moto fugazzi

I had a couple of pistons in my front calipers that were sticking, so I bought 2 seal kits. I popped out the pistons, cleaned everything, installed the new seals and added speed bleeders. This should take care of the problem I was having with rotors warping. I can also brake with 1 finger now. A funny little side story: I went to AutoZone by my house looking for new crush washers. I brought them in with me, told the kid I needed some new crush washers for a set of brake calipers, and he searched the computer for brush washers instead. Only cleaning brushes came up in his search, so he showed me the pics and asked which one I needed. I pointed at my crush washers and said whichever one looks like this. I again stated that they're called crush washers, so he did another search for brush washers. I politely thanked him for his time and just went to NAPA. The parts guy there chuckled when I told him that story. Ken

I bought my CF dash new for about $140. Hydrographics are cool, and they make kits to do it yourself. Ken

Never saw a key for one of these. I remove the axle nut, loosen the pinch bolts and tap the axle a little with a rubber mallet. Then it pulls right out. Ken

I'm on my 4th set of angel GT's. Stock size, and I really like them. I usually get 8-10k miles out of the rear tires, so I see no reason to try something else. Ken

Thanks all! I snugged them up, and all seems well. I was worried about over torquing them, or having too much play. Ken

I just installed my swing arm. I set the pivot bolts to the same measurement as when I removed them. The bolts don't feel very snug at those measurements, and I can tighten each side about another 1/16" or or. Do I tighten them down so that they're snug, or just leave them at the original measurement and call it a day? Ken

I was kidding about locktite. I used anti seize on it when installing. Ken

The bolt on my 2004 is 1" longer than the earlier bikes due to the retaining clip they put on it. To get the old tire off, I had to deflate the tire and squeeze it as the bolt was digging into the side wall. I still scratched the hell out of the rim on the final drive side. I tried to use the same method to install the tire, but the sidewall was too stiff. The easiest method at the time seemed to be removing the bolt...it shouldn't have been that difficult. Here's a pick of the bolt. Still can't get the socket off yet. Ken

New tires yesterday, and I would have had them installed if it wasn't for the meddling brake caliper bolt that mount into the swingarm. It wouldn't come out, so I had to deflate the old tire and squeeze it through the area. I squirted some PB Blaster on it, and figured it would loosen up later that day. No luck. I ended up twisting and breaking a Craftsman 6mm hex socket. Not good. Time to remove the swingarm and have at it again. More PB Blaster, then a propane torch for 10 min and tapping on the socket whilst turning it. Still no luck, so time to call it a night. Today I took it to a machine shop, and he had at it for 10 min with an impact driver, and it still wouldn't budge. Took it to work with me and soaked it in PB for another 6 hours. Scud mentioned trying to freeze it with the spray they make wile heating up the swingarm. Damn, I forgot the torch at home, so I doused it with the CRC Freeze Off and let it soak for a few min. Grabbed the impact wrench from work and had at it again. After about 40 hits, it finally started to move. Hell yeah, it's out! The only issue I have now it that the replacement craftsman 6mm socket is still stuck in the bolt...I imagine it will fall out after a few miles of riding. I just need to wrap it in something so it doesn't puncture someone's tire. I should have a replacement from Harper's in about 10 days. Should I use red loktitite on the new bolt? I also changed the wheel bearings, greased the driveshaft splines and U joint, as well also the swing arm bearings. Ken I don't think that bolt was removed since 2004.

The moisture also happens from short trips whereas the oil doesn't get hot enough to burn off the moisture. Condensation also collects in the engine with the heat and cold difference of the engine vs. cool weather. Quite similar to old single pain windows in wintertime, where condensation would build on windows when it's cold outside and hot inside. Looks like you need to go for a long ride this weekend, and burn all of that off. Ken

Just added a Hepco Becker rack and 30l junior bags. What a pain to install and align properly. Ken

After trying just an HID retro bulb in my V11S housing, the light was very bright, but not very focused (light was very scattered and blinded oncoming traffic). Most of the reason for this could be because the small shroud in front of the bulb broke off inside the headlight. Not good to ride like that at night, so time to improve on the headlight. An HID projector may be the answer. I realized that a standard Jeep Wrangler headlight fits right into a standard motorcycle bucket (both are par 56 units). The Jeep has a domed lens, and a projector should fit inside with some mods. Here's what I did. Bought a Mini H1 projector and shroud from DDM Tuning (I already had the ballast and other bits from them). Heat the Jeep headlight in the oven. 10 minutes at 275f, and the glue let loose so I could remove the lens. Dremel the Jeep housing so that the projector would fit. Install shroud over the projector, drill 4 holes in the ho, using so that the shroud and projector will be screwed into place from the backside. The gap in-between the projector and housing should be filled in with epoxy or some other adhesive. Paint the headlight housing and shroud (optional). I used high temp VHT satin black wheel paint, that's good up to 250f. Install the lens back onto the housing with a sealer. Most people use butyl roll tape that also works on auto windows. Available from DDM tuning. My Emgo headlight bucket was 1" too shallow, so I had to extend it. A 1.5" hole saw, and some PVC plastic parts to extend it. Wire everything up. This requires an electrical feed from the battery (HID unit has a relay in the system). You'll also have to find a place to mount the ballast and relays for this. Some pics below of what I did. Nothing is sealed up yet, as I'm waiting for the paint to fully cure. Ken Projector and shroud. DDM will send one if that's all you need, but you'll have to call them for that. Jeep Wrangler headlight. 2007-2016, and found on eBay. Backside of routed out lens. Take note that the gap is not sealed up yet. I freehanded this with a dremel. Headlight and shroud painted black: Headlight bucket was too shallow, so I put a small dent in it, and attacked it with a 1.5" hole saw. Fittings from the electrical department at the hardware store. If the bucket is extended too far, it will rub against the ignition switch. I marked this piece with tape to trim it down 1/4". Cap added to the backside. Will most likely be painted black. Mounted on bike. Front view at night. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/ksiegel7/Motorcycle%20Headlights/JWlowfront_zps9vmyvcwy.jpg[/img] Low beam. High beam. Bike was not quite vertical (leaning a little to the left). It was raining during these pics, and I was worried about my camera phone getting too wet. In the rain.

Bought my JW Speaker light from here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/231726087766?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Make an offer on it for $250, and they'll most likely accept it. It won't fit in your stock headlight if you have the Bosch 8" like my bike. I bought a 7" Emgo 66-65010 headlight bucket, and it fit right in. You'll also have to add some spacers if you're getting the smaller headlight. Dennis Kirk has a few of the headlight buckets, but you can find them cheaper on ebay. https://www.denniskirk.com/emgo/matte-black-7-in-z1-style-headlight-66-65010.p217664.prd/217664.sku I notice you have the LeMans version, which should be a standard 7" bucket, but you never know with MG. The JW has the standard H4 connector, so you can use the standard wiring. Ken

Nice! Just make sure you change the timing belt on that beast... Ken

I decided to try the JW Speaker LED Model 8700 EVO 2. 5K on the Kelvin scale, and has a good cutoff as to not offend traffic. Can be found on eBay for about $250, but watch out for fakes. These are made about 20 miles from my house in good old Wisconsin, USA. P.S. The smoke behind the bike is from dinner, not the bike! Low beam at night from 35': High beam at night from 35' against a 6' fence:

From what I've read, the LED bulbs don't get hot. Some have complained that the headlight lens will frost over in winter, and now trucklite makes a version that has heating elements in the glass to melt snow/ice/frost from the glass. Ken P.S. Hey Scud, any chance that you can get a few pics of the beam pattern of your LED?

The rubber plug can be purchased from a dealer or MGcycle. http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=55&products_id=1467 Ken Agreed, there shouldn't be oil coming out of that hole!

Which tail light did you get? LED's can be tricky as the stock flasher wants to see a load. I've had good luck getting the mechanical version from AutoZone on past LED projects. I forgot if you need the 2 or 3 prong version (I think it's the 2 prong). http://www.autozone.com/electrical-and-lighting/hazard-warning-flasher/novita-turn-signal-flasher/6413_0_0/ Ken

I didn't replace the bolt on the cover, I just rotated the linkage on the spline so that it wouldn't hit on the bolt. The bolt is missing in the photo because I removed it to rotate the linkage.

I think I figured out the "notchiness" part of the shifting. There's an allen bolt head that the shifter linkage (tie rod end) was rubbing against. I'm not sure if this bolt holds something in place internally, or if it just a mounting bolt for the cover, but replacing it with a button head bolt would take care of the issue. This would explain the issue I was having with the shifter lever sticking in the down position occasionally whilst downshifting. When I would let the clutch lever out, the shift lever would pop back into place. Ken This video might work. Photobucket is being stupid right now. http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/ksiegel7/V11%20Cafe/th_IMG_8719_zpswr4lxgon.mp4 A pic of the bolt and tie rod end (between the tie rod end and hose clamp).

How is the beam pattern on this? Have you tried it at night during the rain? I had the Trucklite LED (5500k color temp) and while it had a great pattern, it didn't perform well at night during the rain, whereas a 4300k halogen cut through the rain really well. Ken

Finally got a chance to do a test ride and set the speedo and tach. 40f and drizzle, but I got it done. The Dakota Digital speed sensor works perfectly with no issues (yet). As far as the tach goes, set pulses to 2. Since I have parts still out for powder coating, I had to make a temporary cover for the alternator. I used an old gallon container. Here's the Dakota Digital SEN 01-1 installed. http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=620/prd620.htm

New HID on my V11. Ken Low beam: High beam:

Done except for programming the new gauges, and buttoning things up. Ken

Well, upon installing the gauges last night, the JB Weld broke off of the plastic that was holding the tee nuts in place. Instead of trying to redo it, I took the gauges apart and installed a threaded coupler on the outside, with a machine screw on the inside. Plenty of room in there, so no worries about anything touching. Damn, it sucks putting those back together perfectly. I'll be using machine screws from the outside of the surround to keep it in place. Ken