Nothing new here – bicycles as a kid and motorcycles as an adult; changing gear ratios to better suit my riding style. Of course when it comes to traditional chain driven bikes, it’s fairly easy, just change either the front or rear sprocket by +/- a couple of teeth – depending how much of a change you want to make. If the change is small enough, you can usually get away with the stock chain length.
The H-D’s, with their belt drive set up, are a little different. Sure you could change the rear pulley, but not so easy to change belts. The better solution is to change the primary sprocket.
With the stock set up on the XR (5 speed gearbox), it’s definitely got short legs. It tops out, hitting the rev limiter, at around 120MPH. Final drive gear ratio with the stock 34/57 setup is around 4.07. Going to a 38T sprocket, will change it to 3.64 – okay, so no more wheelies off the line, but for the way we drive/ride around these parts, it should make a lot more sense (BTW – the version of the XR that it exported to both Japan and Brazil come from the factory with 38/57 setup).
Parts list includes
- Rotor and sprocket assembly – 30029-08 (of a Buell XB12)
- Screw, hex, flange 505 – 4589 (it gets torqued to 165ft/lbs – apparently a time use item)
- Chain, primary, front – 40147-04
If you’re careful removing the primary case, you wont need a new gasket.
If you have all the right tools, the job will take about an hour – if you drink beer while you’re working, expect about 3 hours. Speaking of the right tools, the manual specifies the use of a flat bar to lock the gears while you use your breaker bar to loosen a reverse thread bolt that’s had loctite and 165ft/lbs applied to it (yeah, makes me cringe also). An alternative is to use a Jim’s Tool (#2234) – made of delrin plastic (I think), works well, and shouldn’t do any damage (pictured in use below)
Removing reverse thread engine sprocket bolt
I’ve only ridden it a little bit since making the change but it only takes a few miles to get used to. What you notice pretty quickly is that it now has longer legs (not shifting as often), the cruising speed revs have dropped by about 500, take off acceleration is slightly muted, but the torque is still there; it still pulls well through all gears.
Oh look, the sun is out – time to go for another test ride 
* next up its the FatBob’s turn – but it will get the reverse treatment as the stock 6 speed gear box is too tall for city riding…
Tags: Bolt, Buell Xb12, Gasket, Gear Ratio, Gearbox, Gears, Hex Flange, Motorcycles, Rear Pulley, Rear Sprocket, Rev Limiter, Right Tools, Screw, Speed Gearbox
The FatBob is a great bike; fun to ride and it handles well. The recent addition of the brown leather bags has made it all the more practical because they allow me to carry basic essentials (camera, additional clothing items, water bottle, etc) and not have to wear a back pack.
It also gets a lot of props from people who see it.
While I’m generally happy with the direction (aesthetically) the bike has taken, looking at it, especially in pictures, it seemed to me like it was missing something. It was looking a little bland, a mix basic colours without anything to really tie it all together.
Black-n-tan
I needed something. My first thought was paint; flames, skulls, pirates – hmm, yeah, not really my thing. Maybe a different colour other than black – perhaps. So I played around with Photoshop, trying out different colours, but what I eventually realized was that it wasn’t the colour so much as it was the absence of any kind of graphic.
Thinking back to when I was at the Easyrider show, I remembered admiring the skill and creativity of the pinstripe work that had been done to some of the show bikes.
Hmm, pinstripe – that could work.
The shop where I got the XR solo seat painted (Road Dog Customs) does custom bike paint work, restoration and pin-striping. Sonny is a talented guy and if you’ve seen any of his bikes either out on the street or at a show, you’ll know he does some excellent work.
So I took the bike in and chatted a bit with Sonny about what I was thinking. I had no clues about the design, just some thoughts on the colours for the pin-striping to which Sonny had different ideas.
Ultimately I decided I’d let Sonny do his thing; pin-striping is what he does, and he does it well – and here’s what he came up with (colours used were copper and grey)…
Would love to know what you think – don’t be shy, leave a reply…
Tags: Brown Leather, Colours, Creativity, Custom Bike, Easyrider Show, Fatbob, Flames, Leather Bags, Paint Paint Work, Pin Stripe, Pin Striping, Props, Show Bikes, Skulls, Solo Seat
This is what we like to see – no doubt there are CalTrans workers that ride bikes also.
This notice was posted on the I10 freeway heading east out of Downtown Los Angeles. Also spotted on the 710 freeway going south. I hope they do it some more because I think it makes a difference.
10 Fwy - downtown LA
So I finally managed to hook up with Bear, who had offered to let me bring the bike to his place of work and put it on the scales. (thanks Bear )
Okay, so in my head I’ve got a number – 5lbs here, 10lbs there. Bear assured me that the scales were spot on and that they’d been recently calibrated. Suffice to say, when I first saw the reading, I was initially disappointed
So we chatted about it a while, looked at what else could be done to reduce some pork (carbon wheel$), realized that certain add-ons had an impact (e.g. frame sliders) but finally came to the conclusion that while it was a ways off from the 100lb mark, for the money spent, 40+lbs is not too shabby (and definitely noticeable when riding). I guess if I really want something lighter, I’d be better off buying a different bike.
(umm, nah, I think I’l keep this one 
)
Tags: Conclusion, Frame Sliders, Money, Porker, Scales, Wheel
I’d gone for a ride a couple of week ago, on my XR1200, up to the RockStore. The route up there, along PCH, can kinda suck sometimes because of traffic and cops, but once in the area there are some decent roads up through the Santa Monica/Malibu mountains. Also, I really just like hanging out at the RockStore – you meet all kinds of people and see all kinds of bikes – it’s a fun place to hang and shoot the shit with other riders.
On my last ride out there on the XR, I met up with and started talking to some guys from AIPRacing. They commented that they liked what I’d done to the XR and asked if I’d like to show the bike, at their vendor booth, during the upcoming Easyrider Show in Pomona Fairplex this weekend.
I’d been to the Easyrider show before. If you’re at all familiar with the magazine, you’ll know why I couldn’t help thinking to myself – sure, the XR is a Harley, but it’s not exactly what one would expect to see at this custom bike show – wrong genre and I don’t really consider my bike ’show quality’.
So I mulled it over for about a week, talked to some people about the idea, gave Bill at AIPRacing a call to ask a few questions – it wasn’t going to cost me much (other than entry fee), I get a weekend pass to the show, and there’ll be a few people there that I know that will be good to chat with – oh, but the weather this weekend in SoCal is perfect and I could be out riding…
Richard, a colleague from work who also rides and recently moved to the Long Beach area, came over to the house around 5:30am Friday morning with his truck. Together we loaded the bike up and headed off to work. At the end of the day, we were off to the show grounds. It was fun setting up and getting a sneak peak at some of the entries.
Saturday morning I went back to the show grounds where they let vendors and entrants into the show, for two hours prior to the opening, to finish setting up and to give the bike a final spit and polish.
Easyrider Show, Pomona, CA
I still don’t believe this is the right kind of show for my bike, but hey, it’s something different amongst a sea of chrome, fancy metal work and glittering paint jobs – and while I could be out riding this weekend, hanging out at a bike show, shootin’ shit with other bikers, is a decent second best.
Tags: Bikes, Custom Bike Show, Easyrider Show, Harley, Long Beach, Malibu, Pomona Fairplex, Rockstore, Santa Monica, Show Time, Vendor Booth, Xr1200
Hanging up his sock with hopes of Santa coming…
Not to far from my house is one of those ‘Chinese tool importer warehouse cheap as chips stores’. I drop in there every now and then to pick up a cheap throw-away something or other.
Turns out they sell a motorcycle tent.
I don’t have any room left in the garage, and I needed some way to protect the scoot from the sun (and the rain, even though we only average 12 days a year here in SoCal), so I figured I’d give this thing a try.
Surprisingly the construction, while minimum spec, is sufficient and the various bit’s and pieces fit together reasonably well. The instructions were clear. I had it up in about an hour and the scoot fits perfectly.
The tent is 10′Lx5′Wx8′H and cost just over $100.
Tags: Cheap As Chips, Gimme Shelter, Minimum Spec, Motorcycle, Sun And The Rain, Tent, Tool Importer
I’d been thinking about a commuter vehicle for some time, something with a minimum carbon footprint; efficient, small, affordable. Until recently, I’d been catching public transport (PT) to and from work, which consisted of a 3 mile drive to a park and ride, a train (light rail) ride to downtown LA, a bus that takes me to the west side and from where the bus drops me off, I walk a mile to get to the office.
I’ve been catching PT for several years now.
On the plus side
- I get to read a lot (in the mornings – afternoon commute is standing room only),
- I get some incidental activitiy (walking),
- it’s cheaper than owning and operating a car,
- it’s environmentally friendly,
- and it’s far less stressful than driving in LA traffic
On the negative side
- A one way trip takes close to 2 hours
- I have to get up early to be at work on time (4am)
- In winter time, It can get fricken cold in the mornings – and then stinking hot in the afternoon
- The afternoon commute is standing room only – and in summer time, it can get hard to breath
- There are some real nerdowells that take public transport
- Oh, the things I have seen and the stories I could tell…
Right around where I work, the city is currently laying new train tracks – a light rail from down town to the west side. That will be great for me – it’ll mean 2 trains and no bus, so it should be quicker. Unfortunately, construction won’t be complete until late 2011. In addition, the construction, which seems to have ramped up of late, has meant pedestrian access along the street where I’d walk from the bus has been closed off. This means I can’t – at least for the time being – catch PT.
My choices then are left with either ride or drive to work.
I love riding, but not to work – at least not on the bikes that I currently own. That and getting geared up and bringing in a change of clothes (appropriate work attire) is a hassle.
Driving it is then. Problem is, I don’t have the patience for it, nor do I seem to have the stamina to maintain focus in bumper to bumper traffic for the hour and a half that it takes to cover the 26 mile freeway drive home.
I started thinking about other options – so we’re still talking about driving/riding, but was there a better tool for the job?
I had put together a spreadsheet to research numbers on currently available small cars including; SmartCar, Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, BMW Mini, just to name a few. I compared gas milage, vehicle cost, seating and storage, service intervals, options and so forth, but nothing really stood out. Clean diesels are only just creeping into California – most are too expensive, and hybrids, IMO, aren’t really worth it (not to mention that they’re not as environmentally friendly as you’d think (but that’s another story).
Then one sunny day, not too long ago, while riding around Long Beach, I stopped in at a local Aprilia dealer for a look around. It’s a fairy new store, nicely decked out. They are also a dealer for Vespas and Piaggio.
I’d seen the MP3’s before – kinda thought they were cool – especially liked the 500 version. In the store they had a 500 kitted out with a windscreen and Givi trunk which got me thinking.
I ‘d been on the (maxi) scooter bandwagon some time ago when the gas prices were really high, and came pretty close to picking up a Suzuki Burgman 400. For what ever reason, it didn’t happen.
Fast forward to late 2009 – the MP3’s have been around for a few years and for the most part, have proven to be fairly reliable, ad have decent fuel economy. The windscreen and trunk on the 500 in the store made it that much more appealing. That and there are probably a few used ones out there that can be had for a reasonable price.
I found one. It was a 2009, with 1200 miles on the clock. It’s out of state, but even with the shipping cost it still came out to be a good deal. So I nabbed it. Bought it a couple of weeks ago but I’d been waiting for it to be delivered, and today it arrived.
2009 MP3 500
I spent probably close to an hour reading through the user manual – seems complicated until you get out and ride it.
This was my first ride on a tripod (that’s what I’ve named it) – I’d test ridden other (2-wheeled) scooters before – I found myself laughing most of the way as I rode it around my neighborhood. Took it for a short stint on the freeway — it seems more than capable. Tomorrow I’ll ride it to work, and hopefully confirm that as a commuter, it’s the right tool for the job.
Tags: Bikes, Carbon Footprint, Choices, Clothes, Commuter Vehicle, Freeway Drive, Gas Price, Light Rail, Patience, Public Transport, Scooter, Summer Time, Traffic, Train Tracks, West Side, Winter Time, Work Attire
Social Links