jimm

I've a got a Roadhouse slip on my 1300 - it's got the 'quiet' baffle (allegedly quiet that is...). Tester didn't like it, and tbh it was a bit louder than I'd wanted. I fitted a baffle inside the main baffle - bit of measuring and got it from these guys in the UK. http://www.customizedchoppers.com/c/Exhaust-Baffles?all=1 I needed the 8 inch 44mm, pretty fast delivery, and not too dear either at 10 quid I was quite pleased with the result, toned it down nicely. Tester sniffed a bit (he's a miserable sod) and passed it... Won't let me post the pic for some reason Jim

I got mine from Alchemy Bikes, dunno if they still have them or not.

Haven't seen it but if it is what I assume it is, it's not an O2 sensor as such, its simply a small resistor that fools the EMS into making the mix a tad richer at row revs, thus smoothing it out. Fits between the stock O2 sensor and the EMS. Usually costs a little bit more, maybe 50, so make sure its not a crappy one!! Do they work? Yes. It was one of the first changes I made to mine. 5 min job to fit - if its good one, it'll have the correct plugs, etc. Google 'Jacks's O2 Mod' and read what you find:)

I've not had the problem you refer to (nor have I had make any warranty claims so far) and I've 4k on mine. You might however, want to search for 'drive belt pulley' 'belt noises' 'chirping' on some of the other 1300 forums (like http://1300tourer.com) and you'll find lots of threads around this area. Not looked at them in any great detail, however there seems to have been some recurrent issues around the engine drive belt pulley (you don't say which pulley they've removed)with it going out of alignment due to incorrect torque settings, or worn bearings due belt overtightening. Worth a quick browse Hope you get sorted! Jim

The key number in all this is not voltage but how many watts. Headlights are usually 55 watts, and HID lights are usually 35 watts, so simply cannot run as hot as a standard headlights, regardless of how much light they put out. Look at your old 6v bulb and see what cottage it is. Whatever.. 35w from HID is nothing, you'll be fine with it, always assuming you can physically get to fit. Finding a place for the ballast unit might be a challenge! Jim

The 535 is becoming a classic! Anyway, yours is almost 20 years only and has only done 8k, so its spent a lot of time sitting not going anywhere, so I'd suspect gum formation (from the fuel) in the carbs. The fact that this happens after its sat for a few days would support this. The fuel pump shouldn't pull a vacuum, but it could be that when you park up after a ride, the heat 'soaks' the carbs and the fuel in them expands, forcing the float hard up, and then it sticks. Or the carb has expanded in the heat, and then cools down, trapping the float...whatever the reason, it shouldn't stick! Only real remedy is to remove and strip the carbs down and clean them out very thoroughly, even if they look clean now. Gum can be hard to see...it can be a bit like a thin coat of varnish. I know you've cleaned them already, but what did you clean them with? You can buy 'carb cleaner' which should help get rid of gum, but beware that some of these are caustic and even if they're not, they could damage and plastic parts (like the float), gaskets etc. I'd also clean out the needle valve parts in the same way, although DON'T go poking a pipe cleaner or something into it as you could damage the valve seat. I know you said it was the floats that were sticking, but its likely that the needle valve is also gummed up and could stick as well - same end result. Sometimes there are little rubber seals on the needle valve - this could get damaged by the cleaner also. The carbs are 20 years old, its really a strip down job, and you should really see if you can get a gasket/refurbish kit for it - you'd like to think that this was something that a Yammie dealer could supply. Alternatively, have search around locally and see if there are any specialist shops that would service the carbs for you. Don't think I'd trust this to your average dealer...they'd just want to bolt on new ones Which might actually be worth pricing..out of interest. Have fun! Jim

The fact that everything is dead sounds bad, but it probably means the fault is quite simple. You checked a lot of the obvious things and as they seem to be OK I'd suspect the earth. You say you checked the battery voltage, I assume that was across the terminals, so the battery is OK. What you want to check is the earth bonding - check the voltage from the +ve to some more remote point on the frame or the engine. Try a bolt head or something, you may need to scrape a bit to get a good connection. You should still get 12 volts plus. If the reading is less than you get across the battery directly, the earth connection is bad. If the -ve connection seems OK on the battery, find the other end and check it as well. Even if you do get good voltage on the meter, it could still be a bad connection on any of the main cables. If there is high resistance on any of the connections, you could still see more or less the corrent voltage on the meter because it only draws micro amps - but whenever you draw a bigger current, the voltage drop across the bad connection goes up to the point where it all seems dead. Dunno where the wiring is though...don't know the 650 Hope this helps, Jim

I agree its not the slickest gear selection on 1st and 2nd. I've about 3k miles on mine now, and I think it has eased a little, although it still clonks going into 1st. Gets better when its warmed up. Going from 1 to 2...you can try and slow this change down, almost pause for a fraction of a second as you pass through neutral, it will go in much more sweetly. Also helps if you don't rev the nuts off it in first Check the free play on the clutch lever is correct - manual says 5 - 10mm. I've mine set at the minimuml. Jim

Is it the Yammie screen you have? Is it general buffeting or buffeting around the head? I've a 1300 and the Yammie screens I've seen are really quite tall, but I don't know the 950. General rule is that you should be able to see over the top of the screen, some say your eyes should fall about 30 feet or so ahead if you sight along the top of the screen. I've fitted a short Show Chrome screen and initially I got some buffet. Altered the angle and that made it better. Just recently fitted couple of spots and the buffeting has gone completely - must have altered the air flow under the bottom of the screen..not complaining!! Otherwise, if you search this site or the other Yam Custom forums, you'll find masses of tips about buffeting. There's no quick answer, mostly trial and error. On the 1300, fitting lowers is a common mod to reduce buffeting. Have a word with Alchemy Bikes in Letchworth - Roy there is pretty knowledgable and they stock lots of stuff. I'm sure he'll have some options for you. Jim

By all means have a go, its how you learn. Just be very prepared to take it to a dealer afterwards to get them to sort it out

When you lean, you increase the load. If you lean at 40 degrees going round a bend, you're pulling 1.3g. So the bike and rider weigh 30% more than when you're riding on a straight road This is equivalent to putting a big chap of almost 300 lbs on the back. Hence the suspension gets compressed more. Stiffer springs won't compress as much so the clearance will be greater. If you lean at 60 degrees, its 2g or twice the weight. Not that many cruisers will lean at 60 degrees!! It was all that trig and vectors stuff from school that we dozed through ...the suspension becomes compressed by the force running down the centre line of the bike. If you really really really want to, you can work it out for various lean angles using 1/cos x, where x is the lean angle in degrees. Alternatively, go the pub I think I need to get out more... Jim

Roy, Nah...abacii are out of development now. They only ran on Windows 3.1 Anyway, you need to post the images somewhere else first and then click the 'Insert Image' icon in the reply editor and paste in the URL and path to the file. You could use Photobucket or Flickr or similar and they'll give you the URL, or if they're images from your own website, you should be able right click on the image, go to 'properties' or 'view image' depending on how its built and what browser you're using grab the path from there or from the Address Bar. So what you want to get is the 'http://www.alchemybikes.co.uk/Images/Products/Zoom/ACF2E9.jpg' and once you've put this in using the Insert Image icon it will look like.... Voila! Jim

And of course, you'll need to apply a few mods in order to be thoroughly prepared for such an undertaking

Looking good, the crash guards on the panniers are a nice touch. Hope the bars went on OK. I added the Kury Throttle boss on to mine on a recommendation. They're not dear, and I actually quite like them. Gives you a nice sense of throttle position which IMO makes it easier to be smooth when squeezing in the power (like when you're going round a roundabout). And you can relax your hand and hold the throttle constant by resting your hand on it. Trouble with posting all these pics, is it keeps the 'wish list' from getting smaller...just added the radiator trim to mine Not in any particular order.. Drivings lights Lightbar Additional rear running and brake lights HID headlamp conversion Horn Tacho Progressive springs Chrome radiator trim Change tank emblem Driver's backrest? Luggage rack Ah well...

Sure...sent you a PM Jim

Good point, Graham. If you decide you prefer the RSTD option, you can't re-use the bar ends from the original bars so the OEM grips are useless. So you can either buy the bar ends for the RSTD bars (I couldn't get these in the UK so I'd have had to import them from the US) or fit after market grips. The popular choice are the Kuryakin ISO grips - these don't need bar ends and IMO look better than the stock grips anyway. About 60 GBP ish from memory. If you look here there's couple of pics of the RSTD bars fitted and if you scroll up a bit you'll see a 950. Doubt if that would help you decide, as they both look similar in the pics. The 950 bars have less pull back. Have fun! Jim

Ian, Changing the bars is probably one of the most common mods that are done to the 1300 - the OEM bars got so much stick that the 2010 model as different ones much more like the 950. There is a mass of information on this here and on other forums. There are a number of alternative bars that can be and have been used, the most common being to use the bars from the Royal Star Tour Deluxe (the 'RSTD' bars as you'll see them called). I've swapped to these and so have many others. They'll give you a very similar feel to the 950 I think (from my brief seat on one) with a bit more pull back. Depends on what position you want. The RSTD bars work with existing cabling, can't comment on the 950 bars but I think they are OK. If you Google RSTD handlebars you'll find all sorts including a review of bars and how they fit the 1300 or click here. There's also a great 'how to' section here that covers both the RSTD and 950 bars. You might have to do a bit of detective work to sort out part numbers as the ones that are often quoted are for the US - it was a slightly different number here in the UK. A good dealer should be able to track it down though. Hope this helps, Jim

Fender tip is the Yammie one - they do a 'double rail' one as well, but I thought that looked a bit overstated. The number plate is absolutely standard size and totally legal...in the US of A It was the first thing I changed as I hated the way the plate as fitted by the dealer looked. Apparently, the UK has the honour of having the largest motorcycle number plate in the world! I did think about whether or not to do it, but based on the number of bikes on the road with small plates (quite a lot even smaller than this one) and conversation with a couple of m/c cops (one of whom admitted he had an illegal plate on his own bike!) who 'suggested' that as long as it was clear and readable, nobody should bother...unless they got out of bed on the wrong side. Seemed to suggest they were more concerned about odd spacing and fancy lettering as this confuses the ANR system.

Finally, here's mine in black...

Sent you a PM I've got Held bags and they went on OK, but I've not got a lot of faith in that accessories catalogue

Ah well... I've got 'versions' of all the other bits you mentioned - hope you manage to get rid of them somewhere! All the best with the new bike, Jim

Hi Stu...just seen catching up with stuff and saw this post. Sorry you're leaving the clan, but I'm sure you'll love the Beemer ! Just wondered about your Buck's lowers...might be interested. Not sure if they'll fit as I've got a ShowChrome screen, but probably will. If you've still got them, have you got a piccy of them and how much were you thinking of? Cheers Jim

Nope, not scraped, was too scared to lean over

TY for the piccies...the 3rd one down kinda says it. Miles different from mine. Anyway, I've taken the bars off, and think I'll go for the Yammie ones. Wonder how I'll get on getting some dosh back... Jim

Depends how your riding it! If I'm just pottering around, not on motorways, not riding hard, I get around 150 miles until the fuel light comes on, and topping up the tank takes about 12 litres, so that's about 55 mpg. The fuel light seems to come on early, as there's another 6 litres in the tank, and the manual says 3.7 I think. That seems to be quite consistent, so I reckon on 5 litres usable fuel after the light comes on, so I'd work on 50 miles max. Not that I've got anywhere near testing that out!!!