Black Lab Adventures – 2012 Charity Fundraiser

Posted on November 12, 2012 by blacklabadventures

November 13, 2012

Black Lab Adventures 2012 Charity Fundraiser

(This page will be posted until December 27, 2012, when the fundraiser concludes.)

Current Total: $1,180.00  (As of Dec 27, 2012)

THE FUNDRAISER IS NOW OVER.  THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

I am involved with two charities. One charity was founded as a resource to help people; specifically children. The other charity was founded to help animals; specifically wolves and wolf-dogs.

 ___________________________

Alström Syndrome International

“Damlaya damlaya göl olur”  ~  “Drop by drop a lake is formed”

Alström Syndrome is a rare genetic “autosomal recessive” disorder. It is caused by a change in a gene called, “ALMS1”. Swedish doctor, Carl-Henry Alström first described the disorder in 1959. An infant born with Alström Syndrome will most likely have symptoms that effect: Vision; Hearing; Stature; Heart; Type 2 Diabetes; Blood Lipids; Liver; Kidneys; Intelligence; and Other Problems. To date, there are about 1,000 diagnosed cases of Alström Syndrome world wide.

Alström Syndrome International was founded nearly 25 years ago by, Jan and Rob Marshall. ASI is located on Mount Desert Island; right next door to where I live. You see, Rob and Jan have been my landlords for the past 6 years. I have spent time in their home helping to rebuild computers to donate to their “kids”; brainstorming web based ideas; meeting and spending time with families affected by Alström Syndrome; and I have participated in the annual, “Stuffing Envelopes” party for their own fundraiser event, each year, for the past 6 years.

Rob and Jan, have also been the caretaker of my Black Lab dog, “Reuben”; providing me the opportunity, and freedom, to ride to all of the wonderful places that I have been able to visit since 2007, (The year that I purchased my Suzuki DL-650 V-Strom.)

Here is a link that describes Alström Syndrome in greater detail: What Is Alström Syndrome?

Here is a link to ASI’s website: http://www.alstrom.org

Just a few weeks ago, the annual “Stuffing Envelopes” party was held in the Marshall home. Folding… Collating… Stuffing… Sealing… Stamping… Mailing… Pizza…

I would like to help Alström Syndrome International with more then just my talents of stuffing envelopes!

_______________________________

Loki Clan Wolf Refuge

“Lending A Helping Hand”

“If you can not give me a place to live, at least give me a place to die.”  - Chief Joseph

I literally stumbled across, Loki Clan Wolf Refuge, during one of my motorcycle riding adventures, in late June of 2012. I was studying a map, looking for rural roads that, laced their way around the White Mountain region of North Conway, New Hampshire. I found one, “thin red line”, on the map, that twisted its way through a section of woods that straddled the Maine – New Hampshire border. It looked highly promising! And, it was! But, not how I expected it to be!

The video clip below best explains what Loki Clan Wolf Refuge is, and what it does:

Since my first encounter with the wolfdogs of Loki Clan, I have returned three more times to help out where they need me to. I work alongside other volunteers; “Weed-whacking” tall grass, cutting and removing brush from the animal pens, erecting fencing for new pens, road work, building new dog houses; anything that needs to be done!

Here are some photographs of my second trip to Loki:  August Fence Party

And, my third visit:  October Fence Party

I returned to the refuge on November 10, 2012 to continue helping to build dog houses for the animals. Here is a link to a photograph album of work done that day:  November Fence Party

Here is a short clip that I shot of the wolves “singing” to each other:

Here are some special photographs that I shot from the November 10, “Fence Party”.

Here is a link to the refuge’s website:  Loki Clan/About

I would like to help both of these charities out. As a way to raise funds, I came up with what I felt was, a brilliant idea of offering up my motorcycle to be raffled off to raise money. However, friends and acquaintances quickly pointed out to me that, I couldn’t legally do that. To conduct a “Game of Chance”, I needed a Gaming License to proceed with a raffling off of my motorcycle.

I sat back on the heels of my motorcycle boots, and scratched my head for a bit; “How am I going to figure this one out, after promising both charities that I would raffle off my motorcycle, as a way to raise funds for their causes?” The answer follows below.

Embedded beneath this text are 12 “Sample” photographs. I culled through five seasons of photographs that I have shot during my adventure rides. I came up with a dozen images that have sentimental meaning to me. I felt that, if they have a sentimental meaning to me, my thoughts are, maybe they would convey, or “speak”, to other individuals as well.

1) For a donation of $10, I will send, (a link via e-mail), three full resolution images to an individual, (4000 x 3000 x 6+mb average size.). A person may choose which three images they would like to receive for their donation to these charities. Along with the three images, a free gift** of gratitude will be included with their order.

2) For a donation of $20, an individual may select any six images of their choice. I will e-mail a link where full resolution sized images can be downloaded by the individual. Along with the six images, I will include three free gifts** as recognition of gratitude.

3) For a donation of $30, an individual may choose nine photographs of their liking. Again, a link will be e-mailed to a location where those images can be downloaded. Along with the nine photographs, I will include six free gifts** of gratitude, with their order.

4) For a donation of $40, an individual will receive all 12 photographs, in full resolution size. As a way of saying “Thank You”, the individual will also receive ten free gifts** included with their order.

Important Notes To Read:

- One hundred percent, (100%), of the money raised, will be equally divided between Alström Syndrome International, and Loki Clan Wolf Refuge.

- This fundraising effort will conclude at 8:00pm EST December 27, 2012.

- The “free gift”** will be in the form of an entry, to a drawing, where an individual will be given my motorcycle. Because of the motorcycle’s high mileage, (110,537 miles), and the amount of personal custom modifications I have made to the motorcycle, the bike has no published “book value”, or “street” value. The drawing is NOT a contest for a prize of value!

- To the individual who has been determined to receive my motorcycle, they will assume the responsibility of its delivery to them, and for the removal of it from my residence. (14 Whitney Farm Road, Mount Desert, Maine 04660)

- Because of the high mileage on my motorcycle, and the personal customizations I have made to it, I will not be held liable, or responsible for the motorcycle, or any part that I have made for it, in any way, once it has been determined who is to receive it as a free gift, and after it has left my residence, and is in the possession of that person. The motorcycle is being given to an individual in, “as is”, condition.

- Details of my motorcycle can be seen here:  My Motorcycle/About

Added to the gift of my motorcycle will be the following:

This pile of used tires.  There is still quite a bit of tread left in all of them!

Also, a box of various spare parts, an OEM rear shock, (Needs rebuilding), an OEM Service Manual, and four homemade tools: 1) “Bearing Basher” – Used for seating a new steering stem bearings; 2) Stem nut removal and tightening wrench; 3) Socket/wrench to remove the swingarm bolt; 4) Custom wrench to remove clutch pushrod seal cover plate.

Determine what level you would like to donate to this charity fundraiser. Than, select the photographs that you would like to receive via an e-mailed link, by using the PayPal “Purchase Button” below. Within the “Instructions To Merchant” box, on the PayPal form, enter the number and description of the images you would like to receive. Within 48 – 72hrs, you will receive your images and your free gift(s).

To repeat, 100% of all money raised will be divided equally between Alström Syndrome International and Loki Clan Wolf Refuge.

(I am a “one man band” here, so please try to be patient with me as I try to juggle AND spin several plates at once!)

Thank you,

Barry Buchanan

#1 – Bar Island, Bar Harbor, Maine

#2 – Cape Breton Highlands

#3 – Gaspé Peninsula

#4 – Lac Ha! Ha!

#5 – Meat Cove

#6 – Miscou Island Lighthouse

#7 – Moncton Mud Puddle

#8 – Moose

#9 – Mount Katahdin

#10 – Rainbow

#11 – Rivière Éternité

#12 – Val-Racine

Categories: Recent Posts | 4 Comments

My Motorcycle: 2007 DL-650 Suzuki V-Strom (non ABS)

Posted on November 12, 2012 by blacklabadventures

November 11, 2012

I purchased my Suzuki DL-650, V-Strom on, March 31, 2007.  The day that I rode away from my local dealership, there were zero miles on the motorcycle’s odometer.  I had arrived at the dealership on a 2006, Kawasaki Concours, that I had purchased from the same store the previous spring.  I needed to have the Concours inspected so that it was “road legal”. Upon conclusion of the inspection, the Service Department Technician told me, “Your motorcycle needs new front and rear tires to pass the Maine State Inspection regulations.” At that moment, I didn’t have the money for new tires to be mounted and balanced. So, I began sitting on different motorcycles in the showroom… It was the only way that I could legally ride away from the dealership!

When I slipped my leg over the V-Strom, and grabbed hold of the handlebars, I felt an immediate connection with the motorcycle. It fit. It fit me perfectly! When I looked ahead, imagining a ribbon of tar spun out in front of me, I felt very different then when I rode my Concours, or previous to that, my 2003 Kawasaki ZZR-1200, (The ZZR was my very first motorcycle. I purchased it used in 2004, then traded it in on the Concours in the spring of 2006.). As I sat on the V-Strom, in the showroom, I clearly remember a comment that I made to myself; “I can do stuff with this bike. I can do stuff with this motorcycle that I can do with no other motorcycle. It is different. It is different in a good way!” So, I bought it. No research was done, and no test ride was needed. I just flat out bought the bike “untested” by me, in any way.

When I rode the V-Strom home, I had to weave my way around and over, many frost-heaves and pot holes that, pock marked the back roads leading to where I live. As I did so, I was grinning a very large grin, and even laughing at times! Maneuvering the motorcycle, slinging it this way and that way, through the bumps and pot holes of that early spring day, I sort of felt like I was on a set of downhill skis. The bike had “edges” to it; edges that I could carve deep turns with!  I loved the feeling! I was hooked! Unfortunately, for four days after I got my new motorcycle home, there was snow on the roads. Even though I am pretty good on a set of downhill skis, I know that any street motorcycle, including the V-Strom, is not a good traveling companion in the snow!

Five seasons later, with 110,537 miles clicked over on the odometer, I would like to share a more personal view of my motorcycle.  Below are some of the details that have evolved over the many trips I have taken with my V-Strom.

I have lost count of how many times I have dropped my bike. I have nearly lost count of how many times I have laid the bike down in the street! The first time was in the Fall of 2007 when a deer jumped out of the woods, and slammed into the right rear passenger footpeg. The deer, the motorcycle, and I, all skidded up the road on our sides. By the time I got up to survey the situation and damage, the deer was gone. She left a whole bunch of hair in the road though! Follicles of hair were also stuffed into the right passenger footpeg and the hinge area of my Pelican sidecase. The most serious laydown was in northwestern New Hampshire on an early November morning back in 2010. At a speed of 55mph, I hit frost in the road, and the bike slipped out from underneath me in a split second. The motorcycle and I skidded, and slid, close to 120 feet down the road; both of us coming to a stop in a ditch on the opposite side of the road. I picked the bike up, started it, and rode away!

All of the miles and riding experiences, on my V-Strom, helped to shape me into a better rider. The same is true for the motorcycle itself. The miles, and the experiences, shaped my bike into what it has become; a reflection of my riding style, where I like to ride, and simplicity of maintenance.

Here is a photograph of my 2007 V-Strom as it currently sits; battle scared, but ready to set out on a new adventure!

A closer look at the front wheel will reveal the following:

Custom front fender; SuperBrace Fork Brace; and Fork Boots. What can’t be seen are, a set of Race Tech Emulators sitting inside the bottoms of the fork tubes themselves.

I chose to install a Buell Ulysses headlight assembly to streamline the fairing, and to eliminate the notorious “buffeting” the V-Strom is known for. The fairing is welded sheet metal that I purchased at my local Lowe’s hardware store.

The crashbars I fabricated out of ½” Black Iron Pipe, also purchased at my local Lowe’s.

I also installed a SW-Motech skidplate. I modified it a little bit, after hitting a few rocks with it.

On one trip, I lost my oil reservoir cap. I ended up whittling a stick down to size, then wrapping the newly tapered end with electrical tape, and jamming it into the oil filler hole. I rode to a nearby motorcycle dealership, (I was on the southern shore of the Gaspé Peninsula.), with the sole of my boot, holding the temporary plug into the engine case hole. I was lucky that, the parts manager was able to find an oil cap that fit my bike! When I got home, I swore that I would never have something like this happen again! I attached the new oil cap to the frame of my motorcycle with a modified Mackerel fishing jig.

Tucked in behind the right crashbar, there is a Fiamm brand automotive horn.

In the BIG laydown I mentioned above, I ripped off the right rear passenger footpeg, and I destroyed the lower exhaust shield. I made a plug and fabricated a new fiberglass exhaust shield. I also modified both rear passenger footpegs, so that they would work with what was left of them.

The rear exhaust shield has been coated with a rubber undercoater spray paint.

In 2009, I fabricated a custom luggage rack out of steel tubing scavenged from discarded cafeteria tables from my local high school. The rack is large and strong enough to carry a Pelican 1550 case, and two, one gallon gas cans on either side of the Pelican case. The gas cans are supported by the luggage rack’s “wings” on either side.

The taillight is a LED unit I purchased from my local NAPA auto parts store. The license plate light is from a marine parts store. It is a light that a person would see on the stern of a small motorboat.

Tucked in behind the left crashbars is another Fiamm brand automobile horn. I have two of these horns mounted on my motorcycle. And, they are both wired “hot”. That means, the bike’s key does not have to be in the ignition switch for the horns to work. With the motorcycle parked, turned off, and the key in my pocket, I can “tap” the horn switch, and a loud noise will emanate from the bike. This has been particularly useful to me in getting someone’s attention quickly!

One of the fist aftermarket parts that I purchased for my V-Strom was, a decent set of “dirt style” footpegs. These have been a wonderful addition! I have always been “sure footed” while riding my bike!

Every rider eventually experiences the effects of trying to set a sidestand down on top of soft ground, (Or, soft tar for that matter!). The foot of the sidestand buries itself into the soft turf. If the rider isn’t quick enough, over the bike goes! I took care of that problem by welding an old countersprocket gear on to the base of my sidestand. After that, I never had any problems with parking on soft ground. (I don’t have any clearance issues with the SW-Motech centerstand I installed too.).

Incidentally, I modified the bottom feet of the SW-Motech centerstand. I welded short “stilts” to the feet, so that the centerstand would lift the rear wheel higher off of the ground then what the centerstand was originally designed for. I had to do this because, one season, I mounted up a set of Metzeler Karoo tires. The profile of the Karoo tire was so high that, with the motorcycle up on the centerstand, the “knobs” of the rear tire still touched the ground. I didn’t like that because it interfered with chain maintenance.

I mounted a fuse box underneath the seat.

I installed a set of Suzuki handguards that I painted to match the rest of the bike.

On the left handleguard, I installed a Datel volt meter.

At 63,080 miles, I burned out the stock Suzuki instrument cluster. Water got up inside the case that houses the gauges, and shorted the circuit board out. After doing some research, (And continuing to ride the bike about 1,200 miles without any instruments!), I settled on installing an Acewell 3901 instrument cluster. It satisfies all of my needs! Particularly important to me are, “Trip 01”, which I set and reset during each fuel stop. “Trip 02” keeps track of cumulative mileage during a trip. Currently, the Acewell odometer reads, 47,457 miles.

As a “back up”, I installed a very generic marine fuel gauge to inform me of rough gas usage. I had to electrically “trim” the gauge with resistors to obtain a workable reading. When the tank is “Full”, the fuel gauge will read at the ¾ mark. When the gauge reads “E”, the tank IS empty!

There is a 12 volt accessory socket stuffed in between those cables and wires up front. And also, the switch to operate the “High” and “Low” settings of heated grip elements I installed.

It has been one heck of a cool bike to ride all of those miles!

Categories: Recent Posts | 3 Comments

Replacing A Clutch Pushrod Seal and Countershaft Seal

Posted on July 22, 2012 by blacklabadventures

October 11, 2009

During the latter part of the 2009 riding season, the clutch push rod seal of my motorcycle began leaking. I was not ready to tackle replacing the seal, so a little online research gave me a “quick fix” to hold me until I was ready to tackle this job.

1- Remove the clutch release mechanism.
2- Pull the clutch push rod out of the motor.
3- Squirt a little high quality grease through the push rod hole in the seal.
4- Reassemble everything.

It worked! Eventually though, I knew that I needed to replace the clutch push rod seal, clutch push rod, and a worn clutch release mechanism.

And, I figured that if I was going to take the time to replace the clutch push rod oil seal, I might as well replace the countershaft seal, and the sprocket spacer o-ring, while I was right there. At the point that I did this job, my motorcycle had 62,441 miles on it.

This was not a really difficult job to do. However, there is one bolt that I did not have the right tool for. I couldn’t get the bolt loose with the tools that I owned, so I ended up fabricating a special wrench to get at this bolt.

The parts that I will be referring to can be viewed in the below diagrams.

#15 = Clutch Push Rod.
#23 = Clutch Push Rod Seal.
#17 = Clutch Release Mechanism.

#48 = Sprocket Spacer.
#51 = Sprocket Spacer O-Ring.
#37 = Countershaft Seal.
#40 = Seal Retainer Plate, (The Seal Retainer Plate did not have to be replaced on my bike.)

To get at the area of the motor, where the work needed to be done, I had to remove the countersprocket from the motor’s countershaft. This is where I started the job; mapping out my steps forward below.

1- I placed the transmission in neutral.

2- Then, I rolled the motorcycle up on to its centerstand..

3- I removed the countersprocket cover. (Three 8mm bolts.)

4- Next, I removed the clutch release mechanism.

4a- Using 10mm and 12mm open end wrenches, I unscrewed the clutch cable adjusting lock nut all the way off of its threads, (this is the bottom most nut on the clutch cable.). The 10mm wrench is used on the cable sheathing to keep it from spinning. I used the 12mm wrench to loosen and remove the lock nut at the bottom end of the threaded adjuster.

4b- Next, I loosened the two 10mm bolts that hold the clutch release mechanism to the motor bracket. Wrapping my fingers around the release mechanism, (to keep it from falling apart), I pulled the clutch cable and the threaded adjuster up out of its bracket. I taped all of parts of the clutch release mechanism together, and then draped it out of the work area.

5- Using my fingers, I pulled the clutch push rod out of the motor. This was kind of cool to do!

I am pointing to the clutch pushrod in the photograph below.

Next, I focused on removing the countersprocket nut.

6- I used a piece of metal tubing that I slide across both sides of my swingarm, and through the rear wheel. I rotated the rear wheel so that, one of the wheel’s spokes fetched up against the steel tubing to prevent the wheel from turning when I loosened the countersprocket nut.

7- Using a hammer and the flat blade of a screwdriver, I lightly tapped and bent upright, the bent down portion of the lock washer that is folded down on to one face of the countersprocket nut. The washer is made of relatively soft metal. It bent fairly easily.

8- I used a propane torch to heat up the countershaft nut. Suzuki uses a “red” thread-locker during the OEM installation of the countershaft nut. It’s tough stuff! During re-installation, I planned on using a “blue” thread-locker.

8a- I heated up the countersprocket nut.

8b- Using a 1 1/4″ socket, I removed the countershaft nut. My 1 1/4″ socket is for a 1/2″ drive ratchet. To add leverage, I slid a piece of metal tubing over the end of the handle of the ratchet. Because the countersprocket is “married” to the rear sprocket by the drive chain, and the motorcycle’s transmission is in neutral, when I loosen the countershaft nut, a spoke of the rear wheel will fetch itself up against the metal tubing I placed across the swingarm members; preventing the countershaft from turning while I tug on the countershaft nut, (The nut was installed with 105ft-lbs of torque pressure and red thread-locker. It takes effort to break this big nut free!)

While the above was cooling off:

9- I loosened the rear wheel axel, and the chain adjusters at either ends of the swingarm. Doing this will make it easier to remove and reinstall the drive chain and the countersprocket.

10- Next, I removed the lock washer, countersprocket and chain by sliding it off of the countershaft. I draped the chain over the swingarm and “benched” the countersprocket, lock washer and countershaft nut, so as not to lose them!

11- The photograph below illustrates what the seal retainer plate looks like; the part that needs to be removed next. There are three, 10mm bolts that are holding the plate in place. Before I removed it, I made a note of how the kickstand safety switch wire and the gear indicator wire were routed.  The gear indicator wire is led behind the “ear” of the seal retainer plate.

The two aft, “exposed” bolts to the seal retainer plate are very easy to remove. The forward one, that is located above the “ear” on the seal retainer, was very difficult for me to remove and reinstall. A 1/4″ drive, 10mm socket will fit on to the bolt. But, there is not enough space to also fit a ratchet on to the socket to remove the bolt. A 3/8″ drive, 10mm socket is too large of a diameter, plus there is still the issue of not enough space for a ratchet. I could slide the “open end” of a mechanic’s wrench on to the bolt, but I could not get enough leverage to turn it in the tight quarters. The “closed” end of the wrench was like the 3/8″ drive socket, there wasn’t enough clearance room.

The “difficult” bolt, is the one above the clutch push rod opening in the seal retainer plate.  (In the image below, you can see the “temporary fix” of grease being used on the clutch pushrod to stem off the tide of leaking motor oil.)

Finally, out of frustration, I made my own wrench! I borrowed my landlord’s truck and I drove to my local Napa store and purchased a cheap 10mm, 1/4″ drive socket. Back home, I cut the socket in half, “height-wise” with a hacksaw, and welded it to some scrap, angle steel that I fabricated as a handle. My homemade wrench worked like a charm!

With the seal retainer plate removed, I was now able to remove the clutch push rod seal. Here again, I didn’t have a proper tool, so I modified an old, flat-blade screwdriver into a “seal remover tool”. I formed a “hook” out of the blade by heating it up red hot and twisting it with my Leatherman, needle nose pliers.

12- Using my seal remover tool, I reached through the clutch push rod hole and began to pull, (I had to be careful not to pull the motorcycle over on top of me!). I learned that I can’t get the seal in one yank. It took several attempts to get the seal out of the motor. I shifted the seal removal tool around to different locations and applied pressure to the seal by pulling it towards me. The seal eventually “popped” out.

13- While I was right there, I installed the new clutch pushrod seal. At the bottom of the opening where the seal fits into the motor, there is a small “weep hole” for motor oil to pass through. If the push rod seal is seated too far into its opening, the “weep hole” will be blocked. Oil will leak out of the seal if the seal is seated too far in; blocking off this hole. The exposed face of the clutch push rod seal must be installed “flush” with the face of the seal opening.

Now, it was time for me to move on to the countershaft seal and the sprocket spacer o-ring.

14- First, I removed the sprocket spacer. I wrapped a strip of rubber around the spacer, to protect the surface, from marring it with a pair of channel-lock pliers. The action that I used to remove the spacer was to “twist, counterclockwise” while pulling towards me with the pliers. Once the spacer started to slide, it pulled easily. When I got the spacer out towards the countershaft splines, I was able to remove the spacer from the shaft with my fingers.

The sprocket spacer was pretty grungy, so I cleaned it up with some Scotchbrite.

15- Next, I used my seal remover tool that I made for my push rod seal to remove the countershaft seal. I had to move the location of the tool and pull, several times to free up the seal.

16- When I installed the new seal, I lightly coated the seal with fresh motor oil.

17- I used a 2″ PVC coupling joint as my “seal driver”. I did part of the job very cautiously. I tapped once; checked. Tapped again; checked. I had to “tilt” the PVC adaptor, and tap “locally” a few times at different locations because the seal started to install crooked. The final resting place of the seal was just inside from the radius of the seal opening.

18- I removed the old o-ring from inside the sprocket spacer. I had to clean out the o-ring groove of crud. I used a rag and the end of a welding rod. While doing this, I was very, very careful that I didn’t mar the groove surface. It would cause an oil leak if I did scratch it. Then, I lightly coated the new o-ring with motor oil before installing it into the sprocket spacer.

19- Next, I slid the sprocket spacer on to the countershaft with a twisting motion. I pushed it all the way in with my fingers until I could feel it bottom out against the countershaft bearing seal.

Now, it was time to leak test my work!

20- I slid the clutch push rod into place.

21- With the bike in neutral, I started the motor.
Even though the countershaft nut isn’t in place and the clutch release mechanism isn’t installed, there shouldn’t be any leaks out of either seal. I shifted through some gears, (Yes, you can use your gear shift lever without your clutch.), and I gave the bike some throttle. I shifted through gears and revved the motor to put some pressure on the seals.

I was satisfied that there weren’t any leaks. It was time to button things up. Placed the transmission in neutral, and I shut the bike off.

22- To give myself some working room, I removed the clutch push rod. Some motor oil dribbled out of the push rod hole, due to the motor being warmed up during my leak test. I wiped it up with a rag.

23- I installed the seal retainer plate. I had so much trouble trying to get the difficult bolt back into its hole that, I ground a slot for a screwdriver into its head with my Dremel tool.

(I could not find any torque values for these three bolts. Other bolts of similar size, in this area required 7ft-lbs of torque. That is the amount I used.)

24- When I installed the retainer plate, I remembered to place the gear indicator wire lead behind the “ear” of the plate. The kickstand safety switch wire went over the plate.

25- Next, I slid the countersprocket and chain back on to the countershaft.

26- I added the locking washer, (I used a new washer due to the several times I have removed the OEM washer for sprocket changes.).

27- Then I squirted some “blue” thread-locker on to the threads of the countershaft, then screwed the nut on.

28- I removed the metal tubing from on top of the swingarm, and slid it underneath the swingarm,then back through the rear wheel. I rotated the rear wheel so that a spoke fetched up against the metal tube.

29- I used my torque wrench to tighten the countersprocket nut to a value of, 105ft-lbs.

30- Using a hammer, and a flat-blade screwdriver, rebent the countershaft washer down on to the countershaft nut to lock it into place.

31- Next, I adjusted the chain to the tension that I like, and I tightened up the rear axle bolt.

32- Then, I slid the clutch cable back into its bracket and tightened up the locking nut.

33- I decided to install a new clutch release mechanism. My original one was quite worn, and was missing some of its internal ball bearings, (I lost them during subsequent maintenance…..)

Here are some photographs of the old clutch release mechanism.

And, the inside of it, with the ball bearings missing.

When I mounted up the new clutch release, I had to set the proper clutch adjustment for the mechanism. Before bolting the new release mechanism into place, I loosened the lock nut, and backed off the adjusting screw. Once the release was mounted into place, I tightened the adjusting screw until it bottomed out on the clutch push rod, and then I backed the screw off 1/4 turn and tightened the lock nut. (This adjustment is per the Suzuki Service Manual.). I had to make cable adjustments once I had reassembled all of the clutch related components.

33- I conducted a “leak test” on the bike again. I ran through the gears, and I tested my clutch cable adjustments. No Leaks!

But, because I have never done a job like this before, I was concerned that I may have missed something while doing the work. So, I decided to ride my motorcycle around for a couple of days, before installing the sprocket cover. Doing this allowed me to inspect both seal areas, from time to time, to check for leaks. There weren’t any, so after about three days of riding, I reinstalled the sprocket cover.

Categories: Motor Related, Replacing A Clutch Pushrod Seal and Countershaft Seal | 2 Comments

Installing A Buell Ulysses Headlight

Posted on June 3, 2012 by blacklabadventures

March 03, 2010

Here is what a new set of Buell Ulyssess headlights look like.

This is what they look like in comparison to the OEM headlights. Tiny little buggers, aren’t they?

With the Suzuki headlights removed, I used some scrap steel that I had on hand, and fabricated a bracket that I welded to the factory fairing structure.

Here are two shots of the Buell headlights temporarily bolted to my motorcycle.

After the Buell headlights were “hung”, I needed to fabricate a way for me to adjust the unit “up”, or “down”. I discovered that a short piece of steel tubing slid nicely into the stock structure.

Out of more scrap steel, I welded up an “adjustment tang” that would attach to the bottom of the headlight assembly, and slide into the steel tube.

Now, I had to fabricate a way to “lock” the adjustment tang into position after I determined the proper height for the beam of the Buell headlights. My plan was to use a bolt as my locking mechanism.

I fit a short length of steel tubing to the longer “adjustment tube”…..

….and welded it to the adjustment tube.

I threaded a 1/4:20 bolt into a 1/4:20 hex nut and clamped the hex nut to the “bolt locking tube”, using my vise.

I welded the hex nut to the locking tube.

I slid the adjustment tube assembly back into the stock fairing bracket to check how it worked. It worked fine!

Next, I removed the stock steel from the motorcycle and welded my adjustment tube to it.

I did have a minor electrical problem with this modification. The Buell headlights were advertised as having H4 bulbs. That would mean that they would “plug-&-Play” with the Strom wiring. Unfortunately, the Buell headlights are for H7 bulbs; different wiring.

The OEM headlights have 3 wires to each bulb.

The Buell lights have two wires for each bulb.

Here is the connector off of the back of the Buell light.

Of interest is, there is a small light bulb between the two main bulbs of the Buell headlights. If you look at the above, “connector” photo, you can see the wiring for that right below my hand, in the back of the headlight assembly.

I had rewiring to do to make this all work!

The Strom headlight bulbs both illuminate on the “Low” setting, and they both illuminate on the “High” setting. The Buell headlights work with only one bulb illuminating on the “Low” setting, and both bulbs illuminating on the “high” setting.

So of course, the first thing I had to do was cut the Buell plug off of its harness, so that I could to begin to identify what wire did what.

I also had to open up the light switch housing on the left handlebar grip.

Using the Buell headlight assembly, laid out on top of a cardboard box, sitting right next my bike, and the stock switch and wiring from the bike, I was able to determine, “what wire did what”, when I flipped from “Low Beam” to “High Beam”.

With that information, I began cutting and soldering the stock wires into the positions that I needed them to be in to make the Buell headlights work. (Believe me, I haven’t a clue as to what I am doing here!!! I NOT an “electrical guy”!)

It was easy enough to identify which were the ground wires on the Buell lights. I soldered them together.

Here is “Low Beam”.

And, here is “High Beam”.

However, the above setup is wrong. I didn’t discover it until I rode the bike at night. The “Low Beam” light on the Buell assembly is the RIGHT headlight and bulb. “High Beam” is the LEFT headlight and bulb + the right headlight. There IS a difference!

———————————————————

Since doing the above work over two years ago, I made some wiring adjustments when I built my front fairing.

Now, that was a lot of fun!

I will share the story of how I built my front fairing at a later date.

Categories: 2010 Modifications | Leave a comment

Making An Inexpensive Pair Of Prescription Sunglasses

Posted on June 3, 2012 by blacklabadventures

February 13, 2011

Back in May of 2008, I set out to create an inexpensive pair of prescription sunglasses for myself. I didn’t want to spend the $500 that it was going to cost me to purchase “professionally made” prescription sunglasses. So, I worked with what I had, and created my own.

Since December of 2010, I began taking flying lessons, (On and off; when I can afford to.) The ultimate goal is to obtain my Private Pilot’s license, and to learn how to fly the experimental airplane that I am currently building, (www.sonex1504.com).

To legally fly the plane that I am training in, by myself, (the famous first “solo” flight), I have to have a medical examination. Part of that exam is to test my eyesight. My last eye exam was, October 31, 2007. I know that I am having a struggle seeing some things, and I attribute that fact to just more then the badly scratched lenses I have now! I scheduled an appointment for this past Friday to see just how much my eyes had changed. I also brought along my “homemade” sunglasses for the eye doctor to look at. I wanted to get the eye doctor’s “professional opinion” on the prescription sunglasses I had made for myself.

After my exam, (My eyes have NOT changed since 2007!), I showed the doctor my sunglasses and asked him what kind of damage I could be doing to my eyes by using them. He laughed, took a close look at them and said, “You are doing no harm to your eyes. If there is no eye strain while using them, keep using them. It’s a great idea.”

I have made three pairs of these homemade, prescription sunglasses since 2008. The lenses are relatively inexpensive plastic, cut to a bifocal prescription for my eyes. Although I wear a progressive “tri-focal” prescription in my “daily” glasses, the bifocal prescription works fine while riding my motorcycle. I can look ahead and side to side without any issues. I can also flick my eyes down to view a road map, situated in a map case on top of my tankbag. No eye adjustments are necessary!

I removed the lenses from my old, worn out, cheap safety glasses.

I peeled off the old silicone adhesive sealant that I use to “bed” the lenses to the glass frames.

I cleaned up the lenses.

I opened up a new pair of safety-sunglasses. I purchase these at Lowe’s for about $10.

I positioned the lenses into the new glasses.

At the boatyard I work at, we have many open tubes of this silicone adhesive kicking around. I grabbed one of the old tubes and brought it home.

I jammed a West System epoxy syringe into the gap between the glass and the metal framework to my coffee table. Then I squirted the silicone into the body of the syringe. (My Black Lab, “Reuben” is supervising!).

Using the syringe as a “caulking gun”, I laid a bead of silicone around each lens to bond it to the glasses, and also to seal off any water or dirt from getting between the lenses and the glasses.

“Caulking job” completed. Now I set the glasses aside for an overnight cure.

Below is a photo of what the glasses look like. However, it is a photo taken back in 2008, and is of a different set of sunglasses that I used back then. You get the idea, though. They cost about $90 for me to make.

Categories: Modifications | 2 Comments

Plugging A Tire

Posted on June 3, 2012 by blacklabadventures

February 23, 2009

I believe I purchased my tire plug kit from Adventure Motostuff last year or the year before. I have used it 4 times with excellent results. Some riders like “mushroom” style plugs, and some riders like using the “worm” or “corded” style plug. Whichever style a rider leans towards, I encourage purchasing a kit and carrying it with you! I carry a package of both types of plugs; “mushroom”, and “worm” style.

Last Fall, while walking through my garage, I noticed something funny about my front tire.

My guess is, this was what was left of a furniture leg “bumper”. It’s just that all of the rubber had worn off and what was left was, the nail and its backing plate.

After removing the culprit, I reamed out the hole with the kit supplied reaming tool.

Then, (as per kit included instructions), I used the Tool Tip to insert a mushroom plug into the Tool Handle.

Using the kit supplied awl, I inserted the awl through the Tool Tip.

Then I installed the Tool Tip into the tire; the awl acting as a guide to push the Tool Tip into the tire.

Then I removed the awl and left the tip “embedded” in the tire.

Next, I threaded the Tool Handle, (that has a mushroom plug loaded into it), into the Tool Tip.

Once the handle and tip were screwed tight, I used the kit supplied Allen wrench to tighten the hex head screw on the back end of the Tool Handle. I tightened the screw until I couldn’t twist the screw anymore. The mushroom plug was now forced, “cap end” first, into the tire.

Next, I backed the Allen screw out and slowly pulled the Tool Handle and Tool Tip out of the tire.

Here, you can see the plug shaft. I believe this is where individuals who have tried this system, (or type of plug), and have had it fail, have made a mistake. It’s at this point that they cut the excess plug off. DON’T!!!!

For the mushroom head to seal the leak properly, the underside of its head needs to be up against the inside surface of the tire carcass. That is accomplished by pulling on the “shaft” end of the plug. And I mean PULL! As I do this, I can feel and see, the plug shaft stretch and also slide. I can also feel the head of the plug pull up against the inside of the tire. An increased resistance will occurs.

This is what a properly seated mushroom plug looks like from the inside of the tire.

Now, I let the plug “relax” a little. Do to the elasticity of the rubber compound, that the plug is made out of, the shaft will want to pull back into the tire some. It’s at this point that the plug should be cut, (Using the kit supplied razor knife.). I intentionally leave the plug cut long because, I know that there will be some more “pull back” to the plug shaft as I ride.

After the tire was “patched”, I reinflated it to the desired pressure.

I have ridden thousands and thousands of miles on these types of plugs. I have not had any problems, with only one exception. The very first tire that I plugged, I did not pull the shaft of the plug, so that the head seated against the inside of the tire carcass. That plug leaked. I learned that lesson!

Categories: Tires | 1 Comment

How I Adjust The Steering Stem Bearings

Posted on May 9, 2012 by blacklabadventures

May 06, 2012

In late November 2009, I replaced and upgraded the steering stem bearings to my 2007, DL-650 V-Strom. The upgrade was from the stock bearings Suzuki installs, to a tapered roller bearing system. The article about the work that I did can be found HERE.

Since then, part of my annual “Spring Maintenance Program”, before the riding season really kicks into gear, is to check and test, the steering bearings for proper adjustment. With these bearings adjusted properly, I have found that, the much talked about, “Deceleration Wobble” is eliminated. So is the “twitch” of the handlebars that can occur while riding rough roads at a spirited pace.

(I have also upgraded my front and rear suspension systems. There is some “overlap” in correcting steering issues that occurs between the suspension system, and the steering stem bearings.).

Towards the end of the 2011 riding season, I could tell that the stem bearings of my bike were due for an adjustment. However, that thought got swallowed up by my focus being turned to setting up my garage to build my Sonex airplane. The space where I used to work, on my motorcycle, became occupied by a large workbench that, I needed, for cutting aircraft shapes out of, 4’ wide by 12’ long, aluminum sheets!

With regards to working on the steering stem bearings of my bike, I don’t follow what Suzuki describes in their Service Manual for preparation and, “proper” tensioning of the bearings. That is a choice that I made for myself, after experimenting with different bearing tension settings. Besides, the Suzuki Service Manual was written for servicing OEM steering stem bearings. The bearings I installed in my motorcycle are tapered roller bearings.

The preparation steps that I use to adjust the stem bearings, of my motorcycle, are fairly quick for me to follow. The complete job takes me about 20 minutes to do.

I rolled my motorcycle into my garage, and placed it on its centerstand.

(See that workbench to the left? That is where I used to park my motorcycle and work on it!)

The first thing that I did was to mark the location of my handlebars. It took me awhile to get my handlebars “just where I like them!” I don’t like spending time getting them back to that “perfect spot”, after I move them!

I stuck a piece of masking tape on the handlebars. Using a “Sharpie” marker, I made matching “Sir Marks” on the handlebar risers, and on the masking tape. Now, I had a very quick way to reposition the handlebars back where they fit for me, when it was time to tighten them back down.

Next, I slipped two ratcheting tie-down straps over the supporting beam of the ceiling joists of my garage. I hooked one end of the straps around my handlebars, and the other end around the supporting beam. I added a little tension to each strap.

(Incidentally, the handlebars that are mounted on my motorcycle are stock handlebars. However, I did modify them by welding a stiffening “cross brace” between the grip areas.)

I loosened and removed the handlebar riser caps.

With the caps removed, I could “winch” the handlebar up into the air, and away from the top fork tube clamp.

Then, I loosened the left and right, top fork tube clamp bolts.

Next, I loosened and removed the stem cap nut and locking washer.

I lifted the fork clamp up, and off of the fork tubes. I shoved it forward and out of the way.

Then, I slipped a piece of 2” x 2” spruce between the fork tubes, and up against my crashbars. I did this to keep the front end from turning, while I removed the locking and tensioning nuts from the steering stem.

Using the tool that I made when I installed the tapered roller bearings…..

……I removed the locking nut and washer.

Next, I slid a floor jack underneath the skidplate, and raised the front wheel off of the floor. I made sure that the rear wheel was touching the ground, creating a three point “tripod effect”, between the two feet of the centerstand, and the rear tire touching the floor.

To do my initial stem bearing test, I give the front forks a good shaking. With my hands, I pull forward and push backwards on the fork tubes to see if there is any looseness evident to the bearings. I do this with the front wheel directed forward and also to “full stop left”, and “full stop right”.

There was some movement, which is what I had expected. Doing this test, also let me get a better feel for any “notchiness” in the bearings. If there was, it would be an indication that the bearings were worn, and needed to be replaced.

At this point, I turned my attention to the stem bearing tensioning nut. Using my “Sharpie” again, I placed a “Sir Mark” on the nut; aligning the mark with the groove that has been machined into the steering stem. This mark, gives me an indication of where the bearing tension is currently set at. It is a mark that lets me know that the bearings are too loose at this tension setting.

Then, I switched the piece of 2” x 2” spruce, through the fork tubes in the opposite direction, to “lock up” the front end of the bike.

Next, I tightened the tensioning nut just as tight as I could; drawing the bearing races together. At this setting, I slowly swung the head of the bike, back and forth, to make sure that the bearings were “maxed out”. Then, I tightened the bearings again until I couldn’t move the tensioning nut anymore.

In the photograph below, you can see just how little of a turn it takes, to “max out” the tension of the stem bearings. All it takes is about 1/3 of a turn to go from too loose, to too tight.

A rough guide for me is, to tighten the tensioning nut to a position that is just a tad less then halfway between too loose, and too tight. I am favoring just a hair towards too loose. I will not know what the final tension setting is, until I go for a test ride.

The photograph below illustrates where I chose my initial tension setting to be.

At this point, I needed to button things up, and go for a test ride. To do this, I transferred the “Sir Mark” of the tensioning nut, down to the dust cover of the stem bearing race. I did this so that, when I tightened down the locking nut, I could see if there was any movement of the tensioning nut. It doesn’t take much to change the setting and the performance characteristics of the bearings!

Then, I reassembled the rest of the motorcycle, so that I could go out for a test ride.

When I went for my test ride, I was looking for several things. I put the bike “through its paces”, riding different roads of varying road surface conditions; some are smooth and some are rough. Very rough here in Maine, during the springtime thaw with resulting frost heaves and winter damage!

Here are the things that I look for:

- The infamous “Deceleration Wobble”, (Other V-Strom riders mention this too.), is gone. In the past, when the steering bearings of my bike were too loose, in certain situations, the front end of the bike would wobble. The wobble was not noticeable unless I removed my hands from the handlebars. With my hands on the handlebars, I could feel the wobble. If I removed my hands from the handlebars, the bars would visibly begin to wobble, increasing to a “tank slapper” situation if I didn’t place my hands back on to the handlebars! I can feel and test for “wobble” when decelerating for a traffic light, or to a stop sign. The “decel wobble” would appear at around a 30 – 35mph speed.

- I found another symptom of loose steering stem bearings to be, what I call, “twitch”. Twitch happens when I am spiritedly riding rough surfaced roads. The feedback that I am receiving through the motorcycle’s handlebars is a slight left to right, “twitch”. The back end of my bike feels like it is behaving properly, but the front has a feeling of being “unsettled” and “uncertain” about what it is doing.

- Arm fatigue is another symptom of steering stem bearings being too loose or too tight. An example of arm fatigue from stem bearings being too loose is, if I am in a right hand “sweeper”, I find that I am constantly pushing forward with my right hand, on the right handlebar grip. I am literally “shoving” the head of the bike back up on to the line that I want the bike to follow through the turn. With loose steering stem bearings, the front end of my motorcycle will “fall into” turns too far. With my arms, I have to push the head of the bike back into position on the road. A day of riding like this, and I do feel it!

If the steering stem bearings are too tight, the opposite effect takes place. While in a right hand sweeper, the bike will want to stand up. Now, my left arm is pushing on the left handlebar grip, to force the head of the bike back down to follow my line! Again, a day of riding like this can be tiresome!

- The final bearing related “symptom” I look for is, “weave”. A weaving motorcycle happens at slower speeds, (In a deceleration phase), and is caused by stem bearings that are too tight. I found this happening to my motorcycle, during a test ride, after I had made a bearing adjustment with too much tension to it. As I decelerated from an “out of town” speed, to an “in town” speed limit, the front end of the bike “walked” left and right as I traveled in a straight line down the road. This happened in a 25mph speed zone. When I increased speed, the weave disappeared, but the steering of the bike felt “heavy”. I rode the bike back home, loosened the tension a “touch”, and all was good!

All of the above symptoms have happened to me, while I experimented with different tension settings on the stem bearings. My bike has “twitched”, “wobbled” and “weaved”, (“Wove”?). And, my arms have been tired from either holding the bike up, or pushing it down!

As I illustrated above, there is not much of a space difference between a stem bearing tensioning nut being set too tight, or too loose on my motorcycle. But, testing and retesting, what I need to do to eliminate bearing issue symptoms, and to have a great feeling ride, has been truly worth my efforts!

Fortunately, my test ride for this year, fleshed out a perfect setup for me! No more adjustments for the start of the 2012 riding season!

Categories: Maintenance / Upgrade Tasks | 13 Comments

Trail Riding With “Biker Chick”

Posted on May 9, 2012 by blacklabadventures

May 07, 2012

I Monday, May 07, I received a cell phone message from my riding friend, Amy. She wanted to go for another ride. It WAS a gorgeous day! I was game for a ride!

As the afternoon unfolded for the both of us, it turned out that we could not meet up until 5pm. Although the daylight is lasting much longer here in the Northeast, the temperatures can still drop quickly, even though the sun is staying up in the sky. Amy does not have any cold weather riding gear. So, we came up with an alternative solution to spend some time riding together.

After our rendezvous in Ellsworth, and a “game plan” laid out…

…we headed back to the area that she lives. Behind her home, there are many miles of camp roads, and ATV trails. Amy suited up in a couple of heavy sweatshirts, chest protector, and helmet. Then, she jumped on her ATV and lead me through a maze of camp roads and connecting trails.

Both of us sweeping quickly around a corner, and I am trying to keep Amy in view!

This is where things began to get a little “dicey” with me riding my “Big Fat Pig” in the woods!

Not only did I ride through this stuff once but, I rode through it twice! Once to “get out there”, and twice “to get back”! Amazingly, I didn’t dump the bike! I could have really used a DR-650 for these types of conditions. The DR-650 is a much better piece of machinery for this kind of stuff then my DL-650!

After we got safely back to Amy’s place, we warmed ourselves next to a fire in her outdoor fire pit, and I drank one of HER beers! Heck, I earned it!

She earned one too!

Categories: 2012 | Leave a comment

Airbox “Mud Flap” and “Splash Guard”

Posted on May 4, 2012 by blacklabadventures

07-08-2010

Before I departed for last weekend’s trip, I had to do some maintenance to my bike. I mounted up a new set of Shinko 705 tires, changed the motor oil, changed the fork oil, adjusted my Race Tech emulators, and swapped out my air filter.

When I separated the top portion of the airbox and flipped it over to inspect it, I noticed quite a bit of dirt had collected along the inside flange of the lid, (the area where the gasket of the air filter sits.). Unfortunately, before I took a photo of the grit, I cleaned it off. But, in the below photo, you may be able to see evidence of “muddy water” residue that has dried on the underside of the airbox lid.

I have modified my motorcycle. I do not have any of the OEM fairings on the front of the bike anymore. Because of this, water has a freer pathway where it can more easily get driven back towards the airbox. Previous to this particular airbox inspection, (With the OEM fairing configuration), I had never found dirt that had gotten “forced” between the lid and the bottom portion of the airbox before.

I cleaned the grim out of the flange, and decided to add some protection to the airbox.

Using a pair of scissors, I cut a piece of 3/32″ sheet rubber I had scrounged from work.

I then slid the piece of rubber, up behind the snorkel tube and fastened it in place with two zip-ties.

I felt, I now had an effective “mud flap” to deflect debris from infiltrating the seam between the lid and the bottom of the airbox.

Then I looked at my air filter, (I make up my own: Air Filter Modification ), and remembered the “mud stain” on the underside of the airbox lid. I thought, “Okay, I have taken care of the seam of the airbox, but what about the snorkel too?”

I started poking around the front end of my motorcycle and came up with a solution that worked.

Just behind where the steering stem passes through the bottom portion of the motorcycle frame, there are two holes that are drilled and tapped for a 10mm bolt. The left hole is used to secure a “clamp” that holds part of the wiring harness to the bike.

I removed the harness clamp.

Using a tape measure, I figured out what an appropriate width would be for another rubber, “mud flap”. I also laid out where I needed to drill holes through the rubber sheeting.

(I really needed a hole punch for doing this. Drilling through rubber sheeting isn’t the appropriate technique for acquiring a hole.).

Next, I cut off a piece of steel strapping I had hanging around……

…..and drilled two holes through it that corresponded to the threaded holes in the bike frame.

I “dry fit” the steel strap by threading the bolts through it and into the bike’s frame. Everything was “A-O-Kay”.

I then, slid the bolts through the rubber, “splash guard”….. (The “silver goo” that you see on the rubber is “Never-Seize”. I am using Stainless Steel machine bolts that are being threaded into the aluminum frame. Some corrosion is inevitable; the “Never-Seize” will help with that.)

….and bolted the unit to the bike.

I tucked the “mud guard” up into the space over the radiator and let it hang down behind the cross member of the crashbars I made for my bike. I was looking for a “natural drape” of the rubber guard.

When I was satisfied that the mud guard was in its proper place and would do its intended job, I marked where I needed to “drill” two more holes.

As I said before, drilling through sheet rubber is not a good solution. As the drill bit spins through the rubber, it tends to “fetch up” and twist the rubber around the body of the drill bit. It also, pulls the drill bit, in a sort of uncontrollable fashion, away from you. I decided on a safer solution because I was so near the radiator. I didn’t want the drill bit to “pull” itself through the rubber and right into the radiator!!!

I grabbed a mill file off of my workbench along with my propane torch. I heated up the end of the file……

…and “melted” four holes through the rubber sheeting.

Using zip-ties, I fastened the bottom edge of the mud guard to my crashbars.

Once the mud guard was fastened, I cut the excess rubber off of the bottom edge.

Here is the finished, “Airbox Mud Guard”.

Finally, I used a zip-tie to secure the wire harness to the anchor tab on my radiator.

EDIT: May 04, 2012. The snorkel tube “Mud Flap”, and the airbox “Splash Guard”, have been excellent additions to my motorcycle!

Categories: Modifications | Leave a comment

Modifying The Air Filter, (Using An Automotive Replacement)

Posted on May 2, 2012 by blacklabadventures

07-27-2009

A lot of the riding I do takes me to remote places; or to places that don’t have a local motorcycle dealership nearby. This is the number one reason I WILL NOT purchase and ride BMW motorcycle! In my area of New England, and in the provinces of Québec and New Brunswick, Canada, BMW dealerships are sparsely located. It would be very expensive to buy, or to have parts shipped to a rural location, if I needed them. I have a much greater chance of finding a Suzuki dealership, then a BMW dealership where I ride!

A couple of weeks ago, when I dumped my bike into the, “Moncton Mud Puddle“, I didn’t have a clue of what I was going to be up against financially in repair costs. But, back in the woods, literally “up the creek without a paddle”, I was feeling relieved that, “It could be worse. I only own a Suzuki and not a BMW.” I felt fairly confident that, once I got out of the woods, and got some help, I could make the repairs myself. About $75 and 6 hrs of work, I was riding home, and grinning from “ear-to-ear”! My bike and I survived another adventure together!

I did not get any water into the bike’s air box. It was clean and bone dry. But, what if I did? At the very least, I was going to need a new air filter. At a Canadian dealership, my guess is, that would cost around $65. That’s IF I could find a dealership! But, I can find an auto parts store, or a Canadian Tire, or similar store, like a Wal-Mart. If I need to, I can now fit a new air filter to my bike from nearly every geographical location I currently ride in!

I spent quite a bit of time at my local Wal-Mart going through all of the Fram air filters they carry. The CA3916 is the standard paper Fram filter that fits nearly perfectly over the OEM filter hole. I decided to purchase the Tough Guard version. It is a pre-oiled filter designed for SUVs and pickup trucks, where their working environment is dustier then normal, street use. That part number is: TGA3916.

I saved my old air filter from my last change 30,000 miles ago. I have modified it using the techniques I describe below.

I used a utility knife to cut the old OEM filter media out of the filter throat.

I removed the old media.

I tried using my utility knife to cut the “throat” off of the filter flange. The plastic is too hard. It’s the kind of cutting that leads itself to slicing a thumb or finger…..

I switched over to my Dremel tool; using a “fibre-reinforced” cut-off wheel.

Once the throat was removed, I sharpened up a paint scraper with a file and “cut” what remained of the throat down to the flange; making everything flat and smooth and removing any plastic burrs.

Here is the OEM filter, with the throat removed, and the flange scraped flat. I decided to leave the OEM screen in place.

I spent quite a bit of time ruminating on what adhesive to use to bond the new filter to the OEM filter flange. I work in the marine industry and I have access to some “bomb proof” stuff, but I decided to again, “keep it simple”; thinking about future maintenance and subsequent changes.

I chose the below product. It is a very thick, very tough contact cement. I purchased it at my local Lowe’s.

I squeezed a nice bead of the cement around the base of the Fram filter and also around the filter flange. I let these two surfaces dry about 10 mins as per the adhesive’s instructions.

After the allotted drying time had passed, I “mated” the two parts together and placed a firebrick on top. I let the “new” filter sit overnight.

When I got home from work the next day, I examined the glue bond. I gave the filter a really good tug to try and tear it apart. It wouldn’t budge. But, I decided, as a precaution to put another bead of the cement around the edge of the filter creating a “filet”.

Here is the filter being installed into the air box.

EDIT:  This year, for the 2012 riding season, I decided to take advantage of Napa’s, “Gold Filter” Sale. Cross referencing the Fram Tough Guard air filter with Napa’s Gold Filter, combined with a 50% off discount, I purchased four air filters for a total of, $21.00. They will last me more then two seasons.

Categories: Modifications | 1 Comment

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