HELPFUL ADVICE FOR MOTORCYCLE RIDERS
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KAWASAKI VULCAN 2000 ACCESSORIES Here's some useful items to enhance the function of your motorcycle. Foot shifter: The heal shift gets in the way preventing you from placing your foot to the rear of the footboard. It is easy to simply shift its location a notch or two downward so your heal will not be hitting it. Of course, this will disable the heal shifter so the toe will need to be used to shift. The stock rubber toe shifter is hard rubber and hurts to use it. Slip on a Kuryakyn Round Shifter Peg Cover to ease the pain. Part #8851. Super bright low beam - The stock light is fine, but try installing the Sylvania Silver Star high H-7 performance light bulb. It is almost twice as bright as a standard halogen bulb. It is also quite sturdy and lasts longer. I had bad luck with H-7 bulbs breaking on rough roads, but this Silver Star bulb is still going. It is expensive, but it is also much more safer as everyone seems to see you coming in the daylight hours. I have not yet seen a Silver Star H-9 bulb for the high-beam, but I would certainly buy one when it comes available. Maintenance Tips Headlight Adjustment Flaw: The headlight adjustment for the first model years of 04, 05 and 06 is flawed as sheet metal type screws are used inside of a "plastic" adjustment block that strips all too easily. It will strip if you even lean up against the headlight lens! When adjusting the headlight you can't use the method described in the owners or shop manual. You must remove the headlight and use a wrench to turn the adjusting nut, very gently. To get it right the first time set a depth gauge (Vernier calipers normally have one) to 6 mm as measured from the lens to the inside lip of the outer chrome lens cover. This will set the headlight perfectly without needing multiple trial and error adjustments that will certainly wear out and strip that soft plastic adjustment block. This is a serious safety defect, but this advice here is how you manage the problem. If the headlight block strips the headlight will suddenly drop downward leaving you in the dark. Use duct tape or electrical tape to set the lens in place so you can get home if it fails at night. Also, carry a spare low-beam (H7) headlight bulb as I have had mine fail from vibration, bumpy roads and spikes in the voltage regulator. Headlight Rattle: The headlight on the Vulcan 2000 (not the Classic model) has a bad habit of rattling. The rubber spacers in the cowling tend to compress over a short period of time (three months) and this allows the metal headlight frame to buzz loudly against the metal cowling. Installing new parts will not solve this trouble as the rattle will only returns. We even tried installing all new parts with no success. After removing the headlight frame from the motorcycle, place a 360 degree circle of electrical tape where the headlight fits into the cowling, insert the headlight and the rattle will cease. This tape forms a barrier so there is no metal-to-metal contact between the headlight frame and the cowling. It works fine. Another type of rattle is caused by the headlight glass touching and vibrating against the chrome nacelle. The fix is to locate the point where it is touching and slip something inside to isolate contact, or adjust the headlight up, down, left or right, but the latter does not always work as it alters the headlight beam. Horn Failure: If the horn fails, clean the two wire connectors at the horn and lube them with dielectric grease. If this fails to solve the problem when it rains or when you wash the bike the high beam switch on the left handlebar is letting water inside and shorting the connection at that point. If you cover that area and the horn still fails whenever it rains or gets wet, water is leaking into the ignition switch. Place some dielectric grease wherever water is entering. If this does not work it is time to take it to the dealer to replace the defective items. Again, another serious safety problem. Gas Tank: If the gas tank starts leaking gas or you smell gas fumes there is a bad weld where the filler cap is welded to the tank, or it is simply a fine-crack in the o-ring on the gas cap serving the vapor recovery system. The o-ring crack is so small four dealer mechanics at four different dealerships failed to find the crack! Just replace the o-ring if you notice gas leaking from the gas cap area as the crack will be too hard to find with the naked eye. Replace the gas tank if the cap's weld is bad or use gas tank epoxy repair glue designed for gasoline tanks.
Bikers that hit deer are often injured with many broken bones, a wrecked bike and some are outright crippled or killed. Deer collisions is a serious threat. Go to a automotive parts store and ask for the wind-powered deer whistle. It is a two component whistle that you glue (stick on to) the front of your motorcycle, like on the side of the front forks. The wind makes them whistle, but only deer and elk and other wild animals can hear, but you can't. The deer will not jump into your path, but will freeze in place or run the other way, thinking you are a predator out to get them! They cost less then five dollars. I have seen them in Wall and K-marts. I use them on my motorcycle and my truck and I know they have worked as I have seen the animals avoid me. This device can save your life.
This device can truly extend the life of your motorcycle engine. The magnet simply slips over the exterior of the oil filter and will trap magnetized metals from circulating past the oil filter media. Be aware that 60% of engine wear is due to contaminated oil. The oil filter can't remove sub-15 micron particles so they circulate with the oil acting as sandpaper scratching cylinder walls, pistons, valve guides, bearings, etc. The tolerances in the engine are now increased, oil pressure drops, horsepower and mileage is reduced and it's time to overhaul the engine only for the process to start all over again. The oil filter magnet really does work to extend engine life, improve lubricity of oil, lower engine temperatures, improve emissions and mileage and maintains horsepower. MOTORCYCLE GASKETS & OIL LEAKS A company that manufactures specialty aerospace mechanical grade AMS silicone gaskets for aircraft and automotive engines and they just happen to make gaskets for vintage motorcycles designed to be reusable and to stop difficult oil leaking problems. In the catalog motorcycles listed were Amal, BMW, BSA, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi, Norton, Suzuki and Triumph. Contact: Real Gaskets, 2506 Stateline Rd., Elizabethton, TN 37643. Phone: 800-635-7325. Web: http://www.realgaskets.com. I assume you could buy sheets and cut your own gaskets too for bikes not listed. Use this valuable checklist before you buy a motorcycle - "Consumer Checklist to buy a Cruiser Motorcycle" because it will absolutely save you a lot of time, money and grief... and it is free!
Don't forget our book HOW TO CHANGE THE OIL ON YOUR TWIN-CAM HARLEY DAVIDSON HOW TO CHANGE THE OIL ON YOUR HARLEY DAVIDSON Save Hundreds of Dollars Each Year!
Take a look at this neat machine that will remove, install and balance the tires on your motorcycle. Only $495. Cruiser and sport riders will really like this machine due to the large tires on the bikes that prevent using tire irons. Also, just two uses pays for itself. Contact: No Mar Tire Changer Also check Harbor Freight Tools as they have a motorcycle tire changer for around $100. I have personally see the tire changer and I can say it will most certainly work and work well. You need two parts, the portable tire changer and the motorcycle attachment. See photos below. Now, imagine the money you can save changing your own tires. And, you an change light truck and car tires on the device too. However, just using it for motorcycles will save you a bundle of case. Yes, all the big street cruisers, the big Harley-Davidsons, etc., this machine will remove and install the tires no matter what size up to 22". And, even if you had to pay to fabricate a piece of steel to make your rim fit it would still be well worth the price.
If you do not have a garage or are traveling in an RV you can make a bracket so the tire changer will mount to your trailer hitch which will make a solid platform. If you have a garage, you need to anchor the tire changer down to the concrete. Drill holes with a hammer drill then insert expansion bolts and you are done. Static balancing the newly mounted tire and rim is easy to do. Just search the Internet on how to do it or ask your mechanic how. It really is easy and requires no expensive tools. You just find the heavy spot and place a lead weight on the light spot 180 degrees away from the heavy spot. I don't think of it as "work" changing my motorcycle tires. There is a sense of satisfaction of doing it yourself.
ARE MOTORCYCLE RALLIES BEING RUINED? They are! Let's take a look see what is going on at the big rallies! Sturgis Rally, South Dakota was growing each year and reached an amazing world-record attendance of 550,000 motorcycles in 2005. What happened in 2006? It was totally destroyed! I know, I was there each year and I saw the destruction of the rally in 2006. First; the price of fuel hit over $3 a gallon and the rally lost half right off the bat as people could not afford the gasoline cost to travel to the rally, so there was only 250,000. Yes, those are still big numbers, but it got chopped down in half again to 125,000 who become so upset they left the rally three days early. Second; what happened? The greed factor became so powerful that some people thought it would be a great idea to open up huge acres of land for "automobile parking" so cars could come to the rally. And cars and trucks sure did come too, by the thousands and it plugged up the roads with so much gridlock us bikers could not even get into Sturgis to attend our own motorcycle rally! Third; Rapid City thought it would be nice to bring in more "cars" for the motorcycle rally so they bring in NASCAR cars downtown to rev up their motors drawing a huge crowd of "cars" to see more "cars" taking up all the parking spots and plugging up the streets with gridlock so motorcycles could not attend. This is really happening, I kid you not! They don't understand that cars, trucks, SUV's are the mortal enemies of motorcycles, killing riders. Fourth; the RV parks became so greedy they raised their rates to astronomical levels and it forced many bikers to cancel attendance for the 2006 and 2007 rally. I would not pay them $750 for a week in any RV park. Many riders are now seeing the gouging taking place and are staying away. Imagine paying $600 or more in fuel to get to Sturgis only to be hit with $750 camping fee for one week? Imagine it! Imagine having to pay another $600 in fuel just to get home, not counting meals or other expenses. Is Sturgis worth the cost of $2050 to you? Keep in mind just in 2005 it would have only cost you $550 and you could even attend the rally and all the events too with no cars to worry about. How many bikers were hit by cars at this rally? What do you think? Are you feeling lucky? It is downright unsafe, expensive and no fun anymore! Fifth; the greed factor is expanding and the Native American Indians were demonstrating and protesting the rally noise affecting their sacred site, Bear Butte. Why? The rally is growing and new bars and campgrounds are being built that make noise, not to mention the motorcycle noise passing by the mountain. I don't blame those Indians one bit. It's all they have left of the Black Hills and to encroach on Bear Butte is uncalled for, unnecessary, insulting and rude. All was fine for many years until uncontrolled greed expanded in 2006 and is just totally ruining the rally. Bikers left Sturgis days early vowing never to return. I was one of them! I will not return to Sturgis rally again, not under these horrible conditions. Yes, you forever missed the good years of Sturgis. It's all gone now. Sixth; there is a very serious problem of speeding cars, trucks, big-rigs on Interstate 90 that runs through the Black Hills in Sturgis and 90 miles per hour seems to be the norm. This is way too fast for tens of thousands of motorcycles trying to dodge away from speeding vehicles. At this "special event" the speed limit needs to be reduced, way down for at least 20 miles between Rapid City and Sturgis. Fatalities of vehicles running bikers off the road is real and it is an extremely serious problem day and ever more so at night. This highway is totally mismanaged. If you've been to Sturgis you know what I am talking about. A lot of bikers come home in caskets. Also, we rarely see the highway patrol ticketing those speeding cars and trucks! There is a new trend and you can see the writing on the poles in Sturgis. It's the new noise ordinance regarding loud pipes. Get ready for the tickets boys, it's coming just as cops everywhere are beginning to crack down on the noise. What will you find at Sturgis? You will find yourself "trapped" in your expensive campground unable to negotiate the streets in Sturgis due to car and truck traffic clogging up everything to a stand-still mess. Your Harley will not tolerate these traffic jams due to baking of the engine components. Many engines failed in 2006 from overheating in stalled traffic. It is a big mess and its far from fun. This car and truck traffic was not local, it was a large majority from other states! It's going to get worse each year now. Sturgis is now a car and pick-up truck rally. If you leave in the early morning you may get out to ride the Black Hills, but you won't get home in the afternoon when the cars and pick-up trucks arrive! I repeat, you will not get back to your campground due to gridlocked roads filled with cars and trucks. You will not be able to enjoy your own motorcycle rally. Imagine that! Even when 550,000 motorcycle attended in 2005 I could always get a parking spot in downtown Sturgis day or night. In 2006 the roads were so polluted with cars us bikers had to turn around and leave and that's what 125,000 did too. In 2006 there were only about 250,000 bikers showing up and when the cars appeared on the scene 125,000 more bikers left the rally. The year before there was 550,000 bikers. The good days have ended for Sturgis, regarding motorcycles that is. If you have a car you are now invited to attend Sturgis with free parking! ................................ Four-Corners Rally has been cancelled completely 100% shut-down due to loud motorcycle pipe noise and the government permitting process would not approve the rally. This is true at least for the year 2006. Things could change in the future, but expect a hostile environment from the local people and police if the rally resumes. The people are fed up and they don't want the noise or their community invaded with motorcycles with loud pipes. Police will ticket the bikers aggressively! ................................ Americade - Lake George, NY Rally is being ruined by the police ticketing bikers with loud exhaust pipes. Try 600 $100 fix-it tickets in four days and that will give you an idea and this is not even considered a V-Twin rally. Most bikes are the quiet type here! The rally is being ruined by loud pipes. The party is ending. ................................ Laughlin Nevada River Run Rally don't be fooled by the local lying newspaper editors. The rally is dying and almost just about already! I attend that rally each year and I have seen it seriously decline in attendance each and every year. Here's what's going on... First; we all know about the shoot-out that happened inside the Harrah's Casino between the Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle clubs. It's newspaper news. That incident did create changes and the change has become highly charged with police everywhere. It is very oppressive as the police are not friendly even to the law abiding. It's really intimidating. It's like a fear that they will get you even if you are doing nothing wrong. Heavy supervision! Second; the police are vey aggressive and go after the bikers and very few of the speeding cars. I have seen this over and over again that it concerns me as being unfair as the cars are "hot-rodding" among the bikers which is highly dangerous, yet they don't get stopped. A biker gooses the throttle for the crowd and he gets the ticket. I was afraid to even blip my throttle this year! Third; the road to Oatman, AZ is (during the rally) a biker destination and guess what we encounter? A mandatory road-block sobriety check-point. This means, being on the Boundary Cone Road to Oatman was a 100% set-up and trap for bikers, but not cars. The cars and bikes, the general traffic, were all down at the Highway 95 intersection, but the bikers were stopped, not the cars! I found that to be rotten to the core to set that sting up on Boundary Cone Road where rarely any cars travel during the rally. Do you get the picture now? This rally is being destroyed by police. Fourth; but that's not all. The hotel rooms have become way too expensive and RV parks are overcharging and that is driving attendance down, down, down. Greed is ruining this rally. Many of the vendors selling goods are not even selling anything related to motorcycles. Try flea-market junk! It's really happening. The food in the casino buffets have deteriated really bad. You can't get a good meal in any casino in Laughlin anymore, not even at Harrah's (which they had the very best next to Las Vegas) and it's the employing of illegal aliens that are doing the cooking without a gourmet chef to guide them. This is a recipe for disaster! I saw few bikers eating in the buffets! In fact, the parking lots were empty of bikes compared to prior years and the casinos were also vacant of bikers. The newspapers claimed the rally was a huge success. I laughed in anger. Must the editors lie to cover-up the truth? This really is dying on the vine of greed and police abuse. Fifth; the newspapers said there were fewer cars on the road during the rally. Where were those lying editors? I was on those roads and I was downtown Laughlin and I saw repeatedly more cars and SUV's than motorcycles, period! I was really upset when I read that newspaper story. The reason the rally is dying is because it no longer a mortocycle rally, its a car rally, just like Sturgis has become. They let cars, trucks, SUV's to mix it up with the bikes downtown and its chaos. Also, notice when and if you go, the police go after the bikers very aggressively yet the "cagers" are left alone. I see this discrepancy and it is wrong. I had to dodge out of the way numerous times by "tuners" and "trucks" hot-rodding. It became so bad, most bikers just parked the bikes and the people watched the cars and trucks ride by. It's true. It really is happening! Go see it for yourself if you don't believe me. ................................ Daytona Beach, FL Rally I won't even go there. ................................ Arizona Bike Week Rally I won't return. Here's why. Cops are very serious now about loud pipes. The local residents despise this rally and the noise and the invasion of bikers, so they passed laws to use as wepons to fight back. Fix-it tickets for loud pipes is a reality. You also have to "pay a cover charge fee" to enter vendors row! A very small vendors row at that. Whoa, partner. I won't pay this! Also, they don't close down the streets for "motorcycles only" in the downtown areas or other attraction zones. They let the cars mingle with the trucks like bulls in a china closet, much like Laughlin's River Run Rally! These "cagers" in Phoenix drive like idiots and you have to experience it yourself to see what I mean. They hit each other with horrific crashes on the freeways constantly and they will tailgate you inches away at high speeds. Most dangerous city I ever ridden in out west. This rally is quite scary in that regard. It's enough for me to have backed off the last three years of attending and I have no plans to return. The rally has nothing much to offer but "unfun" and it seems to pull only a small crowd from San Diego and Southern California. I know many Nevada and Arizona riders do not even bother to attend. The promoters put out a fabulous brochure and when you read it is sounds like, "Wow, I got to go see this" but when you get there its no fun at all. The drag races are about the only thing this rally has to offer. Maybe someday it will be better managed, inteligently organized and structured for fun. But watch out for the loud pipe tickets and the raging maniac car drivers in the greater Phoenix area. A serious threat to your health! ................................ Honda Hoot, Knoxville TN Rally I went to this rally but I found that the rally is seriously mismanaged and unfair. They have a fish fry, but if you don't get a ticket in time, you can't go. This is strange as if they run out of fish? If you don't sign up in time for a factory-sponsored ride, you can't go. They have quite a few rides, but I could not get on any of them. If you can't wait long periods of time to test ride the new bikes, you don't test ride at all. Even in Strugis I could test ride numerous bikes with no long delays. I found that I could not enjoy these attractions because I did not have the know-how or the connections to obtain tickets or whatever was needed to get on board. This is unfair. There were many riders being "locked out" of the major events. The weather is hot, humid, wet from rains often. The "cagers" drive excessively fast and are very, very dangerous on the roads leading to the attractions. Deals Gap is boring compared to riding in Colorado and California and Nevada mountains and getting a ticket is easy to do in the mouth of the Dragon. You may even get hit by a crotch-rocket or two! The vendor section in the park is nice, but the music is played so loud it will drive you away from the vendors. It was just plain horrible. It was actually deafening and a nuisance. You could not even talk to the vendors. People, even the vendors, complained but the music volume was "never turned down." That's not how to treat people! This rally could be real nice, but these factors ruin it for most all, except for the privileged few who can get the tickets. Solution? Get rid of the ticket-system and let everyone eat the fish-fry meal. Let all the bikers have a crack at riding the main events. The police need to ticket the aggressively speeding cars. ................................ SO WHICH RALLY IS LEFT? Reno, NV Street Vibrations Rally in September is still the best and most beautifully managed rally in the entire nation. They block off the entire downtown to zero car traffic and its bikes only! Yeah, you'll love it! And the police are not mean beasts. They will talk to you and they do smile and generally are relaxed and professional. They do not go after the biker for making a little noise or whatever, like a small safe burnout. It's tolerated downtown, it's all part of the show. Besides, the casinos here do it right and give you good meals and decent deals. RV parks are ruining the rally as they "gouge deep" for RV parking. From Reno, in 40 minutes you can visit Lake Tahoe, CA. One moment you will be in the desert and the next moment you are up 10,000 feet looking down. The scenery is fabulous. Pine trees, streams, rivers, some waterfalls are nearby. Other attractions are Yosemite National Park, Lassen National Park's dormant but still actively hissing and steaming volcano, Sacramento, CA, etc. People rave about Deals Gap, the Dragon at the Honda Hoot, TN Rally but they have not driven Highway 49 in California's gold rush Sierra Nevada mountains. It's about 150 miles long with scenery that just won't quit. High and low elevations, tight, tight turns and just spectacular motorcycle riding, and you can pan for gold if you want to. Gold is still there in almost every stream. I have seen a problem at Street Vibrations Rally and that is there are less and less vendors showing up downtown. That will kill the rally as vendors are important and is like the side-show to the main event. They are likely being driven out by greed for high rent space. Some very big vendors have pulled out and big custom bike builders too have not shown up! Bikers that want to ride and park on the main street, Virginia Street, have to pay a hefty fee for the privilege, about $50 for the event. Most bikers balk at that and park in the casino parking lots and side streets. If you are tired of the lousy conditions at your favorite rally, then give Reno's Street Vibration a whirl while the good times last. It won't be long this rally will die too as attendance is already on the decline and the vendors are giving up on Reno's greed factor. That's not a good idea to overcharge the vendors as they are part of the rally itself. Imagine a circus without the clowns, it's just not going to be as much fun. DO YOU AGREE? Now there will be some who disagree. If you're the type of rider that arrives in town, parks the bike, hits a bar and drinks all night, sleeps all day only to repeat the process repeatedly then all of the rallies will work just fine for you.
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