October 18, 2008
Turn Signal Madness
Finally, my front turn signals are sorted! "What?" you say. Oh, that's right, not all of you were aware that they were un-sorted in the first place. Well then, let me tell you a story--and this one has pictures!
I may have mentioned before that the bike I bought last month had sustained the dreaded "parking lot tip over" and as a result the left turn signal was all jacked up. Now for some strange reason, these insanely ugly, DOT approved, monster-sized turn signals they put on bikes these days are beyond expensive for what you are getting. Mine, for example, are $51.54 each. For that kind of money, you can get some serious LED goodness (if you're down with that) and that will be for the pair. Unless you get Rizoma or Watsen Design. So, obviously, the previous owner did what most folks would do. She had the dealeship fix that bad daddy with epoxy. Now this is not a bad thing, but it is certainly a temporary thing. In fact, the epoxy gave way on the trailer somwhere between Dallas and Ardmore when The Rob and I were bringing it home. The Sunday after I got it home, I did some serious "spare parts bin fabrication" and was able to repair the repair and get the signal mounted. In fact, if you look at the first set of pictures I posted, you can see my handiwork. Didn't even notice, didja? Fast forward to last Monday.
We had gone out of town for the long weekend and returned Monday around 2-ish. I decided it would be a great time to ride up to CycleGear in NWOKC to see if they had some flush-mounts I could "re-engineer" to work with the bizarro-world Suzuki fairing. You see, Suzuki couldn't do a turn signal mount like everyone else. Oh no. They had to do some crazy stuff like this:
Notice how the mounting area is 3/4 of an inch higher? Notice how the little mounting plate is NOT flush with the rest of the material? Yeah, thanks, Suzuki. I love your bikes, but this is just silly. I know why they did it, but that doesn't excuse it. In all actuality, the real hold-up here is that I decided I was not going to cut the fairing. It is pretty common practice to cut that riser out, so that there is just a hole where that extra bit used to be. But I didn't want to do that. Basically because I'm goofy, but I just don't like cutting on perfectly good parts unless they really, really need it. Like my rear fender, but that's a different mod and a different story to be told at a later date. I should also tell you that this is NOT the original Suzuki configuration. Originally, the turn signal post had a rubber flange at the end of it with two "ears" which fit over the screw posts and were then secured by the metal piece you can see on the top of the stack up there. The brassy-colored nut you see there is the mounting nut for the new signals. The plate through which the signal is mounted is the plate I made by tracing the original metal part then drilling it so it would fit properly and essentially give a flat mounting surface or "blank-off plate" if you like. With this current configuration, I should be able to mount any stalk-type turn signal I like, as long as the stalk is at least 1.25" before you get to the signal head. As it was, I had to make a spacer to shim out the signal "head" far enough to clear the fairing. The plate and spacer look just like this:
The new mounting plate itself is just some thin sheet steel I had left over from a different project which I cut with tin snips, filed, sanded and then painted. Once it was in place, it provided a solid, flat mounting surface for the signal. Nice. The rubber you see there is my "spacer" shim that was originally a ceiling fan vibe mount which I sliced in half. Remember, I need TWO of everything for this to work out properly.
Once the mounting plates were finished and I had my hardware sorted, I had to work on the electrics. The first time I tried this, I cut the connector off the old signal and soldered it to the new signal to end up with this:
Not bad, huh? Shrink wrap over the solder joints and all. Problem is that the frickin' nut they supplied fits the stalk perfect but is TOO SMALL to fit over the OEM plug! Lovely. So I had to cut off the shrink wrap, cut out the solder joints, assemble the entire thing on the fairing, hang the faring back on the bike, adjust the angle so they were actually facing forward, take the whole thing back off the bike, snug down the nut without rotating the signal, then solder the OEM plug back on, heat shrink the tubing over the solder joint and put it all back together again. Whew. And that is why this took 2 mornings and 1 evening after work.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the reason I HAD to do this sooner, rather than later, was to replace the OTHER broken signal! Remember when I mentioned the trip to CycleGear in OKC? Sure you do. Well, to make sure I got signals that would fit properly, I took off the RIGHT signal to get measurements, make a rubbing of the fairing hole and take the signal with me so I could see if they had any "pigtails" that matched the OEM connectors. When I first got there Monday night (had to take the Honda 'cause it was raining down) I looked over their selection and decided I didn't really LOVE anything. I liked some of them alright, but I decided I would order some off eBay that I loved. Well when I got home and tried to re-install the right signal, the brittle, UV-rotted rubber flange (remember I mentioned it earlier) BROKE! After I got over the initial shock of breaking my good signal, I started again, being extra careful--after all, it was going to be reinforced when I got the OEM bracket back on there. Well, let's just say things didn't work out as I had hoped, and the brittle rubber broke all the way up where it joins with the ABS plastic that forms the signal body. I was mad. In all actuality, it looked like it may have been repaired before in that spot, but I can't tell if it is factory glue, or more dealership epoxy. In either case, you guessed it: back to CycleGear on Tuesday morning to pick up the signals which I now needed to be street legal. Oh, sure people think you can just drive around all willy-nilly using hand signals and your perfectly fine. Wrong. According to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, you must have signals on your bike if it is newer than a certain year. I would love to be able to cite the statute for you, but the OK DPS page is not responding right now. Trust me. It's in there. And you must have mirrors, too. Not that any of this is going to keep your bike from running, but it WILL give Johnny Law a really, really lame excuse to pull you over while your out trying to get your ride on.
Granted, the new signals aren't drastically different than the old ones, but they are smaller and not quite as ugly. I got bulbs instead of LEDs because they were cheaper and I really didn't feel like futzing about with flash rate correction at all. Lots of folks I know don't mess with it specifically because they are more "flashy" and therefore more apt to get the obvliviots' attention. But, I'm crazy like that. I want them to flash like the blinkers we all know and love. On-Off-On-Off. Not onoffonoffonoffonoffonoff in the same span of time. I said I was crazy like that, right? So for now, the plan is to roll with these installed until I just can't stand them any more, or a pair of nice Riz signals fall into my lap. I think they're actually quite nice, all things considered. Have a look for yourself:
Not too shabby, I think. And while they do bear a certain resemblance to their forebears, I would offer that they are noticeably different (but not drastically so) as evidenced in this nice side-by-side comparison:
Just in case, I'll go ahead and say it: the new signal is on the left side of the picture. Be one with its undeniable smallness! Bow down to its reduced drag profile! Enjoy its overall "I did it myself-ness". Join me next month as I chop off the rear fender and wire in another pair of these signals. Or maybe I'll just install T-Rex Racing frame sliders. If things go really well, I might do both!
I may have mentioned before that the bike I bought last month had sustained the dreaded "parking lot tip over" and as a result the left turn signal was all jacked up. Now for some strange reason, these insanely ugly, DOT approved, monster-sized turn signals they put on bikes these days are beyond expensive for what you are getting. Mine, for example, are $51.54 each. For that kind of money, you can get some serious LED goodness (if you're down with that) and that will be for the pair. Unless you get Rizoma or Watsen Design. So, obviously, the previous owner did what most folks would do. She had the dealeship fix that bad daddy with epoxy. Now this is not a bad thing, but it is certainly a temporary thing. In fact, the epoxy gave way on the trailer somwhere between Dallas and Ardmore when The Rob and I were bringing it home. The Sunday after I got it home, I did some serious "spare parts bin fabrication" and was able to repair the repair and get the signal mounted. In fact, if you look at the first set of pictures I posted, you can see my handiwork. Didn't even notice, didja? Fast forward to last Monday.
We had gone out of town for the long weekend and returned Monday around 2-ish. I decided it would be a great time to ride up to CycleGear in NWOKC to see if they had some flush-mounts I could "re-engineer" to work with the bizarro-world Suzuki fairing. You see, Suzuki couldn't do a turn signal mount like everyone else. Oh no. They had to do some crazy stuff like this:
Notice how the mounting area is 3/4 of an inch higher? Notice how the little mounting plate is NOT flush with the rest of the material? Yeah, thanks, Suzuki. I love your bikes, but this is just silly. I know why they did it, but that doesn't excuse it. In all actuality, the real hold-up here is that I decided I was not going to cut the fairing. It is pretty common practice to cut that riser out, so that there is just a hole where that extra bit used to be. But I didn't want to do that. Basically because I'm goofy, but I just don't like cutting on perfectly good parts unless they really, really need it. Like my rear fender, but that's a different mod and a different story to be told at a later date. I should also tell you that this is NOT the original Suzuki configuration. Originally, the turn signal post had a rubber flange at the end of it with two "ears" which fit over the screw posts and were then secured by the metal piece you can see on the top of the stack up there. The brassy-colored nut you see there is the mounting nut for the new signals. The plate through which the signal is mounted is the plate I made by tracing the original metal part then drilling it so it would fit properly and essentially give a flat mounting surface or "blank-off plate" if you like. With this current configuration, I should be able to mount any stalk-type turn signal I like, as long as the stalk is at least 1.25" before you get to the signal head. As it was, I had to make a spacer to shim out the signal "head" far enough to clear the fairing. The plate and spacer look just like this:
The new mounting plate itself is just some thin sheet steel I had left over from a different project which I cut with tin snips, filed, sanded and then painted. Once it was in place, it provided a solid, flat mounting surface for the signal. Nice. The rubber you see there is my "spacer" shim that was originally a ceiling fan vibe mount which I sliced in half. Remember, I need TWO of everything for this to work out properly.
Once the mounting plates were finished and I had my hardware sorted, I had to work on the electrics. The first time I tried this, I cut the connector off the old signal and soldered it to the new signal to end up with this:
Not bad, huh? Shrink wrap over the solder joints and all. Problem is that the frickin' nut they supplied fits the stalk perfect but is TOO SMALL to fit over the OEM plug! Lovely. So I had to cut off the shrink wrap, cut out the solder joints, assemble the entire thing on the fairing, hang the faring back on the bike, adjust the angle so they were actually facing forward, take the whole thing back off the bike, snug down the nut without rotating the signal, then solder the OEM plug back on, heat shrink the tubing over the solder joint and put it all back together again. Whew. And that is why this took 2 mornings and 1 evening after work.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the reason I HAD to do this sooner, rather than later, was to replace the OTHER broken signal! Remember when I mentioned the trip to CycleGear in OKC? Sure you do. Well, to make sure I got signals that would fit properly, I took off the RIGHT signal to get measurements, make a rubbing of the fairing hole and take the signal with me so I could see if they had any "pigtails" that matched the OEM connectors. When I first got there Monday night (had to take the Honda 'cause it was raining down) I looked over their selection and decided I didn't really LOVE anything. I liked some of them alright, but I decided I would order some off eBay that I loved. Well when I got home and tried to re-install the right signal, the brittle, UV-rotted rubber flange (remember I mentioned it earlier) BROKE! After I got over the initial shock of breaking my good signal, I started again, being extra careful--after all, it was going to be reinforced when I got the OEM bracket back on there. Well, let's just say things didn't work out as I had hoped, and the brittle rubber broke all the way up where it joins with the ABS plastic that forms the signal body. I was mad. In all actuality, it looked like it may have been repaired before in that spot, but I can't tell if it is factory glue, or more dealership epoxy. In either case, you guessed it: back to CycleGear on Tuesday morning to pick up the signals which I now needed to be street legal. Oh, sure people think you can just drive around all willy-nilly using hand signals and your perfectly fine. Wrong. According to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, you must have signals on your bike if it is newer than a certain year. I would love to be able to cite the statute for you, but the OK DPS page is not responding right now. Trust me. It's in there. And you must have mirrors, too. Not that any of this is going to keep your bike from running, but it WILL give Johnny Law a really, really lame excuse to pull you over while your out trying to get your ride on.
Granted, the new signals aren't drastically different than the old ones, but they are smaller and not quite as ugly. I got bulbs instead of LEDs because they were cheaper and I really didn't feel like futzing about with flash rate correction at all. Lots of folks I know don't mess with it specifically because they are more "flashy" and therefore more apt to get the obvliviots' attention. But, I'm crazy like that. I want them to flash like the blinkers we all know and love. On-Off-On-Off. Not onoffonoffonoffonoffonoff in the same span of time. I said I was crazy like that, right? So for now, the plan is to roll with these installed until I just can't stand them any more, or a pair of nice Riz signals fall into my lap. I think they're actually quite nice, all things considered. Have a look for yourself:
Not too shabby, I think. And while they do bear a certain resemblance to their forebears, I would offer that they are noticeably different (but not drastically so) as evidenced in this nice side-by-side comparison:
Just in case, I'll go ahead and say it: the new signal is on the left side of the picture. Be one with its undeniable smallness! Bow down to its reduced drag profile! Enjoy its overall "I did it myself-ness". Join me next month as I chop off the rear fender and wire in another pair of these signals. Or maybe I'll just install T-Rex Racing frame sliders. If things go really well, I might do both!
// posted by wayne @ 10/18/2008 03:33:00 PM 
October 09, 2008
Here a deer, there a deer, everywhere a deer, deer!
Jeeze Louise! It must be that time of year again or something. I'm on days this week in training for a new HP server we're getting ready to roll out which means there's **gasp** daylight left when I get home! I decided to take advantage of this today by hopping on the bike and making a run out to the lake for a picnic dinner. So Aimee and I get all geared up, grab some picnic supplies and head for the lake. The sun was going down as we drove east on Alameda so I was thinking that I'd need to be watching for deer, but not really expecting to see any. Man, was I wrong! Just as we were coming up to the park entrance, there was a big doe off to our left (north) looking all crazy like she might jump out in front of us just to see what we'd do! (We found out soon enough that they all look that way, not just that one particular animal). I immediately slow down and start hitting the horn. She spooked and ran back to the north. Okay, good deal. No deer parts on the bike and no rash for Aim and Wayne. Another 500 yards down the street, we arrive at the entrance to the park and the ranger station. For those unfamiliar with the area, Alameda runs east to west, and 132nd runs north to south. There is a large clearing on the north-east corner and wouldn't you know it, another 3 does! Aimee spots the group and points them out, but they were far enough away that honking wasn't really needed. Alameda quickly becomes Indian Point Road and turns back to the north, making lazy S-curves along the way. First one goes off to the left and as soon as we get to the apex, guess what? Another doe and two fawns. Que the honking, again. Finally, we make it to our destination, which is one of the camp areas at Indian Point and stake out a table for dinner. We watch the moon come up over the lake, have a bite and start back towards town. I figured for sure, now that it as properly dark, that the deer would be out doing whatever deer do away from the roads. Wrong. It was like they were attracted to us! Every single curve we rounded, there they were waiting like the hand-fed suckers at Arbuckle Wilderness! Strangely enough, they were all does and fawns. I didn't see one single buck out of the whole lot and I stopped counting after I hit 15. Probably 20-25 total, and I was having flashbacks to every single deer/bike incident I made the mistake of watching on YouTube. Not that I went looking for them, mind you, but it seems any time you do a bike-related search, you get, on the related videos pane, at least one video of a crash, wheelie, burn out, or deer strike. Try it yourself at home, kiddies. Obviously nothing 'bad' happened, for which I am very grateful, but there were a couple times where I wasn't really sure which way they were going to go and that is a pretty unpleasant feeling. Kind of like those times when you KNOW your brother is going to get you back for something you did to get back at him for the last time he was getting back at you, but don't know when it's coming. And don't even get me started on the bugs. I had forgotten what happens around the lake just after the sun goes down and that we used to call it "the bugging hour" for a reason.
// posted by wayne @ 10/09/2008 09:10:00 PM
October 07, 2008
Feel The Cheese!
Earlier, Kelly had asked if I was going to get all "Power-Rangered" up after getting the SV. At first, I thougth he meant full leathers, gauntlets and boots. TUrns out he was referring to the super-sweet fashionability of riding jackets with their armored shoulders and elbows, the triple-density foam back protectors, 3243 zippers, many vents and securing straps. I am not joking one bit when I say it took me a full half-hour to get all the hang-tags and zipper protectors off this jacket when it finally arrived last Friday. So then, think "Silver Ranger" and enjoy the posing because you probably won't get any more for some time!Dang poseurs. Sheesh.
// posted by wayne @ 10/07/2008 12:26:00 AM
October 04, 2008
Well It's About Time...
I was going to put these up last weekend, but I really didn't like them. They were hurried shots at work while on break and I'm still not even remotely satisfied with them. But something's better than nothing, I suppose.
Anyway, after almost an eternity of searching, many false starts and mis-steps with Craigslist Crazies, I now present my new '02 Suzuki SV650S in Sonic Silver! I was able to locate (with much help from The Kelly and The Rob) this fine example, which was the last year they made the 'curvies'. In '03 they started making 'pointies' and changed it all up--frame, fuel delivery, bodywork, etc. Some say for the worse, but that's academic, isn't it? This was a 1-owner bike who didn't get to ride very much because of her busy schedule so it was very low miles for the year. How low? just over 6000. Which means very close to 1000 miles a year! Tasty. There is some slight cosmetic damage on the bike, so I got a petter price, but I challenge you to find it in the pics!
I will get some better pics at some point, but for now, I humbly offer these for your review. Oh yeah, my new jacket and helmet finally arrived today, so now I am offically 100% stylin!
Anyway, after almost an eternity of searching, many false starts and mis-steps with Craigslist Crazies, I now present my new '02 Suzuki SV650S in Sonic Silver! I was able to locate (with much help from The Kelly and The Rob) this fine example, which was the last year they made the 'curvies'. In '03 they started making 'pointies' and changed it all up--frame, fuel delivery, bodywork, etc. Some say for the worse, but that's academic, isn't it? This was a 1-owner bike who didn't get to ride very much because of her busy schedule so it was very low miles for the year. How low? just over 6000. Which means very close to 1000 miles a year! Tasty. There is some slight cosmetic damage on the bike, so I got a petter price, but I challenge you to find it in the pics!
I will get some better pics at some point, but for now, I humbly offer these for your review. Oh yeah, my new jacket and helmet finally arrived today, so now I am offically 100% stylin!
// posted by wayne @ 10/04/2008 04:06:00 AM
