So long Milwaukee Iron

http://www.milwaukeeiron.com/ I've always loved their bikes and just found out they are closing their doors. We wish you all the best in whatever the future brings.

Sons of Anarchy

Harley to sell in India

Harley-Davidson to sell motorcycles in India

By DAN STRUMPF (AP) – 6 hours ago

NEW YORK — Harley-Davidson Inc. said Thursday it will begin selling motorcycles next year in India, the world's second-largest motorcycle market, where the company hopes its iconic, heavyweight bikes will find a niche among the country's rising middle class.

The Milwaukee-based company said it has established a subsidiary near Delhi and has begun scouting the country for dealers.

"Given the rapid development of India's economy and physical infrastructure, this is exactly the right time to bring the world's greatest motorcycles to one of the world's largest motorcycling nations," said Mark Levatich, Harley's chief operating officer, in a statement.

India is the world's largest market for motorcycles behind China, but it is overwhelmingly dominated by smaller, inexpensive bikes used primarily for transportation, said Dilip Chenoy, director general of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.

Still, Harley said the country's growing economy, rising middle class and expanded highway construction has created a market for leisure motorcycle riders.

"Motorbikes, scooters in India are family commuting bikes," Chenoy said. "They tend to be more robustly built and the focus is on fuel economy, but there is an increasing market for leisure and high-end bikes which is beginning to happen here in India."

The move marks Harley's latest push into developing markets overseas, where it hopes rising incomes and the company's strong brand identity will spur sales and help offset flagging business at home.

International sales have made up a growing part of Harley's business. In 2008, motorcycle shipments in the U.S. fell 15 percent to 206,000 units while international shipments climbed 9 percent to 97,107.

Shares of Harley-Davidson closed Wednesday at $21.95. The stock has gained 29 percent since the start of the year, as investors begin to see a recovery in demand after a wrenching drop in sales during the U.S. recession.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Gloves

My gloves arrived yesterday evening and of course it's beenr aining all day today. Hopefully tomorrow I can try them out.

Olympia Gloves

I just ordered up a set of Olympia Gloves. I've never used them but they seem to get good reviews. I'll keep everyone posted. I ordered large which is the size I wear for my Joe Rocket gloves so hopefully these fit...like a glove. HAHAHAHA! Ok, I'll shut up. Here are the ones I got:

760 - AIR FORCE GEL

• Washable synthetic leather palm offers great durability
  
• Full Mesh back that allows maximum air flow while riding
  
• Padded, nylon stretch knuckles & fingers for flex and protection
  
• Gel padding for maximum comfort
  
• Perforated neoprene cuff & strap keeps your wrist cool
  
• Terry cloth sweat wipe on back of thumb
  
• Reinforced nylon stitching
  
• Adjustable Velcro strap

Sons of Anarchy Returns September 8th!

Sons of Anarchy Returns September 8th!
I can't freaking wait!

Dyna Beads

Just got back from a short ride. Nothing over 50 mph. The Dyna Beads seem to be doing the trick. No shaking or anything.

Kawasaki Drifter 800 Rear Fender For Sale - Complete!

I was planning on selling my rear fender this winter but figured I may as well post it up now in case someone is looking for one now.

It's the complete rear fender for a Drifter 800. Fender is OEM Kawasaki Pearl Black. The turn signals, brake light, wiring harness, chrome "bumper", is all included.

I'm asking $450 OBO for it all plus whatever shipping would be, unless you wanted to pick up Downriver. For shipping I will only ship this through UPS and will insure it for the full cost.

Rider Perception Test

Take the Rider Perception test from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF).
http://www.msf-usa.org/riderperception/

UPS

UPS is supposed to be delivering the Dyna Beads today! We shall see how well they work. I'm going to attempt to put them in my rear tire, with a 90 degree valve stem bend, while installed on the bike. I have a feeling this won't be fun with my huge Drifter fender, which is for sale by the way!.

I'll keep an update.

Michigan Motorcycle Community

Just wanted to let everyone know about our web forums.

TwoWheelMichigan.com

Dyna Beads to balance wheels

Well, I'm putting my bike back together this week. I took off the wheel weights to clean the wheels up nice and decided to give Dyna Beads a try. I've read a hundred post about them online and not one bad thing. http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm
I'll keep you posted with my reviews once they arrive and I get them in.

Front fender

I took the front fender off and put the front tire back on without it. I think it looks pretty good. I'll probably run it this way the rest of the season and see how I like it. The bad part about the rear is that if I go with the bobber fender I'll either need new exhaust or need to cut the current ones. I totally did not think about it but the current exhaust is made to go to the rear of the fender. With the big fender gone the exhaust would stick out past the rear tire like 6"-8". We'll see how it looks on Thursday. I plan on getting the rear wheel back on then and see what it looks like without the fender.

Front fender

I took the front fender off and put the front tire back on without it. I think it looks pretty good. I'll probably run it this way the rest of the season and see how I like it. The bad part about the rear is that if I go with the bobber fender I'll either need new exhaust or need to cut the current ones. I totally did not think about it but the current exhaust is made to go to the rear of the fender. With the big fender gone the exhaust would stick out past the rear tire like 6"-8". We'll see how it looks on Thursday. I plan on getting the rear wheel back on then and see what it looks like without the fender.

Am I nuts?

I have a 2002 Vulcan Drifter 800. I love the bike. I love how it draws a ton of attention and everything. However, I have a love hate relationship with my fenders. you know, the huge Indian looking fenders. They look alright but they make checking the air pressure, cleaning the wheels and tires, checking the brakes, inspecting the chain and lubing the chain and huge pain in the rear. I LOVE bobbers so I'm thinking of ditching the fenders for smaller bobber style ones. I'm thinking of running no front fender for the rest of the season and if I like that then working this winter to get a bobber fender mounted in the rear along with mounting a new rear brake light, turn signals, and license plate holder. So far everyone has told me I was nuts and I should sell the Drifter and get a regular Vulcan to do that stuff to. The thing is, I have the Drifter, got it for a song, and put a lot of work into cleaning the bike up and getting it ready. I don't want to have to deal with selling and buying a new bike to work on. Anyway, I'm sure a lot of think I'm crazy for wanting to chop up a Drifter but I'm really thinking it'll look sweet when I'm done.

Drifter fenders

I love my Vulcan Drifter 800 because there are not many on the road and it stands out amongst the other bikes. But, I'm starting to hate the fenders more and more. It makes it a paint to lube the chain, check the tire pressure, inflate the tires, clean the wheels and tires and so on. Right now my bike is sitting in the garage up on the stand with the wheels off. I REALLY liked the look of the bike without the rear fender. I'm thinking this would make a really sweet bobber bike.

Finally, new tires coming!

Well, this week I found a coupon for the Harbor Freight motorcycle jack and went and got it. It lifts the bike up fairly well too. This weekend I'm going to pull the wheels off, hopefully remembering to take pictures and do another writeup, and post a how-to article. Hopefully next week I'll be able to get the new tires thrown on at Honda East down in Toledo.

Installing a jet kit on a Kawasaki Vulcan 800.

This process is what I had to do on my 2002 Kawasaki Vulcan Drifter 800. It should be the same for all 800 models from what I can tell. Also, some Harley Davidson bikes use this same carb, or a very similar one from the same manufacturer, so this should help the Harley crowd out as well.

I used a DynoJet jet kit part# 2186. I have a K&N filter and Hard - Krome pipes on the bike. For the most part, any jet kit you get will be done exactly like this.

Your first order of business is to remove the carb from the bike. Sorry I do not have a write up for that but it wasn't that hard.

With the carb off the bike take it to a work bench or table. There will be some springs and smaller parts so don't do it over grass or gravel or something silly where you'd lose a part if it fell to the ground. Or maybe stopping in the middle of your product to crawl around on the ground for an hour looking for a part the size of a needle is your thing?

Now, let the fun begin!

Needle Installation

The first step in removing the needle is to remove the black plastic cover, outlined in yellow in the image. It's held in by 4 phillips head screws. Be sure to use the correct size screwdriver on these. Mine were a little tight and I could see these being a possible disaster is you stripped them.

Once the cover is off here is what you'll see.

Remove the spring, shown above, and the vacuum piston, shown below. Inside the vacuum piston there will also be a needle and a plastic needle holder.

This is what you should be left with.

In this picture I've outlined in yellow, the needle, and needle holder. The vacuum piston is the item in the upper right corner of my work mat.

Next you'll take the new needle, spacers, and e-clip, included with the jet kit, and follow the instructions. The new needle will have several grooves cut into the top of it. For my application, it called for an e-clip in the #3 groove with 2 washers resting on top of it.

You can now reassemble the vacuum piston, needle, needle holder and cover. The installation is simply the opposite of removal.

Jet Installation

Now for the installation of the new jet.

First, turn the carb upside down and locate the 4 phillips head screws, circled in yellow below, holding the float bowl on. Remove the screws using the proper screw driver making sure not to strip them.

Once the screws are removed simply remove the float bowl. Below is what the carb will look like with the float bowl removed. I've circled the jet in yellow.

The old jet is easily removed using an open wrench and the new jet is simply screwed right back into the same threads the old one came out of. Some kits come with different size jets so be sure to read the instruction to determine what jet to use. The jet size should be stamped right on the jet.

Put the float bowl back on and secure it with the 4 screws and move onto the next item.

Pilot (Fuel Mixture) Screw Adjustment

The final step to the jet kit install is to adjust your pilot screw. If you skip this step you'll have a very poor running bike.

First, turn the carb upside down and locate the metal mixture screw cap ,circled in yellow in the next two pictures. Once the cap is located drill a hole in it (the jet kit comes with the drill bit). NOTE: STOP DRILLING THE SECOND IT GETS THROUGH THE CAP OR YOU'LL DAMAGE THE MIXTURE SCREW UNDER IT!

Next screw a screw (the jet kit came with a screw) into the hole, just enough to bite into the cap.

The yellow box in the picture below shows the screw in the hole.

Next, use a pair of pliers to grab onto the screw and pull. The cap should pop right off with ease.

Once the cap is off adjust the screw per your instructions.

Ta-da! Your new jet kit is in and all that is left to do is toss the carb back on and enjoy a smooth running bike!