Idiot v. Motorbikes, Rounds 3, 4, and 5

[melville]

Odds 'n' ends. Ernst is reclaiming his Keihans mufflers, so I needed to do something. Thankfully, a little while ago our own jagarra saw a complete /6 exhaust on his local Craigslist for a bargain (2 digit!!!) price, told me about it, made the deal for me and mailed it to me. The whole system was lightly patinated. The mufflers less so than the headpipes and they appear to be aftermarket replacements.

These are they:



They're shorter than the Keihans, so possibly a universal fitment for SWB and LWB. No indents for passing the rear axle out or for the brake pedal. One can see straight through them, also, so not baffled quite like a stocker. But they did mount right up:



Say, that's a jaunty angle! What's it look like with the bags on? Well, like this:



It looked a bit close for me. Not wanting to cook my clothes or camping gear I put 10mm of spacers between the frame extension and the muffler to get to this:



Much better.

Brake pedal clearance was an issue:



But a little time with persuasive instruments and it's moving freely now:



Speaking of bag clearance--I did this a while ago. I have the plastic Krausers and while they fit Ernst just fine, they had issues engaging with the racks on Edgar. The point of interference seemed like it was the turnsignals:



I have a single Samsonite style bag and it fit right on:



So I cut the turnsignal mount down 1/2" on each side:



I pushed the wires in, got the Dremel with a cut-off wheel on it, and cut for length and for the locating notch. Now all happy with plenty of room:

[melville]

First ride today with the new to me mufflers, running errands. I think I have them mounted a bit better as there's less T-Rex noise coming off the fairing. They may be a touch throatier than the Keihans. Successful overall.

[melville]

I was a little dismayed to find this the other day. But not unexpected:



It's like you can't expect OG BMW shocks to hold on to their oil for more than 40 years. I just upgraded Ernst's shocks and had a nice set of patinated Progressives for hand-me-downs. They are now installed, and things cleaned up a little:



Just in time for it to get into the 70s the next few days.

[melville]

Ride report! So warm that I took the liner out of my jacket! The back end of Edgar is much more controlled now. Life is good.

The ride was up to Greensprings, which is a snaky 2nd and 3rd gear state highway into the mountains. The gravel (from the snowy season) is out of the travel lanes for the most part, but the highway hasn't been properly swept.

We get about a week of spring here and then it gets hot hot hot.

[melville]

Odds 'n' ends report!

My son helped me remount the crash bars a few weeks ago:



He's a bit taller than me and was able to engage them with his heels as highway pegs. It kinda works for me, but my go-to on a long day (at least by myself) are actually the passenger pegs.

This came with Ernst, 15 years ago, and I didn't think I'd ever use it. It's an OG Craven top box:



But as Edgar is all about the vintage mods and accessories, and pillion comfort, it just HAD to go on. Not as easy as you might think--even though these were all made by Krauser, the platforms come in different sizes:



So it wasn't a case of just offering it up and being done. I had to measure and drill new holes in the bottom to match the smaller rack. First, some clean-up:



The roundel had been mounted in a hokey fashion. I took it off for the cleaning and remounted it when done with black gorilla snot. It should stay on for another 40+ years.



There was some fun when I went to the hardware store to get fasteners for that box. My son sent me this link, all excited about it:

https://medford.craigslist.org/mcy/d/ph ... 48986.html

This is the bike in question:



His roommate just passed her BRC and has the M endorsement, so he's "looking for her." I think she's favoring a Yamaha R3. I told him, "Those were everywhere BITD. Couldn't give them away 20 years ago."

At the hardware store itself, this was in the parking lot:



I shit you not!!! I yakked with the rider as we were both leaving. Nice guy, liked the coincidence with my son and the CL ad. Those mufflers don't.

Meanwhile, Edgar proves useful:



The turkeys are needing that chow as we're just a couple weeks away from the new brood hatching.

[melville]

More odds 'n' ends:

I finally secured the headlight modulator switch in the fairing:



The wiring is still a mess but it all works. I also replaced the bulb in the left side marker.

My pillion and I found a lot of wind noise coming off the top of the windshield. I found that if I scootched down a little, I'd be in a dead quiet spot. Nothing I could hold for any time without giving myself sore shoulders or back, but clearly things weren't far off. I asked Craig Hansen if there was any trick from BITD to make the Luftmeister quiet, like a bolt-on lip or something. He couldn't think of anything, but said, "There's a place in Florida, Gustafsson Plastics, that makes new shields. They probably don't cover this model, but it's worth a shot." I looked them up and not only did they cover the model, but they listed the shields in many heights. They're not in stock, but they can make them in about a week + shipping. I ordered the tallest one figuring I could cut it down if it was too much. It arrived today:





The shield comes undrilled. They include a special drill bit and a sample piece to test it on. I worked out the speed and feed pretty quick. Slow drill speed and just a bit of pressure gets you a beautiful hole. I marked the first hole (the center one) and drilled it off the bike. I installed the screen loosely with that screw and then worked my way out, actually drilling mounted up, and installing screws loosely until all were drilled and screwed. Then I tightened things down. The end result:



That's not a crack above and to the right of the headlight, but a break in the foam gasket 'twixt screen and fairing. Road test to come this weekend.

[melville]

My pillion has requested the backrest be moved back a bit, as the RDL seat presses her into it. I thought about different ways to do that and thought I'd just extend the front legs of the thing and bend the back legs to match. Here are the extensions in process and finished:





Using ugly tools to bend (actually straighten) the rear legs:



And the result. From here:



To here:



And fully installed:





No pillion test quite yet--I'm getting over the Uncommon Cold and we're not doing any spooning lately, whether in ATGATT or under the covers. Soon.

I did get out for an hour or so in the mountains today. The screen works well. Nice and quiet at the helmet. I am getting a little push on my back. A little number fun just before getting home:



Tires are in over to Hansen's and they will be installed after Memorial Day weekend. Looking forward to the new Michelins!

[kmisterk]

New-to-you mufflers don't look that much different from what these bikes tend to ship with. Difference must be with the internals, then?

[melville]

Yes, different inside as I can see through them. BMW has a baffle or two.

Externally, the mount bracket is welded on so one hopes they got it right. Also, no indents for the brake pedal or for rear axle egress. I'm still adjusting the fit around the brake pedal. But I did pull the wheels last night for new tires next week and the axle cleared the muffler just fine.

[melville]

A few updates:

1. The new Michelins are the shiznit! I've made a couple runs on the full length of 96 as well as my favorite local roads and they just stick and stick. Last night I left my son and his SV650 in the dust. Granted, he's a new rider and I appreciate his caution.

2. I transferred the USB outlet from Ernst so I can charge my phone or camera or keep the Sena powered on a long day:



3. I'd never been happy with reusing the 40 year old, previously abused, breather hose. They are NLA from BMW but I didn't know that the aftermarket has responded. I'd been getting some ooze out of the starter cover in the area of the various breather apparati and attacked that problem with this from EME:



Nothing is simple in life, and this required starter and airbox removal to get access to the breather covers. But it all buttoned up nicely and things are dry after 50ish miles last night in 100 deg temps.

There will be odd updates on Edgar coming, but I think he's fit for use now. I'll be starting slowly on Elsa, the RS, next.