Tuesday, May 6, 2014

All Alone (Still)

In motorcycle parking. After the beautiful weekend, we are again down to freezing weather in the morning with some rain/sleet/snow. Last night was an Airhead "meeting" at the Silver Gulch microbrewery. There was quite a large turnout with the majority arriving on two or three wheels. There was even another twin shock RT with a Velorex sidecar that Ken, another College Coffeehouse regular, had recently picked up. I didn't have a chance to get a good look at it but I'm sure I'll see it again soon.

The first picture is kind of a lie as it is an HDR photo using an iPhone app. It doesn't look that bright green. The grey in this second photo is more accurate. Quite a few errands and appointments to run this morning and at just about every stop, people would come by and ask about the rig and some would mention that they had seen me around town this past Winter.

On Sunday's ride, when the rig was under more load than usual i.e. trying to accelerate while going up a steep grade at well over 60mph, it felt like fuel starvation. Additional throttle would not result in more rpm but possibly even a drop. The small fuel filters between the tank and the carbs are at least seven years old and over 25k miles so I picked up some new ones at a local bike shop. They are aluminum with brass filter and it can be disassembled and cleaned or the element replaced (and the element is available from Amazon). Another rider friend had picked one up a few weeks back and really liked the design. According to the filter manufacturer, they are suitable for any application of 300hp or less. I think that they should work fine. ;-) 

20 comments:

  1. Richard:

    the more I look at your Hack, the more I'm thinking that if I had a Hack right now . . . I would be riding.

    I have my iPhone with me everywhere I go. I have HDR and other photo apps installed, but I don't use my phone as a camera as I always have a Real camera with me, all the time. I just never think to use the HDR app.

    I think my fuel filter is inside the gas tank, so not so easy to check nor replace. I hope this solves your starving problem, but it could also be an air leak problem too

    bob
    A weekend photographer or Riding the Wet Coast

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are probably correct that if you were willing to give up leaning and lane splitting ;-), you would be able to ride even with a sore foot. If it's your left foot (shifting) it would be straight forward to set up a hand shifter on the right side. And I think that your R1200R has linked brakes so you don't need to use the rear brake.

      Time for a sidecar!

      I use the Pro HDR app and it has all sorts of adjustments but only uses two photos not three.

      The fuel filter is a guess but given the miles on the filter and how dirty they looked, I think that it may be a reasonable guess.

      Delete
    2. Richard, you sound like a salesman ;-)

      Delete
    3. Just telling Bob what he already knows deep within.

      Delete
  2. Should I assume there is a breeze that's making your trees blur?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably windy. The HDR app takes two pictures and munges them together in software. The leaves must have moved...

      It has been a little breezy as the weather moves through.

      Delete
    2. I like it!

      And I had to look up the word "munges". I will have to impress someone with that term- it's very onomatopoeia.

      Delete
    3. I've heard that word used often, I didn't know that it was uncommon...

      Delete
  3. But it's not really a lie, just a more vivid, no snow and new grass photo ... I'd call it a wishful photo; the colour changes make it seem much warmer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wishful thinking on the part of the phone, eh?

      Delete
  4. I've been to that Silver Gulch Brewery, and the Howling Dog across the street. I found it interesting that there were BMW motorcycles at Silver Gulch and Harleys at Howling Dog. Kinda like a tale of two cities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Both places are popular with both groups but you're right that the BMW crowd seems to prefer the Silver Gulch. Partly because the organizer works there as a bottler so it's easy for him to reserve space.

      What year were you in Fairbanks?

      Delete
  5. I'll be interested to see if the new fuel filters cure the issue you found, assuming same conditions of course.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll let you know. Right now it's kind of hard to tell without heading out of town with a passenger...

      Delete
  6. I have found those in line filters more trouble than anything. I find they are always the cause of "bad gas" problems.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given the age of the bike and one of the "known" problems to be pieces of the tank lining coming loose, the filters are one way to keep small bits out of the carbs. Having the needle valve sticking and dumping gas on the exhaust system would be a worse problem. Plus, these aren't the tiny paper filters that seem to be more problematic.

      Delete
  7. It sounds as though you and your rig are becoming famous in town. Soon you won't be able to stop at the store without someone taking your picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or so common, after all, why would you take a picture of yet another sidecar... ;-)

      Delete
  8. That first photo really had me fooled and honestly, feeling a bit left out. Quantity and quality of green came up a lot last weekend......who would have thought Anchorage beat us out??

    .....another RT100 maintenance reminder (for me) from Richard.......:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Today, it is starting to look like the first picture again and should be up to the mid-70s again by the weekend.

      Delete