Bubba

Check out the Stromtrooper forum for excellent in-depth instructions here: http://www.stromtrooper.com/maintenance-how/27756-dl650-valve-adjustment-notes-tips.html ….and there's many more if you want to spend some time searching. A trooper that goes by the username BlackLab has many how-to articles.

7" to the the top of the lip on the platform and just under 12" to the top of the clamp. Unless they've changed the clamp design, it's pretty useless. I'd change the clamp over to a HF wheel chock or even better, a full-on bike stand for stability. Don't forget to account for the tie down bolts, which bring the height minus the clamp to 8.5". Without the clamp, it easily fits under my 2wd truck between the wheels.

Chad: Sorry to see your SV going back under the knife….mea culpa. If it's the same or similar to a Wee, lash check is pretty easy, although most folks say taking the radiator out is the way to go. Adjustment is another issue. Cams have to come out to change shims, which means pulling the cam tensioners--and I've read the rear cylinder can be a mother-- and then re-timing the valve train according to the cam timing marks. If you have to go the whole route, set your clearance to the high range of adjustment, since valves tighten over time as they recess into the valve seats. Good luck, dude!

Almost positive that there's a state law in KY that REQUIRES A HOMEOWNER to discharge their lawn clippings into the street. The heavier and wetter the grass, the larger the fine if you don't….

Seriously? Since when can I NOT hold the front brake lever when dismounting/mounting from the left? Maybe a guy with T-Rex arms….?

H-D's with their low seats are easy to get off to either side. Try that on a tall 34-36" seat height ADV bike with a trunk or tail bag attached, 'specially when you get to be 65 yo! Low side for me. BTW, what's for breakfast tomorrow? When should I plan on eating?

Bumping this up for great weather!!! If you believe the TV "meaty urologists"….the forecast says sunny and 70* tomorrow. Probably be 1 or 2 more folks from the LocalRider Cinti crew along, too.

The route itself is approximately 203 miles, all back roads. Ride time is calculated by GoogleMap based on posted speed limits, so the suggested time may be longer than our actual ride time….or not, depending on the group's pace. The ride time does not include stops for fuel or food; that would be additional. There are short-cut options we can take to save time if we're running slow. Meet-up in the morning at the McDonald's on KY17 at the I-275 Exit 80 interchange at 9:00 - 9:15 AM. Kickstands up promptly at 9:30 AM. There are several gas options available along the route, with the most convenient at the Thornton's next to the McD's in the morning and at the Williamstown exit at about the mid-point of the ride. There are fast-food lunch items available here as well.. The end of the route is at Petersburg Exit 11 on I-275 in KY. You will have to calculate your additional mileage and riding time from the start/finish point of the route from/to your house. If the map links below don't work, cut and paste them into your browser. Morning route (starts at I-275 Exit 80 in KY, east of I-75): https://goo.gl/maps/orz52 113 mi/approx 3.25 hr Afternoon route (ends at I-275 Exit 11 in KY, west of I-75): https://goo.gl/maps/nE6mp 90 mi/approx 2.5 hr I'll throw out a few typical ride cautions. If you're an experienced rider, these will sound trite and unnecessary; if you're a relatively new rider, please take them into serious consideration. These are rural, two-lane country roads with all the normal dangers of an urban street along with the added dangers of poor pavement, gravel, challenging corners and terrain/elevation changes, domestic animals, livestock (yes, I've encountered both cows and horses in the street) and farm equipment. Please make sure your bike equipment, especially tires, drivetrain and starting system, are in good working order. You are responsible for controlling your bike--ride at a pace that is comfortable and safe for your abilities and within your skill limitations. In the unfortunate event of an accident, you are a long way from emergency assistance!

What the rioters in Baltimore have done is what is referred to in the military as "shittin' in your own mess kit"…. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. There is definitely a problem--perhaps a growing problem, or perhaps just greater transparency as a result of the ready access for 90% of the world to instant media--of heavy handed police enforcement ever since 9/11 and the establishment of the DoHS. As someone stated earlier, I sure as hell don't want the job but that doesn't give the one sworn into the position carte blanche to take the law into his own hands and administer point-of-contact justice. What bothers me is that this is being portrayed as a race issue, a white-v-black issue, and I just can't see it that way. Yeah, I'm white, but I'm also of Canadian descent and as a child, I was raised without any bias in the house or from the people around me. This is an issue of too many people over-stepping their authority or their civil rights, both on the part of the police (and not just in Baltimore) and on the part of the rioters. So it would seem that one bad turn deserves another? Sorry, I'll say it again….it just doesn't make sense. If one was to critically analyze the situation, there are folks on OR and elsewhere who espouse the theory that it can be attributed to the black community's sense of powerlessness to effect change in their lives, and thus their only option is to direct their anger toward the power establishment. Would it that much of a stretch to say that the over-reaction of the police in certain instances may also be an indication that they feel powerless to control their environment? Just thinking out loud….

If you've got a center stand, use a screw or hydraulic jack with a wood block under the oil pan or headers. If no center stand, you'll have to borrow a rear stand and use the swing arm spools. The ratchet straps work great if you can anchor them securely to a ceiling joist. Be VERY CAREFUL anchoring them to the bottom stringer of a truss-type joist. The bottom chord of a truss joist is NOT engineered/designed to hold a vertical load!!!

Chad: Weather is looking primo for most of this week and into the weekend. I'm retired so I can be available on just about anyone's schedule with a little advance warning. Shoot me a PM with your preference of days/times and how long you want to ride (hours/miles) and I can work up some kind of route that will keep you entertained. Lemeno.

AZH: So from reading the link, it sounds like there's a proportioning valve in-line with both the front and rear master cylinders that determines the force on one or more selected pistons in either caliper. Again, I've never been a fan of linked brakes. I prefer to use my accumulated skills to do my own F:R proportioning in an aggressive braking maneuver, but it would certainly be a benefit to newer riders.

OB: Hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but…. Hillsboro is a 90 minute/70+ mile roll for me one way, and the roads between here and there--for the most part--suck!!! It's difficult for me to convince myself to do 3+ hour RT just to get to the good roads in eastern OH when I can be across the river in 20 minutes and in the middle of NKY goodness. As the days get longer, our best bet to meet up and ride together is prolly gonna be for you to head south and for me to head east and we meet in NKY and ride for a few hours there. If we meet in Maysville, it's still an hour and a half for me and an hour for you, but at least I can take some sweet KY roads to our meet-up. Let's keep each other in the loop, tho.

So, ND or some other informed party...question: I've never been a big fan of linked braking systems, although I think my '07 FJR had them. Does the 'link' mean partial front brake application (1caliper? 1 piston each caliper?) with rear brake application? And does this VFR model have ABS?

ND: Wow! That is a gorgeous bike. And nicely farkeled as well. I would council you to think about selling that beauty--you'll prolly regret it in a couple of years….or less. GLWS.

NDSpd: The RT gold valves won't really change the problem of an overly soft fork. The valves are simply a 2-stage valve to fine tune your compression setting. They come with several valve springs for soft/medium/hard compression and of course you can fine tune the feel by varying the oil viscosity as well. The valves sit at the bottom of the fork legs and allow the valving to work on small hits and then open up at the pre-set spring rate for the big hits. Essentially, it lets you fine tune your small-hit response with a pre-set bypass for big hits. You'll still need to upgrade the fork springs to a heavier rate. If you're in the 200+ lbs with gear on, it's likely you'll need springs in the 0.90 - 1.0 kg/mm (your stock spring rate is 0.77 kg/mm).

Pretty sure the primary benefit to wrapping headers in a car is to minimize the under-hood heat….less heat = better cooling and less likelihood of fuel vaporization in the fuel pump/lines/carb. Doubt that it has much utility in the newer FI set-ups other than cooling.

Absolutely! It looks like there's gonna be some seriously good riding weather coming up this week. Lemeno.

You forgot to mention more egomaniacal and corrupt, too. The truth is both will continue to take your hard-earned money….

NDspd: I understand Fairborn>KY>Fairborn is a pretty good roll for a day ride, but I'd be happy to show you some of the great twisties in NKY right across the river if you're interested in riding down here for a few hours. There's miles of great rural roads with light to non-existent traffic within an hour of Cincinnati. I'm retired (or as my wife refers to me...useless as teats on a boar hog) so anytime weekday or weekend works. Either PM me here on Ohio Riders or shoot me an email at icantdrive55atfusedotnet. There's some good roads that are interesting in SE Indiana that are prolly a bit closer to you. Check 'em out on Googlemap.

Quantitative? Quaint? No elitists at the Comet. Just a bunch of middle-age guys to old farts--all riders--hanging out drinking and BSing. Definitely not THE PLACE to be seen or do the Facebook post thing. Tonight, There was a BMW 1200C, several old BMW airheads, quite a few Jap bikes, some scooters, a custom H-D bagger, some vintage Hondas, and a brand new Katoom 390 Duke. Not the same thing as Saturday morning Fuel Coffee. Definitely not the same thing as QSL. A guy with your sense of humor might just like it….

Hole-in-the-wall hipster bar with a crappy location and insufficient parking in a marginal neighborhood, a decent beer selection and huge, great tasting burritos but with a short-handed and surly waitstaff that'll keep you standing for 10 minutes to get a cold beer. Somebody tell me why I end up going most weeks?!?

Thanks to Rob for an awesome route today!!! I rode just under 300 miles and I didn't join up with the group until the lunch break in Williamstown. Weather was obviously primo and for the most part, traffic was pretty light and didn't take away from the fun too much. There were about 10-12 riders from both LocalRiders crew and the Junkies who rode the first leg from Alexandria to Williamstown, where we dropped a few but picked a couple more at the Red Carpet restaurant. 8-9 rolled west to run 1993 and 227 south to Stamping Ground, then back north on 368 and 607 and 22 back into Falmouth. While we were there fueling, 3 Junkies--Chainslack and a couple of others (sorry, old-timers disease)--rolled into the Shell and picked up with the group to make the run across 17 and 467 and 1492 and points north to the Hash. All in all, a great day with no casualties. Thanks to all the riders in the group for riding a great pace and staying safe!!! Lots of fun...

If anyone is interested in the meet-up at lunch in Williamstown, I'm heading out from the west side of Cinti (Green Twsp) and crossing into NKY at the ferry about 11ish. Hitting the backroads to the lunch meet-up--Disclaimer: There may some goat paths in the mix--and then riding the afternoon route with the group.

If the Battlax is a steel-belt radial construction, plugs can be difficult to get a perfect seal, and I've heard anecdotally that the belts MAY end up cutting the plug as the steel belts flex during riding. A plug works just fine in a poly belt tire, whether radial or bias. If it's steel belt construction, I'd recommend de-mounting the tire and having a vulcanizing patch installed.