snrusnak mod thread

[snrusnak]

First I want to say sorry the pics suck but it's really dark in my garage, I'll post better ones later. This turned out really nice for a free project.

First I took an old tank bag from that I used on my old suzuki(I think I bought it at cycle gear years ago). My wife cut the flaps off that had magnets in them. Then she cut the magnets in the bag out. Then she sewed some straps(nylon????) on to the underside of the bag:

Then I happened to have an extra passenger seat with a tear in it that would work out perfectly for this so I used it to "permanently" strap the bag to:

I used a lighter to burn the bolt holes and ends so they wouldn't continue to fray. The way we did this is very secure.

The size and fit is pretty damn good. It's also very secure and is a larger bag so I can carry a lot of cargo. I got lucky and had an extra seat so I can just swap it if I want to have a passenger(although honestly someone could just sit on the bag...). I'm sure one could sew buckles on though to make it releasable.

What do you all think!?

 

[twoguns]

hahaha.... mate awesome! good use of the wife as well.

 

[snrusnak]

Thanks bud! You get those stickers yet? I'd think they would have been there by now.

 

[twoguns]

ah yeah sorry... got them on wednesday. all good. [up]

 

[snrusnak]

Awesome!

 

[snrusnak]

Just got back from my trip, put about 600 miles on the bike. About 200 in TN and about 400 in AR. Also about 2600 on my truck there and back. The riding was amazing(and the tail bag worked out well). Now I need new tires though. Will be powder coating the wheels at the same time(leaning towards black), new wheel bearings, new drive belt(noticed it's dry rotted), new rear brakes and brake line.....think that's it for now...

I was going to get the same tomahawk tires I've used in the past, but I think I might try some dual compound ones this time. I wear out the centers so fast here in FL. If I rode more curves I'd definitely get the tomohawks.

So in about a month probably the bike will come apart again for this work...

 

[snrusnak]

Some pictures of places we stopped in AR. My phone died in TN so no pics there.

 

[snrusnak]

So it's time to replace my tires as I wore them out pretty good in AR. I'm going with Michelin Pilot Powers. Got a good deal through a friend(thanks Curtis).

While it's apart I'm going to powder coat the wheels black(same guy that did the other parts for me....he said it will be about $100/wheel). Then I think I'm going to try dyna beads out and mount the tires myself.

Also going to replace the wheel bearings, was going to see if all balls had any(since I was happy with their steering neck bearings). Anyone have any other recommendations, or use the all balls ones?

Also going to replace the drive belt as it's dry rotted. Besides HD anyone know a good place to get one, or if there's multiple brands, best brand, best deal, etc...?

Thanks guys, should have this all back together in about 1-2 months.

 

[Oldgit]

Nice weather you have over there snr mate Its usually pissing it down here.

 

[OldGeezer]

Hey snrusnak,

I bought a new belt from ASB, may not be the cheapest, but they are good folks and have helped me out. Other than that there was a thread a while ago giving the Gates part number. If you have that, or even better, take the old belt in to a place that sells bearings and power transmission components, here in Canada it would be someone like a Canadian Bearings, and ask them for a price on a Gates belt that matches your old one. I have often found, up here anyway, that they are way cheaper for bearings, chains, belts etc… than automotive stores or places that sell bike parts. Can't hurt to check anyway.

[up] on the Michelins, they are going to be my next tire. I'm running Metzelers at the moment, and they are OK but they don't feel as grippy as Michelins I've had in the past.

Nice mod on the tail bag! I will be adding one soon, it is handy having a place to put stuff.

 

[snrusnak]

Thanks for the info!

Those pictures are from AR lol, it was REALLY dry and REALLY hot(~105-110 deg F).

I love the tail bag. So nice to be able to bring some water and other things. It does get very hot there since the fan blows the hot air right there. I fixed that by bringing a small cooler inside the tail bag to keep the waters cool. Lasted all day last ride.

 

[OldGeezer]

Nice pictures, looks like a really fun ride on some beautiful roads. It certainly looks dry in some of the pics and definitely hot, you can see the heat haze above the truck and that is a white truck!

Bike looks great with the black plastics.

 

[snrusnak]

Yeah notice how every picture we were trying to find shade lol. Definitely the best roads I've ever been on. I was going to try to go back this fall but won't be able to (not enough vacation time). I guess that's what next year is for... I'll probably even skip the trip I was going to do to the dragon to save money so I can do this trip again.

Can't wait to get it back together, I hate having the bike in pieces not being able to ride it. I think I'll get smart this time and suspend the insurance on it for a couple months, save the money. I should have done that the last time and could have saved like 4 months of insurance payments.

I just gotta finish up on this scooter I'm working on for a friend, then on to the bike. This guy's wife bought a 2002 honda metropolitan(new) and put one tank of gas in it and rode it about 100 some odd miles. Then pushed it in the corner of the garage and it sat there until last week. So he wants me to bring it back to life. So I'm going through the whole fuel system and cooling system and going to see if it fires up, the thing looks brand new besides dust. I'm amazed the fuel didn't even gunk up very much in the tank, filter, pump, check valve, and carb. I did go through it all though for safe measure and ordered only a new filter and carb gasket kit. Then just gotta refill with coolant(flushed the cooling system), and change the oil and see if the battery charges. So for like $60 in parts(assuming the battery is good, if not then another $100) this thing should be like brand new. She paid $4k for it! Unbelievable...

 

[OldGeezer]

I did in fact notice that you were always in the shade and judging by how wet your buddy's shirt was I figured it must be pretty hot

My fan surprised me the other day, it turned on when I shut the bike down. It has never turned on before, but then it was a really hot day and I had just come in off the highway and let it idle while I was opening and shutting the gate. At least I know it works We don't have anything like the heat you've been having this year, thank goodness, and I didn't go riding on the really hot days we've had. Some poor guy passed out and crashed his bike on the highway south of us, apparently from the heat that day, he had ridden from Thunder Bay, about 300 miles, and I guess he hadn't kept hydrated properly. It was 108F in the sun that day and 90 in the shade.

Yeah, people are funny about their things, pay good money for them and just let them sit and never use them. I figure if you buy something and decide you don't want to use it anymore at least sell it so someone else can use it, and get some of your cash back. Sounds like that scooter will be a good deal for someone.

I decided that I'm going to wait till the end of the riding season to do any more work on the bike, other than oil changes and maybe a new belt. I've spent too much time not riding it already this year

 

[snrusnak]

Well I got that scooter done a while back and just haven't been able to do any work on my bike(time and money). Finally now though I have some extra cash saved for the bike and some free time so I'll be ordering the belt, bearings, brake line, etc soon(within a week or couple weeks) and will be taking the wheels to the powder coater within a few weeks as well. Should be riding again say november or december. Can't wait!

Then it'll be small modifications like new license plate mount, remove belt guards, fix headlights and horn, etc...will do my muffler soon too, then if I have the money ceramic coating on the whole exhaust next year and possibly larger TB and new intake seals. Then I can tune.

 

[snrusnak]

Unfortunately some **** came up and I just had to spend a lot of money I've been saving on a personal emergency, so my bike is pushed off again. It's looking like the work will happen in december and I'll have it back running about january [mad]

 

[FlaXB9R]

You should at least install your tires so you can ride. The weather is to beautiful not to ride and only getting better.
I rode out to Sugarloaf with a buddy of mine this past weekend. Man I let my bike sit so long I forgot what I was missing.

 

[snrusnak]

Holy stretched swing arm batman!!! To each their own lol...

Yeah that'd be great but then in like 2 months I'd have to pull them back off to do the powder. Honestly I can't ride right now anyway I have so much going on, sounds like BS I know but it's true. I don't have a free day I don't think until december. I think I'm going to take my remaining vacation days around thanksgiving so I can get some much needed work done on the bike and on the house...

 

[FlaXB9R]

Holy stretched swing arm batman!!!  To each their own lol...

Yeah he's a SQUID


Not denying the last statement but he did buy it like that and has been talking about fixing it since then (probably a year)

Hey just realized something, y'all have something in common (procrastination)

I've been trying to get him to go out there to sugarloaf for quite sometime now hoping it would motivate him to fix it and go riding more.

 

[snrusnak]

LOL I promise this time it's purely money and time related. If I just had a couple days to do it and the money it'd be done. I just about had the extra cash saved but we had an incident this weekend followed by a surgery monday evening...

All good now though, just gotta re coupe the $$$.