Cam specs for Vulcan 1500 and 1600

Okay everyone wants to know the hottest cams for 1500 or 1600 Vulcan. All of these cams are interchangeable between models. The early 1500 Meanstreak is the highest horsepower cam. Also keep in mind that the Meanstreak has the lowest gearing too. I was surprised the BUBF cams were so far down the list. Those were the original hop-up cam for a 1500 Classic. I have highlighted the similar numbers between the cams.

CT90 Seat Cover Replacement

My Trail 90 seat was looking rough and I wanted to get a new cover on the foam starting showing worse and the foam could be damage.  I brought this one from dratv.com. I am a little bummed that the seams don't have the stitch details. This cover appears to have cooler seams, no logo. Sadly probably the best bet for a little more money would be this whole seat. Oh well, this is the cover I got and what I will run.


The new logo is taller, but narrower than the original, too.


Here's a look at the poor old seat's problems.


There are 8 rivets with clips and a bunch of bent over teeth holding the cover on. Pop off the clips and save them. Bend all the teeth straight out.


Oh wow the quilt part of the seat is totally trashed.


The new cover is nice and fluffy.


36 year old foam is quite a site.


This thing is dirty, too. So I wiped it all done with some Simple Green.


Getting the new cover on was a two hand job, so I didn't get good pictures. But from what I can tell, start with the nose first and pull everything down tight. I pulled each bit over the tooth and bent tooth down with a pliers. I used a cover on the plier jaw to keep the pretty side pretty.


The rivets from dratv are different, too. I thought they would be used without the clips and just flared out, but actually using the clips seems to make things nice and tighter than without the clips.


Find the rivet holes from the inside first.


Then enlarge the hole from the outside.


Install the rivet through the cover, pan, and clip.


Bend over the tabs.


Looks okay. It could be tighter. I'm not sure if that is the installer or old foam being knocked down a bit. The shipping seams from being folded still show, too. Hopefully a few 100 miles and the seat will look better.

CT70 Battery Set-up

Time to figure out the battery situation for the Trail 70. I pulled this little 6volt sealed battery out of my Trail 90. I like these sealed batteries better than the acid type for sure.


It's rated higher than needed, 5Ah instead of 3Ah, but it fits in the battery box with all the stock rubbers perfectly on the red bike. That's good because I have to shim it up to fit the Trail 90 battery box.


Seems like it will clear the seat pan, too.




This is were things got different from what I was expecting. I thought all Honda's had green ground wire and a lead that went straight from the negative of the battery to bolt to the frame. That's not case with the K0. The negative on the battery goes to blue wire to ignition switch and the negative leads doesn't connect to frame for the chassis ground until you turn the key on. Not what I am used to, but easy to work with once you know. I'll need to reinstall the ignition switch before anything will work.


I found the lead for the battery for the main harness.


Found the terminals I needed.


I learned about soldering wires from a Bikernet article and how to build a helper.


So first move is to lengthen the blue lead.








Now add the terminals.






Add a terminal to the blue lead too.


Ready to go. I will wrap the positive side with electrical tape to cover the exposed metal.

OKC Veterans' Day Run to the Capitol 2012

This year the run started a VA Hospital instead of the Skyline Cafe. The turnout was sparse compared to the same run in 2011. I'm not sure if it was rainy cold weather, lack of publicity, or confusion on which day, the holiday on Sunday the 11th or the observed holiday of Monday the 12th. It does really matter to me I do this run every time I possibly can. I even had a little incident earlier in the day that couldn't stop me.


Up to the Veterans' Memorial at the Capitol complex.




The view from the memorial to the capitol building.


Getting started.




Representatives of the Paralyzed Veterans of America did a lot the ceremony.


The invocation.


Presentation of colors.






Representative Gary W. Banz of Oklahoma House of Representatives - District 101 was the keynote speaker.





American Legion Riders Representative.




A check presented to the Wounded Warrior Project.


Benediction.

Relatively Minor Unplanned Get-off

Well in was wet and nasty, but it had quit raining. I was going maybe 20 to 30 approaching one of those round-about deals. Columbus(Warpig62) was in front of me and we needed to slow, not stop, to enter the round-about. Evidently there was bunch of oil of something besides just water to make the road especially slick. I just touched my brakes to slow and I was on the ground.  My ankle was pinned under the fender strut and saddlebag. My ankle wasn't injured or hurting luckily, but I couldn't reach the handlebars to get the bike off me. I was about to try and slide my foot out of my boot when Columbus came back and got the bike off me. Handlebars are tweeked, lightbar toast, and the trim on my headlight scuffed. My right shoulder hurts if I raise about my hand above my shoulder. I did still go on and do the Veterans' Day Run.





I was just talking about how these pants weren't as waterproof as they used to be. The boot damage didn't get to the steel toe. This would have been painful in shorts and flip-flops.


That will buff out.