Saturday, April 25, 2015
4 speed clutch hub to mainshaft taper fit up
Finally got the taper between the mainshaft and clutch hub to fit up tight. There were two suspect high spots on my mainshaft, I honestly couldn't tell if they were high or low, but assuming that a low spot had a high spot galled up next to it, I went to work. I bought inch wide nail boards from the beauty supply store, 100/180, 220/320, and 400/600. I figured the wide board across the taper with keep the cutting even. A couple of rubs with the coarse and more rubs with each finer grade in the suspect areas and more rubs with finest grade all around.
The clutch hub swedged up nice and tight and had to be pulled with a puller. Success!
Sunday, April 12, 2015
More on Mylar blankets and motorcycles
I have used a mylar blanket inside my jacket before for extra wind protection. I knew the blanket would never get back into its little bag. Then I got a better idea for long term extra protection that doesn't take much space and deploys quickly.
I took the blanket and folded it in half, cut it a bit shorter in length and duct taped the edges to make seams and give it more structure. I also cut a head hole and taped it off. I ran out of blue tape and had to switch to red.
Here it is. If the wind is too cold, throw this on under your jacket and it does make a big difference. A bit ghetto, but effective. You do sound like a bag of chips when you walk around in it, so it's not a good option for sneaking up ninja-style on anyone.
If folds up nice and into a quart size bag. Throw that in your saddlebag or jacket pocket and you always have a little more warmth/wind protection if you need it.
I took the blanket and folded it in half, cut it a bit shorter in length and duct taped the edges to make seams and give it more structure. I also cut a head hole and taped it off. I ran out of blue tape and had to switch to red.
Here it is. If the wind is too cold, throw this on under your jacket and it does make a big difference. A bit ghetto, but effective. You do sound like a bag of chips when you walk around in it, so it's not a good option for sneaking up ninja-style on anyone.
If folds up nice and into a quart size bag. Throw that in your saddlebag or jacket pocket and you always have a little more warmth/wind protection if you need it.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Chuckster's Risers
I know at some point I will be doing 12 inch apes on this 1500, but I really don't want to put the time and money into it for this season. I was hoping to keep the bars stock for now, but they're just too low to be comfortable. Back in the day, I ran stock bars and 4X1 Harley risers. The centers are 3.5 inches, so HD risers work on a Vulcan, but you need adapters or drilling out the top tree to 1/2 inch.
I want to keep stock risers and the one-piece top I bought to hold my voltmeter. So I got a set of Chuckster's riser extensions for this season. This is an easy job, but I figured I would show it anyway.
This is what you get.
Cover the tank and get to work.
To start with, get the nut loosened under the top tree. If you take the bars out of the clamps first, you can't keep the bolt from spinning.
Pop off the beauty covers.
Take out the clamp bolts.
Take off the bottom of the clamps.
Here's the bottom clamp with the extension and new bolt.
Put them on and start the nuts under the tree.
Put the top clamp on temporarily.
Torque the nuts under the tree.
Torque the top bolts and install the nifty caps, then ride all day in comfort.
I want to keep stock risers and the one-piece top I bought to hold my voltmeter. So I got a set of Chuckster's riser extensions for this season. This is an easy job, but I figured I would show it anyway.
This is what you get.
Cover the tank and get to work.
To start with, get the nut loosened under the top tree. If you take the bars out of the clamps first, you can't keep the bolt from spinning.
Pop off the beauty covers.
Take out the clamp bolts.
Take off the bottom of the clamps.
Here's the bottom clamp with the extension and new bolt.
Put them on and start the nuts under the tree.
Put the top clamp on temporarily.
Torque the nuts under the tree.
Torque the top bolts and install the nifty caps, then ride all day in comfort.
SparkBright Eclipse Battery Voltage LED
The time one alternator crapped out and I almost didn't make it home on my 1500 Vulcan, got me thinking about a voltmeter. I have been running a Kuryakyn voltmeter on my shovelhead for quite a while and it's a good unit, but I've always want something smaller and cleaner. ChengDave turned me on to the Sparkbright units from England. I've heard a ton of great things about them and wanted to see if I liked them.
So I ordered one and got to thinking about how to mount it. Does anyone remember this mostly worthless bit of chrome dress up from the Fire and Steel catalog?
Well I found a plain one, NOS, on Ebay for like $25 delivered not $76.95. I figured I would be at least $25 or so into a set of HD risers if I want to find something with a nice "bridge" base to mount stuff to.
I taped and marked my top clamp. One side gets the Sparkbright and one side gets the spot clock.
Pre-drill the start hole.
Make the big hole.
Mount it up on the bars. I bought the big LED so I knew I would need some clearance behind it, too.
Transfer punch to start the hole.
Punch mark.
Center drill. At this point, I should have used a small bit to go all the way through the bar, but I didn't.
Cut the big hole in the bar.
Transfer the hole to the other. I only need a small hole for the tiny wires to pass through.
Wire hole drilled.
I can't deburr the hole with the handlebars installed.
Clean off the sharp edges.
Feed the wire and mock-up the LED.
Looking good.
Add some black shrink tube to cover the wires.
I was thinking I wanted to splice into the marker lights so that it would be key on only. I thought I would just solder the connection and cut it if I need to take it apart. But way better, I just unplugged the marker light connection and shoved it all back together.
Green when running is good. The green is a bit hard to see in bright sunlight, but amber and red are easy to spot so that's what's important to notice going down the road. I really dig it.
I ziptied the wires together for extra support, too.
Good to go.
So I ordered one and got to thinking about how to mount it. Does anyone remember this mostly worthless bit of chrome dress up from the Fire and Steel catalog?
Well I found a plain one, NOS, on Ebay for like $25 delivered not $76.95. I figured I would be at least $25 or so into a set of HD risers if I want to find something with a nice "bridge" base to mount stuff to.
I taped and marked my top clamp. One side gets the Sparkbright and one side gets the spot clock.
Pre-drill the start hole.
Make the big hole.
Mount it up on the bars. I bought the big LED so I knew I would need some clearance behind it, too.
Transfer punch to start the hole.
Punch mark.
Center drill. At this point, I should have used a small bit to go all the way through the bar, but I didn't.
Cut the big hole in the bar.
Transfer the hole to the other. I only need a small hole for the tiny wires to pass through.
Wire hole drilled.
I can't deburr the hole with the handlebars installed.
Clean off the sharp edges.
Feed the wire and mock-up the LED.
Looking good.
Add some black shrink tube to cover the wires.
I was thinking I wanted to splice into the marker lights so that it would be key on only. I thought I would just solder the connection and cut it if I need to take it apart. But way better, I just unplugged the marker light connection and shoved it all back together.
Green when running is good. The green is a bit hard to see in bright sunlight, but amber and red are easy to spot so that's what's important to notice going down the road. I really dig it.
I ziptied the wires together for extra support, too.
Good to go.
