Maggot motorcycle stoke thread

[Percy Rideout]

Lower your tire pressure for Pritchet. Helps get you traction.

Mousse all day for the type of riding we do.

[simple]

Mousse all day for the type of riding we do.

Got it.

[bluespark]

Behind the Rocks > Pritchett > Kane Creek makes for a nice long day

[jmedslc]

As we whipped around the white rim today I chuckled thinking of Pritchett canyon and “leave some metal out there” and “ mousse all day”... lol!!!! Awesome day out there.

[Percy Rideout]

Behind the Rocks > Pritchett > Kane Creek makes for a nice long day

Hey there! We rode that loop, but went up kane creek and down pritchett.

Lets ride high country again this summer. Bet we will start getting up there in the next few weeks.

[Percy Rideout]

As we whipped around the white rim today I chuckled thinking of Pritchett canyon and “leave some metal out there” and “ mousse all day”... lol!!!! Awesome day out there.

Hope you guys had fun. We definitely left some metal out there.

[bluespark]

Sounds good!

[bluespark]

Mousse all day for the type of riding we do.

Rear Tubliss at 5psi ftw as well. A tire with stout sidewalls and carcass is needed.

I ran on a Sedona 907 completely flat for 40 miles of moderate ST. High speed FS roads were a little squirrely but the Tubliss liner and bladder survived
fine.

Low psi and big knobbies grip like crazy

[BS720]

Picked this up Tuesday after a little deliberation. CA Plated, 2013, WR450F. Very excited to get it all sorted out. eStart won't turn over, so that's number one. Also, anyone know what that little hose is below the shift lever?

[Djongo Unchained]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That hose hanging down is more than likely a vent hose for the gas tank. On a hot day, the fuel expansion in the tank is enough to need a release.

[LHutz Esq]

Another one followed me home. I went to buy a snowblower and next thing you know.


Might make a nice shuttle rig someday.

And BS720 - do those have a crankcase breather?

[Name Redacted]

Added a 4.7 gallon tank to my WR. Now I can get 300+ miles before running out. That’s a lot of desert! No more anxiety of running out of gas. Rides pretty well even when full. Put in some miles riding slickrock and didn’t really notice much difference.

[simple]

Added a 4.7 gallon tank to my WR. Now I can get 300+ miles before running out. That’s a lot of desert! No more anxiety of running out of gas. Rides pretty well even when full. Put in some miles riding slickrock and didn’t really notice much difference.

Pretty cool. I couldn't do it. Affects handling too much for the tight singletrack I like. Makes for a great dual sport though. 2.5 gallons gets me over 100 miles which is sweet. On race day I get half that but lots more braaaap

[Name Redacted]

Pretty cool. I couldn't do it. Affects handling too much for the tight singletrack I like. Makes for a great dual sport though. 2.5 gallons gets me over 100 miles which is sweet. On race day I get half that but lots more braaaap

I don’t race, but ride a lot of singletrack. The thing about these tanks is they aren’t that much heavier than the original w/ the plastics. The wings prevent sloshing and keep the COG lower than the stock tank.
That said, I’m more worried about crashing and still trying to figure out a good radiator guard that’ll work with it.

[simple]

It's the gas that is heavier not the tank.

With a big tank you shouldn't need radiator guards IMO

[Name Redacted]

It's the gas that is heavier not the tank.

With a big tank you shouldn't need radiator guards IMO

Yeah but I don’t have to fill up the gas tank for every ride. And there are drain plugs in the wings if I’m that worried about it. But I rode some moderately technical trails with a full tank and didn’t really feel too off. My fat ass probably affects my riding more than anything.

[BS720]

Another one followed me home. I went to buy a snowblower and next thing you know.


Might make a nice shuttle rig someday.

And BS720 - do those have a crankcase breather?

That Trail 90 is SICK! What do you have in mind for it? Restore? Just ride?


I don't think it's a crankcase or tank breather. I guess I need to investigate a bit. It seems mostly stock. The tank breather is inside the steering column, I think. It's only about 14" long. I may be wrong. I was wondering if someone hadn't gotten tired of taking off the bash guard with each oil change and somehow routed it to drain oil through a hose?

[ill-advised strategy]

So, 3 weeks ago I sold my old plow truck and got a 97 Vulcan 1500 for $1500.
It has sat for years and the carb was overflowing.
Dealt with the carb and old fuel, New oil, checked everything out and fixed a couple small things, baffles in the drag pipes, and have now ridden it a bit.

I think it's losing 2nd gear…. Hard upshifts from 1st. So there’s all these decisions to make about what to do. Ride it till it goes? Sell it now while it’s not that bad? Tear the whole engine down and split the cases to fix 2nd gear and eliminate the stupid positive neutral finder.

As a truck driver who spent lots of time shifting unsynchronized transmissions, I feel like there may be a sweet spot for that shift, so I’m hoping to put some effort into finding a speed and technique that gets a better shift, and try one more oil change (the old oil was super black, and the new oil is black right away, so maybe it’s just really dirty oil….but with all the other trans functions being smooth, and apparently 2nd fails on all these 97 vulcan 1500s, Ikind of doubt it’s a lubrications thing).

Besides the bad shifts, I really this bike…it’s a lot of torque right off idle and so smooth it’s hard to do legal speeds.. Any thoughts?

[heckacali]

You'd have to be mighty handy, have a good amount of shop tools/space and a lot of free time and a lot of boredom to make tearing it apart worthwhile. Such a can of worms too.

No way it's worth paying someone else to do.

Live with it or cut your losses and get a bike that works before you are deeper underwater.

[Timberridge]

While 2nd gear is not as critical as 1st gear, it is useful to have in various situations, so this warrants some concern.

Assuming you have insurance, have you considered leaving it in a dimly lit alley with the keys in the ignition?

[ill-advised strategy]

Yeah. I guess I’ll give it maybe 100 shifts to see if I can deal with it using technique, and if not I’ll see if I can sell it.

I guess this is why everybody (at least here) rides Harleys. At least you can work on those and there’s never an issue finding parts.

[heckacali]

Don't make a bad situation worse by getting a harley.

Even some of the Japanese models can be lemons, but they are few and far between. Most are stone reliable and easy to work on. There's a reason that bike was sub $2k.

[Timberridge]

I would buy a Honda. They're reliable.

The '84-'86 Honda Nighthawk S is bulletproof.

[ill-advised strategy]

Lol, yeah I actually have an 86 nighthawk. One of the least cool motorcycles ever produced.





I like my little honda, it’s fine. I was hoping for a bigger hoggy-er machine I could take my wife on. The two of us are too much for that bike.

As for the cheap price in the kaw…they’re mostly all cheap (here) because, as I’m learning, they’re built like a disposable item you’re going to ride 20,000 miles and never work on. So many aspects of this thing are stupidly unnecessarily hard to work on. You have to jack it level and lay on the ground with a flashlight and tiny mirror just to check the oil level. Plastic oil pump gears. Reed valves in the exhaust. Dumb shit all over.

It’s fine. Live and learn. Now I’ve had something from each of the japanese 4 plus Triumph, harley, and buell.

Honda is so far ahead of the others in terms of quality…but everything they make sounds like a vacuum cleaner, and that sucks. It is what it is.

[LHutz Esq]

That Trail 90 is SICK! What do you have in mind for it? Restore? Just ride?

She - is completely locked up. It looks like someone one was in there before. Someone who loves the RTV and can't tell a J.I.S. screw from an iron stick. I am hoping when I get some time to open her up it is as simple as an assembly error and not something worse - the fact that there is not a drop of oil in her shouldn't be a sign that she is right fuckered should it?

... probably fine, little soaking in some nasty chemicals and she'll come around.

....probably not.

oh well.

If it doesn't I am thinking an ebay motor or a Lifan 125 or 140. I really don't want to go chinesium though as she is a real survivor and finding the older 64-67 pushrod versions on ebay isn't as easy or as cheap as it once was.