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Alaska preparation

10K views 150 replies 14 participants last post by  jzeiler 
#1 ·
Finally got in the mood to start into the LT’s maintenance and inspection cycle for its 24K service and preparation for a ride to Alaska. This is the first major maintenance cycle since I had the old girl apart for the clutch replacement.

I decided to start at the bottom and work my way up since I need to get her on the centerstand before I can do the valve clearance check. My main reason to work on the centerstand is to try to get any slop in the mounts oriented toward the rear of the bike to try to regain the clearance I formerly had for the oil filter cover rear bolt. The bolt came out fine when the bike came from the factory, but hit the cross bar after I had it apart for the clutch. So, I clearly had the centerstand and/or EHCS frame skewed towards the front of the bike. I was also contemplating greasing the centerstand bushings again if necessary and changing the transmission oil is much easier with the centerstand removed.

Got the centerstand off and the bushings look like they will go another 24K. I worked the centerstand by hand several times and it moved very freely. I remember how stiff it was when I first had it apart at the 54,000 mile mark. Now at 74,000 it still moves as slick as can be. I think the new o-rings and the Honda Moly 60 are holding up well.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how clean the bottom of the engine and transmission are. I was used to seen everything covered in grime, but it appears the new seals are holding up. The EHCS is quite clean as is the bottom of the engine. Looks like a little oil residue around the oil filter cover, but that is most likely from my last oil change.

I got the transmission fill plug loose (always do that one first just in case) and then the drain plug. It is amazing how much better these come out when properly torqued as compared to first time I removed them as they came from the factory. The oil looked and smelled almost as good as new. The drain plug had just a small amount of residue on it, but not bad at all for 20,000 miles. I would say the transmission is holding up well.

I took the shifter linkage apart and the new foam rubber donuts work MUCH better than the old felt washers. I need to order another one as I got only three when I had the LT apart before. I can’t remember if I just forgot that I needed 4 rather than 3 or if they came in a 3-pack and I just didn’t bother to buy two packs. Anyway, the only joint that was at all dry was the one that did not have one of the new foam donuts.

Lastly, I noticed some corrosion around the ground strap from the engine to the ignition coil cover, at least I think the coils are behind that box. I decided to coat the bolt and area around the strap with some dielectric grease to minimize future corrosion. Here are a few pics of progress to date.

One question for the cognoscenti, I removed the pull bar and bushing that the EHCS actuator rod uses to pull down the centerstand. It appears to have nylon bushings and I am not sure greasing it is a good idea as it will pick up all sorts of dust down there, but seems like some lubricant is in order. My current plan is to squirt some silicone spray on it and call it good enough as that will dry and not hold grit. What have you all done at this joint? Anything at all?
 

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#124 ·
Yes, I bought the RDL backrest. It has a wide adjustment range for and aft, which is nice, but the knob is huge and sticks so far forward that the seat can’t be raised. I will take a picture when I think about it.

I’m going to look at it more closely and see if I can modify it so that it can be quickly removed. Not sure that is possible given the design, but need to give it some thought.
 
#125 · (Edited)
Installed my Vstream shield today. Here are a few pictures showing comparison to the stock shield, how it looks on the bike and a few minor niggles I have with it. I haven’t test ridden it yet and won’t get to that until later this week as I am heading out of town on a short business trip.

I got the tall shield from National Cycle and it is a fair bit larger than the stock shield, maybe 3/4-1” taller and much wider at the top. It seems to be the same thickness and stiffness which is good. It fit the mounting holes well, although getting their little metal bushings in place was a little challenging working alone. I didn’t want to drop one down inside the nose fairing, so I ended up putting a couple screws in to hold the shield in place and then went back and put in the bushings and screws one by one. Once I had all of the screws in place and snugged down a little to hold the shield in place (I pushed upward on it so that all play was taken out below the bolts/bushings), I went back and removed the screws one at a time to apply a drop of blue thread locker.

The three minor niggles I have are:

1. The contour of the bottom of the shield is a little different than stock so the tips of the chrome trim pieces touch the shield, but there is a gap of at least 1/16” in the midsection of the trim pieces. They were a pretty close fit on the OEM shield.

2. With the shield fully down, the shield contacts the right side bumper, but is about 1/16” off of the left side. It appears wind pressure will push it onto the bumper as I could make it contact the bumper by pulling back just a little on the top of the shield. So, I expect it won’t vibrate while riding, but it may in town so I may have to loosen the screws and try to adjust it a little. If I were to install it again, I think I would lower the shield before tightening the screws and try to get it snug against both bumpers. However, I was following the Clymer manual which said to raise the shield before removing it.

3. I noticed that the shield nearly touches the fairing when in the fully down position. So, I raised the shield watching it closely and sure enough it actually hits the fairing as it comes off the bumpers, maybe say 1/2” off the bumper. I checked both sides and both sides rub against the fairing as the shield is raised and lowered just before the fully down position. Probably not a big deal as it will just wear off the paint eventually in an area where it probably won’t be noticeable. I don’t much care on a 12 year old bike, but if this were a new bike, I’d probably either send the shield back or try to trim it if the manufacturer would not take it back.
 

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#126 ·
Looks like they updated the shape from when I bought mine in 2008. I never had any of the issues you have and the distortion I had was up at the top out board area of the shield.
 
#127 ·
I can’t say for sure until I ride it, but I held both the stock shield and the stream up and looked through both after I washed them and I really could not see any more distortion in the Vstream than in the OEM. Both have some distortion. The proof will be in the test ride though. Hopefully, Wednesday or Thursday.

I will add that I was surprised at how good the OEM shield still was. Sitting beside the new Vstream, there was no detectable yellowing and the view through them did not look as different as I expected. The old shield does glare more in the sun though as the micro scratches really show up then. However, for 12 years of UV and 74,000 miles, many on dirt roads, the OEM shield has held up very well. I am saving it as I certainly would use it again without hesitation.
 
#128 ·
The Lidlox arrived and the owner even through in some shorter SS hardware that he thought I might need when I explained how I planned to mount his products (not to the handlebars as intended). The parts are well packaged and look nice. If they work as well as they look, they will have been worth the money.

Now time to remove the top case and bend and paint some aluminum. This is where an acetylene welding torch would be handy, but I should be blue to get the aluminum hot enough with propane to bend without cracking.
 

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#132 ·
As with most things LT, it is never as easy as you think/hope it will be.

Started on the helmet lock project today and ran into a snag almost immediately. I checked the trunk attach bolts when I removed them to see how much thread engagement there was to tolerate an additional 1/8” of thickness. As it turns out, probably not enough. The bolts have maybe 1/4” of space between the head and the trunk when the threads engage. So, taking out 1/8” would make things iffy on the thread engagement. However, that isn’t the biggest challenge.

I think I see what Lynn was recollecting in regards to “shaping” the bar stock. The trunk has spacers under it that are probably 1/8” or so thick. This is to allow the trunk to clear the other bolt heads that hold the plastic cover in place (and maybe other things, I can’t remember what is under that cover). If I put the aluminum bars in there, the trunk will sit 1/4” or more higher than it does now as the bar stock will rest on top of the bolt heads which are 1/8” or so proud and then the spacers will add another 1/8” which means the stock bolts won’t engage at all. I was hoping I could just remove the spaces from the trunk and put them under my bar stock in which case I think it would have been just the extra 1/8” from the bar. However, they appear to have a collar above the spacer that is a press fit into the trunk so looks like removing them would be a challenge.

My next thought was to drill a large hole in the bar stock so that the spacer would go down through the bar. I would need also large holes over top of the other bolt heads for clearance. This looks like it might work really well, with the issue of the bars might rattle a little as they now would just be held by the spacers with no compression from the trunk bolts, but it looks like the plastic cover is above where the spacers sit so that cover would be compressed against the bar and probably would hold it tight. The good news is that this would not raise the trunk much so the stock bolts would still have good engagement. The bad news is that this spacer is at least 3/4” in diameter and a hole that big in my 1” wide stock would not leave much metal left for strength. However, I can get 1.5” wide stock which would allow 3/8” or slightly less on each side of the hole. I think the clearance holes for the bolt heads need to be at least 3/4” also and maybe even a little larger.

So, that is probably the approach I will take tomorrow, but need to return the 1” bar and get 1.5” and also see if I can buy a 3/4” diameter bit. Unless anyone here has another thought that I am overlooking?
 

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#134 ·
That’s a good thought. I keep thinking about getting one of those, but never have. Now looks like the time. No HF near me, but I suspect the price at Lowe’s won’t be too bad. It if is, I can get one from Amazon in a day or two.
 
#140 ·
Castrol Super Clean. Purple liquid and it works very well. There is another brand called Purple Power that is not as strong (it doesn't make me choke when I use it like the Castrol does).
 
#141 ·
I searched on Amazon and found this, but it says nothing about being made my Castrol. Probably not the right stuff. Do you buy yours online or have a local supplier?
 

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#142 ·
My bad, Mine does not say Castrol either. Maybe it was once upon a time as I have been using it for years. I get the gallon jug at Advance Auto Parts.
 
#144 ·
Washed and waxed with Collinite 845 insulator wax. Good stuff.

Tomorrow is tire change and oil change day and then launch Wednesday AM if all goes according to plan.

I suspect my LT will never look this good again after the Alcan, Cassiar and possibly lower part of the Dalton.
 

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#147 ·
With all of the major work you did on the LT are you planning on taking a 100+ mile test ride locally before you start to Alaska? My normal process when doing major work before a long trip is to take a 250 mile extended ride after a 30 mile local ride. I would rather deal with problems in my home territory.

Enjoy your adventure!
 
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#148 ·
Absolutely. I took a couple of local rides and then about a 130 mile ride last week. Today I mounted two new tires and then took a short ride to ensure they were balanced reasonably well and also to top off fuel for the Wednesday departure. So far, all looks good.
 
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#151 ·
Good to know about the center stand frame. Consider the amount of oil that comes out of the valve cover when you adjust the valves, that is old oil that gets mixed with the fresh right away. Yes mine always goes dark right away. I did have a install engine that was first loaded with cheap oil (it had sat for 5 years) and run for 100 miles then changed again with fresh good oil and it took awhile to get dark after that.

I'll bet that if you drain the old oil and then when the bike has cooled do a valve check and lose the old oil in the valve cover before you install the new oil you will see a difference.
 
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