Sidestand extension

Over the past weekend, I finally took care of one of those jobs that's been nagging me since last Summer. Ever since I upgraded the suspension on my bike, I have been reluctant to use the sidestand much. It was too short, and left the bike sitting at rather a crazy angle.




Not only is this angle tough on the parts, it is tough on my left leg when I try to stand the bike up. So I've been using the centerstand almost exclusively, which has been less than perfectly convenient.

So I pulled out a few tools and got to work. First, I removed the sidestand and marked it up. I scribed a straight line top to bottom (for later alignment) and scribed a circle around it at what I thought was a good location.





Then the irreversible:



Next up, I needed a piece of steel to put in the middle. Since A2 tool steel is what I have on hand, that's what I used. Makes for a very expensive side stand...




That was easy enough with the mini-lathe. I ground chamfers all around the areas to be attached and test-fit them:



Welding time! My welds aren't nearly as pretty as I'd like, nor as free of voids... But I think this will hold. The grinder helps with the look, and the shoulders on the insert should help to keep things seated.



After several alternate passes of grinder and welder, I had something I think was strong enough and decent looking enough to paint. So I primed and painted the thing and had it installed by dinner time.




And now, my bike finally isn't ready to toss itself over when on the stand.

A bit of brake work

On Sunday, I replaced the brake disk and pads on the front end of the bike. Technically my old disk was within specs (4.5 mm minimum thickness) but I was unhappy with how much material would have to come off in order to get it properly smooth. So I bought an EBC MD-650 disk like this one:


Since cyclebrakes.com offers a discount on pads with purchase, I ordered a set to go with the disk. I have a spare set in the garage already, but since the life on those things was kinda short I decided to get the new ones. These are the 'gold' pads, in the highest 'HH' temperature range. They claim to be for superbikes and such. Once they're bedded in we'll see how they do for my application.

Dumb things I gotta do

I'm just trying to take stock here of unfinished business on the bike...

First and foremost, I need to pass inspection, which means getting the horn functional again. It mysteriously stopped working when I did the suspension swap, and I haven't taken the time to track down exactly what's broken.

Second, I need to solve the ABS and grip heater switch problem. Both switches mount to a plate that screws to the bolts holding the handlebars to the triple tree. Unfortunately, with the new setup, the spacing is different. I think I'll do something that mounts to just the right hand side, a small piece of aluminum or something. Either that, or I'll put together something that mounts to the handlebar crosspiece.

Next, I have to address the steering lock situation. I managed to get the ignition lock subtly misplaced, and the lock isn't working. I can't even turn on the parking lights... Although this might save my battery.

The sidestand is also too short now, and leaves the bike at an awkward angle. I'm thinking of just welding a short piece of steel into place near the end to lengthen it.

My wiring for the auxiliary fog light is still in place, but I have no mount made up for it. I'd really like to get that take care of. I don't feel right without extra light out front.

Handlebar risers would be a good, no, a GREAT idea. I may try to make do with the 25 mm risers in the tool box next time I have the handlebars removed. I'll probably have to fabricate some spacers to get the longer screws from the 35 mm risers to seat properly.

What else, what else? Oh yes, I want to make a mounting plate for the 'Dakar' tool kit, so that I can carry it on the tail of the bike without needing any other luggage.

Odds and Ends

I thought I should post an image of the Touratech tail light support I installed. I picked it up at the ADVRider flea market for about 20 bucks, and it should save me considerably more than that in the event of bottoming the rear. Admittedly, it's less likely these days with the upgraded suspension, but after all: Now I'll be hammering it harder off road.

Here I'm getting ready to begin:


And here it is, installed:



Installation was quite straightforward, but a little difficult because of the tight confines. I rather wish I had done this while I had the exhaust cans off the bike, as the crosspiece got in the way. It also makes sense to take off the bar at the rear of the luggage rack if you can.

As this was a used part, there were a couple of issues. It was lacking some of the washers and nuts needed to secure things, and one of the black plastic spacers was missing. I made these replacements:



You can see where they were installed in the first picture, above the connections up in the wheel well.

Finishing up

Today I took care of a few last details on the suspension upgrade. Primarily, this means cutting the tie wraps I was using to hold the ignition cylinder to the upper triple clamp, and fabbing something up.

A poster at ADVRider.com who did this same upgrade put up some pictures and drawings, but since my triple seems to be of a slightly different design, so is my upper plate. I didn't take any pictures of the machining process, but at least I have the final unit captured.

It's made of three main pieces, a top plate and two connecting rods. The top plate was bored for the lock cylinder, and drilled for the three bolt holes. I also put a tab that matched the shape of my triple tree.

I also got the beak attached, which required four new mounting holes. It sits a little farther back than it used to, but not by very much. I need to try and compress the suspension, to see if I need to add washers to adjust the angle of the thing.

Now if I can just figure out why my stupid horn stopped working... I've got to pull out the multimeter and see what's going on in there.

Dead horn?

*sigh*

I took my bike to the DMV inspection station today, and discovered that my horn is not working. I suppose I should have tested it after I reinstalled it. What a pain in the ass.

The guy offered to let me come back later, but I asked him to just fail me, so I have a few days to work on it. I'm sure it's something simple, but I don't have time in the middle of a work day to take care of this crap.

A quick test ride

Yesterday, I realized that if I do not get the bike inspected today, I can't legally ride it over the weekend. That would suck.

So I buttoned it up, leaving off only two things. One is the front beak, which I plan to put back on once I grind off the bosses on the lower triple that get in the way. The other is the ignition lock holder, but that was all good with a couple of zip ties.

The bike is completely, utterly different from what it was before. And I mean that in the best possible way. Small bumps aren't noticed, large bumps don't upset it. Brake dive is minimal, but it's easy to raise the front suspension noticeably with the accelerator. I love it.

Pictures later.