Adam30

I've been riding both of my 5th gens quite a bit this past month, and, as I anticipated, the problem with the hot stator wires is getting worse in both. In one of the bikes the yellow wires between the connector and the R/R are turning brown. I had the R/R tested at a local shop, and it is fine aside from the fact that the yellow wires are obviously cooking. I assumed the next step would be another meltdown of the wires and the connector, so I started switching parts around to find out if I could learn something more about the source of the heat. I replaced the R/R (an upgraded Honda part) with the original 1998 part, which I had removed a year ago in an effort to be proactive. GUESS WHAT? The heating problem is now gone in this bike. The older "inadequate" part seems to work better than the upgraded one. True, the wires still get warm but not too hot to touch.

Does anybody have a clue about what this means? Why would a "superior", upgraded R/R, with greater heat dissipation characteristics create this heating problem?

I'm tempted to try to locate other discarded 1998 R/R's and put one in my other bike, and keep a few for spares.

Jon

I too ran into this on my 2002 about 2 years ago. I never really had any reason to do any work in that area of the bike, until one day I could smell an electrical type of burning smell, while idling at a stoplight, in fairly warm weather, with the hi beams and cooling fan running. After digging into it, thats when i noticed the 3 wires getting hot. The problem was worst right at the connection where the regulator connects to the stator. I had dug into this at that time, and came across no answers that i felt were satisfactory. Finally, I talked to someone online who sells and services alot of motorcycle electrical systems, particularly stators, regulators, etc. He had told me that the connection itself was the problem on these bikes, especially if corrosion had started, along with the wires basically being too small of a guage for what the stator puts out. He advised me to remove the plastic connection, and to make a permanant, soldered type connection in place of the connector, and to stagger each connection if possible. Then to heat shrink everthing to insulate it. I did do that, and while the wires still get warm, i no longer have any pieces getting so hot that they actually begin to melt and deform/discolor, which is what the stock connector was beginning to do.

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productlist/762/

Hopefully that link works, as I had trouble with their site earlier.

But, basiclly it appears there's adjustable footpegs now available, and was wondering if anyone has tried them. I guess up to 8 different positions, and you chose your preferred length of arm to use depending on how far of a drop you want. Theres also 3 different types of pegs to chose from as well.

When you add it all up it looks to maybe be pricey, but interesting though...

Even though ive got a 6th gen, this issue came up with mine last summer. Sitting at a stop light, warmer temps with the fan running and i believe the high beams. Started to smell something funny, so took it down here to the shop right away. That same connector had started to melt...

I went searching for others whod had this, or some answers. Didnt come up with much, other than to just replace the connector. But, this didnt seem like the right fix. I called Ricks Motorsports Electrics, and he had advised me to get rid of the connector and directly connect the wires together by staggering the connections, soldering and heatshrinking them. I did do that, which eliminated the connector. This was after i replaced the stator and RR just to cover my bases. The charging system's been fine (14.0v all the time, except when idling with highbeams and/or fan running). But, the wiring going to the stator still gets warm....which i never totally felt comfortable with. But, after many saying that this could be considered "normal" to an extent, ive just basically forgotten about it, mainly since that was about 10k miles ago and have had zero issues. I still dont like the warm wire thing, but im not sure what else to do about it...

I also installed a digital volt meter late last summer too....its nice to have, and nice to have something to look at to tell you what's going on.

I had a similar sounding issue a couple summers ago....the bike cut down to what sounded like maybe 2 cylinders, and the exhaust actually started to glow orange...

I still had the extended warranty on it, so the dealer (after having it for almost 2 months) finally figured out, with Honda's assistance, that the wiring harness was to blame. This was before the recall came out, and before Honda was really accepting that there was an issue. It did fix the problem, and when the recall was released, both harnesses got replaced again with the updated versions.

Late last summer however, i had a similar incident come up one evening. Cruising at slower speeds through osh kosh, i noted that the usual 4500rpm hesitation seemed a bit worse than usual. Just after that, it started running like it was starving for fuel, and upon getting to the next stop light, the idle was extremely low....maybe in the 500rpm range. I was making preparations to have it die out and me calling for a ride, but it never got to that point. It slowly got better, even though throttle response seemed a bit off for the rest of the ride home. It acted up intermittently and very briefly over the course of the next week or so....but then never returned.....and still hasnt.

Ive been telling myself that it was either the old battery that was in it, or poor fuel. Ive never believed in the "bad gas" excuse, but its one of the only things i could think of.

The bike has been totally fine since, and that was about 5k miles ago....

I looked at those too....and am still curious about them.

The only thing with ebay stuff is sometimes theyl sell something that is listed for a certain bike, but it turns out its more "universal" than it should be. At first glance, alot of honda mirrors look the same as far as their mounting, etc....but little differences could pop up. For instance, i know the VFR mirrors have a slightly thicker mounting base in order to move them out a bit further, to prevent you from just looking at your shoulders when you use them. Other ones will fit our bikes, but may be slightly different.

Id still love to find someone whos experienced these exact units that you posted, though.

Now at 44k on my '02.....but the season's just gotten under way. Would like to hit 60k by winter.

Its good to have goals....

No kidding.....i agree.

It seems this tire wear issue goes both ways.....some will like to brag about how long they got out of their tires, or how many miles...(which is good), but on the other end of the spectrum there's those that seem to boast how FEW of miles they get out of theirs (hinting at how fast of riders they are.)

Bottom line is, the numbers really dont matter that much, unless numbers and mileages are consistent within similar bikes in similar locations (types of roads), and of course type of riders. THEN one can get a feel for the lifespan of a certain tire.

And BTW, the pics of that front tire look like how BOTH my front Roadsmarts looked after a couple thousand miles. They warranted both of them, and we put the credit towards my new set of Pilot Roads.

These pegs are about one inch lower than stock. It appears that the brake pedal has about that much adjustment left in it, but of course its up to your personal taste whether itl be enough...

Picked up my Ulysses pegs from the dealer last weekend and installed them. A few small notes...

The holes in the new pegs are much larger than the pin, or holes in our OEM pegs. When installing the pin with the new pegs, it appears to be a nice tight fit though, only because the new peg actually isnt able to center itself on the stock mounting bracket....it sticks out a bit. This really doesnt matter....but it shows that it is actually not a direct replacement. But, we kind of knew that anyways....they're parts off a different bike. But, it does fasten fairly securely, and as others said, using the washer that is normally against the cotter pin to wedge in between the peg and the mounting bracket is just enough to tighten the peg up and get rid of the bit of clearance that's there. It isnt necessary though.

When the new pegs are installed, when pivoted to the downward position, they dont actually retract and sit totally level, because of how the inside of the new peg hits the mounting bracket just a bit. Unfortunately, i did end up grinding just a tad off of each peg to stop it from hitting, so now the pegs retract down to being totally level. But we're only talking about a max of 5 seconds each, literally with a bench grinder. The stock spring fits fairly well with the new pegs, although there is a bit more slack and the spring doesnt seem to fit as tight with quite as much tension. But...the spring is still able to work correctly and push the peg down if its ever pushed up.

I havent finished adjusting the shifter/brake lever yet. Im still trying to find the best adjustment on the spline for the shifter...my initial adjustment still had the lever up a bit too high, but one notch down and it was too low. Ill have to find the best spot and probably just get used to it im thinking. I havent tackled the brake lever adjustment at all yet.

After installing them on the bike, at first glance they look totally huge for the bike....but, its like other changes you make...you get used to it fairly quickly, and i actually like the idea of the new pegs being larger and having more surface area on them. And besides, especially if you go for the silver version, its not something thats really going to be noticable unless you're looking FOR it.

I did ride the bike about 20 miles with them on, and ive gotta say I love them. Just the inch change in leg position almost makes you feel for a second that youre on a different bike, and im anticipating much less knee discomfort on those 500 mile freeway stretches.

I wondered a bit about vibration with these pegs, since the stock ones have the rubber padding on them to isolate vibration. But, I can honestly say I cannot feel any difference whatsoever so far in vibration. I havent riddent it extensively yet, but i figure if any vibration problems didnt jump out at me so far, then it wont be an issue at all.

Even though the fit isnt totally perfect, it's still a great mod for $24 each (in the silver version). The same pegs in black are about double the price. If you want your legs to stretch a bit more, i think this one's a no-brainer. If you chose to do the bit of grinding and the adjustment of the levers, plan on about 30 minutes total for everything.

Just ordered those part # pegs from a Buell/HD/BMW dealer an hour or so from here. Mite as well make a mini-road trip out of it, as its a good excuse to spend some time looking at the new BMW's too....lol.

$24 each, about 3 days to get them.

Excellent....sounds good. As long as the Canadian/US part numbers are the same, I'll be ordering a set...

Thanks for the info...

Just to add my input, and to keep this thread alive...

I stopped at an HD dealer yesterday, and checked out an '09 Ulysses and the pegs that were on it. I inquired what the pegs would cost at the parts counter for an '09. She looked them up and even wrote down the part numbers for me to take with;

N0503.4AK

N0502.4AK

$46 Each, and they'd have to order them

Im assuming these are the black versions, like the '09 on the floor had. I would like to know if they're available in silver too.

As well, are we clear on the fact that the Ulysses pegs are the ones that require no modifications, or cutting, grinding, or installing other hardware to get them to fit right? Im interested in an install that requires little or no modifications at all.

If anyone happens to know what year the Ulysses had the silver pegs and if that model year is the same as the new ones, that'd be appreciated too.

I had posted something awhile back earlier in the season regarding how id had such horrible service from them at the time. I ordered a battery, and it never showed. No one replied to my emails, and there was no phone number at the time to call them. I never knew if my order shipped or not, and needed a battery so i just went to batteries plus unfortunately.

But, 2 years ago i had ordered 2 batteries from them with no issues; it shipped fast and the price was excellent. I did do a search on google regarding them, and theres complaints all over the place regarding the same experience I had, only some others were actually charged for the product and it was never shipped. I guess the BBB has a ton of complaints recorded from just the past couple months. I dont know what happened to them suddenly, because they used to be so good. But yes, now....apparently its looking like they went out of business.

If you have one close by, maybe just try batteries plus. I never believed in buying a cheap battery, but they had the 12s and the 14s in stock for around $68 as of this past spring, and i needed one quick. And, its been working just fine. As well, if you have a problem, you've got a live human close by to go and deal with.

Yeah, we have a Costco near by here that opened last year, and they're using nitrogen too. We here have lost a few tire sales here and there due to them. Im thinking they're pushing the nitrogen thing as a selling point...even though the public really doesnt care I dont think....no one checks their air pressures anyways in car tires, lol. Independent service shops in this area havent really made much of an effort to get into the nitrogen thing, including myself here. And I can tell you that i havent had one customer yet ask about it. For places that sell tires and dont use nitrogen, most are finding its not worth the cost of the equipment to offer nitrogen when the public at this point simply doesnt seem to care. That and its yet another investiment in equipment for a product like tires that you're not making any money off of anyways...

Another factor that doesnt have much to do with ambient temps is the makeup of our wheels. A few seminars Ive been to either by Honda and Dunlop advised that slow pressure drop is normal to an extent, due to the wheels being pourous, and very very slow air loss is the result.

Bottom line.....just do what I do and check/adjust your pressures before every ride. I find myself adding at least a little every couple weeks to keep them at the spec I use of 42/36.

I had considered that one too even though im still not sold on the looks of ANY top case totally....but, at twistedthrottle they said the Maxia one wasnt available yet.

I installed the V36 yesterday with the SW Motech rack, and Im happy with it. Id say its probably the best looking setup Ive seen yet (as far as topcases go). IMO. Basically I wanted whatever setup I used to put the case as down low as possible, as I dont like the look of them being way up in the air behind the bike; and the Motech rack provided that. And the alarm, keyless operation and brakelight options are slick, especially for the money. Only thing it is missing is the backrest pad option, as I do carry a passenger even though its only a couple times a season. I can live without it, considering the other plusses that the case does have.

I'll be trying it out early in the morning when I leave for indy. The way its looking, it looks like i'll be able to check its water-tightness too...

But thus far, very happy wiht both the Motech rack and the case itself.

You're exactly right. If it were warranty, then itd be a different story. But, a recall says that they are to replace the harness, period. They're fixing a known issue that could or likely will exist, at some point in the bike's life. In doing this, they are obligated to replace the suspect parts with their updated version and thats it. If you were to tamper with the wiring AFTER that, then they could refuse covering any costs if the known problem came up.

People have a hard time understanding this, even with warrantys. If the owner tampers with the manufacturer's original design and theres a failure, then you cant hold the manufacturer responsible. But in a recall, they are to service the bike irregardless, and install their updated part. Period.

Sounds like more of a dealer issue than a Honda issue to me.....

Hey all. In my exhaustive research in looking at numerous topcases this week last minute, as I decided i wanted one for riding down to MotoGP, I finally ended up with this. Seemed like the best bang for the buck...

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/4014/686/

Obviously i looked at the numerous Givi's and Honda OEM. But, the problem ended up being that the Givi's that I was considering are on backorder. I wanted the brakelight option either now or down the road; something i was told the OEM didnt offer. As well, I didnt want something as large as the OEM case or even something like the Givi V46, although they are both nice packages. The 46 was the only Givi product I couldve gotten at this time. For cosmetic reasons, i wanted something a bit smaller, and wanted a mounting rack that would work with my OEM bags and still allow a passenger. I do also have OEM sidebags, so I didnt need to go super large on the top case.

The guy at Twisted Throttle told me to check out the Coo Case line, and I was impressed right off the bat when I pulled them up on the site while we were on the phone. As you can see, it comes already with LED brakelamps, a semi-padded interior, remote alarm (motion sensitive, so the bike is also protected when the case is mounted). Locking and unlocking the case can also be controlled by the remote. Twisted throttle insisted that quality is just as good as with the Givis, but we'll see. The case's lid also has three different color options....all at the same price as the standard matte black. No adapters needed to mount this case to the SW Motech rack I ordered as well (sorry Ken, once and awhile my GF will jump on the back). And, right now they were having free shipping on all CooCase orders, which included the mounting bracket.

The entire case/mount bracket package came to about $380 shipped, which i thought was reasonable. I dont want to compare the price to the OEM or larger Givis i was looking at, since they are much larger cases. I just liked the idea of getting the brakelight option and remote alarm all included in one package for that price, including rack.

If anyone has owned anything from Coocase, Id like to hear feedback...

Thanks

Ive had this "condition" alot as well, and still do on certain days. It happened much quicker with the stock seat, and after installing the Sargent I dont get it as frequently....or if i do, it takes much longer to set in. But, bottom line is that I still do get it.

The strange thing is like this weekend for example. Rode from home here to Beloit to watch a buddy's track day; about 100 miles, all 100% slab, no turns. No butt or fatique issues at all. From there, went out to the Mississippi, roughly another 100 straight miles. No problems with seat comfort or fatique. Yesterday then went from Dubuque up the river and then east as far back home as I could get b dark; roughly 220 miles total. Again, no fatique or seat issues, besides just getting tired later in the day from low sleep. But this morning early I finished up the rest of the 80 miles to get back home here....but this time after 45 mins or less my ass was totally sore. I dont get it.

My point is that on certain days its not an issue, sometimes almost regardless of miles/seat time. But on other days, it tends to set in faster and can almost ruin the rest of the ride.

What i have figured out is that obviously, riding twisties can be easier since you're moving off the seat, changing weight and position more often than if you're stuck on straight highway or slab. But, like I said, ive also had slab days where i was fine the entire day and was almost puzzled as to why.

But, things Ive found that help just a bit are changing seat postion once and awhile; like leaning a touch off maybe the right side and riding one handed for a bit. And, taking enough rest stops is super important for your whole body. Getting off and walking around at a gas station or something even for 10 minutes does wonders for me. If you're doing alot of highway miles especially, stop at rest areas if you're not in a rush. Sometimes they're the only thing that makes interstates bearable at all to me.

But, Im hoping others will chime in a bit on this one, as Im always looking for some possible hints and tricks for helping with fatique...

I went the Batteries Plus route too. They have both the 12 and 14 series batteries in stock at their stores for about half of what the Yuasa's are. The OEM/Yuasa is a better battery Im sure, but the price of batteries has just gotten almost rediculous. And the Batteries Plus unit is an AGM type, like stock.

I had originally ordered a replacement Yuasa from motorcyclebatteriesusa.com like I had in the past, but this time they really dropped the ball bigtime. My order never showed, they never replied to any of my emails and a phone number was not available. Someone else on here had a similar issue. After waiting over a month, I needed something right away so I just went to the Batteries Plus option, which ended up working great so far.

Id go for whichever one fits best for you. Im sure there's differences in strength, etc, but its hard to tell which is which sometimes.

I bought a Shoei RF1000 this season to replace my old KBC that hit the pavement a year ago from a high side. I chose the RF because of all the talk of how quiet it is, the quality, etc. I am a bit dissapointed; this helmet is no quieter and maybe even has more wind noise than my $160 KBC, and the shield/gasket doesnt seal as well, letting bugs and moisture in at times. These are the two things I was led to believe that the RF was BETTER at; overall quality and noise. But, like I said, maybe the RF would hold up better in a crash, I dont know. But without knowing that for sure, Im a little dissapointed in what I paid $340 for.

Id normally like to think that the Shoei would easily be the better choice over an Icon, but after my experience I cant totally say that I guess.

If I had to go helmet shopping soon, Im not actually sure where I'd start.

Im trying to remember, but 2-3 inches sounds like way too much.

Going 5-10 mm higher than stock is fine, as it might make the bike feel lighter. But i raised mine when i installed my bar risers, to quicken the steering and so i didnt have to use the cap thingys supplied with the risers. I ended up moving them back down again, because in certain circumstaces the steering was just wayy to twitchy, gravel roads come to mind as being more of a "handful" now that i think about it.

But I agree; when in doubt, its always best to at least start with stock and work from there if you want.

And, I believe you can download the service manual, or parts of it on here.

i have issues with my tank bag lightly scuffing the paint on my tank as well. I dont have advice on a protector unfortunately, besides the Honda Accessories rubber tank pad which they're now selling in the US finally. But, i periodically go over my tank with some compound, then a glaze and finally wax. The compound will remove the light scuffing or whatever marks are left behind from the bag, and just light surface scratches in general. It does remove them, instead of just temporarily covering them up which is what just waxing will do. The paint will look like brand new when you're done. Btw, I use 3M products at the advice of a couple of body/restoration friends of mine.

I know that isnt exactly what you were looking for, but wanted to share what I do for my tank to keep it looking new at 41k miles...

The way my PR2s are wearing so far, its looking like this will be the longest and best wearing pair of tires ive had yet.

My local dealer is doing tires really cheap; my price wouldve been $252 for the pair for the PR's. But, i had a credit coming for my second Roadsmart that went bad, so i didnt actually pay for both PR2's when i bought them.

That should be a competitive price. I know that for the Bridgestone BT021's, they gave me a price of $185 for the pair. But, I decided to go with the michelins.

They may ship to you; not sure. If you want their number and who to talk to, PM me.

I havent owned a set of Continentals yet, but here's what i can say about the PR's and PR2s....

Like most michelins, no front tire cupping, and thus no degrading in handling over time. Thats important to me.

PR2's are wearing excellent for me; a recent 1500 mile trip, mostly freeway, and the tires have no signs of flatspotting yet. Rear included. At the current rate, I expect the current PR2's to give me the most mileage/wear out of any tire ive run so far.

My previous 2 sets of original Pilot Roads got me about 7500 miles out of the rear, and the front wouldve gone 10k if not more. Again, even with those, perfectly even wear and no cupping.

No wet weather issues at all, and ive ridden in plenty of downpoars, more than i cared to. But in all fairness, maybe any tire i wouldve been on wouldnt have given me an issue.

Cornering/handling at lean angle is excellent and stable; better than my recent set of RoadSmarts. But, the bike does seem to feel a bit heavier in certain lower speed situations with the new michelins and with certain manuvers.

Depending on how the michelins end up holding up over time, I cant see ever switching to anything else after they're worn out. That still may change, but judging by how my other michelins have been, I'll be sticking with them with no reason to change.