Toutsuite

Ah well, whether I have the right tools (or the social skills!) is debatable! So are you saying I wouldn't have to change the jets themselves to bigger ones, just adjust the needles? That would save me having to buy new jets. Another question I have is how does the mechanic figure out what jet settings are right? Among other things, does he measure the back pressure in the exhaust? I figure if I'm going to get this done, I should do it right.

Well I doubt very much that the issue is an over-rich mixture, as the back-pressure must be a lot lower on the cruzers than with the stock pipes, therefore I presume airflow would be greater. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Popping on deceleration and when changing gear (when closing the throttle) is from what I've been reading typical of straight-through pipes, even ones with baffles. The HK quiet baffle I've got on order should increase the back-press, thus reducing the frequency and volume of popping.

I did change the gasket Keith, and all is tightened up, except possibly the bolts fixing the rear pipe to the outlet - I'm not saying it's loose, it's just that I didn't have quite the right tools for the job (like a handled allen key), the allen key I used was a bit crap. I've bought a proper set of allens now and will give those bolts a bit more tightening. Tmaster thanks for the reply, I'll wait till the hard kore quiet baffles are delivered, and after I've installed them and see what that does, I'll see about rejetting. Anyone know how much that costs? A couple hundred quid? Oh and another thing; on the stock mufflers, when I removed them I noticed two small neatly drilled holes underneath the bottom one and one on the top one; the holes look too neat to have been done in someone's garage. Were they like that from the factory? The holes were blowing out exhaust.

The cruzers have baffles in them, they are not totally straight through pipes, it's just the v&h mufflers aren't very good at muffling! (mind you I'd dread to think what they sound like with the baffles removed!)

Ok so guess what got delivered today and what I spent the afternoon / evening doing? Yup, got me some pipes! My draggie is now "complete"! However, on the test ride (not rejetted yet) I did this evening I discovered the following: - They are too BLOODY LOUD! Ok maybe not for some people with straight-through pipes, but they were louder than I expected. YouTube doesn't do them justice. I didn't dare open the taps too much (so didn't notice any difference in power), I was riding through residential areas after all, but I can just imagine SCREAMING down the motorway at 70! :-( It would be deafening! So I'm now looking into getting quieter baffles for them. - There was a LOT of popping and some backfiring on deceleration (which I fucking hate - I mean really fucking hate). Does anyone know if rejetting cures that, even if not completely? The stock pipes popped as well, but did so really quietly, and they didn't backfire, so didn't really matter. Maybe the quieter baffles will sort that out. Rejetting if done, will be done professionally btw, I have neither the tools nor the skills for it. On the subject of rejetting, I have a question for Taskmaster: you say it should always be done, but what about slip ons which are advertised as not needing rejetting? The cruzers are not labelled slip-ons (nor are they lebelled full exhausts), but as they reuse the stock front header pipe they are to all intents slip-ons. And if the air intake has not been changed, why would rejetting be needed? Appreciate your thoughts... Update: may have found the solution: http://www.smartpartz.com/SPZVH300CZ.html

Ok cheers guys, that's put my mind at ease!

Hi folks, as above, lately I've noticed my engine makes a ticking sound that gets louder when I've ridden a few miles. I know V-twins are noisy motors, but the ticking does get louder the warmer the engine is. Doesn't seem to be affecting performance at the mo. Is it just the valves opening and closing or could I be looking at something more serious?

I don't have a tachometer attached to my draggie (wish I did!), but my experience is you're better off in 4th pulling away at 50kph (about 30mph), especially if you're in a hurry. 5th works fine (unless you're going uphill) but you do get quite a bit of clattering from the transmission. Cruising at 50kph in 5th is fine.

Hi, all the xvs 650s certainly vibrate around 60-65 mph, you have to push to 70 and more to go past the vibrating so I guess the 1100 does too. I think it's the shaft drive. 100 miles from one tank? Glad I got the 650 then (150 miles to the tank without going into reserve). Did you get the classic or the custom? Maybe some piccies in the gallery, yes?

http://www.brightona.net/ This Sunday 9th October. Anyone going?

if you do not provide piccies then the bike doesn't exist.

I was just about to link to the consultation paper, but clarkegray beat me to it. Interesting to note that the paper states existing bikes will not be affected in any way by these proposals. (Look at the q&a section). So all this talk about bikes over 7 years old being banned from cities is it seems to me to be a load of old bollocks. This is not to say there aren't things to complain about, but I for one would like to keep reality and fantasy separate.

Got honked on the motorway in Kent today by some kind of exotic custom bobber, possibly harley based (it sounded like it!), with an absolutely massively fat rear wheel, as he was overtaking me on the inside lane (I was in the middle lane). I waved back. I generally try to ackowledge every other bike on the road, and car drivers as well when they make room for me!

insert inevitable "shiny helmet" joke here...

Just out of curiosity Auzz, how many miles on the clock on that engine?

Funny, not seen many girls riding sporsters or draggies round my parts (South London)! Campaman, it looks like leathy is right and the earlier classic models came with pegs as standard. Look forward to seeing your bike in the gallery!

Very nice! And intersting to see a classic with the front footpegs rather than the boards. Was this for reasons of comfort (I find the pegs more comfortable - you can adjust the angle of your ankle!), or so you didn't scrape along fast bends? And the new steed is sweeeeet!

Any links to piccies of said old steed leatherat?

I agree the look of the bike without the saddlebags and screen is leaner and meaner, but I really wouldn't venture on a motorway or A road without a screen. And the bags are very practical. Come winter - paradoxically - I might remove the screen so that the bike cover can reach all the way down to the bottom of the front wheel; No motorway trips then! The bottom of my left fork looks like it's had quite a few bits of surface rust rubbed off with wire wool or something; or maybe it's just from gravel chipping it. Not sure.

Leatherat thanks for the clarification, I'll try and keep her clean as much as I can! Re ACF50, I know I can do most of it myself, and plan to, but for the hard-to-reach bits under the bike and inbetween the engine bits it may be worth having it done, once a year. Then I can touch up the more accesible parts more frequently. NEV thanks for the tip; am a bit wary of polishes tbh, as it doesn't really need them, apart from one or two spots of discoloration and scratches. The scratches may be too deep to solve with a polish.

or a good pair of winter gloves and a couple of national cycle hand shields... Don't think I'll be doing an awful lot of winter riding though (famous last words probably!)

Well, I've gone and done it, got new grips! The throttle side of the old ones had some exposed wiring that I noticed yesterday so I thought sod it, I'm changin'em. Got some lovely chrome and rubber replacements (non-heated of course). I've put up more pics in the gallery.

Here's some updated pics; now with saddlebags and new grips.

Cheers for the advice, pipes would be my next project, in a few months when my finances have recovered a bit! I'm thinking Jardine or V&H slip-ons, deep and grumbly but not too loud! I'm not sure what you mean by they rust very well; do you mean they don't rust easily? In any case yes, apart from the regular cleaning, I'll get her acf50'd for the winter, a localish (sidcup) motorbike tyre place do it, and sell the stuff.

Well, here she is!