[Andy]

Yesterday morning, got home from work, filled up at the corner station, right to the top as I always do and always have done, put it in the garage and went to bed.  It was about 10 degrees Celsius out at the time (50 F or so).

The sun came up.

The temperature rose.

Twelve hours later, now a lovely 25 C (80 F) outside, I head out to the garage to go to work.  The tank had overflowed and the tank decals which had been soaking in gasoline all day are now peeling off.

It's looking very ghetto right now.   

And just to top off a FANTASTIC month, it picked up a disturbing new chattering noise at higher revs.  Runs okay, but I haven't a clue what it is, and it scares me.

[drbvac]

First Oil Change and thanks to many contributors had the process to follow - However the 2011 only has 3 O rings to change or re-use and I have 4 bags of varying sizes sent to me as part of a "kit" from N-field and no need of them !!

Torque on the 8mm bolts is 4 ft lbs or 48 lb inches by the way and the oil drain plug on a c-5 is 19 mm

[Sub]

I know about the sharp edges behind there Arizoni! I also attacekd that area with some proper edge protection. I had some of this stuff lying around:

Look at page 3740 on Mcmaster-carr (style 9 I think is what I have):
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/117/3740/=czjjpj



Enfield should be using this stuff from the factory there.

[GreenRE]

I know about the sharp edges behind there Arizoni! I also attacekd that area with some proper edge protection. I had some of this stuff lying around:

Look at page 3740 on Mcmaster-carr (style 9 I think is what I have):
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/117/3740/=czjjpj



Enfield should be using this stuff from the factory there.

Lets not start this one. Thats a very long list. And I'm not even joking here.

[Okie Enfield]

+2.........
Checked my fuel line today where it touches the battery box. Is almost clean through. Will get the hose replaced later this week and put some of that edge protection on and keep my eyes peeled for other fraying areas. PITA. 

[singhg5]

I decided to look into the electrical situation under the left sidecover on my G5.
I haven't had a problem yet but I know the harness is a weakness on the RE's.

As some of you know, there are a bunch of wires connected to the three fuse holders and there are also some sharp metal edges both on the edges of the cover and on the part the lock engages.

I was disappointed when I found that RE seems to think that black plastic electrical tape is all that's needed to protect the wiring.   Knowing that a dull knife will cut right thru plastic tape like that I got to thinking.

I have a bunch of 1/4" and 3/8" vinyl tubing so by slitting up one side of it I made some covers for the wiring.
After opening up the slit and pushing the wiring inside it closed back up to its tubular shape but just to make sure I taped the slit with some of the Indian harness covering material (black plastic electrical tape). 

I also noticed that the Hot lead (+) that runs from the battery to the starter solenoid, where it comes out from under the side cover was trying to embed its insulation on the sharp metal edge.  Talk about a potential problem!  If that cut thru and the lock grounded the cover all sorts of sparks could fly!

A short length of the larger vinyl tubing was installed to cover the wiring at that location.

Some lengths of shrink tubing that are slit to allow installation or some of those flexable plastic harness covers from the local auto  parts store would have worked in place of the tubing but as I mentioned, I already had it on hand.

Someday before too long I'll pull the gas tank and add some more tubing to the areas where the harness contacts solid sharp metal edges. 

Can you post some pictures of wires with vinyl tubing or shrink tubing on them - just to help identify areas where the wires are prone to easily loose their insulation. Thanks.

[prof_stack]

Yesterday morning, got home from work, filled up at the corner station, right to the top as I always do and always have done, put it in the garage ...

The sun came up.  The temperature rose.

Twelve hours later, now a lovely 25 C (80 F) outside, I head out to the garage to go to work.  The tank had overflowed and the tank decals which had been soaking in gasoline all day are now peeling off.

...

Monster bummer, for sure!  I assume you had the bike on the centerstand when you filled it and on the centerstand when you parked it.

When I filled up the C5 on the centerstand I had some leakage as well, but not like yours.  Now I only fill it when it is on the sidestand, to allow some space for expansion.

[GlennF]

Monster bummer, for sure!  I assume you had the bike on the centerstand when you filled it and on the centerstand when you parked it.

When I filled up the C5 on the centerstand I had some leakage as well, but not like yours.  Now I only fill it when it is on the sidestand, to allow some space for expansion.

Its especially a bad idea on older bikes.

I completely filled my 20 year old XJ 900 (with original tank un restored tank) on the centre stand late one summer evening, as I had to be up early to get to an airshow which was a fair ride away.

Got up the next morning to find the rising sun had expanded the fuel and popped a rusty seam in the  back of the tank and dumped the entire tank of fuel over the engine.

[Andy]

Yikes.

I'm a little surprised it never happened to me before.  I routinely fill it to the brim.  I just hate losing capacity, you know?

I guess I'll have to get the remnants of those decals peeled off.  Oh, well.  Just one more reason to give it that full makeover when the credit cards are paid down. 

[rbelyk]

bummer Andy, good luck!

[Sub]

Can you post some pictures of wires with vinyl tubing or shrink tubing on them - just to help identify areas where the wires are prone to easily loose their insulation. Thanks.

Upon further inspection yesterday, My wires actually didnt shred on the metal inside the case I thought it did. It shredded on the back of the relay harness. If you feel that plastic, its razor sharp. I took some of the stuff I posted above and just stuck it around the wires so it wouldnt happen again.

I also put some on the edges inside the fuse area-  just below the actual fuse holder, there is  a protruding metal part with sharp edges.

Spent most of the day cleaning gunk off my c5 - went through an entire roll of paper towels! tightened the little side panel there - was really loose! Also put on my heat shield cover and did a full oil change.

Holy cow its a pita to clean spokes. Whats the best way to clean the EFI pipe? Mines ugly!

[prof_stack]

I rode about 100 miles in 75 degree weather today.  That pushes the limit on ATTGATT but I toughed it out.

The first part of the ride was on I-90 from Seattle east to Preston.  The speed limit goes up to 70 late in that stretch and I had the T.W.O. leaning over the gas tank on a slight uphill climb.  It got to an indicated 82mph, probably around 75mph.  There sure are more vibrations up in that area! 

On the ride, I passed a milestone, sort of:


This was taken in Maltby at their cafe:


Nice rest stop over the Snohomish river:


Filling up with non-ethonal (again 89-octane) the mileage was 70mpg.  The C5 seems in its best element in 5th gear from 35 to 55 mph.  I could ride forever in that range.

[Arizoni]

Today I removed the jumper harness that bypasses the headlight switch and keeps the headlight on at all times (including when your trying to start the bike).

I also adjusted the chain because it was slightly looser than the max limit. 
I moved the notched cam 1 notch tighter so now the chain is at the low limit.   The alignment is still good. 

[Andy]

The C5 seems in its best element in 5th gear from 35 to 55 mph.  I could ride forever in that range.

Me, too!  Nice and smooth in that zone.  Too bad the rest of the world won't let me, most of the time.

[FiRE Comms]

yup, that's my sweet spot as well...