rdguy

PS now, if non-VFR owners have to stand last to fill up, buy the first round and so on, think about those who trailer their bikes..... Hehehe.

Uh, so trailering the VStrom would be a reeeeely bad idea, I guess?

Glenn

This isn't much help to you now, but I never use glue on grips, partly because of what happened to you.

I make sure the grips and bars are really clean (acetone or similar), and then wet the grips and bars with more acetone. Slide the grips on while everything is wet, and wait for the solvent to dry. It would probably work with water if you can wait a day or two for it to dry.

To remove, I stick that little red tube from WD40 in as far as I can and spritz in a few places. If you can get a small screwdriver between the grip and the bar, that may work for you now.

Glenn

Great to hear, I'm putting grip heaters on before heading to T-Mac this year... Its amazing how much better rides can be with warm hands...

Ditto. I've just completed modifying a cheep eBay PWM controller to give me continuously variable heat without wasting watts. Those resistor controlled heaters just waste power in the resistor, and its not like we've got lots to spare.

I took pics along the way, and I'll try to get a 'how-to' up.

Glenn

Clever... I usually use an egg carton - one depression per fastener size.

I didn't know Princess Auto did those magnets as well. Closer than Lee Valley and prolly cheaper.

Glenn

I just thought I'd share a simple little timesaver I use when doing oil changes on my '04 6th Gen. Like many on here, I only remove the right side fairing when doing my oil change, but I used to find it a PITA if I ever mixed up any of the fairing bolts when replacing the fairing. I finally found the perfect solution for me: I use little cylinder shaped rare earth magnets and attach them to the LEFT side fairing bolts. As I remove each RIGHT side fairing bolt, I simply stick it to the corresponding bolt on the LEFT side. Once the oil change is done, I simply locate the bolt I want and reattach it. No more frustration. The magnets are available almost anywhere. I just happened to pick mine up at both Princess Auto (Canada) and Lee Valley Tool (Can/US). Hope this tip helps someone else.pic from Lee Valley Added..

Where do they attach? I'm guessing the top uses the same motor mount as Radar's sliders, but where's the bottom mount going?

Glenn

Yes I do! If anyone wants to try this I can make a pair for you without the painting and then you can do whatever you want with the light install. I think Rivcyko painted the back half of his black so when the lights came on they only showed forward and not backward.

To the original Poster...nice job.

Hi Larry,

Are yours tranparent under the paint? I'd sort of assumed the paint was a finish coat on opaque plastic.

If it's transparent under there I may do some polishing on mine...

Glenn

So i am guessing people may have tried this out...

No, but now you've got me thinking... Nice work.

Visibility is always good.

Glenn

... Now, this VFR is my 16th bike and it was given to me for free from my boss...

OK, I haven't seen anybody address the important thing: Is your boss hiring???

Glenn

....i've been hittin a lever with my left hand but found out theres no way to shift with my left hand...cause when i let off the throttle theres too much engine breaking to allow shifts.....SOO ...back to the drawing board....

<snipped>

.....im keepin my fingers crossed on that one(even if i do have to duct tape them that way) ....this whole ride depends on that working out...im gonna start fabing up a design tomorrow.

That's the way I like to do it - the first cut at something is just there to let me know what I overlooked...

Kewl stuff. Keep at it, and let us know how it goes.

PS: I'm curious about your handle. What sort of artwork?

Glenn

Oh man I wish you had taken pictures along the way and posted it as a project I would have loved to see how you developed it along the way. That is awsome! I hope it works and you can ride it safely.

:goofy:

When you get the time, could you let us know how you've set up braking and shifting from the sidecar? More pics are always good, too.

Last year at Friday 13th, I saw a 1 front/2 rear trike with a totally flat floor and a scooter powerplant powering the right rear wheel. Very slick, but lacking the VFR exhaust note. :fing02:

I'm just getting a disabled parking pass for my dad, and found out that the Province of Ontario will issue disabled stickers for motorcycle license plates. I wonder what kind of reaction THAT gets from passersby.

Glenn

PM sent - I think!

Glenn

You mention that you've built an FFE before? Any chance we can see pictures/designs of it? what was it like to ride?

As to the Chassis list becoming a forum - that's really something i'd like to see (though haven't suggested on list) I would be seroiusly willing to help run one, if the list would agree? I believe a reliable bunch of admin volunteers is the key to HS's success.

PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

OK, I didn't recognize your user name from the chassis list. I think if I was going to build another FFE I'd go with a parallel/equal Hossack as well, just to keep complications down to the point where it might actually get completed :blush: .

I think there was a suggestion of turning the chassis list into a forum at some point recently (was that you?). Michael can 'outsource' the list operation to micapeak. A forum would be a bunch more work - I don't know how HS runs this and still gets to ride.

Glenn

I'm going to be boring and use the 'standard' hossack parallel/equal length links. seen some other solutions to the linkage of bars to forks but all require machining skills i don't have.... some times it's best to KIS

As to the chassis design list - I'm already on it. There's some good discussion and recommendation going on there. Also some pearls of wisdom from the older members of the list. I'd recommend signing up for anyone who's interested in making a motorcycle chassis.

Always thought it would be good to turn it into a Forum like VFRD?

Feel free to comment/suggest ideas as i'd really like this to turn out better than MK1! :blink:

Nice. What are you going to do for steering links? IIRC, they are the most, uh, entertaining part of doing a Hossack (unless you're doing parallel, equal length links, and where's the challenge in that?).

Do you know the chassis design maillist run out of micapeak.com or Eurospares?

Glenn

The bars on the 6th gens are offset...

The centreline of the bar lies ahead of the centreline of the forks in the as-delivered configuration. Goosechef has reversed them to move the bars back. Then he can adjust the angles.

Glenn

+1! Or just dremel the tab off and rotate it as you please. I really don't understand the advantage to switching sides. The bars are not offset, so all you're doing is sliding them back a bit farther, seems like a lot of work for something that could be done by loosening the pinch bolts, readjusting the position, then tightening the pinch bolts...

OK, your bookshelf explains your nom de net...

Mmm... goose...

Glenn

Digital Wink Eyecrometer

I'm totally going to use that line :biggrin: :laugh: :beer:.

Glenn

...as measured with a Wink Eyecrometer...

OK, #2 wins the thread :biggrin:.

Glenn

1) buy manual

2) if that doesn't do it, read the manual

3) if you still can't make it work, follow the directions in the manual

KEWL!!1!11

Glenn

Spin the collar with the tabs 90 degrees, thus taking them out of the holes they are catching on. Screw the barend back on lightly, apply compressed air (rubber tipped air gun) into the hole used to locate the switch assemblies while holding/gently pulling the re-attached barend, it comes right out. Took an hour of goofing around to figure out the first one, about 30 seconds for the other side.

Remove the throttle and roll back the grip on the clutch side until you see the two holes near the end of each bar.

Reinsert the bar end screw.

Pull on the screw, and at the same time, push on the little tabs visible through the holes. You just need to get each tab inside the bar, and you can do them individually as long as you keep pulling on the screw. Then keep pulling until the inner weight is out. You may need three hands.

HTH,

Glenn

Okay, I'm still n00b here, but some things just ought to be easy. A bar end swap, evidently, is not as easy as I had thought it would be.

I bought some new anti-vibration bar ends and went to the garage last night for what I thought would be a quick remove-and-replace. Not so. I got the original bar end removed, but the steel piece into which the bolt screws remained inside the tube. What's the method for removing that?

Thanks, all.

Before I made my bars, I thought of doing this. IIRC, you should get 3/4-1" of rearward movement, but no change in height, except for raising the bars which you can do anyway.

The (usual) throttle side upright casting has a big groove in it for the brake switch. I assume you have the M/C rotated up so the switch will clear the casting. Have you noticed the difference in brake lever position?

Can't beat the price!

Glenn

Handlebar reversed, cheap mod Here's a shot of the end result of my discount mod. Just switched the left/right bars

Nope. The two seasons are "Winter" and "Construction."

Glenn

I thought there were only two seasons in Canada....Winter and July...

Question was asked tongue in cheek. I assume it's a snow shovel. Never seen one in Georgia. Just giving my Canadian buds a hard time. :biggrin:

I figgered. Fortunately I'm not jealous of people with 12 month riding seasons.

OK, that last bit was a fib.

Glenn

Nice bars.

I like the extra bit sticking towards the middle. Looks like it was intentionally left there to mount gadgets?

If I had those bars i know I would find a GPS parked there soon, and whatever else I could clutter things up with.

Right you are, Q-dawg... I was going to post another photo shortly showing just that.

Glenn

Glenn:

In your fourth picture, what is that device hanging on the wall directly in line with the gas tank? Looks like some sort of plastic ribbed device with a handle. What in the world would something like that be used for?

Pete

Dunno. I'll have to ask my wife.

:laugh:

Glenn

I too am interested, are the bars included/available?

No, but I can send you a drawing if you want to see about getting them made locally.

Glenn