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Balistic

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Everything posted by Balistic

  1. The short answer is yes they help keep the cost of damage down. A couple of things though, like the catch and tumble the bike? Yes the point of contact is higher than the bike sliding on its side BUT that only counts if the bike is sliding backwards ( tank first) and if it's going away from the tires it's going to turn over anyway. The other is that the slider or bolt will actually damage the frame or engine mount, Yes and no, it depends on the manufacturer. I made my own for years sizing the bolt and sliders to give but protect. R&G are simply the best engineered sliders I have used. We have not had one damage an engine mount in five years. What that means is the bolts give and bend correctly, too stiff and the bike will give. That bending bolt has done some minor damage to bolt face on the frame but it is of no consequence. Yes again to the package effect of sliders on all the high points, the more the better. We have had many bike go down and need only the sliders or a case cover to be ready to go again.
  2. Yes I can confirm that Kawasaki is the toughest of the Japanese sport bikes without a doubt! Current bikes may be the exception as my experience with them ended in 2009. The one thing that was a major difference was the tail frame. Kawasaki stayed with tubing when the others were going to castings that simply explode! I am very happy to report that BMW saw fit to use tubing o the S1000RR and surprise, they crash very well and are easy to repair when bent.
  3. Lots of good advise here, in my experience you can never get 100% back no matter how you clean the pads. I might use then on the street? Cleaning the what is called the deposition layer off the rotors is recommended and then bedding the new pads by dragging the brakes and getting the pads hot enough to melt some material onto the surface of the rotor. This is like a drag car lining up in its burn out, the most grip is when the same material is on both sides. Once you feel the brakes start grab you know you are there and it's time to let it all cool off.
  4. Most of the lightweight batteries are li-Ion, I did see one at the IMS show that is lipo. I have used a few, a Shoria for three years without issue. They all suffer the same Achilles heal, you can not run them low voltage! Not a single time without damage. Usually catastrophic failure the first time. Most offer a 1% discharge rate per month so they can be left alone without a tender. Bottom line is most of the bad out there about this type of battery is from people who used the wrong charger or drew them down too far.
  5. While I have used wheel bearing grease ( a light swipe with a finger) on cars I have never used anything but DOT 3-4 to assemble pistons. I do not like DOT 5 because it isn't hydoscopic, there is no problem mixing DOT 3 or 4 and in fact most say DOT 3/4. Other than a few properties you always have to keep in mind all petroleum products came from the same place and will mix back together.
  6. There is a thing called heat soak, the engine parts are much hotter than the water temp. When you shut the motor off there is spike in water temp that can cause " boil over". One thing i would look at is to make the sure the hose off the radiator neck is going to the bottom of the recovery tank? Other than that fill the recovery tank to the min level with the bike cold and see if anything drips out again.
  7. Unlike race bikes ours have to travel at times when it is below freezing so we do use coolant and not water. While water is good at heat transfer it will boil at a lower point than coolant. You do have to remember that a good cap will hold 15 PSI and that water at that pressure will boil at 240 I think. The corrosion in the cooling system is electrolicys and the only real way to defeat it is to put a zink anode in the cooling system. Hard to find outside of a marine store and then hard to mount in the cooling system. I only use di water in cooling and battery systems for all the reasons you stated. A good alternative to normal cooland is Evans waterless coolant, you would have to check with your sanctioning body but it way beyond what water wetter does.
  8. You could try and narrow that down a little. After four years I can say that BMW has a reputation of reliability for a reason, they make very nice machines. The S1000RR was a big change for us after running 550's and 600's for many years. Horse power can turn parts to dust but the S motor handles the power very well. One little thing that seems to be a wear item is input shaft bearing cup behind the clutch. If your bike or any S1000 seems loud at idle and changes tone when you pull the clutch it's time to replace the bearing assy. Other than that chain and sprockets will be lasting 12 to 16,000 miles. Don't even think about saving money on a chain, with this much power buy the best. Don't even think about an Aluminum rear either! OUr bikes have been the most durable bike to date.
  9. The first thing I would ask is are you pulling the cams all the way down with the cam towers and looking at it? the cams will retard as you tighten the cap down. I usually set the crank and then worry about the cams, it would appear that the cams will be retarded with crank position. If you have done everything right the question of how much the cam chain has stretched may be an issue. You can get slotted cam sprockets and preposition the cams so you can get the crank at top dead and the cam marks lined up.Will
  10. After reading all of this I would suspect the fuel pump first. You need to install a fuel pressure gauge and go out and ride it. Im sure you will see the pressure drop off as demand goes up. it could be a screen filter before the pump too. I had this problem before I changed painters, the old one would spray inside the fuel neck instead of taping it off before the seal and the gas would eat it off and the remains would end up in the screen. hardly noticable at first just a slow drop in power.
  11. I get all my tire supplies from K&L supply. They are a wholesaler to dealers so you will have to ask around a little. They have all sizes of the nippled patches I use and the rope plugs.
  12. Not too sure what could have gone wrong but it would nearly impossible to damage the throttle tube or throttle body by twisting the grip. First question is did you take the throttle case off over the end of throttle tube where the cables go in? Take pictures of the housing and send them to me at mechanic@superbikeschool. com so I walk you through the next step.
  13. I have ridden a Busa on VIR, it was a hoot. there is nothing that cuts through the air like a Busa, The high speed acceleration can not be beat! It isn't my first choice for a track bike but if you have the suspension set-up it can be a joy to ride. I took a 99 ZX9 to Willow and raced it, Never known as a "race" bike people laughed at me. At least until the flags flew, overweight by 50 lbs to a GSXR and down 25 horse I still managed to put it on the podium more often than not. The reason was I found the sweet spot to make it go around a corner. The single biggest problem with getting a Busa set-up correctly is that it take a lot to get the shock out, kind of a pain.
  14. You got it right about the slip occuring at the torque peak in a high gear, next it will just start slipping at high revs. I wouldn't bother measuring or inspecting givin the amount of time you have on it alone! I would replace all the friction and pressure plates along with the springs. There will be some bigger pressure plates and you may need a few of those so you can set the pack hight with all the new parts. When you have it apart make sure the friction plate ears haven't beat grooves into the clutch hub teeth, that can cause the clutch to act funny.
  15. You ask this just as I am changing the school bikes. They are just as wny other brakes, easier than some. There are two ways to do them, caliper on or off the bike. the trick is to how to push the pistons back into the caliper? If I am doing them on the bike I use a bent needle nose and push the spring forward with one hand and pull the pin out the rear with the other. Then with a flat blade screwdriver gently twist between the disk and old pad to push the pistons back, doing one pair at a time, pull the old out the top and install the the new ones then go to the other pair ( opposing pistons not right side then left, one right and one left). Off the bike I use two screwdrivers, one to keep the set I am not working on apart and the other to push the pistons back by twisting between the olod pads. This way you dont have to pull the pins or springs as the pads will come out the bottom. Just dont pull both calipers or you risk pushing a piston out of the other one. We use Glaphere padswhich I like very much, good life, low dust and no fade. The stock pads are very good right up to fast riding. Once you are on the track and really going they have too much initial bite and then when pushed will fade. OK for anything but track days with a fast rider. Will
  16. Cast iron rotors are the bomb! Yes they rust so not really a street thing but on the track they have way more power, meaning less lever effort to get the same stoping. Sintered is just a process of heat bonding the pad together from powder but usually means it has copper in it and the warnings are more about the type iron used for the rotor. I have used Braking iron rotor with sintered pads before.
  17. You will get a lot of opinion about set-up and tire pressure but the simple fact is I run the Fleet bikes with the stock settings ( fork R 5, C 5, shock R 5-7, CH 5, CL 5-7). The tire pressure we use is 33/33 cold in the morning, that would be higher in the day. If I were setting pressure on a bike I was riding on say an 80 degree day it would be 31F, 26 rear. That will only work on the current Q2's, I run 29 rear in every other street rear. The tire is a big component of the way our bikes work, there simply is no way to discount the effect the tires had on your perception of how well our bikes work. Add to that I have experience with the other brands on the S1000RR so the only help i might be is to work with you at a school. Thanks, Will
  18. As you may know we are using Silkolene Pro-4 in all the school bikes. You can get it from Tucker Rocky in gallons. The only other way for public bulk is Amsoil, I run amsoil in all my personal vehicles and it is available in 1, 2.5 and 5 gallon jugs depending on what you need. You need to sign up as a preferred customer and then you can get it shipped or will call it from Las Vegas.
  19. A lot has been said here but anyone who has seen me ride knows I quick turn as a rule. There are times I get in too hot and having made a mistake resort to trail braking. There are turns that require trail braking but I always try to handle that by turning and then using the brakes at a set lean angle, turning again if nessisary. To say it's the fastest way to the apex is only half the story. The problem is you are going slower at that point than the same turn using a more basic technique of quick turn. Unless you were able to get in the way you will not hold the spot. It is from extracting advantage in differeing techniques that I had sucess in my racing. you can't out trail brake a trail braker, you can square him up and shoot by at the exit.
  20. What I meant by push it down and cross up is just a dirt bike technique of getting the bike under you to better control the sliding. Hell yes I would have tried to ride that out, I never quite until I am ejected from the bike. First to hit the loam at the bottom and berm shot it with the power and second to deal with whatever I have to hit/jump to ride it out. You learn very fast in desert riding that you are always somewhere you didn't want to be dealing with an obstacles you would rather not. Whiskey throttle is a term for using the throttle at the wrong time, usually when you are tired in a series of jumps. when his head flung back he grabbed the throttle ( whiskey throttle). In that case it's probably the reason he didn't fly over the front of the bike.
  21. I don't see what caused him to look out but I see two better outcomes. First would have been left foot forward, cross-up and push the bike down while getting back to throttle and try to stay of the loose cushion. Second would have been to jockey up, lean back and gas it before hitting the big rock with a little left steering to keep the bike upright in the air and maybe have landed it on the cushion. His weight was too far forward and when his head hit the triple clamp he was thrown back and whiskey throttled it loosing all his momentum.
  22. Thats a tough one since so much has changed in your example. The first thing to ask what are your tire pressures? A steering damper is there to help isolate and nullify the riders inputs ( death grip on the bars), they don't do much else. A loose steering head or a tight steering head can cause "feel" issues. It may all come down to tire pressure and the new tires vs the old.
  23. you can re-coat with clear but the idea is to sand all but the clear in the scratch off. you will but a lot on to fill scratches and then take it back down until the surface is smooth.
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