I took a week or two off waiting for some parts. The Beacon 2 LED taillight replacement and Stopper LED license plate light finally showed up. I installed them and they are very bright! I am very pleased with them. But....only the brake lights work, not the running lights. I also checked the LEDs I installed as replacements for the idiotlights. What I was able to discern there was that the Large green turn indicator works as it should. but only when I apply an external 12v source to it. The three other smaller LEDs do no light up with internal or external power supplied. So I went back to the incandescents for those. The big deal is that I now am resigned to repair the damage done to the wiring harness under the gas tank. I'll pull that off tomorrow or Monday, repair any damaged wires ( of which there are several visible, and then see what happens. So progress is occurring, but slowly. Oh, I should have tried the two large blue LEDs I purchased to replace the speedo/odo lights, but forgot to install them. THe incandescents work with an external source too, but not with the internal wiring. :huh
Hi Dale... I assume you have been out and about on your rig and that you have a few miles on it now. I am looking to put new tires on my airhead BMW/EML rig and noted you had installed firestone tires. I see on the specs the section width is about .30 wider than the michelins I currently have and I wondered if you had to do any modifications on the rear wheel/tire to maintain adequate clearance with the swing arm. Have you been pleased with the handling, noise etc? I am assuming the 10" sidecar tire is a bias ply trailer tire. If so have you noticed any handling difficulties with it? My rig has radials on all 3 wheels currently and I'm wondering if mixing the tires has an affect on the handling of the rig. thanks for any info...
The Firestone tires are working very well for me! But remember this is my first hack, so I have nothing to judge them by other than my own riding pleasure. I run them at ~32 PSI and the non-radial trailer tire on the side is ~26 PSI. The Firestone went on the rear perfectly. But don't try running anything wider as it is a pretty tight fit.. Being my first hack, I am a bit worried about the 15" tire size. Sure wish they would have left it a bit larger. Guess I'll just have to get used to driving it a speeds above 50 mph. Other than that, I really, really like the way it handles. Very neutral feeling in general. I carry two 40 lb bags of salt in the car, or my three forty lb bag equivelent wife . Anything else? I'll be happy to try to answer in more detail if you need it. Dale
Fiona is finally out the door and running like a top! My top speed so far with it has been 67 mph with my 23 y.o. grandson playing monkey. All the lights are working well. The two final upgrades will be to add a second "Stopper" LED tail light, this one on the car, and to replace all the wheel bearings. This winter I'll pull the tranny and regrease the splines. I'll get some pics on my iPhone tomorrow and put them up via Tapatalk. My wife continues to love riding monkey for me. We went to the national sidecar rallye in Couer d'Alene, ID, this summer. She promptly jumped out of the chair, walked over to the left side of the bike to check out her hair in the mirror, and gave herself a nice 3" diameter second degree burn on her right leg. I told her once before to watch out for the mufflers but she had forgotten. Lesson well learned, OUCH!!
Took Fiona for a quick 50 mile ride this morning. She is really running smoothly and is a dream on the asphalt. The best mod by far was upgrading to a 400 amp Endurolast alternator. Absolutely made the engine and lighting system come alive. All the turn signals, brake lights and indicators are now LEDs. The two ADVMonster 44 LED floods on the chair really increase day & nighttime visibility. I also moved the right turn signals off the bike and onto the chair. I will be adding a second "Stopper" brake light. This one will go on the back of the chair. The wiring is already installed. Once it arrives, I'll drill a couple holes, mount it and wire it up. Easy-peasy. It will match the one mounted on the bottom of the license plate and should help nighttime visibility. Time to put on some miles before the snow falls.
So time to wrap this up. Won't be doing anything else until the snow falls so deeply I can't get out anymore this winter. At that point we'll replace those old wheel bearings, and also probably drop the tranny and grease the splines. I just got the odometer to turn over 20,000 miles yesterday. And that reading is probably high because early in her life Fiona had the EML suspension and wheels installed. She's been riding on 15" tires for most of time, and my best guess is that the real mileage is at least 10% lower than what shows on the odometer. This old barn queen is making a happy man out of me, and keeps my wife continuing to ask for more rides in the chair. Doesn't get much better than that! So hope to see you on the road and at the rallies. Keep the monkey happy!
You don't know how true this is! I ended up with a large box of stuff I either took off or replaced. Lots of nuts and bolts replaced with either stainless or Grade 8; lots of Wentworth bolts with sliced nuts. The nuts must be their version of self-lockers. I gave all my Wentworth wrenches away when I sold my SIII Land Rover, no regrets.... Was planning on riding the hack to church this morning with wifey-pooh riding monkey. The bike is pretty much done and now it decides to rain. First time in almost two months.