What did you do with your bike today?

893316 Views 12256 Replies 560 Participants Last post by gunsmoker, 6 d ago

Johnnystriple

Discussion Starter · Jul 29, 2013

Me and my lady went for a nice ride on the Street Glide to a nice restaurant in Evansville, Ind. It has been a beautiful day.

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SemiFast

· #12,101 · 3 mo ago

mike721 said:
I see they mentioned cold weather too.
I think I’m staying away from them for now.

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From link provided:
Charging - Your charging systems are made for Lead Acid Batteries. Lithium batteries have very low internal resistance. This means your charging systems are capable of producing current higher than they were intended and the faster charging rates for lithium will cause the system to work harder and hotter.

A battery expert I am not but I wonder if a lithium might overwork the motorcycle's charging system ? Have been told it could, or maybe might.
Just checked the service record I keep on my bike. The Yuasa YT14B-BS battery is 5 years old and still going... Don't think I'll fix what ain't broke.

What did you do with your bike today?
Put the battery on charge for a while. I'm old school, don't use a trickle charger... Seems to work okay.

S F

DannoXYZ

· #12,102 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

SemiFast said:
From link provided:
Charging - Your charging systems are made for Lead Acid Batteries. Lithium batteries have very low internal resistance. This means your charging systems are capable of producing current higher than they were intended and the faster charging rates for lithium will cause the system to work harder and hotter.

A battery expert I am not but I wonder if a lithium might overwork the motorcycle's charging system ? Have been told it could, or maybe might.
Just checked the service record I keep on my bike. The Yuasa YT14B-BS battery is 5 years old and still going... Don't think I'll fix what ain't broke.

What did you do with your bike today?
Put the battery on charge for a while. I'm old school, don't use a trickle charger... Seems to work okay.

S F

Not true as they haven't measured. After starting, lithium batteries drawn about 2-5a to recharge, same as lead-acid. That's because recharge rate is based upon differences between battery voltage vs. charging voltage of 14.5v. So a discharged 12.5-13v battery will suck in fixed amount of current to re-charge. Since lithium battery is discharged less than lead-acid from starting, it requires less and lower current to charge back up.

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Also shunt-circuit charging-system ALWAYS run at 100% anyway. Doesn't matter if 10% or 15% of output is used to recharge battery, it's the remaining 85-90% excess that's dumped to ground which really loads the components and generates huge amounts of heat.

If you want to lower load on charging system, go with modern series-circuit RR like SH775 or SH847. Will only pass just enough power to power bike's electronics and charge battery. Runs so cool, you can actually touch it right after ride and not get burnt!

Actually better to charge up battery to only 95% and let it sit for while. When it drops to
90%, charge it back up to 95% and stop. Won't fry battery like keeping it at 100% coninuously like trickle chargers tend to do. Modern 7-stage smart-chargers like Noco does that final long-term storage charging.

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DannoXYZ

· #12,103 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

mike721 said:
I like the higher amps available but I keep hearing they have issues when cold. Have you tried one in cold weather? How did it perform? My definition of cold is sitting for at least 12 hours in 10f weather.

I've gone down to 15F and didn't have any problems. Lead-acid drops cranking power tremendously when cold, way more than lithium. Which is why I went to lithium in 1st place.

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Some actual testing with measurements:

www.mortonsonthemove.com

Do Lithium Batteries Fail In Cold Weather?

Have you heard that lithium batteries don't work in the cold? Let's set the record straight on lithium batteries in cold weather.

www.mortonsonthemove.com

www.mortonsonthemove.com

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Punxsybob1

· #12,104 · 3 mo ago

Took it for a spin yesterday with some extra foot pegs I made up. Gives a spot to rest heels when not in stop n go traffic.

Water Automotive tire Road surface Asphalt Wall

Tire Bicycle tire Bicycle handlebar Wheel Bicycle fork

Pretty comfortable. Will try these for a bit to see if there are "keepers".

Tire Wheel Crankset Bicycle tire Vehicle

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Doktor

· #12,105 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

Punxsybob1 said:
Took it for a spin yesterday with some extra foot pegs I made up. Gives a spot to rest heels when not in stop n go traffic.
Pretty comfortable. Will try these for a bit to see if there are "keepers".

Nice segue into what the thread is about.

Doktor

· #12,106 · 3 mo ago

Ok...from a more pedestrian POV...and back onto the thread topic....

I changed the coolant in the Aprilia.

When my laptop decided to go to a better place, and lost a lot of files, including my vehicle maintenance files, I didn't have any service records, so had to start from new.

She seems to be running cooler. Took her up into the mountains and when I came back to the city - still on 3 bars (temp) and no fan running.

Once home, I changed the oil in the little Chinese sports and CR bikes.

All in all, a nice day....finished off with a little Brandy.....life has it's sweet moments.

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DannoXYZ

· #12,107 · 3 mo ago

Punxsybob1 said:
Took it for a spin yesterday with some extra foot pegs I made up. Gives a spot to rest heels when not in stop n go traffic.
View attachment 78997 View attachment 78999
Pretty comfortable. Will try these for a bit to see if there are "keepers".
View attachment 78998

heh, heh... that's pretty cool!!

Reactions: 1

Offcenter

· #12,108 · 3 mo ago

Making slow but steady progress on my Goldwing.
I rebuilt the clutch slave cylinder. That worked out well. It had a very slow leak that was getting messy. All fixed.
Since I got that bike, I've never been able to start the bike in gear by pulling in the clutch lever. Installed a new switch at the clutch lever. All fixed!
But....
Back in the fall, I started having a problem where the starter motor would continue to run even after I let go of the starter button. The starter relay is sticking occasionally. Whacking the relay with the handle of a screw driver or something would make it let go, and the starter would stop running.
So....A new starter relay is on order. Should be here soon.

I dunno...The bike is only 24 years old and the relay is sticking already?
They don't make 'em like they used to.
:rofl2:

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Heartbroken

· #12,109 · 3 mo ago

What did I do with my bike today?
I bought it.

Wheel Fuel tank Tire Automotive fuel system Automotive lighting

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Bitterroot Bugler

· #12,110 · 3 mo ago

It would appear we have uncovered an unapologetic Honda Lover.

I don't want to admit it, but I fall into the very much related camp of "Japanese stuff is pretty darn good".

My Suzuki is becoming the BSA Gold Star I kind-of lust for, but cannot afford purchase-wise or maintenance-wise.
My FOR SALE 3/4-race, radical-street Honda CRX is reliable as a rock despite its tweaked innards.
My 1958 Conn 6H trombone is BARELY able to displace Yamaha's 1975 copy of it.

mike721

· #12,111 · 3 mo ago

Heartbroken said:
What did I do with my bike today?
I bought it.
View attachment 79011

Very nice, can we see more?

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mike721

· #12,112 · 3 mo ago

Offcenter said:
Making slow but steady progress on my Goldwing.
I rebuilt the clutch slave cylinder. That worked out well. It had a very slow leak that was getting messy. All fixed.
Since I got that bike, I've never been able to start the bike in gear by pulling in the clutch lever. Installed a new switch at the clutch lever. All fixed!
But....
Back in the fall, I started having a problem where the starter motor would continue to run even after I let go of the starter button. The starter relay is sticking occasionally. Whacking the relay with the handle of a screw driver or something would make it let go, and the starter would stop running.
So....A new starter relay is on order. Should be here soon.

I dunno...The bike is only 24 years old and the relay is sticking already?
They don't make 'em like they used to.

24 years and what, only 120k miles and it already needs parts? What happened to the legendary Goldwing reliability?

mike721

· #12,113 · 3 mo ago

Sunday is food shopping day. Rode about 100 miles to a local grocery store that is 10 miles away if we would have went the short way

Tire Wheel Land vehicle Car Sky

Tire Sky Automotive tire Motor vehicle Wheel

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Offcenter

· #12,114 · 3 mo ago

Bitterroot Bugler said:
It would appear we have uncovered an unapologetic Honda Lover.

I don't want to admit it, but I fall into the very much related camp of "Japanese stuff is pretty darn good".

My Suzuki is becoming the BSA Gold Star I kind-of lust for, but cannot afford purchase-wise or maintenance-wise.
My FOR SALE 3/4-race, radical-street Honda CRX is reliable as a rock despite its tweaked innards.
My 1958 Conn 6H trombone is BARELY able to displace Yamaha's 1975 copy of it.

I don't know about YOUR Japanese stuff, but MY Japanese stuff is one hundred percent American!
ALL Goldwings from September of 1979 through the end of 2010 were made in Marysville Ohio. 30 years of them. So MY Goldwing is an American bike. And yes, mine is pretty darned good.
I just LOVE my Goldwing....even if it does need parts at 24 years old. LOL!!!!
(my brother is a Harley guy. I rib him constantly about my Goldwing being more American than his Hog)

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hogcowboy

· #12,115 · 3 mo ago

My Indian is made in the USA at Spirit Lake. But parts come from all kinds of other places before being assembled at Spirit Lake.

mike721

· #12,116 · 3 mo ago

hogcowboy said:
My Indian is made in the USA at Spirit Lake. But parts come from all kinds of other places before being assembled at Spirit Lake.

Same for my Victorys which were produced in the same plant before they switched to Indian production.

FlipFlop

· #12,117 · 3 mo ago

I finally got a chance to take my bike apart to do the cosmetics on the motor, lower faring, annnnnd the normal maintenance that normally happens when the snow is flying. Got into it doing the seals on my water pump and found out the seals I bought last November where the wrong ones, or they sent the wrong ones... dunno so, I get to wait again for parts.

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Heartbroken

· #12,118 · 3 mo ago

I checked on Bike, he's not too happy about the new resident in the shop but still had green lights. Added some fresh gas to the new one and put in some stabil, not sure how old the gas is. Ran it for a bit to get the treatment all through the system. 20 years makes a huge difference in the feel of the machines. It seems so strange to not go through the choke and petcock checks to start it up, and odd to hear all the electronic noise when I turn the key.

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DannoXYZ

· #12,119 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

Past 3-weekends @ track, I worked out some damping adjustments to fix worn & feathered edges on rear tyre. Spooned on new set of Q5 onto the VFR and new set of Q3+ on CBR600RR. We're now ready for 2-day track weekend at Attesa Podium Club track in couple weeks.

DannoXYZ

· #12,120 · 3 mo ago

Couple months ago, someone gave me SFV650 Gladius that wasn't running. Finally grtting around to looking at it. Tank felt light moving it around garage, so I poured in some petrol from can. All 6-litres went right through and dumped onto my feet!!! Lifted up tank and WHOA!!! No fuel pump!!! Got pump assembly from dealer, installed, pushed start-button and >WROOM< !!!

Went to change oil and found this... hmmm.. K&N filter should've been clue there'd be trouble...

Went to drain oil... yup... chocolate milkshake!!!

Rather than hauling off and ordering complete set of headgaskets, I'll do compression tests first. Front head can be done on-bike. But if it's rear head, much easier and faster to remove engine 1st...

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