Why Can't All Repairs Be This Simple? (Harley, ride, bike)
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So I spread the pads before removing the assembly, remove two 6mm hex screws, pull a cotter pin and the pin it was holding, replace the pads, and re-assemble.
Brakes are probably the one job that's easier on a bike than on a car. On my bike (04 Honda VFR), everything else is a PITA compared to its automotive counterpart. The oil change requires taking off the fairings (unless you have midget hands and don't mind wiping the oil out from inside the fairing for 10 minutes). Spark plugs? Fronts are easy, but the backs are more of a pain. Bleeding the brakes is tricky because of the exact sequence that has to be followed due to the linked braking system. The air cleaner requires propping up the tank (not hard, but more effort than popping the clips on the Scion's airbox). And a valve check? Fuggedaboudit.
Thankfully, I have a good friend who is a bike mechanic and whom I trust very much. He gets all my work, not because he gives me a discount (OK, maybe a little one, but it only offsets the cost of schlepping the bike an hour from my house one-way) but because he does awesome work and truly cares.
Oh, but as far as bike jobs go, you can't get much easier than a center stand and a single-side swingarm when it comes to rear wheel removal *pinky in the air*
^^ You're right. Some stuff is extremely easy, other stuff is a royal pain. I just happen to have done a job that was extremely easy.
On my Vulcan all 4 spark plugs (2 per cylinder) are extremely easy to replace. Oil change is a breeze, provided you have a pan low enough to slide under the frame. Other than that, I've done nothing to the bike - except replace the rear tire, and that's not something I'm going to do no matter how easy it is. That's a professional shop job.
OR is that a classic or a meanie? I have a 1600 Nomad, and had a 01 Nomad with that engine more or less. The 1500.
Classic. You know, the cheapest model.
Actually, there's a part of me that wonders why don't sell more of those Kawasaki V-Twins. They sure seem to have a good reputation, and mine has been flawless.
I suppose it boils down to the cult-following that Harley Davidson has.
I have a 2006 Vulcan 900 with no extras. Nice bike but I like the H-D 1200 Sportsters more. The Vulcan has been a reliable bike but compared to the cornering of a Sportster it is weak. Power wise the 900 Vulcan can give the 1,200 Sporty a good run through a quarter. At least mine can and I weigh over 300 pounds. I would like to test ride a V-Rod and see what they can do but I would probably never buy one. I have reached 63 in one piece and I would like to make 70 (years not MPH) in that condition.
I think you could keep a V-Rod from killing you. Just because it's fast doesn't mean you have to use it all. I have a 1984 Honda V65 Sabre which is about equivalent in performance to a V-Rod, and it's quite easy to ride sanely unless I don't want to.
I think you could keep a V-Rod from killing you. Just because it's fast doesn't mean you have to use it all. I have a 1984 Honda V65 Sabre which is about equivalent in performance to a V-Rod, and it's quite easy to ride sanely unless I don't want to.
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Yes Catman I do ride sanely 99.99% of the time. However one of the blessings in riding something like my Vulcan 900 is that even if I do experience an insane flashback to my youth the Vulcan probably isn't capable of hitting any speeds over 120 mph. I'm not sure if I could resist that primal urge with a V-Rod.
I doubt that it will actually do 120 mph, but that's beside the point. It all depends on where you indulge that 0.01% of the time.
One doesn't have to ride fast to get killed. The closest I ever came to buying it was when I started across an intersection and was hit by an idiot in a bread truck who ran the red light. BTW, I'm 64 and that was in 1976. I haven't trusted green lights so much ever since.
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I haven't trusted green lights so much ever since.
