Toutsuite

How many miles on her? And yes, check the oil first.

Well ladies and gentlemen, I could not believe the amount of crud caked on the lower end of my monoshock once I removed the rear fender. Managed to clean all the muck off, using liberal amounts of demon wheels cleaner, wire brush, steel wool and water. There's a thin film of brown rust on the bolt, nut and the shock itself but that is to be expected. Sanded/brushed as much of it off as I could. I'm reasonably confident the thing hasn't snapped. I then smothered it all in grease, especially the underside. Also applied Hammerite to the bits of the swingarm that had surface rust on them (having sanded it off first natch). Looks like a once-every-3 month job to me... Cheers for the heads up Cap'n! Edit: I could swear she's a slightly more comfortable ride now, but that could just be placebo...

Fookin'ell! Glad everyone's alright. But can't do him for driving off because he returned within 24hrs???!!? Seriously? That's a law??!

Thing is, checking doesn't guarantee anything necessarily; metal fatigue is hard to spot (I think you'd need an x-ray machine or something); but hey, keeping it clean and lubed up can't hurt. Think I'll go and do it now...

Great! Know anywhere I can get a not-too-expensive bike jack?

That sucks man. Not a cheap fix either, £300 for a hagon monoshock from wemoto... Oh wait, you're gonna use the one from your other drag right? Should be straightforward to replace though, looks like you just remove the top and bottom bolts. Was faffing around under the seat on mine last weekend, didn't notice anything amiss. She's just gone past 40K miles though, and with the state of London's roads, it can't be too long. But here's hoping eh? My mechanic in Croydon who has experience with draggies warned me of this when I first got her serviced.

The ramps are too short, or the pickups too high, making the angle too steep. That's why it's gotta be a van.

Hmmm... seems the draggie engine doesn't like motorway speeds much... mine blew a minor gasket (the "window" on the back of the rear cylinder) which needed replacing a few months back, and now I'm starting to see oiliness (but not an actual drip leak - yet) on the bottom front side of the clutch casing. I suspect the big gasket is beginning to fail, maybe even the oil filter O ring as well... wish to f**k the draggie had a oil-pressure gauge.

Yep, nobody nods in London, plenty do as soon as you get out in any direction. I don't bother nodding in London as nobody else does, unless it's a fellow Jap cruiser, they tend to acknowledge. Harley riders never nod back regardless of where you are so sod 'em. I use the side nod, can't mistake it for anything else...

I've seen tassles on a viggie - not a pretty sight! Next up on the list of Cruiser Bike Faux-Pas: laced leather chaps! Arrrgh! Like Brokeback mountain mixed with the campness of Moulin Rouge!

Agree about the tassles; I think one can get away with a few studs and some chrome. But it is certainly possible to cross the line into the realm of camp.

I see your point...

which Hardley model does the draggie mimic? I've always thought the viggie looks squashed length wise.

Guess so... still feels spritely though!

It's my baby's "birthday" today! She's had her service and she's just turned 40,000 miles old. I think I'll get her a new clutch for a prezzie!

Didn't manage to get down there after all, I had a bit of a battery problem.

I'll try and be there for about noon. Should be interesting.

Stupid little critter doesn't know what to do with it once it gets it. It's probably so inbred it is its own grandfather...

For v&h you could do worse than try customcruisers.com Give them a ring, quite friendly and they might quote you a better price than on their website. There's also metriccruisers.co.uk Happy ridin'!

Highway hawk pipes are crap, they'll rust through before you know it. They'll turn blue even sooner. Sure they'll be loud, especially if they ain't got no baffles, but will sound quite harsh and blatty. Go for some Vance & Hines or Cobras. V&H make the cruzers for the 650, which I certainly haven't regretted fitting on my draggie! Fairly reasonably priced too. Don't forget you'll also have to rejet the carbs, otherwise you'll be running way too lean. Hope that helps!

I think the v&h slip on (or the cobra) are the most straightforward exhaust upgrade you can make, as well as the cheapest. I think you just unplug the sensor from the OEM can and plug in into the new one. Have a look at customcruisers.com, they should be able to answer any and all questions you might have.

digital or analog readout? Possibly snapped speedo cable, or digidisplay need replacing?

I'm having the same problem as the OP. Slipping clutch in 3rd, 4th and 5th, under hard acceleration, right in the power band. I don't think it's the oil, I changed that couple of months ago. I would like to eliminate other possibilities to worn clutch plates before replacing them. Has the OP solved his problem?

The rejet was dyno-tuned to be on the lean side. That was with the quiet baffles screwed on, which created more back pressure. With them off now, it'll be even leaner. I'm toying with the idea of a K&N filter and another rejet.

Thought I'd resurrect this old thread... When I first installed the V&H Cruzers on my bike I thought they were way too loud. This was before any rejetting, and having gone from the gentle singer-sowing-machine-sound of the OEM pipes. So I fitted the quiet baffles and was very happy with that. A year and a half later, after having filtered through London traffic with loads of bikes that were louder than me (and we're not talking cruiser bikes here), and having gone to Ace Café meets, and finally a mate of mine getting his hands on a HD fatbob with V&H straight-throughs (loud as fuck natch!), I started to think that maybe I should take those quiet baffles off. So finally today I did. Absolutely loved it! I think the difference is that the carbs are rejetted, so there's less pops and bangs, the packing material in the original baffle is now well bedded down, smoothing out the tone of the pipes, and lastly I'm not self-conscious about having a loud bike! And boy does she turn heads now!