Dragonwerx
Jun. 3rd, 2008 02:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tugrikTonight was the night ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dustykat had time free to finish putting the new clutch line on my bike. The new K&N air filter, chrome oil filter and aux brake lights shipped in today, so it was all timed pretty good. Once I got off of work I nabbed the bike and motored it over to the shop, where Dusty was already sprawled out on the futon watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. He'd arrived on his Tiger a half-hour earlier.
I got the tank off pretty quickly (having done it once before) and he got to work. While he was fussin' and cussin' with the clutch line I put the new air filter in and worked on cleaning up the throttle cables. Soon![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
smackjackal and dollraves showed up (the latter brining pizza!) and it was a nice full shop.
The clutch line took a little longer than we thought it would. The previous owner must have never changed the fluids in the life of the bike, judging from the coca-cola looking gook that drained out of the clutch's slave cylinder. Ewwww. There was some hassle getting the final air bubbles out of the new line, but Dusty knew what he was doing. Soon enough it was all together and ready to go, if a bit slick here and there from some brake fluid spills. Afterwards he put some fringe on the grips (another accessory that'd shipped in) while I worked on the aux lights.
The lights were Hyper-Lites from H&R Enterprises. They're popular amongst the ADV-Rider crowd due to how tough and bright they are. Normally they just glow red like the tail-light, but when you hit the brakes they flash quick and triple-bright. It's just yet another way to try to grab a tiny slice of a distracted car-driver's attention so they won't ram you at stoplights. While the instructions were pretty easy the actual install was a total pain in the tail. Eventually 'jackal, Dusty and Dollraves all left while I was still grumbling and gnawing at the bike to get the install to work. Revar stuck around to help. His hands are smaller than these big ol' paws and were able to get under the fender for the last few mount bolts. By 11p they were wired up and working as advertised, letting us finally get on the road for home.
Stopping at the light just outside the shop I smelled gas, but only barely. Figuring it was probably drippings burning off, I ran the bike down the highway a bit to dry it out and then stopped again... nope, more gas. Home was just around the corner so I got it into the garage quicklike, hopped off and wiped it down. The quick-connect from the gas tank was leaking! We disassembled it and found that somewhere during tonight's efforts the O-ring took a hit, pulling a chunk of about a quarter of it. Such things happen during maintenance, and that's what spare rings are for. I've got a pack of them at the shop, which I'll nab on the way home from work tomorrow. A quick re-snap together and all should be well. Failing that, I'll just put the original hard-connect back on instead.
Gas leak or no, the new K&N filter did indeed pour a bucket of go-go juice into the engine. Highway entrance ramps are good places for "roar testing". Better breathing dragons are happy dragons, as evidenced by the way they try to yank your arms off under heavy acceleration. :)
~~~~
Still to ship in sometime this week: clear turn-signal lenses (with chromed bulbs), drain-plug crush washers, the 138dB Stebel horn, eight new spark plugs and the L.A. Monster trigger wheel upgrade. The lenses and bulbs will finish the clean up of the lights, while the crush-washers will let me give the Dragon a (probably very needed, considering the previous owner's habits) oil change. The Stebel will let me be rid of the wimpy, stock meep-meep.
The trigger-wheel and spark plugs will be saved for a later day when I feel up to fussing with the timing belts and other engine-fiddly bits. The plugs are just preventative maintenance to get ready for the new ignition triggering the wheel provides (4 degrees advanced). I'll have to run a slightly higher octane gas but I'll get better mileage as a result, as well as a bumping-up of that just-off-idle torque dip that California Emissions causes. Again, more happy, thus more roaring. The install really isn't too difficult but it's harder than any install I've done before.
I've talked myself out of the 6-into-6 exhaust. Sure, it looks cool, but the slight mods I've done on the stock stacks are loud enough already. After finally hearing someone with the Cobra pipes installed, I've determined I just don't want a bike that loud. I might still re-jet the Dragon to squeak a few more MPG out of 'er (and thus more miles per tank) and maybe get the nifty 'belly tank' option that a few other Dragon owners have developed. 250 mi between fuel ups would be far better than the ~110 or so I get now.
Why all the maintenance and upgrades so quickly? Next week my dad arrives to start a three week visit. We're planning on going for a few rides together, him on the Dragon and me on an R1150GS borrowed from a very trusting friend. I can't wait!
dustykat had time free to finish putting the new clutch line on my bike. The new K&N air filter, chrome oil filter and aux brake lights shipped in today, so it was all timed pretty good. Once I got off of work I nabbed the bike and motored it over to the shop, where Dusty was already sprawled out on the futon watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. He'd arrived on his Tiger a half-hour earlier.I got the tank off pretty quickly (having done it once before) and he got to work. While he was fussin' and cussin' with the clutch line I put the new air filter in and worked on cleaning up the throttle cables. Soon
smackjackal and dollraves showed up (the latter brining pizza!) and it was a nice full shop. The clutch line took a little longer than we thought it would. The previous owner must have never changed the fluids in the life of the bike, judging from the coca-cola looking gook that drained out of the clutch's slave cylinder. Ewwww. There was some hassle getting the final air bubbles out of the new line, but Dusty knew what he was doing. Soon enough it was all together and ready to go, if a bit slick here and there from some brake fluid spills. Afterwards he put some fringe on the grips (another accessory that'd shipped in) while I worked on the aux lights.
The lights were Hyper-Lites from H&R Enterprises. They're popular amongst the ADV-Rider crowd due to how tough and bright they are. Normally they just glow red like the tail-light, but when you hit the brakes they flash quick and triple-bright. It's just yet another way to try to grab a tiny slice of a distracted car-driver's attention so they won't ram you at stoplights. While the instructions were pretty easy the actual install was a total pain in the tail. Eventually 'jackal, Dusty and Dollraves all left while I was still grumbling and gnawing at the bike to get the install to work. Revar stuck around to help. His hands are smaller than these big ol' paws and were able to get under the fender for the last few mount bolts. By 11p they were wired up and working as advertised, letting us finally get on the road for home.
Stopping at the light just outside the shop I smelled gas, but only barely. Figuring it was probably drippings burning off, I ran the bike down the highway a bit to dry it out and then stopped again... nope, more gas. Home was just around the corner so I got it into the garage quicklike, hopped off and wiped it down. The quick-connect from the gas tank was leaking! We disassembled it and found that somewhere during tonight's efforts the O-ring took a hit, pulling a chunk of about a quarter of it. Such things happen during maintenance, and that's what spare rings are for. I've got a pack of them at the shop, which I'll nab on the way home from work tomorrow. A quick re-snap together and all should be well. Failing that, I'll just put the original hard-connect back on instead.
Gas leak or no, the new K&N filter did indeed pour a bucket of go-go juice into the engine. Highway entrance ramps are good places for "roar testing". Better breathing dragons are happy dragons, as evidenced by the way they try to yank your arms off under heavy acceleration. :)
Still to ship in sometime this week: clear turn-signal lenses (with chromed bulbs), drain-plug crush washers, the 138dB Stebel horn, eight new spark plugs and the L.A. Monster trigger wheel upgrade. The lenses and bulbs will finish the clean up of the lights, while the crush-washers will let me give the Dragon a (probably very needed, considering the previous owner's habits) oil change. The Stebel will let me be rid of the wimpy, stock meep-meep.
The trigger-wheel and spark plugs will be saved for a later day when I feel up to fussing with the timing belts and other engine-fiddly bits. The plugs are just preventative maintenance to get ready for the new ignition triggering the wheel provides (4 degrees advanced). I'll have to run a slightly higher octane gas but I'll get better mileage as a result, as well as a bumping-up of that just-off-idle torque dip that California Emissions causes. Again, more happy, thus more roaring. The install really isn't too difficult but it's harder than any install I've done before.
I've talked myself out of the 6-into-6 exhaust. Sure, it looks cool, but the slight mods I've done on the stock stacks are loud enough already. After finally hearing someone with the Cobra pipes installed, I've determined I just don't want a bike that loud. I might still re-jet the Dragon to squeak a few more MPG out of 'er (and thus more miles per tank) and maybe get the nifty 'belly tank' option that a few other Dragon owners have developed. 250 mi between fuel ups would be far better than the ~110 or so I get now.
Why all the maintenance and upgrades so quickly? Next week my dad arrives to start a three week visit. We're planning on going for a few rides together, him on the Dragon and me on an R1150GS borrowed from a very trusting friend. I can't wait!
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-03 01:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-03 04:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-03 07:20 pm (UTC)Oh well, I love my Volvo tank.
~S
no subject
Date: 2008-06-13 11:04 pm (UTC)