Steven
Member
I spent a very enjoyable day in the garage yesterday. I changed the rear tire, the sprockets and the chain. I swear the bike accelerates a little faster now. Others have made this claim when they went with an x chain. If it's true, I should see a difference in my gas milage. I really think it's in my head... The old chain was getting a little stiff. BTW, the old sprockets did look good enough to use for another 20k miles. There was a little shine near the top, but no deformations. I also went with a heavier chain (same size) thinking that it will not stretch as easily. After 18k miles the old chain was still good in length, but was getting stiff and beginning to kink a little. I supposed that I could have cleaned it with something, but it was getting near the end of it's stretch.
I recommend that anyone changing their sprockets to use an air impact gun. It takes all the work out of it. I used a dremel to remove the head of the pins, easy peasy...
For the tire tool, I used a No-Mar Yellow thing tire tool, it really helped. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011J6KXR8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Depending on my ambition, I'm going to change the front tire today and hopefully soften the front end a little. Or... I might install my crash bars and order highway pegs for it. New rubber sure looks nice! BTW, this is my third set of tires since I got the bike and loving every minute of it.
The new RDL seat is a mixture of bad and good. It seems comfortable enough, but I haven't gone that far with it and there should be a break in period before I make a decision on that. I love the back rest and after I install highway pegs, it should make long distance riding very comfortable. The bad side is that now I'm on my toes when I stop unless I slide all the way against the tank and stand up. It makes backing up a little harder and it takes more effort to get on and off the bike. Everyone says that they get used to it so I suppose I will too.
Another thing is that I now sit a little higher so that changes things a bit. The bike handles a little different because of that, but it's only a matter of adjusting to it. I'm a little higher over the windshield too. What I like about that is I can see better over the shield and my helmet air vents work better. There is no right or wrong about windshield height. It up to the rider to decide what they like. At first I liked the shield being higher for the greater wind protection, but after time, I decided that I wanted a clearer view of the scenery. I'm going to install my x-creen and that will give me options. This time, I will install it a little lower than what the instructions say because I want it flush with the top of my windshield when I'm not using it. The last time it bothered me that it was sticking over the top (a little) when it was at it's lowest position.
So there, you have it. I'll update as I go along.
I recommend that anyone changing their sprockets to use an air impact gun. It takes all the work out of it. I used a dremel to remove the head of the pins, easy peasy...
For the tire tool, I used a No-Mar Yellow thing tire tool, it really helped. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011J6KXR8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Depending on my ambition, I'm going to change the front tire today and hopefully soften the front end a little. Or... I might install my crash bars and order highway pegs for it. New rubber sure looks nice! BTW, this is my third set of tires since I got the bike and loving every minute of it.
The new RDL seat is a mixture of bad and good. It seems comfortable enough, but I haven't gone that far with it and there should be a break in period before I make a decision on that. I love the back rest and after I install highway pegs, it should make long distance riding very comfortable. The bad side is that now I'm on my toes when I stop unless I slide all the way against the tank and stand up. It makes backing up a little harder and it takes more effort to get on and off the bike. Everyone says that they get used to it so I suppose I will too.
Another thing is that I now sit a little higher so that changes things a bit. The bike handles a little different because of that, but it's only a matter of adjusting to it. I'm a little higher over the windshield too. What I like about that is I can see better over the shield and my helmet air vents work better. There is no right or wrong about windshield height. It up to the rider to decide what they like. At first I liked the shield being higher for the greater wind protection, but after time, I decided that I wanted a clearer view of the scenery. I'm going to install my x-creen and that will give me options. This time, I will install it a little lower than what the instructions say because I want it flush with the top of my windshield when I'm not using it. The last time it bothered me that it was sticking over the top (a little) when it was at it's lowest position.
So there, you have it. I'll update as I go along.