By 1966, I wanted to ride so bad I could taste it. Unfortunately, at the time I had no dough and little prospect of getting any, which put a serious crimp in my plans to buy any type of bike. Serendipitously, a family friend who’d been a partner in a defunct scooter rental business offered me three junked Rabbit 90 scooters. If I could get one of them running, I could keep it.

I know we’ve discussed this before but apparently, someone wasn’t paying attention, so let me repeat, as forcefully as I can on a printed page, that motorcycle control cables need periodic attention. If you neglect them they’ll break, and trust me on this, they’ll break at the most inopportune time, under the worst circumstances, and in such a way as to create the most havoc.

ABS—Not

How-To

The Society Of Automotive Engineers is soliciting funds to research driver and passenger posture for astride seating used on motorcycles, off road vehicles and certain types of watercraft. The goal is to better understand how hand placement, foot placement and various seat types affect posture and comfort. The resulting posture models could be used to aid in the design and development of new vehicles and to define a physical measurement tool. The measuring tool could take the form of a manikin that would provide a standardized way to measure seat characteristics as well as hand and foot control placement. A schematic of a possible manikin is shown on the drawing. If you are interested in more information on this project, contact Gary Pollak at SAE for administration concerns, gary@sae.org or Ron Roe at Anthrodynamics for technical concerns, anthroe1@wowway.com.

In 1948, British motorcycle engineer Bert Hopwood proposed building a new line of motorcycles based on a “modular” engine design that used shared components to create several different power plants. He reasoned that by using common architecture and interchangeable components, development time and manufacturing costs could be reduced, which in turn would enhance profits—which were in rather short supply at the time.

Maintenance
Few suspension components have as dramatic an effect on your bike's performance as steering head bearings. If they’re too loose, too tight, or damaged in any way, the steering, and handling qualities of your bike will take a real hit. Fortunately, steering head bearings don’t need much attention, and what maintenance is required is relatively easy to perform.

Got a question? Try to stump Mark at zimmemr@aol.com

2010 Honda Stateline
MSRP: $11,499
Caretaker: Cherney
Measurements: 5 ft. 7 in./160 lbs./30-IN. inseam
Odometer: NA
Miles since last issue: NA

I've been in the market for a new parts washer for the last few months but hadn't really found what I was looking for. My old one worked fine, but was a little small-you could fit a single cylinder head in it, but a twin was iffy. Plus it tended to splash solvent all over the place which was a little dangerous, given the cramped quarters of my shop. I was wandering through my local Tractor Supply store when I stumbled over a JOBSMART 20 Gallon Portable Washer, and knew I'd struck gold.

In technical terms, the job of a threaded fastener is to apply a compressive force to a connection, creating a joint strong enough to oppose any static, tensile, and dynamic loads that may be placed upon it. By that same token, the fastener(s) used must also be capable of resisting impact, shock, vibration, shear, bend, torque and vector (angular) forces, as well as other compressive loads. Boil away the jargon and it means that bolts work by clamping things together under tension and that both the connection and the bolt must be strong enough resist any force that tries to break that connection or the bolt that's holding it together.

Not-so Heavy Hauling
My wife and I are looking to accessorize our Honda shadow 750 Aero, 2006 version. Someone had mentioned we could pull a trailer. Is this possible? And if so, what capacity?
Jeff Simmons
Via email

Few components have as much impact on your motorcycle’s overall performance as the tires. It doesn’t matter how much horsepower you’ve got, how trick your suspension is, or how powerful the brakes are, if the tires can’t do their job, sooner or later you’re going to find yourself riding the world’s fastest shopping cart.

My buddy asked me to take a quick look at his new dump truck the other day. It seems the batteries—there were three of them—were going dead whenever the truck sat over night and he was at his wits end as to what was causing it. He'd had the truck back to the dealership, where they replaced the alternator and all three batteries under warranty. He'd driven the truck back from the shop on Friday night and parked it in a warm garage over the weekend, but come Monday morning, the thing wouldn't even turn over. Obviously, something was killing the batteries, and my suspicion was that it was parasitic draw, but where was it coming from, and what does it have to do with motorcycles?

Last issue, we told you we’d be modifying a stock Honda Stateline with Willie & Max’s Touring Upgrade Kit. The kit comes with a full inner and outer fairing, 9-inch windshield and hard saddlebags, with the option to add a stereo kit. We chose the Stateline because we’re pretty familiar with the VT1300 series, but the kit is also available for the VTX1300, V-Star 950, and Vulcan 900s (with Suzuki C series fitments being released next).

The general reliability and easy-to-live-with nature of modern motorcycles never ceases to amaze me. By New Year’s Eve morning, it was clear that this winter was going to be particularly sloppy, and since I don’t like to ride any of my "good" machines on sand and salt-encrusted roads, I decided to drag myself out to the shop and give them a proper bed down, especially since, based on past performance, I might not be able to do it on New Year’s Day.

Buffalo, NY: As springtime brings a new riding season, Dunlop reminds you that it’s wise to kick off your travels by checking your tires. Two items are of vital importance: always check your tire pressures before you ride, and always know your load limit. Exceeding 400 pounds in rider, passenger and cargo weight on some bikes may exceed the load limit.

Clutching at Normality
I've started the post-season maintenance on my 2001 Volusia and adjusted my clutch lever free play according to the Clymer manual. First I loosened the locknut on the clutch release adjusting screw, and turned the adjusting screw out 3 turns. I then loosened the jam nuts on the cables to allow slack in cable. I turned in the clutch release adjusting screw until resistance was felt, then backed it off 1/4 turn, per the manual. Holding the screw in position and I tightened the jam nut. Finally I adjusted the cable end jam nuts to allow for the 0.4 -0.6 inch of free play, all this times 2.

We're becoming a nation of alcoholics, and I don't mean that in a good way. In many parts of the U.S., unadulterated gasoline-that is, gas not mixed with ethanol-is becoming increasingly hard to find, and many of us are hoping there's a 21st century Carrie Nation out there that's going to ride to our rescue.

Tire Trauma
I just had an incident where my tire’s valve stem cracked and the tire went flat. I had to ride on it for 3 to 5 miles to reach a safe area to stop, and then had the bike towed to the nearest open shop. They completely removed the tire, replaced the stem and reinstalled the old tire.I did this just to get the bike home since it was a Sunday, and the shop I normally use was closed. I didn’t feel like the repaired tire was safe, so the next day I slowly rode to the shop where I bought my bike. They argued that the tire was safe, though they did replace the valve stem and supposedly check the tire to ensure it was safe before sending me on my way. Unfortunately, I still don’t feel the tire is safe, and now the bike shakes more than usual. Is it accepted practice to remove and replace the same tire on a motorcycle more than once and would it be considered safe to drive on at any speed?
Ruben Sanchez
USAF Retired

Is there an electric motorcycle in your future? Quite possibly. It's estimated that by 2016, there will be 466 million electric motorcycles on the road, and while the vast majority of them are slated for the Chinese market, there's no doubt that some proportion will end up here, especially since American manufacturers like Brammo, Zero and MotoCzysz are at the forefront of the technology.

In the December 2010 issue, Pat Duff wrote in requesting some info on his 1986 Triumph Thunderbird. Specifically, he was having trouble disengaging the clutch and wanted to know how much travel the release mechanism needed to separate the plates. I couldn't provide the answer; it simply wasn't listed. But another reader and a friend of mine, a fellow named Jim Hamlin, who does some first-class wrenching down at the local Triumph dealership, mentioned to me that he'd had a T-Bird show up with exactly the same problem.

"Clyde" is an old riding buddy of mine. That's not his real handle, but you probably figured that out from the quotation marks. Anyway, Clyde and I have been friends for a very long time-since I was about 19 years old, in fact-which means we've been riding, working on, and talking about motorcycles for 38 years, and that's a real good run by anybody's measure.

2010 Triumph Thunderbird
MSRP: $12,799