone. Just me home tonight and I took off the top of the clutch reservoir and saw the diaphragm sucked in. Uh oh! Yep took it out and saw this gunky mess after soaking up the old fluid with a paper towel. Started thinking back about how long it had been. Oh my, six yrs! Been so busy working on kids bikes and the ST and doing other mods to the XX that this slid by. Don't do it folks change this stuff out regularly. Don't put it off or real problems can rear their heads up and bite you. None here but wholly gunk Bat Man!
And I just brought this home last Saturday and got it licensed and titled yesterday!

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[XXGUY]

Re: What I have been doing the last few evenings!

15 minutes later. Dug out chunks of sludge with q-tips and absorbed the excess with some paper shop towels. Then more Q-Tips. Put a paper shop towel in the reservoir and then blasted the observation window with brake cleaner to get some sludge out of there. Towel absorbed the cleaner so it didn't pool in the bottom of the reservoir and contaminate the fluid in the line.

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[Mrcbx1047]

Yea XX I just cleaned out my clutch reservoir on my VF1000F last week...been about 5 years!!!! Yours looked just like mine!
Excellent pics and post.....

 

[XXGUY]

Front brake reservoir was just dark colored fluid and no sludge! PO put in speed bleeders and they worked great for the front reservoir. Open 1/2 turn and pump away (stopping to refill the reservoir as needed) until clean fluid comes into your clear tubing. Speed bleeder also sells a bleeder brake bag that is reusable and I ordered one off of Ebay for $9.99 USD. I may change out my other bikes with these bleeders... Except now I am pumping the rear brake and trying to get fluid out of the front right caliper and nothing is moving. Have to look up TheDuck's post on bleeding these linked brakes.

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[XXGUY]

Bled all the rest and got a firm pedal. Went back to the right front and tried again. Pushed the pedal hard and there must have been a plug of gunk because the pedal started moving and a bunch of black fluid came out. Went around again and thought that I was done... except I have a pedal I can push way down and the next pump is very firm. Sigh, I WILL get that air out!

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[Para045]

Well I wasn't even thinking about getting a wing again for 2 more years when I retired as my wife told me I had to or else she wasn't going touring with me.

Beautiful looking Wing there mate I'm a bit in the same boat as while my missus will get on the back of the Bird for short periods she finds it uncomfortable for any more than say 300km (186 miles) :thumbd:
She has said that the next bike we get will definitely be a GW like that with the couch on the back Best bit is I can keep the Bird as she knows I wouldn't be satisfied with just a GW as it doesn't have the fun factor of a BB :thumb: Just gotta save up the $ as a new Wing is 36k+ before ORC and older ones tend to hold their value quite well :huh:

 

[XXGUY]

Beautiful looking Wing there mate I'm a bit in the same boat as while my missus will get on the back of the Bird for short periods she finds it uncomfortable for any more than say 300km (186 miles) :thumbd:
She has said that the next bike we get will definitely be a GW like that with the couch on the back Best bit is I can keep the Bird as she knows I wouldn't be satisfied with just a GW as it doesn't have the fun factor of a BB :thumb: Just gotta save up the $ as a new Wing is 36k+ before ORC and older ones tend to hold their value quite well :huh:

They do hold their value somewhat. This is the airbag trim which is harder to find. If you don't want that then the price drops as many more are available (in the States). Don't know about your area though. The great thing is most Wing owners will take good care of their bikes so 50,000 miles on one is nothing to worry about. The price really drops when you get around those miles. I bought three wings brand new off the dealership. Don't see any reason to do that anymore. With custom suspension on a wing it will surprise you on how well a big machine like that can corner. I am not getting rid of the XX either. Not an option at all.

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[XXGUY]

Working on the daughter's Rebel today. I sat in a chair reading my book while she replaced the left rear blinker. The cheap $5 Ebay blinker is such junk I will have to buy a Honda one. Only had to help about 30% of the time. I would start to help and she would shoo me away and remind me that she is supposed to be doing this. Showed her how to strip wires and solder in the stock bullet connectors and use heat shrink tubing. She was amazed at how the solder flowed and gasped out... How does it do that!
After all that the cheap thing needs to go. The old adage of... you get what you pay for is still true... it was so cheap that I had to try!

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[Krisbiker2]

My daughter drops her sv so often, it only gets the cheap copies, they don't get dirty before replacement. Bloody short legged critter, always does .it paddling the bike around

 

[TheDuck]

You are doing well there Guy. I find it very hard not to get stuck in myself when I am showing/advising on a job and that helps nobody. I even took my collapsable deck chair to Foeux's at the weekend so I would keep out of the way and only help/advise as necessary!

 

[XXGUY]

Question... the right blinkers blink. I now have the left rebel blinkers lighting up but they are on constantly and do not blink/flash. I ordered a new flasher relay. Think I am going in the right direction folks or should I be looking in another direction?

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[Krisbiker2]

Most blinker relays use the same output for both sides. If yours is only 2 or 3 wires this is the case. You may have a bad connection on the bad side- check the bulb is seated correctly, also good ground. I assume standard bulbs are fitted in all and not leds? If led- you need an electronic flasher unit, the standard type switch on the heating caused by current flow.

 

[XXGUY]

Most blinker relays use the same output for both sides. If yours is only 2 or 3 wires this is the case. You may have a bad connection on the bad side- check the bulb is seated correctly, also good ground. I assume standard bulbs are fitted in all and not leds? If led- you need an electronic flasher unit, the standard type switch on the heating caused by current flow.

No LEDs, bulb on old one wasn't lighting all the time. Had some corrosion in the socket. Reason why I got the new cheap one's. New unit lights just fine. I will start looking at ground points.

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[XXGUY]

Figured out the Rebel blinker problem. Put the cheap one on and same results . Then new blinker relay. It blinked slowly coupled times. Took the switch apart and cleaned it out. The 34 yr old grease was really stiff. Put new grease back in and switch works much more smoothly. Still no blinky. Took the new cheap blinker off and resoldered the OEM bullet connectors back on the OEM blinker, plugged it in and and tested it. Perfect blinker function. Might have been the switch all along. Anyway it works!

Next I put the XX on the lift as the battery died.
Well, finally got around to replacing the battery. Here are pics of my new LiFePO battery. I like these Scorpions and have had no bad experiences with them. The one in my ST1300 sat all winter and fired the bike right up as if I had ridden it yesterday instead of 4 months ago. Had to vacuum out the battery compartment as a mouse had stored a bunch of mouse/rat poison pellets I had put around the corners of the garage in the fall. Put the spacers on the bottom of the new battery and slid it in and the fit was very, very good. Plan on changing the tire tonight. Then will start doing diagnostics on the charging system as the voltages were suspect. A 10 yr old battery was the first thing to change. This is my 3rd scorpion lithium ion battery plus 1 shorai for the Rebel. Really like them and for around $140 from battery-stuff.com don't see why I should buy a good quality lead acid battery for the same price or a little less. I took some ear plugs and cut off the ends then put them inside the battery terminals then depressed the foam and placed the battery nut on top. This holds the nut in place and makes it easy to attach the bolt with a few extra leads connected for heated clothing or other things.

Took the rear tire off and at 10,000 miles the ognibene sprocket looks great! Got my NoMar tire changer set up and had the old tire off in no time. Had a TPMS transponder on the rubber core and wondered if that was a smart thing. I had a T-Valve ready to go. Just waited until the tire change. Well, don't wait. Look at that core... it was starting to split! Put the new T-Valve in and got on with the changing. Had to watch a video as it's been a year since I have done it. Getting better every time though. Couldn't get it on and I had to step back and think. Ahhhhhh, using the extra hands wrong. Soon as I got them right the last foot of circumference went on easy. Tire popped and seated on the rim easy too. Will clean the rim and balance it tomorrow then reinstall. Putting on a T31 EVO. Still have some life left in the PR4 GT up front.

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[beestoys]

Love my NoMar professional. Took few times to get the hang of it but it's a hell of a machine.

 

[XXGUY]

Love my NoMar professional. Took few times to get the hang of it but it's a hell of a machine.

That professional is a heavy duty machine. This year I most likely will change this tire, maybe the front at the end of the season. The ST1300 front as soon as the XX is off the lift. Did front and rear on the Rebel during last winter. So 4 tires in a yr. Couldn't justify buying the professional! This one is good and I don't have to go an hr to the dealer. Have my wife drive me home and then do the opposite the next day. I have changed some of my friends tires but that's rare. Not a lot of riding buddies around here.

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[beestoys]

I got the professional just for the ability to change others as well. Have mounted up a few and sprung for the big wheel kit as well in case I get a HD in here setup with one. At 3500 to 4000 for the least expensive I didn't want to take a chance at doing ANY damage to them.

 

[XXGUY]

Yesterday I was balancing the rim and tire. Just couldn't get it done. Tried for 20 minutes. Had 6 steel weights on it. Stripped them all off and started all over. Done in less than 5 minutes. What the heck???
Put it on and adjusted the chain then cleaned it and lubed it.
Put a DVM on the battery leads and fired the bike up. Could see the battery charging from 13.3 going up to 13.7 volts. Revved up to 2000 rpm and volts started peaking over 14.3 volts. I think it was my 10 year old battery.
Went for a ride down to Oregon, Illinois for some good pizza or pasta at Alfano's. #3 rode a 700 cc bike for the first time. Was fearful at first but loved it compared to the 250 Rebel.

10,000 miles on the Ognibene sprocket. Looks good.

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[XXGUY]

Changed tires on a friends new 1999 Voyager. Then clutch and brake fluid. Couldn't get the rear axle out at all. Followed the manual. Was beating on it with a wooden dowel. Moved maybe 3 inches then nothing. Finally around hour 4!!! I got desperate and got a metal drift smaller than the axle diameter and started with small taps working my way up to really hard whacks and it started moving. Just stuck after 16 yrs. Cleaned it up good and greased it well. Slides in and out just fine now.
Unfortunately I hit some of his abs inner fairing with brake cleaner because he spilled brake fluid on his paint and fairing. I sprayed brake cleaner on it to remove the brake fluid as fast as I could. Turned some of the black plastic white! Luckily I was able to buy a new pieces from the dealer. Cost me around 180 USD. Bike looks great again.
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[XXGUY]

Changed oil on the XX last night. bought some new power sources as the old one quit working. new power source said it was aircraft grade aluminum body. it didn't show the back of the unit though. I wonder how they think this is waterproof enough for a motorcycle? it is for motorcycles though. bought another power source for USBs and it has a digital voltmeter too. Connected directly to the battery. I will be installing them tomorrow and will post pictures then.