$50 mod thread

[Basement rat]

Making cable ends:

A week and a half ago my throttle cable broke on my sled. I thought it was the throttle cable however it was a weird intermediate cable/ system?... I couldn't find the part, ANYWHERE, not online, not at my parts store, the local (only) bicycle shop did'nt have any connections like this or anywhere. So I made one. Here's how it goes. (my camera is on the fritz and the bike takes priority over a new camera)


The broken cable and looking through my scrap shelf I found an old choke cable from my 750, the clip broke but the cable was great:

File lead knob to fit the case:

Next my inital plan was to take a mold of the old what I thought was lead piece, heat it up, remove the old broken wire and insert the new one. Its not lead... I pulled the piece out and used what I had as a mold for lead. Next problem was the wire just slipped out. I bend an electrical connector from my assortment to crimp on the wire and fit inside the lead piece:

Next and last step was file to fit/ match the old one and install.

Done!

Questions?

(does a mod want to remove the thread I made?)

 

[mojomoto]

Re: $50 mod thread cheap teflon carb o rings

Thought id give a tip.
I was working on a cb550, the carbs to be exact. I noticed that the main jet o rings were hard and not sealing very good so... I used some plumbers teflon tape in place of the o rings. I wraped the tape in the grove of the jet untill i thought it was more than the original hard o ring. Pressed them in and....been about 8 years ago still running strong. Teflon is resistant to pretty tough and does not turn to goo in almost any gasoline.

 

[loudest143]

If you are a carb tuning guy like me, you hate the process of pulling off the hoses and putting them on your carb adapters every time you need to make some sort of adjustment to the carb tuner.

My Motion Pro carb tuners' instructions says I should 'calibrate' the tuner to the number 3 carb with the hose combiner each time you tune your carbs. The problem is, you would have to leave your other carb adapters out, then put them in after the bike is really hot, and I'm a sissy and don't like to burn my hands.

Solution: Old clear fueline, that fits over the carb adapters and a 10-32 machine screw. I screwed them in to the end of the tubing, and it slides onto the other 3 carb adapters nice and snug. You can start your bike and run it with these in place, and still get your carb sync 'calibrated' without having to take these little beauties off. Couple of camera phone shots for reference.

Happy Motoring.

Your Internet Pal,
Loudest143

 

[krukster86]

Or you could just buy one of these, and be done with it. Looks great, light is excellent, and comes with an H4 bulb of the correct wattage, so you won't ruin your electrical system. Plug and play, fits right in, no hassles.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/7-H4-MOTORCYCLE-HEADLIGHT-HARLEY-HONDA-YAMAHA-KAWASAKI_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3ef20306e2QQitemZ270348256994QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I've got one on my bike, and love it.

loudest143

Just plug and play? I have a CB360 and I am kinda interested in this. However, before reading this post I kept hearing that if you plan to upgrade to a halogen headlight, you would need to convert basically all other bulbs to LEDs first so that you don't draw too much current to kill your electrical system. Is it not the case here?

 

[hillsy]

Just plug and play? I have a CB360 and I am kinda interested in this. However, before reading this post I kept hearing that if you plan to upgrade to a halogen headlight, you would need to convert basically all other bulbs to LEDs first so that you don't draw too much current to kill your electrical system. Is it not the case here?

That light has a 55/60W bulb - which shouldn't be any more wattage than your stock bulb. Halogens are brighter per W than incandescent.

 

[loudest143]

This particular headlamp assembly uses a 55/60 lo/hi h4 lamp. On my bike*(that's my disclaimer) it is the same wattage range as the OEM incandescent. Sooooo, no extra voltage/wattage used. What you REALLY get with this unit is the upgraded reflector in the assembly itself. Much different than the old sealed beam stuff. Longer throw, whiter light with the H4 lamp. Again, I'm not an expert. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

my bike btw is an 82 suzuki gs850.

On my china scooter, I smoked my entire electrical system installing 55w lamps where the OEM were 35w. YAY!!! Stators are fun to replace. So glad that POS is gone.

loudest143

 

[krukster86]

According to my wiring diagram, the headlight is listed as 12V50/35W

 

[loudest143]

You could use the lense assembly, but would need to get a different lamp/bulb. Sorry, I call bulbs lamps and lamps bulbs, hope you knew what I meant. ;D Your low beam wattage is 35w. Your high beam wattage is 50w. The 55w/60w (low/high) would be too much wattage. Buying a different wattage bulb is easily done at any auto parts store, and they can get you the brightest, whitest lamp to fit your wattage range. Knowing what your limitations are, surf Ebay and other online locales to find what you need. You've got a lamp wattage that is close to alot of new scooters, so partsforscooters.com is a good place to start. Make sure you know what your lamp looks like, as the connections vary where they attach to the connector.

The thing I like the best about that lense is the better long throw visibility. I shoulda bought the one with the skull on the reflector though.

loudest143

 

[crazypj]

According to my wiring diagram, the headlight is listed as 12V50/35W

You sure about that?
It may be a misprint?
You can use early Yamaha FZR1000 H4 bulbs, 35w/35w.

PJ

 

[krukster86]

For CB360 (USA Type)

 

[crazypj]

Didn't know that, UK CB360's are 35/35w, that's why I said use Yamaha bulb (That's what I'm going to use in mine)
Thought we were talking about GS850?

PJ

 

[Swagger]

Ok here's one. I was pretty skeptical when tire beads were mentioned by another member as I'd had no experience with them. I went round and round in my own head until a local shop started offering 'active balancers' in place of standard lead weights.
I had a chance for a quick ride on Dad's Sprint ST (2007) with the commercial bead balancers and I gotta say I'm fairly impressed. Seems to be just as smooth as a tire balanced the in the standard manner.

I expected some noise but really with the helmet on and the (OEM) exhaust song I could perceive nothing. Nor do they affect the 'feel' in any way that I could tell.

So here's a cheap way especially for the DIY guys out there who mount their own rubber.
Go grab yourself a jug of 6mm Airsoft BBs, the higher weight the better. They are CHEAP, more or less perfectly round and the plasitc they are composed of won't chew anything up when they are pinging around inside the tire.
I talked to the guy that did the tires for Dad (known him for years) and he told me to get the airsoft BBs....he's almost certain that what they use in the shop are just repackaged airsoft rounds. Cooool! As a guideline he suggested 58grams in a 190/17 rear, and 40grams for a typical 130/17 front. That's probably a safe place to start, jsut adjust to suit.

Now this generally applied to tubeless tires but I remember doing all sorts of goofy things to the tube in my dirtbikes to make'm hold up...right up to anti-freeze to help seal up punctures. I suppose one could cut a small entry point into the wall of the tube, add the bbs then patch. Having patched several hundred (at least it felt that way) in the mud on the side of a trail, it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch to me. You may have other feelings about the evils of tube tires....your call.

Have fun and enjoy a nice smooth ride!

 

[tWistedWheelz]

Less than $10 headlight ears!
Well it may cost you a little more, but you will have left over material!

Supplies:
1 Aluminum C Channel (see photos)
2 nuts
2 bolts/screws
1 cereal box

Tools:
Hacksaw
benchgrinder/file set
drill/drill bits
razor knife

1) using the cereal box cut you basic template shape
2) test fit it to the forks and headlight
3) transpose template to C channel
4) Cut away undesired material with hacksaw
5) clean up the cuts with the grinder or files
6) bend your mounting tab out 90 degrees away from the C channel
7) clamp the bracket to the fork tube with a clamp and force the long end around the tube by hand until mounting tab comes all the way around
8) drill holes for securing screw and headlight mount
9) mount and RIDE!

C channel purchased from Lowes for like $8 total!

Template

After cut and bent

Drilled and on

DONE! they will require a little more cleaning up and some finish work, but you get it!

I will be replacing the screw with a button socket head bolt on my build, it looks better than the screw.
Cheap and fairly easy!
I hope it helps some of you out there!
BUILT NOT BOUGHT!

 

[noahdog]

F'ng brilliant! I'll be borrowing that mod for my bobber project for sure. ;D I'll need new ears for my new chrome bucket which is way smaller than the stock 7" headlight.

 

[tWistedWheelz]

You can check out some more pics of the headlight ears in my build thread! Click the link to Project Eileen below. Page 16!

 

[dcmspikes]

damn, that turned out well. how sturdy does it feel?

 

[JRK5892]

FANTASTIC idea!!!

 

[tWistedWheelz]

Its pretty damn sturdy, I think it will be fine to hold a headlight no problem! It is stronger than it looks for sure, and really light!

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Its pretty damn sturdy, I think it will be fine to hold a headlight no problem! It is stronger than it looks for sure, and really light!

Awesome idea, definately gonna steal that one on my next build!

 

[Herm21]

It's amazing what can be thought up with an apple jacks box down in the dirty south! That's some good shit right dar wheelz!! I'll definetely be giving this a try!! Kudos brother.