New guy, first bike

I would say that on a bike running around in full ATGATT is OK, but wearing all that shit around in your living room is sort of douchy. Now if sombody living there throws stuff around or chunks of plaster are falling from the ceiling, it's probably a good idea.


If anyone ever asks this is the official translation of douche into Bulgarian:

1. n, душ, обливане;
2. промиване, промивка.
II. v, 1. правя промивка (на);
2. обливам с душ.

 

What can I say? I love wearing this stuff! It just makes me excited to go riding.

 

Probably saves a few bucks on your heating bill too. I'm thinking the ATGATT acronym may need some modification if new owners are involved.

 

Haha, the Quattro comment is perfect. You drive one?

 

AWESOME first bike----Just like the commercial " I WANNA RIDE " Are you sleeping in you gear yet ? Hey , fer sure what Foothill said on the MFS course and if you have any buds with dirt bikes that also is excellent training for the street ( small cc bikes ) and the first thing you should practice is BRAKING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ENJOY

 

What part of the State are you in?

Welcome aboard.

 

Yeah. A coupe. Love that car. Chassis flexes like a wet noodle, but I've got a friend with a welder and I fabbed some rear tower bar tabs. Just waiting to get installed. Deutsche autos sind die besten.

Southwest metro area of Minneapolis, Eden Prairie to be exact.


I think I have a list of things this bike needs done now.
1. I went for a short ride today and noticed something a little sad. I knew the suspension on this bike is just gone, but today I saw there was some oil on the fork shock. :/ I've never really worked on bikes before, but I have a clymer manual. I did a little searching and it seems people recommend a new set of springs. Is it worth the hundred dollars to buy new springs? The whole bike only cost 500$. And where should I buy parts? I was looking at these for the seals. And what about the rear shock? Is there a cheap(er?) replacement shock, maybe from a different bike that's easy to find? I'm not afraid of a little modification.

2. The steering shakes at any speed above 20mph if I'm not holding on to it. Is that likely from the leaky shock, or does it hint at something more?

3. I bled the brakes last week. Some really awesome looking orange juice with brown bits of pulp came out. Blech. All new fluid in the front, both sides, and (as far as I can tell) bled properly. But the brakes are really still not biting. I can pull the lever almost all the way back to the handle and still don't feel like the bike is stopping as fast as it should. On the one other bike I've ridden the lever was *really* sensitive. A slight pull would stop the bike. Do I simply need new pads?

Thanks for the advice guys.

P.S. Got my boots. Whiiiiiiite.

 

If you plan on keeping the bike and are really in love with it, spending money on fixing the suspension isn't a bad thing. With that, you might want to look at Daugherty Motorsports - Motorcycle Suspension Performance and Modification. Jamie is a member here and many members turn to him to improve their ride's suspension.

As far as the front end shake, you may want to check the steering head, as this could be an issue. Also check the wheel bearings for any play, the tire for any odd wear patterns and the wheel balance in general.

In regards to the brakes, I would check the rotors and brake pads for any glazing and any scoring. Also check the pads for their wear markers, they could be due for changing. It's possible that the brake lines are a bit too old and might need to be replaced, especially if they're the stock rubber hoses. Rubber does swell a little bit when under braking so replacing them with steel braided lines might improve things for you.

Also, Kudos to you on getting proper riding gear! Now the next step is getting the rider courses and enjoying your bike.

One last thing...If I were in your shoes I would just keep up with the maintenance and ride it until the wheels fall off!

Cheers!

 

After looking at that website and looking at CBR shocks it doesn't look like it would take too much to fit one to a VF500. Take this for example. The only problem for mounting is the lower bracket. But since that lower mounting piece on the shock is solid it could have a second hole drilled. Then I could use some of the spare steel bar I have in the garage to create the mounting brackets. I understand the shock won't be sprung properly, but would it be worse than my stock marshmallow shock? Otherwise are there aftermarket springs I could purchase after determining the correct spring rating?

Thanks. I was pretty adamant about getting most of the gear before I rode the bike. Minus pants (only jeans) I feel pretty well protected. And I took care to buy affordably and stylishly.

Today I went on my first real ride. A friend of mine owns a gixxer 600 so I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride today. We went out for about 2.5 hours and I LOOVED it. I haven't ridden half a season yet but my buddy said I could probably have touched knee in few places. I'm a little torn on whether I should be proud or scared, but mostly it just felt good to hear. :redface: I've been performance driving for a couple years so corner judgement and lines aren't new concepts to me; I'm mostly learning techniques and limitations for the new machine. So far it's all been very exciting and enjoyable. Once the bike is mechanically straightened out I want to look for some side fairings. Maybe after that I'll look for another bike, but right now I'm loving this one.

 

The main issue with buying shocks that are not from the same bike is that the dampening and spring rates may not match the bike/your weight. Both are fixable but you'll need to talk to someone like Jamie who knows the bike and suspension. Many times people will send in their shocks, whether it's the stock or an after market, and have Jamie set it up correctly (if the shock is a rebuild-able type).

A couple options to add to wearing jeans, is some armor that you can wear underneath your jeans. When I'm not wearing my leathers I'm usually wearing my Bohn Adventure pants. Abrasion issues aside, jeans and street clothes in general, do not have any impact protection, that's where these come in. Bohn Body Armor or these KNOX Armor-Lower Body from SportbikeTrackGear.com
There are also a few places that you can buy leathers for a good price though. Cyclegear has their house brands Bilt/Sedici leather pants for less ~$130.00/~$200.00. And a full one-piece Bilt for ~$400.00. These are not the highest performing you can buy but they should provide better impact and abrasion protection than jeans. You might also check this thread for another inexpensive place for leathers...http://vfrworld.com/forums/gear-accessories/37357-topgear-leathers.html

Personally I would be feeling proud. Not too many people can just hop a bike and ride the corners. With that being said, you might consider grabbing a few books that can give you pointers and techniques to practice. The common ones are 'Total Control' by Lee Parks (also available for iPad), 'Proficient Motorcycling' and 'More Proficient Motorcycling' by David Hough (also available for iPad) and the "Racer's Bible set" 'Twist of the Wrist' and 'Twist of the Wrist 2' by Keith Code.

Cheers!

 

I'd just chuck that shot shock and weld in a piece of rebar to get that chopper feel. This replicates and predates the old "Where the rubber meets the road" by a couple of decades. The original being "Where your piles feel like they are hitting the road."

Performance driving is great if one does it in one of those Citroens with the rubberband suspension to experience lean angles.

 

Ok so regardless of what I end up doing with the rear shock, what do I need for a front shock rebuild? Seals, oil, maybe springs? Anything else? Suggestions on where and what to buy? I'm searching for front fork rebuild posts and finding a lot of them, but not necessarily detailed information.

 

Front fork: Seals first. If you got leaks then springs ain't gonna help. Sounds like that headshake is a worn bearing. Find some bike junkyards close by and get a factory manual download. If you are getting anywhere close to knee dragging on that POS, ,maybe it's time to strap yourself back into the AUDI.. You can wear all that new gear in the cage too.

 

One of the coupes may be getting a torsen rear diff soon (that's a type of limited slip differential), and very very strong inclinations of converting to RWD for the summer. We'll see how that goes.

When you say worn bearing do you mean wheel bearing or steering bearing? The bike came with the clymer. Does no one make new bearings for these anymore? Maybe it would be better to buy a fork assembly from a newer bike like a cbr.

 

V8 diff? I'm just waiting for one to pop up in a yard so I can throw it in the 200 with my rear sway bar and H&Rs =D

 

Uh oh, another Quattro addict! Yes V8 rear differential. They're torsen without the locker in stead of open with a lock, which would be much better for a RWD swap. There's a V8Q locally with a toast transmission listed for 700. My buddy and I are seriously talking about taking it and stripping it. My buddy took the AAN out of his 200 20v and put it in a coupe of his own (not running yet). He's been talking about doing a V8 swap into the 200 for a long time, so when I asked him about torsen rear diffs and he told me about the V8Q I said we need to get it and do some work. Then he can sell his 200 finally and maybe get the coupe running. And then I get a torsen rear diff out of it.

 

That'd be sweet. Since I traded my coupe I'm thinking of throwing my spare AAN into a Porsche 944, I love my 200 but it's kind of a pig handling wise...

 

When ya got a bike that's as old as that one and what sounds like a beater to start with, more than likely a steering head bearing but checking them both is a good idea.

None of my bikes came with a Clymer. Do you have a Clymer for your Audi? I had an Audi SW and I had a Chilton for that rig. The drift here just in case you are wondering is that all manuals ain't the same.

 

I have the Bentley service manual for the Coupe, never tired any others. I'm guessing you consider the Clymer to be sub-standard?

 

Some manuals are thicker than others.