[The_Rigger]

Spent some quality time with the Old Girl today; a couple of hours aimlessly putting around town, just for the sake of racking up saddle time... Got back to the house and decided to do something (*finally*!) about the tail lights & turn indicators...

I had picked up a set of bullet lights on 75mm stalks from Hitchcock's, last summer when I thought I'd have time to do anything (Ha!), and still had a set of four short-stalk bullets from NFG... The Hitchcock lights were just the ticket for the rear end; swapped them for the OEM lollipops, and figured out a mounting method for replacing the OEM tail/brake lamp with an old '50s vintage street rod tail lamp... I would conservatively say it looks 472.8485003% better.

For the front end, I tried putting one of the Hitchcock bullets on...  I thought they'd work better, as they are two-wire sockets (hot & ground) vs. the NFG shorties, which are only hot-wire and depend on the mechanical connection to the bike for ground, which I don't tend to trust... And just as well I don't; the single wire lamps wouldn't work with the bike's turn signal circuitry. But the shorties look soooo much better on the OEM fork mounds than the 75mm long mounts...

So I did the logical thing: Pulled a pair of short-stem NFG bullets apart, pulled my remaining pair of long-stem Hitchcocks apart, and put the 2-wire Hitchcock lamp sockets into the short-stem NFG bullet fixtures. Et Voilá! I have lamps that look summa cum sexy, *and* work just as good as the OEM canoe paddles.

Tomorrow: I move my 1,500-lb. tour toolbox home from my theatre, and take a crack at swapping a nice wide tractor saddle for the OEM torture-device-that's-passed-off-as-a-seat.

[mattsz]

lookin' good, Dave!  I've been working on my turn signals, too... PM sent!

[JVS]

Good job. Looks awesome.

[heloego]

+1!
The Hot Rod Tail Light goes very well with the Bullet signals. 

[JVS]

Installed a Motobatt MBTX14AU AGM battery. Good stuff.

[bob bezin]

replaced the horn on the fireball. the new bracket had 2 small holes,and the origional had one big hole . the original bracket had in the past cracked in half from vibration . the new bracket was three layers of the hardest steel i have ever drilled. i dont think it will ever break.

[krimp]

I took the day off from work so that I could get my tags taken care of. Unfortunately, that meant that I had to go back up to the dealer to fix some state licensing paperwork. While I was there, I had them adjust the chain. After getting lunch, I headed home. I accomplished two firsts today: I crossed the 1000 mile mark and managed to get her up to 80. In a partial tuck. Going downhill. Into a headwind.

[mattsz]

I accomplished two firsts today: I crossed the 1000 mile mark and managed to get her up to 80. In a partial tuck. Going downhill. Into a headwind.

Krimp, how were the vibes at that speed?  I've got over 6000 miles on mine now, and below 4000 rpm it's smooth sailing.  But as soon as I get above 4k, the vibes kick in and my feet begin to go numb very quickly.  And I occasionally have to run in that range to keep up with traffic without engine pinging.  I keep hearing that vibrations are normal, love-it-or-leave-it (getting tiresome), but I'm not sure this is as it should be.  Still trying to track down another broken-in bike to try for comparison...

[krimp]

Krimp, how were the vibes at that speed?  I've got over 6000 miles on mine now, and below 4000 rpm it's smooth sailing.

The vibrations weren't that bad. And she's just barely broken in. She runs great and is getting smoother everyday. Even in the 4000 RPM range, she doesn't vibrate too badly.

[High On Octane]

I had an adventurous day on the Blackhawk riding to and from work.  First I go out and go thru my pre-ride routine.  Get the motor to TDC and the clutch slips, or something.  I assume the clutch because it always slips when it's cold.   IDKWTF       It slips a few times then catches runs for a second and nothing.  And again.  Tickle the carb and then get a nasty kickback and puff out of the carb.  And a second time.       I literally step back and walk around the bike and look at her and say "What the F is your problem this morning?"  Check the trigger on the ignition to make sure nothing is loose, scratch my my arse for a second and think to myself "One more kick and I'm taking the car."  Kick her over and fires right up.        So I ride to work dealing with the now cold clutch slip that goes away after it gets hot.  When I left work she fired on the first kick.  But I've noticed since I took a 160 mile trip to Bike Fest I've had a loss in power that has gotten progressively worse over the last 2 weeks.  Then a mile away from home I got on her hard and she popped and stalled and then recovered.      Then as I was sitting here relaxing it dawned on.  I'm still jetted from the winter.  She was running really good below freezing and perfect in the 50's and 60'sF.  But the last few weeks have been in the 80'sF and today it was 94F.  I have a feeling I am going to have some pretty crusty plugs when I investigate in the morning.  I just need to throw the 270 main back in there and I should be good.  And I guess I'll pop the primary again and have another look at the clutch.

As the late George Carlin once said "Ah shit, it's always something."   


HEY!  At least the electrical is still kicking ass!  Finally!

Scottie J

[High On Octane]

I would also like to add that I have come to the conclusion that this bike was built with anger and animosity with random parts that were just laying around.  Like one day a foreman looked at his crew and said "Look we need one more Trailblazer for this order but but we're out of parts.  Take this that that this that and this and build a bike."  Seriously, Interceptor frame, K2F mag WITH AUTO-ADVANCE, dual instrument nacelle, 19" front 18" rear wheels.  The Blackhawk has a serious attitude problem.  And some days I just want to punch her right in the speedometer.  So our personalities match perfectly.  We are both one of a kind and I think we were meant to be together.     

Scottie J

[krimp]

I would also like to add that I have come to the conclusion that this bike was built with anger and animosity with random parts that were just laying around.  Like one day a foreman looked at his crew and said "Look we need one more Trailblazer for this order but but we're out of parts.  Take this that that this that and this and build a bike."  Seriously, Interceptor frame, K2F mag WITH AUTO-ADVANCE, dual instrument nacelle, 19" front 18" rear wheels.  The Blackhawk has a serious attitude problem.  And some days I just want to punch her right in the speedometer.  So our personalities match perfectly.  We are both one of a kind and I think we were meant to be together.     

Scottie J

So, it's a lot like being married?

BTW, if anyone is looking for a British Green G5, my dealer has one that he is looking to make a deal on.

[High On Octane]

So, it's a lot like being married?

Yep!  But instead of buying her boobs I get to buy cool shit like custom 1-off racing heads by Ace!

[krimp]

I forgot to mention that I finally had something vibrate loose and off on my ride yesterday. I wasn't able to recover it, so I had the dealer replace it.

What did I loose? My temp tags.

[Ducati Scotty]

Tidied up a few things and polished all the aluminum.  It looks sweet!