| Author | Message | ||
     Grim_euphoria |
Sure hate to have to kick start that thing! Gonna have a hell of a time getting a straight ten into a xb chassis!  | ||
| Iamike |
After 30,000mi. I finally got around to replacing my intake gaskets and rear isolators on the '99 S3. The gaskets were a little easier to replace than the isolators. I'll have to go back and peruse the KV and see if anyone has a better idea to compress those pesky isolators. I was happy to see the bearings were fine and the belt looked pretty good too. One of the intake gaskets were a little deformed and burned, but otherwise, in good shape. Now I'm ready for another 30,000. | ||
| Hootowl |
Here's more info on that engine if you're interested. http://performanceunlimited.com/illustrations/most_powerful_engine.html Note the massive increase in HP for a very small increase in RPM. Lots O torque. | ||
| Loki |
Now Build a bike around that! Dodge eat your heart out..... | ||
| Ara |
Sure is fuel hungry. Maybe they oughta use Slick 50, the Fitch Fuel Catalyst, or one of those thingies that swirl the incoming air.  | ||
| Fatslow |
Losing my charge! My '98 S3 (11,000 mi.) Went dead the other day while riding. I had to jump start it that morning, and a few times before so I figured the 5-year old battery went bad (good life I thought). Any way - new battery & she runs fine for a couple of days. Then dead again - 11 volts Charge the new battery - ok for a day or two dead again. Charged the battery - let it sit - 13.5 volts - good battery. Installed new voltage regulator - still dead. Any Suggestions. | ||
| S2no1 |
Check the Alternator | ||
| Ara |
Fatslow, If you have a multimeter, it's easy. First measure the battery. Then start the bike and measure the voltage across the battery terminals again. If you get anything above what the batter-only voltage was, that's what the alternator is producing. If you get the same reading across the battery terminals with the bike running as you did when it wasn't running, then your alternator is producing less than your battery is - not good. | ||
| Fatslow |
Thanks Ara. I will try that as soon as I get home. Since I have a new battery & regulator, If the alternator is the culprit, do i replace the stator, and/or what other parts? I don't have my manual here at work but do I ask the parts guy for an alternator - I ruled out connections as I checked them all pretty thoroughly. I hate electrical. Black box stuff to me - I know it's simple butt i have no experience with it. Carbs, forks, cams, pistons OK!! Thanks, Matt | ||
| Ara |
Matt, I know how to check 'em, but I've never done alternator work on a bike. I've never had to. If anybody can give him some pointers on how to isolate what part of the alternator is the problem, pease give him a hand. | ||
| Hootowl |
Near the rear shock, there is a connector that is zip tied together. This connects the stator to the regulator. unplug it, measure resistance across the two stator terminals. it should be 1 or 2 ohms. ( not sure of the exact #'s, but if it's open, it'll be a whole lot more than that. ) Then measure from each terminal to the engine case. Should be open. Then start the bike and measure AC voltage across the terminals. You should get something like 25 volts at 2000 RPM. I don't have the book in front of me, so these figures will be off a bit, but it should help you diagnose the problem | ||
| Reepicheep |
Hey old sportster gurus... I was at the local "biker" hangout a few weeks ago in (I kid you not) Rabbit Hash Kentucky... or was it Rabbit Hatch? Anyway, it is a little general store in the middle of NOWHERE that is surrounded by bikes (all kinds) on weekends. Very odd. Anyway, one of the bikes was a nice looking black sportster, and looking closely I noticed it had a fancy ignition module, and four spark plug wires instead of the usual two. The extra wires went straight down the center of the head, through the hole there in the rocker box covers. The owner, naturally, had no clue. None at all. He just said "he bought it from some guy" and that the Harley dealership told him he had "a weird sportster". Thats as much as he knew. So was that a special factory edition thing? Are the two plug heads a normal aftermarket item? I seem to recall Ducatti going to a two plug head on their new aircooled large displacement twins to get some better performance, and I seem to remember Kevin Cameron writing something else I don't remember and probably did not understand in the first place about flame fronts and large displacement twins. Thanks for any info anyone may have... no big deal, I am just curious. | ||
| Josh_ |
The Sportster 1200S has dual-plug heads. Was this an old one or new one? | ||
| Boese |
Just to let you guys know ahead of time, new toy is here, and as soon as I washed and cleaned it, the Buell is going up on EGAY starting at $1 NO RESERVE, so save up that lunch money. I will post the link here, as soon as its up! If anybody makes me a reasonable offer in the meantime, I will give it up unwashed ... http://community.webshots.com/user/the_bullgod_78 boese, OH | ||
| Fatslow |
Hey Hootowl & Ara, I just got home, beat the kids, slapped the wife, kicked the dog and checked the output as you stated Hootowl. A whopping 1.8 volts AC!!! I am screwed. Looks like Stator trouble. Any idea on cost? I have to have the shop do this one - I'm leaving CT for Deal's gap in two weeks. Big trip planned, meeting up with others in VA. then on to the gap!!! Been planning for months - This sucks!!! - I guess it's better it happened here though! I know I won't have time to get to it. Thanks fo all the help - At least I'll save a couple of bucks on diagnisis! anyone need a brand new Voltage regulator?? Anyway if you a clue what this should cost I'd appreciate it. Thanks again! | ||
| Grndskpr |
Fatslow, not a hard job, did mine last year, you need big(really big sockets) an impact gun(mine is electric) and a stator along with new stator bolts, a new primary gasket, and a little less than a quart of fluid, takes all of about 2 hours if your slow and neat like me, otherwise its 1/2 hour job for a pro, that stator is about $100, bolts around $2 and the gasket is $5, it reuires that you remove your primary cover, chain, than out put sproket on the motor side, remove the bolts, then pull the stator and replace, most of the bad stators are really not bad at all, the problem is this little metal tab, that keeps the wires off the chain, it rubs threw the wires, so you need to pein the plate or use high temp silicon to keep the wires from cutting again, Now the problem, these things never go bad in sportsters, so no one(very few) stock the part, i bought mine from dennis kirk(custom chrome) another thing to look at while you are in there is the adjster for the chain, there is an updated part that is stronger than the sporster one, and i have seen several that where cracked in half, some thing to consider while you are in there if you need to i can look up the socket size, there out in the garage Later Roger | ||
| Shazam |
has anyone heard from "hillbilly" Ed, been a long time, don't know why his name popped into my head....I was thinking about the gap trip of last year......just wondering? | ||
| Henrik |
oh and Fatslow - do *not* forget that the main shaft nut has left hand threads .... Henrik | ||
| Fatslow |
Thanks again guys it sounds pretty straight-forward. I'll let you know how it turns out - If you get a chance Roger, let me know the socket size - just in case (good excuse to visit the Craftsman dept!!!). And thank Henrik - I'd have been cursing for sure. | ||
| Aesquire |
Has this happened to others??  Great weather Sat., I ran out to my sisters in Syracuse NY, 90 mile ride, bored on the Thruway, till I hit Rt.690, running along @ 75 or so, get passed by a Honda repliracer doing 90+ on a straight stretch, no return wave. I have a strict policy not to chase idiots, I get tickets that way. Hit the twisty part in town, same speed, I pass the Honda, him hanging off, dragging a knee, me sitting upright & mellow. Was that a squid?  | ||
| Bartimus |
Fatslow, It's true about the wires shorting together, I slipped a piece of rubber hose over mine when it happened to me. To check to see if the stator is shorted or good, measure the two wires with an ohm meter. The reading should be between .2 and .4 ohms. if it's 0 then it's shorted, if it's higher your windings are in fact going bad. Good luck. | ||
| Road_thing |
Aesquire: No, that's never happened to me. I don't have a sister in Syracuse. r-t | ||
| Bkpilot |
A lowside today at the track has prompted me to get serious about properly setting up my '97 M2 for track days and I could use some advice. A track day last year on my Buell made me realise the stock pegs are way way to low. I put on the Banke Risers. Still way to low. What is the consensus on which set of rearsets for track use and do I need to switch out the levers (shift and brake)? Clip ons; the Telefix Pro Fi's seem popular; what size and how many "spacers"? Anything else I need to change for track days? Any help is appreciated. | ||
| Blake |
Bkpilot, Race tires! And raise your front forks 6mm (lower front end). Michelin has their H2's for the rear in 170/60-17, go with an M2 for the front. Or go ahead and wedge a Pirelli/Metzeler Supercorsa/Rensport 180/55-17 on the rear. Just don't be depressed when you cannot rid the rear tire of the 1/8" chicken strips. The Michelins take a while to heat up on the track, the thing to do is to take the first lap all out drag racing between turns... hard on the gas and hard on the brake, but easy on the curves... to get the tires up to temperature/pressure. It always cracks me up to see guys taking a slow easy warm up lap... they aren't warming up anything. The Banke rearsets are great as are the Telefix Profi clipons, number of spacers is to your preference. I'm 6'-3" and use two 5/8" spacers on each. It's a good compromise between street and track. Get some bar ends. Safety wire your oil filter. Remove the head light (simply unplug pigtail under tank and remove two screws). Get her dyno tuned. Run a good quality synthetic engine oil. Crank the damping up a bit over your preferred street settings. Check sag front and rear. Bring extra knee pucks.  | ||
| Henrik |
Fatslow: you'll need a 1 1/8" and a 1 3/16" impact socket. The impact sockets I have are a bit deeper than my standards, and it seem that the engine sprocket nut (1 1/8" needs to be a bit deeper than standard sockets to fully reach the nut. A bit more primary case reading here and here And something quite relevant to you here. Good luck, BTFM, RTFM Henrik | ||
| Bkpilot |
Thanks Blake. Did you use the stock levers with the Banke rearsets? And the break point in a higher price for the Profis is 43mm and I understand the size for the M2 is (naturally) 43mm. Is that right? | ||
| Hootowl |
When measuring very low resistances like the stator, make sure you either zero the meter leads, (if your meter has that functionality) or short them together and note the meter reading so you can subtract the resistance of the leads from the measurement. Most leads will read .2 to .6 ohms, so if you measure your stator and it is the same as your leads, it has shorted to itself. | ||
| Jim_witt |
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| Blake |
BK, No, you cannot use the stock shift lever with the Banke rearsets. The stock brake lever I think will work. I think the kit comes with the shift lever. Yes, you need the 43mm profis to fit the M2. | ||
| Blake |
Where the heck is José anyway? Good to see him riding the Buell again. That is one way extreme looking lean angle. I can't figure out how he does it with the stock pegs. If he were hanging off at that lean angle, he'd be scraping his elbow, let alone his right knee. Way to go JQ! |
