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jackleberry wrote: This bike should be able to do 80MPH in 1st gear man! Wind that sucker up to 9000PRM and see how it feels. Blow some of that 30 year old smoke out!

Well I can't do 80 in first, I can in 2nd, and I redline at 8500 and really don't wanna be blowing gaskets or ruining valves at the moment. Here's the results from the stock setup by GearingCommander:



It's freaking ridiculous that I can be in 5th gear doing 25mph lol! Those gears are really tight together!

Definitely do not run it above redline. Having an engine blow up between your legs at 100 mph might not be fun. Ed

650ed wrote: Definitely do not run it above redline. Having an engine blow up between your legs at 100 mph might not be fun. Ed

650ed wrote: Definitely do not run it above redline. Having an engine blow up between your legs at 100 mph might not be fun. Ed

Agreed, that's one party I'd rather not be invited to.

Oh I forgot to say what else happened on my longer trip a few weeks ago. Went to Monroe, WI for a bite to eat and rest...and took N north to New Glarus. Hwy 69 was the more favorible time route, but we didn't want to deal with traffic if you look at a map. However we get maybe a couple miles out of town and the road in the distance looks funny, it completely changed color. So we get to it, and my buddy starts slowin' WAY down.....it's gravel for as far as we can see. VERY loose stuff, they were prepping for paving, and it was all rounded pebbles. So this was my first experince going over serious gravel at about 30 mph, but I got it up to 40 catching up for a bit. It went back to pavement after about 3-4 miles, but I was really glad the road didn't have any corners on it. Got passed by only a couple trucks, it wasn't a very popular road (wonder why?). Tried to keep on the tracks of previous vehicles as it was more compressed and a bit more stable. You really couldn't ask for a safer environment though for gravel, it looked pretty thick judging from the edges and probably would soften the impact had I fallen with minimal damage to the bike.

At my work our parking lot is gravel, and yesterday my rear tire got a little loose leaving (didn't fall though, just a quick adjustment) and reminded me of this event.

When you guys park your bike and you know it's going to be dead cold when you get back on, do you leave the choke in or pull it back out when you're say parking the bike for the night. Same question for winter storage...?

I haven't had a while lot of experience with chokes, other than chainsaws and other lawn equipment (which I typically ignore). Would preemptively pulling out the choke allow gas fumes into the carburetors and gum them up or is there not enough fumes to do that?

This idea occurred to me when I went to work and thought about doing it just to save a few seconds of time leaving to go home.

I doubt that it matters, but I leave the choke off. I only pull mine to the choked position when I'm actually starting the cold engine. Ed

If the bike is going to sit for a long time, drain the carbs. I made most of my money cleaning them each spring because people won't do it.
Steve

OK thanks for the input guys!

Thanks for bringing winter storage up swest, it's coming up fast here in Wisconsin. I haven't a clue how to drain the carbs. I was just going to siphon the gas out of the tank and run it till empty like I do with the lawnmowers to be on the safe side. I'm sure just draining the carbs is easier yes? How do you do that?

There should be drain screws at the bottom of the bowels. If you run it out of gas, some will still be in there to turn to gunk.
Steve

There are other alternatives, if you're storing your bike at home, in the garage, you can fill up your tank with fresh gas before storage & put the proper amount of Sta-Bil , or Sea Foam in the tank & make sure you start it at least once or twice a month for 10-15 minutes, this also circulates the oil thru your motor thru the winter, so your pistons & rings aren't sitting in the same position all winter, or you can fill your tank with 100 octane racing fuel, which can last good for up to a year without going bad go bad like regular fuel, only thing is , it's like 6.99 a gallon, but I still would start the bike once or twice a month
It's also a good idea that when you start your bike each time to move it a foot or so back or forth , so your tires aren't sitting on one spot all winter, also make sure you have a trickle charger hooked up to your battery, I use a CTEK smart charger, which stops charging when battery is fully charged, & starts charging again when it gets low
www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&...m=bv.103073922,d.cWw
Pete

Go out to your local, or small general aviation airport and buy a couple gallons of 100LL fuel. Private planes sit for very long times and the gas is VERY stable.
Add Sta-Bil if you want. Change the oil before you hang it up for a few months.
Run the engine at least two or three times during the winter months.