Where do I start?

[fret not]

The steering head bearings are loose.  Do you have tapered roller bearings installed there? 

[unitivegreybird]

I like the auxilary lights and turnsignals. What brand tires did you use? Oh, and can you post a pic of the rear axle situation too?

I just used some budget Skinko 712s from Revzilla. Total cost including mount and balancing was about $180.

Anyways, here's the rear axle setup.

The steering head bearings are loose.  Do you have tapered roller bearings installed there? 

Yeah I installed the tapered bearing last weekend. I thought I tightened up the 2 retainer rings enough. Is there a convenient way to tighten them without removing the forks and disassembling the front end?

[Rikugun]

The first thing I noticed is there is no safety clip on the brake stay bolt.  :(  That's 2 demerits  :P

Did the bike fall over and push the muffler in?

[unitivegreybird]

The first thing I noticed is there is no safety clip on the brake stay bolt.  :(  That's 2 demerits  :P

Did the bike fall over and push the muffler in?

yes yes I know... :-[ the old one was corroded and it's on my parts list.

now that I think of it, the bike was knocked onto it's right side while I was gone. luckily it fell onto the new tires before they were installed, made a nice rubber cushion. I looked for any noticeable damage and didn't see any, but i'll check the muffler now. thanks for the idea!

[QBS]

Please define "a slight amount of play"

[unitivegreybird]

Please define "a slight amount of play"

Maybe 0.5mm? When riding a straight line the bike wants to 'wobble,' almost lazily from side to side. It's barely noticeable, but I can feel that something is wrong. When braking over an uneven surface (like poorly laid asphalt) then I can physically observe the steering head wobble forwards and backwards.

[Rick G]

You can use a long skinny punch or drift to tighten the  the t stem bearings . Just be sure you tighten the lock ring too.

[fret not]

The "lazy" weave makes me think of too much friction in the steering and the obvious looseness  and movement of the steering stem during braking causes me to wonder if the bearings are incorrectly installed, thus causing friction when turning and still slopping around under braking. 

The 'cups' press fit into the neck of the frame and the 'cones' go  into those cups.  One cone must be installed on the steering stem with a press fit, and the other cone slips down over the top of the steering stem as the stem is installed into the frame.  Both lock nuts must be used or the tension adjustment doesn't lock.

Something is obviously not right so check it out closely. 

[unitivegreybird]

ok, so I tightened up the lock nuts again, i think that the bottom bearing has finally seated itself properly. handles much better now, but still has a slight 'lazy weave' it. it's hardly noticeable other than an increased pressure from the left handle. the whole bike just feels 'unbalanced.' i'm not sure how to describe it, but it takes a considerable amount of concentration and effort to track in a straight line now.

[pullshocks]

On my headset, with the roller bearings installed, there was still play even with the adjuster tightened all the way down.  The headset cap was bottomed out on the head tube but the bearings still had play.  I had to add a spacer on top of the bearings.

[QBS]

Assuming that the bearings are properly installed, with the bike on center stand and the front wheel held off the ground, the handle bars should be able to move lock to lock with only the very slightest of effort on the hand grips.  If there is even a slight amount of "sticktion"/resistance oversteering/wobble will be the end result.  The more sticktion, the more oversteering.

[unitivegreybird]

Ok, it's been awhile since I updated. Got my head issues figured out  :laugh: Threw on a spacer and tightened everything down, she handles like magic now. Since last time I've installed the MACs, full synthetic oil change, synthetic gear oil and installed heated grips. But now I have a larger problem.

The past few weeks she's been giving me some starting issues. Starter would whir, then when I released the starter button it would stop with a large 'ker-chunk!' Would simply hit the button again and she would fire right up.

Fastforward to yesterday. Finish oil change, installing grips, etc etc. Double check that I hooked up all my wiring correct, and I hit the starter briefly. It catches so I stop to attend to cleaning up the shop. Gear up when I'm done, go to leave, hit the starter and...nothing. Just a click. Remember hearing about the sidestand cut-off, so I put the sidestand up and I get a really, really weak, slow crank. Than nothing. Battery is essentially new, tried jumping it off of a car, nothing.

Figured that I need to check the starter seal and clutch anyways, so I take off the side cover. My problem is now, that I rounded off the 14mm flywheel bolt.  >:(

What do I do now? Any suggestions?

[The Prophet of Doom]

I have a couple of 'universal' spanners that are just for this situation.  They have a cam that grips harder the more you push it so it does wonders with rounded off bolts.
If you can't find one of these, then cut a slot with a dremel in the head and use a screw driver / impact driver

[Tiger]

Pipe grips/monkey wrench/vise grips, etc...your choice as the heads buggered anyway!!! For the price of postage, I'll send you a replacement ifyou don't have one  ;)

              8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[unitivegreybird]

Pipe grips/monkey wrench/vise grips, etc...your choice as the heads buggered anyway!!! For the price of postage, I'll send you a replacement ifyou don't have one  ;)

              8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

pipewrench finally did the trick for me. And I might take you up on that offer Tiger!

finally got that damned flywheel off, and the bolts were torn to hell! I could pull all three of them out bu hand, they only had thread on about half of the side, and I had to do a doubletake to make sure that they were allen heads  :o

but...my clutch has a crack in it. anyone have a decent one laying around they would love to donate to the cause?  ;D

[fret not]

Fortunately these are still available!  Look for a used one from a V-Max or go order a new one from a dealer.  There are other models that use the same starter clutch but I forget which ones.

[unitivegreybird]

New (used) starter clutch installed...check.

So I cracked open the starter yesterday, found a little oil. Cleaned everything up, went to fire her up and...nothing. All I'm getting is a click from the solenoid. Jumped the 2 terminals on the solenoid and nothing, not even a spark.

Any suggestions? I know the battery is good.

[QBS]

Bike in neutral, key off, on center stand.  Jumper cable connected to negative side of well charged 12v battery.  Other end of same jumper cable attached to engine.

Different jumper cable connected to positive side of same well charged 12v battery.  Touch positive lug of starter motor with end of positivly connected jumper cable.  Be careful to not touch engine with end of positivly connected jumper cable.  If starter is in good nick (Brit term, ya gotta love'm) engine will crank.

No or weak crank means either your jumper cable set up is incorrect, your battery is not well charged, or your starter is not in good nick.  If not in good nick remove starter, render inside of same squeeky clean with good spring lip design oil seal and new brushes installed.  Declare victory.  A properly repaired V starter will render many many miles of trouble free service.  Cheers.

[unitivegreybird]

  Declare victory. 

Victory declared! Thanks for everyone's help. And another note, having heated grips is wonderful. I don't know why I didn't install them earlier!

[Lucky]

Soooo what was it?


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