Front end work +more

[timsatx]

I started over the weekend working on my fork. With all the family there and the various things I had to do I couldn't actually get to working on the forks other than removing them. I cleaned them last night so I wouldn't be putting dirty forks inside my truck. I brought them in this morning and drilled and tapped to put in some drain screws. The funny thing is, after I was done and I picked up the forks to take them back to my office I saw something strange that confused me for a second. It ended up that once I upended the forks fluid that was still in the forks came pouring out of the hole I drilled. It was squirting out about 6 ft. so I spent the next 5 minutes cleaning it up 

I also cut the PVC for my Sonic springs. I will wait till I get home and go thru a flush with some mineral spirits. I will also go over a couple of areas with some 0000 steel wool to clean it up.

This next weekend I will also be replacing the crappy ME880 tire with a Michelin PR2 and I will get my front fender fixed and also mount it. It had a nasty rattle that I couldn't stand. I have been without it for quite some time but I want to get it all running again. Then I might even go thru and give it a good cleaning.

Oh, another thing I need to do. The guy that put the cigarette light plug on the fairing did not put in a way to disconnect it so I can never take off my whole faring. So I want to work it over and put in a quick disconnect. I have been having a problem that I am certain is related to the wiring the guy did. It seems to short out and blow the fuse which also takes out my clock and clock light. Hopefully this will take care of that issue.

I also need to look at my grounding for the HID lighting. Sometimes while I am riding the light will just shut off and I have to pull in the clutch, turn the key off (to reset the circuit) and then restart the bike to get it back on. I have had an issued with it not coming on initially for awhile now that I think is ground related and I see the as a continuance of the same issue.

[George R. Young]

. . . I also need to look at my grounding for the HID lighting. Sometimes while I am riding the light will just shut off and I have to pull in the clutch, turn the key off (to reset the circuit) and then restart the bike to get it back on. I have had an issued with it not coming on initially for awhile now that I think is ground related and I see the as a continuance of the same issue.

Or maybe the headlight relay in the J-Box dropping out.

[timsatx]

I will look into the J-Box after I finish with the bike. I started on it today and didn't really get too far. I finished flushing out the fork tubes and left them to fully drain. I cut the wires the previous owner had connected the cigarette lighter plug to the accessory leads (bk/y, w/bl). It was a hard connection so no way to take them apart. I also couldn't remove the fairing until I did that. Basically I took the whole front end apart including removing the fairing.

I also pulled apart the steering stem to inspect the bearings. They actually looked really good. There was plenty of grease and they turned well. I flushed out both sets of bearings and left them to fully dry out and will re-pack them tomorrow.

So tomorrow here is my schedule. I will first pack the bearings and install the steering stem. I will finish cleaning the fork tubes and will then install the new drain plugs and fill them up and install them as alignment for the steering stem. I will recheck the fluid level  and then install the springs. I will then fix the wiring problem using posi-lock connectors so in the future I can easily take them apart.

Before I put the fairing back on I will also go ahead and clean the thing up as those are areas I won't normally get to. I will also check the ground connection for the HID.One of the last things I have to do is to mount the new PR2 tire and install it. The very last thing will be to fix my front fender (new rivets and some rtv) and then install it. Afterwards of course the obligatory ride to make sure all is well before I try to take it to work on Monday.

I just hope I have enough time tomorrow to do it all. I will try to start early. The temps are great so that won't be a problem. The average high temps for this time of the year are actually lower than our low temps are so it is pretty warm.

[timsatx]

I will try to look into the J-Box today. What I found happening yesterday is that once the light turned off I couldn't get it to light again unless it sat for a few minutes. I had it happen to me today on the way to work. It was about sunrise but it was so cloudy it was still fairly dark. The only good thing is that there are plenty of street lights.

[timsatx]

Well, now that the work is done on my bike I thought I would give a quick update. With the new Sonic springs the ride is much better and much less dive when coming to a stop. Once I came up to a light that had just turned yellow and I could have easily gone thru but I decided to test the braking. It was nice not having the front end take a huge dive. If anything I would say that I need to stiffen the rear a bit so I will have to check the air pressure and see what number I have it set at. Eventually I will take a ride but I do have something I need to fix.

I got my J-Box pulled yesterday. I took it apart and all the solder joints looked fine. I went ahead and re-flowed the solder just to be sure. I still have the situation where the headlight is shutting off and at a certain point I cannot get it to turn back on again till it cools down. I think the problem is with the igniter for the HID. I don't remember who I bought the HID light from but would the igniter be universal assuming the same voltage supply and power output?

[RFH87_Connie]

It think from what I have seen with my own eyes in a few different brand names, is that they have become generic.  The concern would be to get the correct wattage i.e. 35w or 55w.  You may want to consider "for a few dollars more", getting a complete car set.  Then you will have two of everything except the harness.  Mine have now been installed since May of 2010.  I love them!

I while back when many of us were switching to these, there were a few reports of ballasts that would not work right from the start.  They would cut off and not want to come back until powered off or as you said cooled down.  This was mainly with the 35w ballasts.  My install instructions specifically said not to rapidly change from hi to lo too many times as the ballast will shut down to protect itself.  I run a 35w bulb and have been lucky enough to never have this problem.  I ordered mine from VVME in the Bi-Xenon HID Kit in the 4300k color.  You might want to send Daytona Mike a PM as he did a lot of work and set-up tests with these when they first came out if I remember right.

[timsatx]

I have been thinking about it, I think that I also bought mine from VVME. At their website I see that I can just buy the igniter (ballast as they call it) for only about $15. I am going to try and look at mine today and see if it looks like the one they have.