[Richard230]

OK, thanks.

I think I made a mistake. I counted again and got 38 teeth. (That is my final teeth-counting correction.)

[Ove]

Maybe you dropped one. 

Stop counting before you need a shorter chain...

[Richard230]

Maybe you dropped one. 

Stop counting before you need a shorter chain...

You could be right. I am getting confused. Counting greasy sprocket teeth through the spokes is no fun.    Maybe I should try it one more time. OK, this time I counted three more times from the right side and dropped another tooth.  I now counted 38 teeth.  So that would give me a 17-tooth front sprocket if the owner's manual is correct.  I went back to my previous posts and corrected them.

[Silverback]

I have never touched the idle adjustment of my 2011 Bullet. According to the digital tachometer that I installed on my bike it idles at between 1100-1200 rpm when fully warm. BTW, I see 3900 rpm at an actual 60 mph.

Checked Haynes manual and it references idle at 1050 plus or minus 200 rpm..  I just downloaded an app.  I will check and set it 950 t0  1000.

[Silverback]

i switched my headlight bulb for an LED option.  I also straighten out the wiring in the headlight bucket.  Man it was a hedge podge mess the way they installed the wiring.
now each of the wiring bundles lies comfortability to each side and removal/install of headlight les encumbered.

[Ove]

Short ride. Broken spoke on rear wheel  Right at the point it bends and enters the hub. No other damage obvious.

Don't know what might have caused it. I had to tighten a few of the front wheel spokes last check, about 200 miles ago, but the rear was all near enough (screwdriver as a tuning fork test). So not sure what caused it. 3,000 miles and 2 years still on original tyres. So the wheel hasn't been disturbed. No sign of an impact and it was a road I ride regularly and avoided all the potholes!

The hub hole looked smooth and the broken spoke was still straight on the nipple, so doesn't look like any damage that end, but I'll double check both ends when I find my reading glasses!
- Assume I just unscrew the broken spoke and the replacement just slots into the hub and tightens up into the nipple?
- No need to remove the inner tube? Ought I deflate it, so I have some wiggle room with the nipple without damaging the rim tape?

Goodness knows how long it will take to get a replacement spoke!

[AzCal Retred]

Hitchcocks has them, inner & outer, 2-4 pounds each. Order the ones you need and a few spares tomorrow and look for them in a week. Maybe de-burr the hole in the flange a bit, but there are a lot of reasons a spoke can let go. Since you have access to OEM parts, just swap it out & don't worry.

https://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/partsbook-pages/2142

The hub has symmetrical flanges & is QD, so there's hope for installing a new spoke in place. Dropping most of the pressure out of the tube is a good thing to try. You'll need the rear wheel off & clean. Sometimes you need to move an adjacent spoke for access to insert the desired one. Look it over carefully & take your time. The replacement spokes are OEM, so excess length shouldn't be a concern.

[Ove]

Thanks. It's a  disc brake rear. To ensure it never happens again, a couple of spares of each (inner/outer) ordered, along with a service kit, to share the postage. I will check it over carefully and make sure all is smooth. I think I can do it without removing the wheel. Guess I'll find out shortly!

[Richard230]

Hitchcocks has them, inner & outer, 2-4 pounds each. Order the ones you need and a few spares tomorrow and look for them in a week. Maybe de-burr the hole in the flange a bit, but there are a lot of reasons a spoke can let go. Since you have access to OEM parts, just swap it out & don't worry.

https://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/partsbook-pages/2142

The hub has symmetrical flanges & is QD, so there's hope for installing a new spoke in place. Dropping most of the pressure out of the tube is a good thing to try. You'll need the rear wheel off & clean. Sometimes you need to move an adjacent spoke for access to insert the desired one. Look it over carefully & take your time. The replacement spokes are OEM, so excess length shouldn't be a concern.

Speaking of ordering items from Hitchcocks: I had a very good experience a month ago when I ordered a new brake disc and a set of pads for my 2011 Bullet from Hitchcocks. The items that I purchased were very reasonably priced. Shipping was fast (three days to California) and the shipping cost was reasonable.

Unfortunately, Hitchcocks did not have any disc retaining screws in stock which I needed to replace as I had to destroy the original screws to remove them. So I ended up ordering the 6 screws from the official RE importer in the UK. The price of the screws were about twice what I would have paid if I could have bought them from Hitchcocks. But I really got shafted by the shipping charge. The screws only weighed a few ounces, but I was charged 50% more (28 Pounds) to ship the screws to my home as I paid to have the brake disc and pads shipped by Hitchcocks a week earlier. And they used the same shipping service, FedEx Express!  Needless to say, I will not be returning to that source for parts again. From now on it is only Hitchcocks for any parts that I can not source locally.

[Ove]

Yes, I have similar experience with them. The only other failure I've had was the oil temp sensor. Was to be fixed under warranty. The UK importer couldn't get hold of any. After 6 weeks I gave up and ordered from Hitchcocks. It arrived after a couple of days

In fairness, when I went to collect my bike back from the dealer, they'd taken one off a showroom bike and fixed it. They didn't even want the Hitchcocks one off me, in case I needed a spare. That didn't inspire confidence, but it was a year or so ago and all seems fine since!

[retrolynn]

 :)After having a rear tire go flat,a month ago,I finally rode my b5 home from the dealer today. I had to order the tire ,a k70,from a dealer in Yakima Washington. Glad to have it back.

[Ove]

Thanks. It's a  disc brake rear. To ensure it never happens again, a couple of spares of each (inner/outer) ordered, along with a service kit, to share the postage. I will check it over carefully and make sure all is smooth. I think I can do it without removing the wheel. Guess I'll find out shortly!

Well, AzCal is right. I will need to remove the wheel. It looks like I need to remove the brake disc too, so I can feed the new spoke in, as it doesn't look like there will be enough clearance to allow an angle for the spoke to clear the disc.

I can't find a torque setting for the 6 x m8 bolts that attach the brake disc to the hub. Does anyone know what the setting should be? The Cont GT is m6 bolts and 10Nm, but can't find any values for the C5's m8 bolts. Any tips / short-cuts on wheel and brake disc removal and re-installation?
- e.g. should I crack each of the disc bolts first, while the wheel is still on, so I can hold it steady on the brake, or not necessary?

Thanks.

[Guaire]

Get your specs ready. See if these people can help you.

https://www.buchananspokes.com

[johno]

I have refitted the hard panniers for winter and took the B5 for a spin around the back lanes and B roads of Dorset. Lovely bright sunny day and a great ride with the sewing machine engine tacking away beneath me.

[Ove]

Get your specs ready. See if these people can help you.

https://www.buchananspokes.com

Thanks. I do have the correct spokes from Hitchcocks. However, I use the Haynes manual, which only shows the torque setting for the 535GT rear disc, which uses smaller m6 bolts @10Nm. The online RE workshop manual has no torque rating. So, I've just increased that from 10Nm to 15 and I'll check regularly there's no movement.  All else done.

So, to replace 1 rear spoke, requires wheel out (which requires the bottom shock bolt to be undone and pulled back enough to release the rear calliper hose) and then you need to take the disc off, to have clearance to thread in the new spoke. Then all spokes on that side of the wheel need to be loosened, to give enough room to manoeuvre the new spoke into the nipple without scratching the wheel. Not difficult,  just a bit more to it than I'd initially hoped. Just about to put the wheel back in.