Show us your TransAlp modifications!

[dfc]

I have been riding my new to me '89 this year and never noticed the temp gauge getting past the "low" level. the temps have been cool this year, 40f morning to a mid 60f afternoon. I notice the other day the temp gauge in mid range, temps at mid 60's on a 20 mile commute. later that evening the same result on a 5 mile city traffic ride. Neither time did the fan kick on. is this normal? and when does the fan usually come on?.

I am planning on pulling the tank and checking all the connections tonight, but am wondering if I am worrying for nothing at all. I rode this home from Michigan last year, and frankly dont remember where the temp gauge was when riding.

[showkey]

Originally Posted by dfc

I have been riding my new to me '89 this year and never noticed the temp gauge getting past the "low" level. the temps have been cool this year, 40f morning to a mid 60f afternoon. I notice the other day the temp gauge in mid range, temps at mid 60's on a 20 mile commute. later that evening the same result on a 5 mile city traffic ride. Neither time did the fan kick on. is this normal? and when does the fan usually come on?.

I am planning on pulling the tank and checking all the connections tonight, but am wondering if I am worrying for nothing at all. I rode this home from Michigan last year, and frankly dont remember where the temp gauge was when riding.

Sounds about normal. The "gauge" is more an indicator than a gauge. Most have written here that normal needle position is in the low to middle position depending on outside temp. The fan normally kicks on only on the upper quarter near the red zone. Needle position is more an estimate.
That being said :
Checking and clean the connections would be good thing to confirm and if you have doubts pull and test the thermostat. Yours would be stucking open slightly not stuck shut given the "gauge" reading.
If your pulling the thermostat while your are there new coolant and radiator flush would be wise maintenance. Just for future state of mind.
PS Honda coolant or no silicate coolant would be very wise. ( not trying to start a coolant or oil thread)

[Ladder106]

+1

If the thermostat is old, it may not be opening fully. It,s a bit of a chore to replace but not too bad ... Worth the piece of mind particularly if you don,t know what the PO has done (if anything) for coling system service.

My schedule is to change coolant every spring.

[Ruan]

Hi, bought this Transalp last month. It's the 1996's version, 14500km and as new and I'm spoiling it with some gifts:
Extra lights



Crash bars



disk lock



Watch, temperature, traveling time gadget



Fotografic machine DIY suport on the TomTom original suport and energie intake

[kbudde]

Hi I am the owner of an XL600V ‘ 94.
It has always irritated me that it is running empty early. I am switching to reserve at 250km (155mil) and the reserve is running dry at 325km (200mil). I have investigated the fuel tap but not found any problems and just to be sure I have removed the vacuum valve according to this but with no effect.
This summer when I went on a trip to Ukraine I mounted a fuel filter and this made the machine run dry even earlier. Now I am thinking that the pressure of the fuel (driven by gravity) is too small since adding a filter has an effect. When the engine cuts out I can hear that there is plenty of fuel left in the tank and I have never been able to fill the tank with more then 15L (4gal) and it is suppose to hold 18L (4.8gal).

I have therefore tried mounting a vacuum operated fuel pump to see if this could solve the problem and it did have an effect. Now I am switching to reserve at 310km (192mil), running dry at 390km (242mil) and filling the tank with 18L.
I am aware of the problems which can be related to using a vacuum pump. Before having the Transalp I was driving a Tenere 660 ’92 which also was equipped with a vacuum pump and it didn’t give me any problems. I have only driven 500km using the pump on the Transalp and for now it is working fine.
The pump which I am using is from an old scooter but don’t tell anyone that I am using scooter parts on my motorbike ;-)








Enjoy riding

[Phil]

Very interesting, thanks !

[R_Rick]

Hi from Halifax NS!

After lurking for a while (I've made it to page 750 of the 880+ in this thread) I figured it's time to post up my new-to-me 1987 TA (32,xxx kms) which I recently purchased from inmate Hondaguy_16.

Initial photos from for sale posting:





Other than a few scrapes and scratches over the past 25 years through an unknown number of owners, it is fairly decent shape. PO swapped out the CDI's for an ignetch unit, new fork gators, older corbin seat, and a new clutch assembly was put in two weeks ago.

Took a day long drive to the back waters of Nova Scotia to pick it up - couldn't find anyone willing to make the drive with me so loaded it on truck to bring home.



Got it home, drove it to work the next day, then decided to give it a going over. PO had an aluminum guard over the exhaust to keep the soft luggage off the pipes, which necessitated a bodge job on the signal light. Result was a light that was cockeyed at ~45 degree angle and resting on the top pipe.

My intent was to take the guard off and fix the lights. Two hours later, bike was in following condition:





Plastics are in decent shape for the year - one tab on rear side cover missing, bottom tabs on front sides broken. I plan to repair these next winter and considering changing colour.


Engine Guards ... Ahhh Givi, thou art a heartless bitch!
I purchased Givi engine guards which I started to install late afternoon Saturday. I intended to take a few pictures of the installation but was so pissed off during the process that taking pics was furtherest from my mind.

I had read up on many of the issues others have had installing these and figured I had all my bases covered before I started. Pulled the bottom bolt, lined things up, put the new bolt in and found ..... too short! Oh yeah, remember reading that somewhere. Searched around the house to see if I had a longer bolt kicking around - no dice. Too a drive to Home Depot, longest metric bolt available was 80mm (for a country which is supposed to be on the metric system, we are very challenged when it comes to finding a good source of metric nuts and bolts). Instead went with a 5 1/2" long 5/16 bolt.

Get home and install bottom bolt, line the top tubes up and clamp them into place. Then started on the peg bolts. No problem I say, I've seen pics of guys using ratchet straps to pull them into alignment. Shit! I left my straps at work after retrieving them from coworkers truck that I borrowed to get bike. Damn damn damn. After having a beer and serenading the neighbourhood with some colourful language I was going to call it a day.

However, started looking at the heatshield on the upper pipe and decided that I had no room to flex the bars in place with the guard in place. Then I noticed that someone over the years decided that screws are passe, and spot welding the guard in place was far sexier. Double damn. Screw it, it's coming off tonight - I drilled off the weld and pulled the guard and called it a night.



Next day I went to office to get my straps and took to the guards again. With a clear head and copious amounts of coffee, I decided to back the nuts on the top clamp off to give the upper section a lot of movement. Starting with the rear brake side, it easily lined up by hand (after backing the brake adjustment wing nut off to relieve the tension on the assembly). Moved over to the other side and needed to draw the bars over by less than 1/4". Hooked up straps and easily lined it up and bolted it home. I rigged the straps up to pull the top sections slightly together and tightend the top clamp bolts. Finally, all back together.

Anyways, after that long therapy ramble, here it is today.









Cheers,

rick

[Ladder106]

Hi, Rick.

We all love a guy who buys a bike and immediately takes it apart.

The silver,blue orange looks great to me....why change?

Been thinking about the Ignitech unit. Can you really alter the spark timing with these? I've been told that the TA can do a bit better with a few deg more advance.

[mjuu]

Originally Posted by kbudde

Hi I am the owner of an XL600V ‘ 94.
It has always irritated me that it is running empty early. I am switching to reserve at 250km (155mil) and the reserve is running dry at 325km (200mil). I have investigated the fuel tap but not found any problems and just to be sure I have removed the vacuum valve according to this but with no effect.
This summer when I went on a trip to Ukraine I mounted a fuel filter and this made the machine run dry even earlier. Now I am thinking that the pressure of the fuel (driven by gravity) is too small since adding a filter has an effect. When the engine cuts out I can hear that there is plenty of fuel left in the tank and I have never been able to fill the tank with more then 15L (4gal) and it is suppose to hold 18L (4.8gal).

I have therefore tried mounting a vacuum operated fuel pump to see if this could solve the problem and it did have an effect. Now I am switching to reserve at 310km (192mil), running dry at 390km (242mil) and filling the tank with 18L.
I am aware of the problems which can be related to using a vacuum pump. Before having the Transalp I was driving a Tenere 660 ’92 which also was equipped with a vacuum pump and it didn’t give me any problems. I have only driven 500km using the pump on the Transalp and for now it is working fine.
The pump which I am using is from an old scooter but don’t tell anyone that I am using scooter parts on my motorbike ;-)








Enjoy riding

What is the make/model of your fuel pump or the scooter it came out of? I've had some trouble with mine, seems it has a bit too much pressure for the carbs.
Cheers,
Heikki

[R_Rick]

Originally Posted by Ladder106

Hi, Rick.

We all love a guy who buys a bike and immediately takes it apart.

The silver,blue orange looks great to me....why change?

Been thinking about the Ignitech unit. Can you really alter the spark timing with these? I've been told that the TA can do a bit better with a few deg more advance.

Hi,

Currently not in love with the current colour scheme ... perhaps it will grow on me over the riding season. I figured once I repair the crack in the fairing that I'll make decision at that time whether to repaint the section I repair or change everything.

I don't know a lot about the Ignitech unity except that there is a downloadable program (which won't run on my Mac) to adjust the timing. It's on my current 'to learn' list.

cheers

[kbudde]

Originally Posted by mjuu

What is the make/model of your fuel pump or the scooter it came out of? I've had some trouble with mine, seems it has a bit too much pressure for the carbs.
Cheers,
Heikki

Hi
The pump came from a SYM JET 100. This is a zoom picture where you can se the logo on the pump.
If you have a vacuum pump would it then be possible to modify the spring to decrease the pump pressure?

[Ladder106]

It's on my current 'to learn' list.

Post it up, please when you figure it out.

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by mjuu

What is the make/model of your fuel pump or the scooter it came out of? I've had some trouble with mine, seems it has a bit too much pressure for the carbs.
Cheers,
Heikki

On my 1987 TA I had a "taiyogiken" vacuum pump (just 3 lines: fuel in, fuel out and vacuum in) to suck an Africa Twin RD04 tank. I believe the pump was originally used on a mid 1990s Yamaha xtz660. Sorry the tank and pump were sold, so can't check.

On my 1988 I have a 30 litre Africanqueens tank that, from memory, uses the same pump. Can't check either because this bike is en-route overseas in a container for my summer trip.

Both pumps worked/work just fine.

HTH
Chris

PS. Here are some pics of the 87 bike. You could possibly zoom in on the lift side of the bike?

PPS. Found these on a google-images search. I think this is the one: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?start...,r:8,s:46,i:79

or

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?start...9,r:21,s:0,i:9

and this one for $9.99 on fleabay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polaris-Spor...sories&vxp=mtr

[dfc]

I think the thermostat and other bits are working fine, I tested a few items and took a long ride and it never got past the low mark. Then on the way home yesterday I got caught behind a Funeral in 80f +, managed to get that needle well up there, and the fan DID finally kick on, I will do a coolant change after the GR3 Rally this weekend. Thanks everyone for your advice and counsel.

But next on the list, I have managed to run out of gas twice, due to not knowing which way the knob mounts, The knob is so worn and cracked you cant decipher its orientation. I even added a hose clamp to keep it from wearing out more. I need a verification please, I believe this is the petcock in the ON position, confirm?



Note the rounded corner is lower right....

heres the condition of my Knob

[mjuu]

Originally Posted by kbudde

Hi
The pump came from a SYM JET 100. This is a zoom picture where you can se the logo on the pump.
If you have a vacuum pump would it then be possible to modify the spring to decrease the pump pressure?

Thanks for the pic. Playing with the spring was my first intention but as it turned out there wasn't one. My pump is Mikuni DF44 (or a cheap copy) and I believe people have been using this with TA's. Have to dig deeper to see if it could be modified to give less pressure.

Originally Posted by ChrisUK

On my 1987 TA I had a "taiyogiken" vacuum pump (just 3 lines: fuel in, fuel out and vacuum in) to suck an Africa Twin RD04 tank. I believe the pump was originally used on a mid 1990s Yamaha xtz660. Sorry the tank and pump were sold, so can't check.

Thanks for the hint.

Heikki