Zach's Garage

Is this thing on?

Zach — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:10:24 +0000

Winter. Blah.

New go fast toy…

Zach — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:51:53 +0000

As of Wednesday, I now have two go fast toys. I picked up my brand new 2008.5 MazdaSpeed 3 GT. I’ve been shopping for a new car for a few months, and have driven everything in this class. I was all set on a fully loaded Mazda3, until I drove the ‘Speed. Nothing compares to the power this car has and how well it handles. The interior looks and feels like it could belong in a car costing twice as much. Stomp on it any gear and it GOES. Lots of photos here.

Gathering of the Nortons

Zach — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:13:41 +0000

On Sunday Jen and I rode to Washington Crossing State Park for the annual Gathering of the Nortons. Its a yearly meet the Delaware Valley Norton Riders organize where all manner of Nortons, and other vintage British bikes gather. We got there a little late, so some bikes had already left, but there were still plenty of other to enjoy. We saw a steady stream of bikes in the other direction on the way there as well. Plenty of cool old Nortons, Ducatis, Trumphs, in addition to all the usuals. Its finally Spring again, so hopefully we’ll be doing plenty more riding and I’ll be doing more posting.

Galfer brake lines

Zach — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:08:00 +0000

I was finally able to get my Galfer stainless steel brake lines installed this afternoon. I initially started installing them almost two weeks ago, but the double length banjo bolt included with the kit was the wrong size. Luckily I had heard of them sending incorrect bolts out, so I attempted to thread it in by hand before I would strip out my master cylinder. It took until now to get the right sized replacement bolt.

Installation was a little more complicated than on my Ninja, since it only had a single front brake disc, my SV has two, which means two new lines to run. It takes a bit longer to get the fresh fluid down through each side as well, and you have to go back and forth a few times. The hand vacuum pump made this much easier though. Routing is a little tricky since you can’t use most of the stock fittings, I ended up following the speedometer sender cable most of the way, using zip ties along the way to make sure everything stays in place. Looks like nothing but snow and wintry weather for the next week or so, so I won’t be able to try them out for a bit, but they sure look nice!

Happy holidays

Zach — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:50:17 +0000

Got lots of goodies for the bike, including Pazzo levers, Galfer SS front brake lines, and Sonic Springs with 20w fork oil. I already put the levers on this afternoon, it literally took 5 minutes each side. They look and feel great, I may get some red adjusters to better match my bike.

Chain cleaning

Zach — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:46:01 +0000

When I washed the bike to get all the crud off from my long ride last week, I also cleaned the chain. Until now I always cleaned it with WD40 before lubing it, but this time I took the advice of a few people on various message boards and used kerosene to clean it. The smallest container I could find locally was one gallon, so I’ll pretty much never have to worry about buying more again for years. I simply pour some into a small container and use a big toothbrush style brush to scrub the chain clean with it. It eats through all the gunk and gets it clean real well, just be sure to cover the wheel/tire/swingarm from splashes, you can see in the photo below I got my swingarm a little nasty from it. It’ll clean right off, I didn’t even notice until I looked at this picture. The chain looks brand new again. Afterwards its just a matter of applying your lube of choice, right now I’m using PJ1 Blue Label, I may try some kind of chain wax after this is used up to see if it flings off any less.

Also, I went out for a short ride today to try out the grip heaters. It was about 45F out. I wore my thinner summer leather gloves, and on the high setting my hands were almost too hot. I ended up alternating between high and low every 10-15 minutes or so. They work great and are easily worth the $30 or so.

Grip Heaters

Zach — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 23:15:15 +0000

I installed my grip heaters today. It took about 3 hours total, most of which was wiring work. Instead of simply tapping into an existing power source like the directions recommend, I instead used a relay wired to the license plate light. When the ignition is turned on, the signal wire from the plate light turns the relay on, which then powers the heaters directly from the battery. This way they get direct power, not piggybacked off another circuit, and I won’t have to worry about leaving them on since they turn off when the ignition is off. I spent a good deal of time soldering and heat-shrinking every connection so they’d be waterproof and wouldn’t vibrate loose. I mounted the relay and the bulk of the wiring directly in front of the airbox, and followed all the existing wires with zip ties. Getting the grips on and off was pretty easy using compressed air under each one. I ended up drilling a hole for the switch, something I didn’t want to do, but its not like I’ll be removing the grip heaters anyway and it looks pretty clean. Also had to be careful with the wires coming from under each grip, making sure there is enough room for the handlebars to move back and forth, and for the throttle to open and close. Tested it out in the garage, and on the high setting the grips are almost too hot to hold with bare hands. This should make cold weather riding much more enjoyable, and they didn’t cost much at all. Sorry for not having any pictures of the install, I didn’t really have time this afternoon before Thanksgiving dinner.

Whew

Zach — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:57:55 +0000

Logged almost 230 miles today riding with Bob, whom I met a few weeks ago on his SV1000. We went north and rode all around the Delaware Water Gap, some really nice roads which were unfortunately mostly still wet from the rain yesterday, so we had to take it pretty easy. Still a great ride, and not bad weather for late November.

Reflective Rim Tape

Zach — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:48:35 +0000

Another duplicate mod from my Ninja 250. Instead of black, this time I got tape that matched the color of my bike (as close as I could find, anyway) The key with this is to take it slow. I cleaned the wheels real well with soap and water, then again with rubbing alcohol. I find its pretty difficult to get them on perfect (they come in four pre-curved sections for each side of each wheel, with two extras) but from more than a foot or two back they look fine. I’ve been meaning to do this since I took the nasty looking stock reflectors off. The second photo is taken with flash.

GSX-R Shock

Zach — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:51:15 +0000

As with my old Ninja 250, the stock suspension on the SV leaves something to be desired. Luckily, the rear shock from any number of the GSX-R models is a relatively straightforward swap. After looking at all the spring rates and shock lengths, the one that best matched my weight and type of riding is from a 2003/2004 GSX-R 1000. Picked this one up on eBay for $13. Getting the old one out was cake, but extensive modification (read: Dremel’ing and cutting) of the battery box is required so the shock’s reservoir and the battery will fit back in place. A few hours later, it was in. It’s raining, so I won’t be able to try it out until next week, but from what I hear it should be a much nicer ride.

Update 10/29: I went out for a few hours, and the difference is definitely noticeable. The best way to describe the bike now is more stable. I feel much more confident going through curves now, the rear wheel feels much more planted.