ae86andkp61’s Moto fleet; too many bikes, so little time

Incredible early-summer weather here means I commuted by bike last week. That meant I had daily reminders of some of the little things still needing to be addressed on the 701.

I got the newly-painted black front sprocket cover installed, and I'm really happy with how it looks. The things that were hard to ignore: the bike was dirty, the chain needed lube, and the front wheel was not balanced. Given the compliant long-travel suspension, the front wheel imbalance was hard to discern around town, but certainly noticeable starting at about 45-50 mph.

I also have been meaning to reinforce the license plate mount since losing the previous plate sometime last fall.

I did a quick wash after work Friday. Today after helping oldeskewltoy test-fit the hemi in his Mk II Coupe, I did a little work on the Husky. Since we were out at the shop, we popped it up on the stand, I removed the front wheel and got it much better balanced. I lubed the chain, and made a backing plate for the license plate from ABS sheet, and then added extra holes and fasteners. There used to be two bolts on the plate, and two in the bike, and now there are four fasteners on each side.

I took the long-long route home from the shop, and enjoyed all the small improvements! It was my favorite kind of ride...super twisty roads, nice vistas, reasonable speeds, small throttle openings, and high lean angles! Mellow acceleration, minimal braking, and carrying as much of the reasonable straightaway speed as feasible through the apexes. 

It seems I may have become "that guy." As-in I now have oddball Swedish enduros and supermotos finding me! I got an unsolicited offer via the interwebs from a reasonably-local guy (actually lives in the town I grew up in!) He had a big fleet of bikes, and has gotten to an age where he can't ride as much, so he is struggling with downsizing, and figures I might present a good home for his plated 2008 Husaberg FE550 with extras!

AFAIK, he hasn't listed it publicly yet. We haven't discussed price. 5700-or-so miles. I'm flattered. I'm intrigued. I don't need it. I'm not sure I have the space. I have enough orphans already. Buuut, if I ever wanted one, I'd probably be hard-pressed to find nicer locally.  It is light (~240ish pounds) and supposedly works quite well. The main complaints I've read about these is a high seat height (I'm 6' 2" with long legs and put tall seats on most enduros, so no worries here) and possible difficulty finding parts, which is also old hat for me these days. On the flip side, lots of overlap with the use-case of my current collection. But then in the flip-flip-side, I know what I like, so why try to talk myself out of it? 

Restraint got the best of me and I haven't bought another Husaberg.
 

I am still riding the Husky as much as possible, and noticed the other day that it took 2-3 stabs at the starter button to fire up, which struck me as way outside the norm and very strange.

This morning I rode to work, and had a similar starting experience, taking 3 tries, and a couple minor hiccups once started before it seemed to clear up. Temperatures are warm here, so...

Fast forward to my commute home today, and now it takes 4-5 tries at the starter to start the bike. I started home cautiously. It seems like it hesitates a bit, but only sporadically at low rpm, light-load...and it hesitates consistently at low-to-mid rpm moderate load. I didn't try for bigger throttle openings or heavy load. I have zero empirical evidence, but my motorcyclist gut told me it might be lean. Near the end of the ride home I started getting some very occasional popping from the exhaust on the overrun. The fan was cycling on at least as much as normal in summer, and perhaps more.

The long and the short of it is that I should probably ride a different bike until I get chance to check the fuel filters.

Thinking back; I'm wondering if it could be bad gas. Sunday I took a recreational ride out of the city. The bike was running great. On the way back I pulled into a gas station I haven't been to before and fueled up. The bike took somewhere between 2.4-2.5 gallons (3.4 gallon tank) so the bulk of the fuel was from the unknown station, but not all.

The trip home was 30 miles or a little more, so probably just about or just over a half gallon burned on the way home. No problems with the way it ran that I remember.

The trouble started with next ride. The first ride with rough starting was about 10 miles...another 0.2 gallons burned.

The second and third rides with rough starting and rough running were to and from work, about 7-8 miles each way. Another 0.25-0.3 gallons burned.

Could it be as simple as bad gas?

In any case, checking the inline fuel filter seems easy and is probably worthwhile, and is a good first step.

Given that the slightly rough running is only very slightly rough, should I set the engine mapping to the bad fuel map and see what it does, and possibly burn through more of this tank? If it works better with the mapping change, and I burn it down a bit, I can fuel up and see if it improves. If it doesn't, I can put in the effort of diving into the the tank, the in-tank filter, and the fuel pump.
 

The alternative is draining the tank first, which doesn't seem to be easy on this bike, and replacing with fresh fuel. If I do that and it fixes the issue, great! It would be a bummer if it is a partially-clogged filter, and I go through the effort and of draining the tank unnecessarily.

Check your fuel pressure first.  If that's low, then you know you need to go into the tank.  Given the mileage your bike has, I'd be replacing all the fuel filters and also the fuel pump.  There's a plastic Mahle fuel filter in the tank that likes to split.  The stock pump is known to die early.  There's also a small little filter in the quick disconnect right before the fuel injector.  Check out my 690 build thread for info on what filters I used on mine....

I haven't had a chance to check fuel pressure on the 701 yet, but it is on the list for the long weekend. Thanks to docwyte for the reminder of the first thing to check on an EFI bike with running issues! 

Since the Husky was a bit under the weather, I rode the Husaberg to work on Friday, which was fun until I got close to home on the way back. It is fairly hot here, and with all the idiots in cars driving through downtown (lights are timed for 16-18mph) so the car in front of me goes 11-12mph towards the next intersection...and, surprise, surprise...hits each and every berkeleying yellow and now we all have to wait, with engine heat building all the time! 

The Husaberg made it back to the parking garage at home, but felt super-hot. As soon as I shut her off, the coolant boiled over and puked out the overflow again!

After it cooled, I popped the cap, topped it off, ran it a bit with the cap open to make sure the cooling system is bled, and was able to watch the interior of the radiator and confirm that the thermostat opened after a bit.

Today I ordered a new radiator cap and a KTM/Husky cooling fan which I hope will fit the 'berg without much work.

Along with the cooling upgrades, I bought new sprockets to regear the 'berg and some parts for the 701 as well. I'm planning to modify the water pump weep hole on the 570, replace the rad cap, and add the cooling fan. The Husky will get a few new parts to replace the originals that are wearing with use. 
 

I love my supermotos so much, I'm bummed that they aren't rock-solid reliable in the prime of summer. My wavering interest in the chance to ride my sportier cafe-racer, mini sportbike, or sport-touring bike has me ruminating on the long-term plans for the moto fleet.

Weekend before last I did some diagnostics on the 701.
 

I started by removing the Trail Tech inductive pickup wire for the tachometer function on the Voyager...just in case it was contributing to an ignition issue, and because it sucks as a tach. Best case scenario, the tach lags, and worst case scenario it goes haywire (mostly when hot, I suspect due to heat soak in the coil-on-plug) and reads 20,000+ rpm most of the time, except the occasions when it bounces around totally erratically, unrelated to engine speed. It is a shame that there doesn't seem to be any way to get a useful tachometer on this bike!

A quick check for potential air leaks came up with nothing of concern.

Since I was already there and they need to be replaced, I pulled the plugs to read them. Neither one showed any red flags that would point toward an ignition issue. They are due for replacement, so I didn't add any work, but nice to eliminate a variable.

Next up was the fuel pressure test, which my gut told me might be the culprit. The spec is 48-54 psi.

That's not right! Not sure if the root cause is pump, regulator, strainer on the pump inlet, or inline filter on the pump outlet, but safe to say it is in the tank. I'm also pretty sure it isn't just a tank of bad gas!

In addition to the strainer on the pump inlet and the in-tank inline filter between the fuel pump and the tank outlet, there is an inline filter between the tank and the fuel rail. This one is also due for replacement, so I pulled it out. Nothing visibly wrong with this furthest-downstream filter, but it will get replaced.

For ease of replacement, and for the warranty, I ordered a pre-assembled replacement assembly from Rottweiler with a new strainer, pump, regulator, in-tank filter, clamps, lines, etc. 
 

I "worked" all weekend last weekend at the Pacific NW Overland Expo and I'm leaving town in a couple days for vacation, so I haven't been out at the shop, and I won't get anything installed until after I'm back in a couple weeks, but it will be nice to have a pile of new parts (plugs, filters, pump assembly) ready to install upon my return.

Since I already had a bunch of browser tabs open for different specialists like AOMC, Slavens Racing, Dirt Tricks, Rottweiler Performance, Best Dual Sport, etc, I figured I should probably order some Husaberg parts as well. 

Dirt Tricks came through with 15/45 gearing (they upgraded me to the bling finish since they didn't have the plain one I ordered in stock) plus an adjustable-temperature radiator fan kit!

I have more parts coming from AOMC, including a new radiator cap. 
 

Hopefully soon I won't be overheating, won't need third gear by the far side of the intersection, and won't need 7000+ rpm in top just to ride a short stint in the right lane of the highway. 

I ended up with a pro-fill tea bag pre filter on my pump, best dual sports filter to replace the plastic mahle in the tank post pump and then replaced the strainer in the fuel line with a Golan filter...

I made huge progress today on the 701! It was partially disassembled from before summer vacation and just sitting waiting for me. I removed the muffler, rear shock splash guard, and assorted bits in preparation for draining the tank.
 

I struggled briefly with the lower tank/subframe bolts (two bolts threaded into either end of a sleeve through the bottom of the tank.) I got the left one free, and the right one was just spinning before I realized that the sleeve accepts an internal 5mm Allen. I got the bottom of the tank unbolted and pulled up with ratchet strap to the crossbar on the handlebar.

Draining the tank went fairly well. Once the tank was up, I prepared both a catch basin plus a gas can with funnel. I started loosening bolts on the bottom pump/tank fitting and once fuel started leaking slowly, switched from drain pan to gas tank mid-stream with no issues. Shopmate Oldeskewltoy kept me entertained with conversation about unusual custom race-engine valvetrains which sat over my left shoulder while I was holding the funnel filling the red gas can. Once the fuel was drained, I moved the drain pan back into place on the rear swingarm, and dropped the bottom pump assembly.

I got the top tank assembly (outlet) free.

New versus old. There weren't any visible issues with the parts coming out of the bike, so I'm not sure what the exact root of the fuel pressure issue was.

Top assembly needs the fuel pressure regulator replaced, and I tore the insulation off the positive wire, so that needed to be redone.

New parts hooked up and in place.

Woohoo! Pressure reading bang in the middle of the acceptable range! Such a huge relief!

I replaced both plugs while I was in there. Should help along with restoring the fuel side of things to normal.

Wrapped up the problematic tach feed wire and left it on the bike but disconnected (anyone have experience with making an inductive tach pickup work on a COP setup? Let me know, thanks!) and flushed/bled both brakes.

Ready to ride again. Such a joyous occasion! Five weeks felt like an eternity without this bike! Interesting side note, I splashed just enough gas in for a test and ride to the neighborhood gas station, and it ran all the way there, and then took a full 3 gallons! So glad to be back in business!

Did you replace/upgrade the fuel filters too?

Yes, I replaced both inline filters. For the one in the tank, I got the assembled kit from Rottweiler that included a new filter, and for the one at the dry break between the tank outlet and the injector I installed a Golan aftermarket filter.

I've put a thousand miles on the bike since replacing the stator, so I was due for an oil sample to send in to Bkackstone for analysis to ensure that the elevated lead and copper levels at the last oil change were all due to the burned stator. I figured I would just do an oil and filter change while I was at it.

Now that I've got the fuel system working well, it was time to tackle one of the last remaining issues with this bike: with the supermoto wheels mounted, once above about 45mph continuously for 1-2 minutes, the ABS light comes on and the ABS shuts off. 

I've got lots of experience riding bikes without ABS, so I have kept riding. Some around town trips I never cross the speed/duration threshold and it stays active. Since I bought a bike with ABS, I want to use that ABS I paid for! 
 

Long story short, the size disparity between wheelsets (supermoto slightly smaller in the front, enduro smaller in the rear) was enough to trigger an error. I spent a looong time troubleshooting before coming to this conclusion, playing with tire sizes, tire pressures, ABS tone rings, ABS sensor spacing, speedometer calibration settings, without any luck.

I finally found a chap on the ADV rider forums named Ian Chappell who makes custom tone rings and ordered a set. I've had them on the shelf for a while, and finally installed them today. 
 

Rear side-by-side. The stock one is black.

Got lazy and figured I might not need to bother with trying to snake the rear wheel all the way out/remove the rear caliper/etc. The new rear ring is going on in this photo.

Time to change out the front ring. 
 

Front Ian Chappell Engineering ring installed.

I worked on the Husaberg for a bit once done with the Husky, then took the long route home from the shop on the Husky.

I did some quick calculations on the speedometer setting that should be calibrated with the new rings, and allow me to switch to the Enduro wheelset without a need to change settings. Sure enough the custom rings work great!

I took it up to 85mph on private property out the driveway for several minutes, and no errors! 

The ride home was over 20 miles, and I kept the Voyager GPS running to compare to the stock speedo and odo. With the setting I input into the stock speedo (which should be perfect with the Enduro wheels) the stock speedo is maybe a tiny bit optimistic (like roughly 1% or 1.5%) and the stock odometer is about 1.3% pessimistic...perfectly splitting the difference. I'm a happy man! 

While I was changing oil and collecting samples, I did the Husaberg as well. The impression I got when buying was that the guy I bought it from seemed to be really on top of maintenance. I haven't put a ton of miles on this bike, maybe 250 or so, but I figured it would be good to get a baseline oil analysis. I also wanted to look at what's involved with installing the cooling fan I bought.

I pulled the skidplate and right radiator shroud, and got to draining.

I removed the oil filter, and the pickup screen, and noted that the drain plug didn't have a sealing washer on it.

Definitely a bit of stuff on the magnetic drain plug. Mostly dark and really fine, maybe clutch, but a couple bigger shavings too. 

There's also definitely some shiny stuff stuck to the screen. I'm really glad I dug into this before riding any longer.

I also dove into the much-needed re-gearing. I noted the Cush hub when buying the bike, and was pleased to see the rubbers in decent shape.

New rear sprocket. Lighter, better-geared, and more bling. I ordered the plain one, but they were out of stock an upgraded me to the bling finish.

Front sprocket comparison. The new one is US-made, has a much more precise fit on the countershaft, reducing wear, and the bigger sprocket will also wear more slowly, and make it so I'm not using fourth in a 25mph zone. 

The old chain is at least a link too long. Now I've got a good bead on chain length.

Given that I don't have a new chain, I switched back to the oil change, installed the new filter and screen, added a copper sealing washer to the drain plug, torqued everything, and started filling.

By this point, I'd put in a good work session, it was hot, I was sweaty, it was distinctly into evening, and I decided to save the installation of the cooling system upgrades for next time.

Last weekend I wanted to do a longer ride, so I went out on the 701 and did a couple hundred miles of the most awesome Oregon backroads! It was a great reminder of how much I love this bike! It is as near perfect a motorcycle for my style of riding as I can imagine. It is quite light and nimble, but it still comfy, stable, and nowhere near out of breath at highway speeds. Supple long-travel suspension allows me to explore less-than-ideal road surfaces at a pretty good clip. The supermoto wheels/tires aren't the most perfect thing for the 15-20 miles of logging road that I did up into the Cascades (got up to nearly 4000'...after starting at about 180') However, they are the perfect thing for doing about 100 miles of twisty paved roads first, then a little bit of gravel in the middle, then back again on different twisty paved roads. The bike ran like a top the entire time. A great reminder of just how good life is! 

Unfortunately I was hit by an inattentive driver while riding the Husky home about 3.5 weeks ago. Thankfully I'm still here, but won't be riding for a while due to my injuries. Someday I may be able to share the whole story here once the legal dust has settled.

In a comical twist, while trying to recuperate at home, the 701 stator I ordered back in the spring finally arrived in the mail! 

Another minor update; I got oil analysis back on the Husky and the Berg. The lead and copper was high on the Husky at the last change, which was when the stator failed. The elevated levels was most likely due to the stator failure, but I wanted to check with analysis on the next change to ensure a bearing issue wasn't being masked by the stator failure. The latest report indicates reduced copper and lead levels, which bodes well, depending on what future the bike has once the insurance settlement occurs.

The analysis on the Berg was reasonable for/consistent with a young engine with ~1200 miles on it.

With my limited repair abilities at the moment, I may farm out some of the mechanical work on the bikes so that I can focus on healing, and hopefully get back into riding shape someday. 

Minor update; I'm not riding yet, and not out of the woods, but hopefully will be sometime next year with another surgical procedure and a bunch more painful physical therapy.  It sucks, and I'll likely never be 100% the same as pre-accident, but compared to the very-real possibility from from six or seven weeks ago of no riding and losing most of the use of my right arm/hand, I'll take it!

The Husky was totaled, and I bought it back. I got a check for about the lower end of the bike's pre-accident value IMO, and I got to keep the bike! I ordered all the mechanical parts needed, plus most of the obvious cosmetic parts for a small fraction of the estimate for parts+labor at the dealer!

The kind folk at the dealer helped me load, but I still overtaxed my right arm in the whole endeavor (I'm still in a brace and not supposed to do a lot of movement) and suffered the consequences for the next week.

Here's the 'totaled' bike back at the shop, zero repairs performed yet:

There may not be much to report for a while yet. I can't do any repairs with only my left hand, but I've got most of the parts, save a few things that were backordered. 

I missed that last post, I'm sorry you got hit and wish you a speedy recovery!  The Husky looks pretty good...  I might have one or two more rides in before the weather changes here, have to see...

Yikes! Heal well, Man.

Thanks for the well wishes!

The healing progresses slowly; more x-rays scheduled on the 10th should give an idea of the next steps. I still have very limited wrist mobility, which makes wrenching a challenge!

Since the pain is lessened, and my finger mobility and grip strength is progressing, I figured I'd see what I can do on the Husky. Replacements for the damaged parts have all arrived.

Got the handlebar loose, relying heavily on my left hand. The top of the bar risers is definitely bent.

Hard to see the bend on the top part (left side) but it is undeniable when viewed from the side, or when loosening the fasteners! Getting the bottom parts out without further disassembly of the triple clamp took lots of wiggling and wriggling...and look...one side is broken!

The whole shebang got replaced and torqued to spec; rubber cones, hardware, clamps...no reason to mess around with "maybe" control-related parts on a motorcycle!

Got the handguard off and started into the broken brake lever. The ground-off corner of the grip/throttle tube will eventually get some attention, but for now the throttle actuation is perfectly smooth and free from hang ups, so I'll stay focused on more critical stuff first.

I had an adjustable aftermarket lever on the shelf, so I installed it for now. Im undecided on if it will be an improvement over stock, but it gets the bike functional, and can be reevaluated later when I'm riding again. The brake light switch will need some fine-tuning adjustment when I have more hands.

New handguard installed. The level/angle of all the controls/guards/mirrors needs tweaking, but is also a future task for more than 1.5 hands. I also plan to loosen, cycle, and re-tighten the front end to free up any binding.

I take care of the bike by working on the crash damage, and the bike takes care of me by encouraging more movement on my injured side. 

Did a bit more work on the Husky today. After today's work, it should be rideable, or very close to it, which will make it easier to move around. A buddy has already volunteered to ride it from the shop to home for me. 

Bent rear brake pedal, with scuffed peg and tip.

Footpeg and rear brake pedal assembly removed and on the bench.

Thankfully the only 'damage' underneath is one tiny scratch in the paint of the clutch cover.

One of the mounting bolts had a little rust on the threads, so I tidied up the bolt and the threaded hole before reassembling.

New pedal and tip installed! 

I filed down the scuffs on the edge of the mirror. I might get fancy and fix this better someday, but this will do for now.

I waved a magic wand (AKA black paint marker) over the small cosmetic scuffs on the front wheel. They were on the edge right above the "T" in TUBELESS.

I knocked the rough edge off the scratches on the footpeg, and touched it up as well. Won't fool a concours judge, but at 5-10 feet it looks better than raw aluminum peeking out. Not much material was missing, mostly just the anodizing. I'm fine with using these for my seated-99%-of-the-time mellow-pace commuting and backroads exploring. In the highly unlikely event I start attempting doubles on the motocross track, or set out on an around-the-world trip, standing up on week after week of washboard gravel, I'll replace them.

I cut the abraded vinyl into an even shape, and put a blue patch of the same shape into the hole. Not perfect, but better than torn graphics!

I re-installed the Trail Tech GPS/gauge, and leveled out the controls and mirrors.

Woohoo! I can't wait until I've healed enough to ride!!

Got a couple more small things done on the Husky. I topped off the battery with the trickle charger.

Here's the worn slider.

I replaced it with new.

A little slide protection goes a long way towards minimizing damage and is cheap to replace. I'm planning to add bar end sliders before riding again.

I also lubed the chain. The right end of the bar/throttle tube has a little abrasion but seems to move smoothly. Even so, I pulled it apart and blew out all the dust/shavings/gravel. I'm going to fix it up properly; no sense in messing around with control parts on a motorcycle! I'm going to have to procure some bar end parts, maybe fire up my lathe. I have anti-vibration bar weights in there, so I'll turn parts to fix that, add a Delrin or other slippery plastic slider, and rebuild or replace the throttle tube.

I found a bit more minor damage today that wasn't on my radar screen. The left side shroud has a torn fastener, and the blue parts are slightly misaligned with the yellow parts. The blue has an edge that fits into a groove in the yellow, and the two are held together by screws. The car hit me at an oblique angle on the left side, and the bike went down on the right, so the bulk of my attention has been on the right side, but I guess the left got a little damage as well.

A short section of the blue part got folded over/pulled outside the groove, see the lighter marks on the top right edge.

The yellow part had two short sections that were tweaked. Here's the yellow part after the first round of straightening with the heat gun. See the two misshapen spots in the groove at the bottom of the part below my thumb, and just to the right of it. These were doubled over when I started.

Here's the blue part after relaxing it with the heat gun and massaging it. It came out great, with the divot mostly gone.

Here's the yellow part after heat and manipulation.

I fired up the plastic welder on PP settings. Here's the tab which was once torn open now back together...might need minor clearancing on the hole.

And...everything back together. I love having a plastic welder!

Back on the bike and looking good!

I also loosened the triple clamp/front axle fasteners, relieved any bound-up stresses and re-torqued everything.

Minor update; I installed a new Regina chain on the Berg today. The existing chain wasn't necessarily badly worn, but it was a cheap one, dirty, and too long. As I sat there summoning the energy to measure it, clean it, shorten it, and lube it, I just ordered a new chain. This way the new sprockets won't be run with a used chain, hopefully saving some wear. 
 

I started on my aesthetic update plan by putting the blue radiator shrouds on when I reassembled. The plan is to switch to all blue plastics with some yellow graphics for a classic Husaberg feel, swapping the front mask/headlight/front fender to the unique Husaberg parts from the 2010 and earlier bikes, instead of the shared KTM/Berg parts that came stock on the 2011-on bikes like mine.

The other details will be less-goofy-looking mirrors, a lighting output upgrade, different aftermarket turn signals (real-sized turn signals, not the 1/2" long useless things that are on there now,) handguards, a better license plate mount, and maybe a few more tweaks.