Tag Archives: review

Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer

Posted on by Motopsycho

The three thousand mile good, bad & ugly review

Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer

Just got home from the very first ride!

In March of 2019 I took delivery of my Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer a leftover 2017 model in the color dubbed “Giallo Solare” (solar yellow) for years now I’ve wanted a Guzzi but have never bought one. Truth be told I really wanted an old Eldorado, Ambassador or even one of the old 850T models, but for some reasons the stars never aligned correctly for that to happen.

It started with a Honda CTX1300

That is correct, my path to owning a Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer began with me drooling over a used Honda CTX1300. To be honest with you there are times when I wish I had the Honda but this is not due to quality or reliability issues. For some reason my wife who is usually an agreeable soul put her foot down and insisted that I was not going to spend that much money on a used motorcycle, especially one she had never heard me mention before. Her words were, “if you’re going to do this why don’t you get something you’ve always wanted.”

Triumph Street Twin vs Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer

These were the two bikes that I was considering and in all honesty the choice really came down which one was the most unusual. Both the Triumph Street Twin and the Guzzi V9 were well regarded by most reviewers. The engine sizes are similar, both are considered retro standards and both of them are “tuned for torque.” I’ve always regarded the tuned for torque statement as bullshit marketing doublespeak for we cut the horsepower and we hope you don’t notice, but now that I’ve ridden the Guzzi  I really like it. Peak torque comes in way down low in the rpm range and it literally pulls like a freight train up to the redline. It’s really not fast like the screaming Japanese fours that I was used to, but it feels a lot more powerful than it is. Why would I pick the Roamer over the V9 Bobber? Because I like the bright colors and chrome look. It screams 1970’s whereas the Bobber with its fat tires on both ends and matte paint say modern day hipster. Nothing wrong with that if you like it but I’m an eccentric old fart and this is an eccentric gentleman’s motorcycle. Lots of people think it’s a restoration and are shocked to find out that it is nearly new.

Pitfalls of purchasing online from out of state

There were no dealers in my home state of South Carolina at the time when I purchased this one on Ebay, from a dealer in Wisconsin. Shipping was handled by Haulbikes.com and rates were reasonable. One thing I will mention is that shipping companies like this cannot come down to the cul de sac in your neighborhood you’ll need to make arrangements to meet them somewhere with a large enough parking lot to get the tractor trailer parked off the road so that your bike can be unloaded safely.

What turned out to be the biggest problem is the fact that I decided, instead of paying cash for it, that I’d let the dealer do financing for me. Unfortunately their home state of Wisconsin requires the dealerships to send all titles directly to the bank. Unfortunately the bank turned out to be incredibly incompetent and would not help me to get the bike registered for the road in S.C. Finally after 2 months of not being able to register my new bike I went ahead & paid off the loan, even then it took a complaint to the BBB to finally get my title sent to me. If you decide to go online to purchase a vehicle I suggest paying cash up front, or if you really need financing that you obtain it in your home state to avoid registration problems.

Let us praise the good (looks &handling)

Among  Guzzista the looks of the V9 series are polarizing with the vast majority preferring the sportier looks of the V7 lineup. The general public on the other hand thinks this bike is gorgeous, especially the non-riding people or even those who have ridden motorcycle but have never heard of Moto Guzzi. The styling is what I would call cruising standard. The shape of the tank sort of resembles the old 850 T3 of the 70s but is smaller in proportion to the rest of the motorcycle than the T3 tank is. The quality of the fit and finish of the visible parts is stunning. The yellow paint has a heavy orange tint to it that appears golden in dim light.

The size and weight of this bike are perfect to me with a wet weight of approximately 440 lbs (200 kg) the Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer is very easy to handle at low speeds in parking lots and garages. Despite its relatively light weight for a midsize modern motorcycle the Roamer is very resistant to the effects of crosswinds and rainstorms. My experience with new bikes is extremely limited but compared to all the old stuff I’ve ridden the V9 is very confidence inspiring when the rain starts. It is a very mild mannered motorcycle this combined with traction control and Brembo anti-lock brakes provide you with a stable planted feel when the road gets a little wet.

Dream and Guzzi

The Guzzi with my 64 Honda Dream

All the Ricky racer boys who write for the magazines were not enamored with the handling and I understand, if I were riding around on all the latest crotch rockets I would probably feel the same way. I was using a modified 1980 Honda CB650 as my main daily rider and the handling and braking of the Roamer are much better than any vintage bike or cruiser that I’ve ever ridden. That being said the little Japanese 650cc 4 banger will smoke the 850cc V-twin easily in both acceleration and top speed, it’s not even close. Speed is not what this bike is about though, it’s about having a vintage motorcycle experience without the vintage motorcycle headaches. A lot of people on the various Guzzi forums recommended dropping the triple clamps down on the forks by 20mm to quicken up the steering so I tried it at it did seem to help once I put some decent shocks on the rear & lifted the rear back up. One very impressive specification of the Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer is that in the owner’s manual, maximum carrying load is listed at 925.94 lbs (420 kg) for rider passenger & luggage. This was partially responsible for me choosing this motorcycle and for my delusion that I could at least modify it into a usable middleweight touring machine. Don’t laugh my wife & I routinely ride 2-300 miles a day on our Honda Helix CN250 scooter, so surely it should be possible on an 850cc motorcycle right?

Let’s get down to the bad

The handling was really good to me even with the 100% stock suspension as long as you were on smooth pavement that is. The front end seemed okay with decent travel & rebound but the rear suspension was incredibly harsh. I finally set the preload at the lowest setting possible but all this did was to lower the rear of the bike enough to negate the benefits of lowering the front end for quicker steering. It would still beat the living shit out of you even over mild bumps. I do not know about the latest models but if you buy an earlier model like I did you should go ahead & budget for a new set of shocks immediately. I purchased a set of Ikon shock absorbers and I am very happy with them. This smoothed out the ride over bumps and actually improved the handling and allowed me to set the preload back to its maximum setting, raising the rear of the bike back up to where I like it. Before I changed the shocks my wife actually refused to ride on the Roamer at all due to the intense pain she felt even over seemingly small bumps and potholes.

Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer Ikon

Ikon shocks work really well.

If you need dealer support for basic maintenance this might not be the bike for you unless you happen to live near a dealer. I’d have to drive 3 or 4 hours to reach a dealer, but I can do all of my own oil changes, valve adjustments and repairs myself. Other than needing some software & a set of cables to connect your laptop to diagnose the fuel injection this is an extremely easy motorcycle to work on. The fuel injection isn’t that complicated either just join the Wild Goose Chase forum and search for Guzzidiag software, it’s simple enough an old fart like me can use it. If worst comes to worst custom builder Craig Rodsmith has proven that you can make it run with carburetors.

I wish the fuel tank were a little bigger but that’s a minor niggle, the low fuel light comes on when you’ve used 2.5 gallons out of the 4 gallon tank. This is roughly 150 miles and you’ll probably be ready for a break by then.

The effin ugly

Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer

The original factory seats on these motorcycles are instruments of torture. It’s almost like when they were finalizing the design someone plopped a cheap old plastic 1980s skateboard deck on top of the frame and said that looks cool, we’ll just add 6mm worth of padding and cover it with Naugahyde and we have us a seat. It really does look cool but it’s an awful place to sit for more than 10 minutes and it’s way too short for two up riding even if your passenger is a tiny 108 lb. wisp of a person like mine is. My pre-purchase research had warned me about the seat before I bought the bike but I was still caught off guard by how bad it was in real life. I’m now running the Moto Guzzi two piece, two up comfort seat which is much more comfortable. Too bad that is not really good enough, even the accessory seat is only a 150 mile seat at best as our last 300 mile in one day trip proved to us. If I keep this bike much longer I’ll try a Corbin seat. Corbin doesn’t really list a seat for the Roamer but they do have one for the V9 Bobber and the factory seats are interchangeable so I don’t see why an aftermarket seat for one wouldn’t work on the other.

I love / hate this motorcycle

It looks good, it sounds good too, and even with the stock pipes I could sit in the garage and listen to it idle for hours. The small gas tank that so many complain about, allows the engine to take its place as the rightful star of the show. A guy at a gas station once commented, “it looks like its all motor!”  I agree it does have a very muscular look and sound for a 55 hp v-twin. Now that I’ve got the suspension sorted out to my liking nothing beats riding around on the back roads with it. The engine really is the greatest thing about this motorcycle. The six speed gear box is very smooth also and well matched to the engine. If you’re putting around in town between 30-45 mph just put it in fourth and leave it there, bombing around out in the country between 45 and 60 fifth gear is the one to be in. I won’t even put it in sixth gear at less than 60 mph. You don’t gain anything but a little more vibration on the handlebars, fuel mileage stays the same and you’re not in the meat of the engines torque curve if you need sudden acceleration for some reason. Torque is massive and acceleration is much better than the spec sheets would indicate.

Unfortunately I bought the wrong motorcycle. As far as I can tell this will never be a comfortable 2 -300 miles a day motorcycle without some major modifications. We just ride the Helix if our destination is more than an hour away. I guess I should have bought a touring bike but I really hate big heavy motorcycles and would give up riding if that was all that was available. Plus I know from experience that you can do very long rides on smaller motorcycles.

Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer

A fantastic commuter!

So what do I do with it now? With the previously mentioned seat & shock mods the Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer is a top notch commuter bike. You want a bike night attention getter that handles decently on the back roads, a bar hopper or just something to ride around locally? This is the bike for you and I’m enjoying it in all of these roles except for bar hopping because I don’t go to bars.

ready to tour?

Going out for a long ride on the Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer

Back in March of 2020 Mrs. Psyco & I took the Roamer on a 300 mile one day trip. The first half wasn’t too bad but even though we had a break for a couple of hours the ride home took its toll on us. Around the 225 mile mark my lower extremities were numb and I knew that neither one of us would be able to move when we got home. At this point I decided that this pile of shit was going on Ebay the minute I got home but then it saved our life.

We were buzzing down S.C.  Highway 34 between Newberry and Camden S.C.  at 6o mph or so, following behind a big black bro-dozer Chevy pickup, when suddenly the driver made a sudden right turn into a driveway and then without warning threw it into reverse and backed out in front of me without looking. There was no time to stop before hitting the huge four door mall terrain vehicle that had suddenly blocked both lanes of the 2 lane road we were on. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic, road signs or mail boxes in the area so I twisted the throttle some more, banked hard to the left and was able to safely pass the rear bumper of this truck on the shoulder on the opposite side of the road from where I started. Thankfully no nasty surprises were lurking in the grass on the shoulder & I was able to slow down and safely merge back onto the road. When we stopped to steady our nerves my wife swore that she could feel the trailer hitch brush her pants leg as we went by. Thanks be to God that we didn’t get hurt that day. That was also when I decided to keep the Guzzi a little while longer. If we had been on any other bike in my collection, especially the scooter we would have been hamburger stuck to the side of that bro-dozer.

muddyMoto Guzzi

Filthy motorcycle at the end of a long day.

Even so it was about 2 weeks before I got back on it or even washed it (we ran through a few miles of red clay mud in the rain). It took a while after that for the sensitivity to the vibration through the seat to go away but eventually it did.

Where do we go from here?

Once the nation and my finances recover from the coronavirus pandemic and the stupid senseless outbreak of violence that is occurring, I’ll throw a few more dollars at it and try to make it more comfortable so that I can do with it what I bought it for which is to be able to ride 3-6 hours a day. If that fails I’ll get some loud pipes, an upgraded fuel injection map and customize the hell out of it. If it can’t be a road bike I’ll turn it into a show bike.

Would I sell it? Maybe but cash is not really what I want, barter is more of my style there are 2 very specific trades that I’d make for it and both would need to be straight up barter with no cash changing hands;

UPDATE 2022 I wound up selling this motorcycle & used the cash to buy something else.

1: a 1995-1996 Jaguar XJS 2+2 convertible in good driving condition. 4.0 6 cylinder engine.  Color is unimportant and needing some cosmetic work is okay as long as all electrical and top components are functional and I can drive it home from wherever you are.

2: I’d definitely be willing to trade for a nice looking ready to ride Honda CTX1300 preferably with a passenger backrest or top trunk installed.

Hope you all have a great day!

Motopsyco’s Asylum 2015 year in blogging |

Posted on by Motopsycho

2015 was the best year yet for this little blog, click below to get the full report.

See the fireworks Motopsyco’s Asylum created by blogging on WordPress. Check out their 2015 annual report.

Source: 2015 year in blogging | Motopsyco’s Asylum

A Tale Of 2 Valve Spring Compressors

Posted on by Motopsycho

I love cheap tools sometimes. My own personal collection is a mixture of top name brands and some of the cheapest shit you can find that actually works. Surprisingly sometimes the cheap stuff is better than the expensive stuff in some applications. It doesn’t happen often but occasionally it does. Most of the time you get what you pay for though and here in a tale of 2 valve spring compressors I’m going to show you a great example of this principle in action. As I started to tear down the head for the CM400 I am overhauling I realized that none of the valve spring compressors that I already own would work, 2 or 3 of them were for side valve engines, one was your typical auto parts store V8 compressor & the last one is a homemade thing especially made to work on old Honda 50-200cc dirtbike engines. Of course none of them would work, what I needed was one of the large C-clamp style tools with multiple adapters like all the shops that I used to work at had. So I came inside, fired up the computer and went shopping.

<cheap chinese spring compressor>

Of course I did not start out looking for the cheap stuff, my first search was for a genuine Motion Pro Valve Spring Compressor
but it is a bit pricey at around 100 bucks or so not including the Motion Pro Adapter and Bore Protector Set That being said if you got the money to throw around or if you are running a full time professional shop it is the best one to get.

Being in an experimental state of mind (okay that’s bullshit I am just a cheap bastard sometimes) I decided to try out this one that is all over ebay & Amazon for around $30 dollars shipped. It came in a nice molded plastic box with plenty of adapters for different size valve springs.

<valve spring compressor cheap junk>

…

<cheap tool bent>

Unfortunately the cheap thin wall tubing that it was made of almost immediately began to flex and fail without budging the valve spring in the slightest. All of the compressors of this style & price range had very mixed reviews on the various merchant websites where they are sold apparently they work on some engines with weaker springs but on this head it did not work at all and was in fact a complete & total failure.

<Have your balls ever fallen out?>

Have your balls ever fallen out?

To add insult to injury one of the balls that retains the adapters to the tools popped out of its socket

<valve spring compressor failure>

As you can see here this Stark valve spring compressor is now permanently bent and no longer fits back into it’s slot in the case. Back for a refund it went!

Enter the $46 OTC 4572 Large Valve Spring Compressor in it’s no frills cardboard box. Fancy blow molded plastic cases are nice, but really don’t make much difference if the tools inside don’t work. In this case the manufacturer decided to save money on the packaging and not the tool.

<good tool in a plain wrapper>

When I opened up the box there was a surprisingly heavy well made tool inside. It was very similar in style, metal thickness, and finish to the more expensive tools I have used in the past at various shops where I have worked. There were two other cost cutting measures one being that it only comes with two adapters for different size springs and that it only had a cup style tip for the clamping screw instead of including an interchangeable ball style tip, which actually works for better in most valve spring removal applications Below it is laid out with the rest of the tools that I normally use when it’s time to lap a set of valves.

<valve lapping tools>

Here is a shot of it in place ready to compress a valve spring. At this time I’d like to point out that you do NOT compress the valve springs by pushing on the large handle with the rubber hand grip. To get your initial setup pull the handle open to get the tool in place around the head and then push it closed. Then you adjust the adapter and the clamping screw until the tool is in the correct place. Then you turn the t-handle on the clamping screw to compress and release the springs. To move on to the next valve spring, first release the tension on the spring by retracting the clamping screw, and next you release the handle, move the tool to the next valve, close the handle, and once again use the clamping screw to compress the spring.

<OTC valve spring tool in action>

Repeat as needed until you have removed & reinstalled all of the valves as needed.

<OTC valve spring compressor>

Below you can see a fully compressed valve spring with the valve keepers removed.

<inexpensive valve spring compresser that works>

The bottom line? The OTC 4572 Large Valve Spring Compressor is worth the money. It may lack a full range of spring adapters and accessories, but if you don’t need all of those things this is a solid well made tool that will get the job done.

Happy New Year From The Motopsyco

Posted on by Motopsycho

<motopsyco.com>

2014 was a terrific year with over 43,000 page views in the last 12 months. A big thank you to all of my readers! If you have an appropriate product to advertise or if you sell a motorcycle or motorcycle related product that you wish me to review, send a message using the contact form on my about page. Should you be in the mood to purchase some motorcycle parts or related gear be sure to check out Motopsyco’s Parts & Supplies.

In the meantime I resolve to keep on keeping on!
Peace Y’all

For More About This Blog’s Stats Please Click Here

Happy New Year From The Motopsyco

Ultimate Addons Mounting System for Phones

Posted on by Motopsycho

Who is looking for a way to safely mount their smartphone to the handlebars of their motorcycle, bicycle or atv? Initially when I first decided to add navigation to my motorcycle, the first thought was to find a mount for the Garmin Nuvi that I use in the old van, but quickly realized that my smartphone has some seriously good navigation apps installed on it and has the added advantage of always being with me. Keeping in mind the price of my phone and the importance of the data that it contains, any mount purchase would need to be secure, strong, & waterproof, with excellent vibration & impact resistance. After a quick bit of internet research I decided to try one of the Buybits Ultimate Addons mounts, and placed an order with Amazon. At $69.99 plus shipping from the U.K. this is not a cheap product (although it is not the most expensive either, price as of 8-9-14).

As usual my order arrived quickly and was well packaged with no transit damage!

<happy little fedex box>

Opening it up and viewing the contents I found the protective case, handlebar mount & power cord. Please note that if your motorcycle or atv is not equipped with a DIN (Hella) style power outlet you will need to install one in order to use the charger, here’s a link to the item I used.

<ultimate addons cellphone mount>

The protective case is a very impressive design, thick plastic with a generous amount of rubber inside both to cushion the phone & seal out the water. Please note this case is not for weight weenies, but if you don’t mind carrying around a few extra ounces in order to keep your device safe & dry it is worth it. A great and pleasant surprise to me was to find out that there was a viewport for the camera, the touch screen worked well, and the case is engineered well enough that all operation functions of the phone could be controlled just as if the phone were not in the case at all.

The handlebar mount itself had me worried a little bit after seeing the relatively bombproof looking case that attaches to it, the mount looked small and while not flimsy looking it seemed like it should be larger and heavier looking to hold up this big case & my oversize $500 phone. In engineering we all know that well designed products can be much stronger than they look, but the barbarian living in my head doesn’t always see that, so for my initial testing I strapped it to the rattliest, roughest riding pile of junk in the shed, a Baja MB165 minibike. My minibike is a frightening concoction, of assorted used parts loosely assembled together and then blessed (cursed?) with a couple of speed enhancing modifications including a CVT drive.

<cell phone mount on minibike>

If this don’t kill it nothing else will.

After bouncing around a little while around the field, up & down the dirt road a time or two, and at least 50 laps around the house it didn’t fall off, or even come loose. I even shot a short video that I didn’t post any where but if enough of you want to see it I can add it to this page later. An S4 in this mount actually  makes a decent video if you can get the orientation right. This was more than enough of a test to convince me the mount was going to hold up just fine. So now it was time to check the water resistance of the case so I fastened it to the front rack of this ATV and took it out to play in the rain, at night.

<ragged out p.o.s. brute force>

 

<Ultimate addons mount on atv rack>

After all of this I opened up the case and found that my phone was completely dry and safe, and while I still would not actually submerge it in pond or anything like that I am now convinced that this case properly installed and closed will keep your phone dry and safe during any rain storm you are going to encounter out on the road or trail. After all the Brits who sell this product obviously know all about riding in the rain.

It is a large bulky case, and yes in bright sunlight the screen can be hard to see, but if any of you have a touch screen phone that is easy to see in direct sunlight, I want to see it, because at this time such a phone does not exist. The charger is easy to install, but if you are cutting off the plug and hard-wiring it to your vehicle be sure to connect it to a switched circuit or install a separate power switch as the charger has an LED that is always on whenever power is present. I just installed a DIN outlet so that I could unplug it. It would have been nice if the mount were taller and had more adjustment for position. They do make one one but I admit to being a cheapskate especially when dealing with products that I am not familiar with.

Here’s a shot of it attached to the bars of my main ride with navigation open, ready for me to go get lost & then find my way back home. Having used this mounting and charging set up for a few hundred miles on four different vehicles I am happy with it.

Bottom Line: The Ultimate Addons Mounting System for Phones is well worth the cost, I’d recommend this product to anyone.

Peace Y’all

 

 

 

 

 

Joe Rocket Ballistic Revolution Jacket & Ballistic Pants (7.0) A ‘Psyco Product Review!

Posted on by Motopsycho

Hello again everyone,

A couple of weeks ago I tried on a Joe Rocket one piece suit but it just did not fit, so I decided to try one of the two piece outfits and quickly settled on the Ballistic Revolution jacket & the Ballistic pants, for three reasons, one if not getting a one piece suit I wanted to get a 3/4 length coat to prevent unintended exposure of my midriff section to freezing cold & fast moving asphalt, two the pants were the only ones I could find in the lower end of the price range with a true short inseam of 30″, and three the price was right. Yes unfortunately the price does matter, but the general consensus found in my research is that the Joe Rocket stuff will save your skin as well as anything else if you are comfortable wearing it. I am comfortable in this outfit, but quite frankly I hope to never test it’s protective abilities.

<Joe Rocket textile suit>

I like Hi-Viz colors!

Since the vendor that I bought the Survivor suit from was out of stock on the pants, I went over to good old reliable denniskirk.com and ordered this set. I placed my order on a Wednesday or Thursday (CRS* kicking in sorry) and the following Monday it was delivered, plus it was a dollar cheaper too.

Some folks might be put off by the high visibility colors shown here but this jacket is available in other color schemes & solid black. As for me I want the drivers of the cages that attempt to kill me to admit that they were deliberately trying to murder me without being able to soothe their consciences by saying, “I didn’t see him.”

I bought this outfit with my own funds and paid full retail price & plan to keep it as long as it works. What this means for you is that I don’t owe anybody any favors so if it screws up, I will tell you the whole truth about my experiences. So far I have worn this outfit while riding in temperatures ranging from 28°F (-2°C) to 72°F (22°C) and I am happy to report that once I got in and get everything zipped up & buttoned down it was actually reasonably warm & comfy for my 30 mile commute in the wee hours of the morning. Yesterday was unseasonably warm for December and as I was leaving the office I was worried that it would be too hot with the liners in place but it was okay once I got moving. Leaving the front zipper 1/3 the way down resulted in the wind entering the front of the coat with a sort of parachute effect that separated the fabric from my torso, greatly aiding my comfort. Whether this was by design or just a result of my particular riding style/body shape combination I do not know. As a package so far it works well, but getting into it and out of it is a little more involved than a one piece or plain leather jacket & pants or chaps combo.

This outfit is supposed to be water resistant but I have no plans to put that to the test. When I get caught out in the rain I’ll come back & let you know how it does.

Now lets talk about the individual pieces, the Ballistic Revolution jacket is a really good example of bang for the buck. It has CE approved armor for  your elbows & shoulders. There is a foam spine pad but it is just that a dense foam pad. It can be easily removed & replaced with an approved spine protector if you so desire. Joe Rocket calls their exterior shell fabric RockTex which is similar to most other heavy duty abrasion resistant synthetics. It has five outside pockets. With the liner in you have four interior pockets including a nice vertical zippered pocket on the left side, that is just the right size to hold something small like a Walther PPK in it. Anything the least bit larger has to go somewhere else. Once you take the liner out there is only one pocket inside, and I wouldn’t put much in it.

The 2xl size fit my large frame well and the sleeves were the right length and large enough in diameter so that my arms fit inside and I could still bend them. Being a 3/4 length means that it is adaptable to a variety of motorcycle riding positions and it is easy enough to get in an out of. It is not perfect and I have a couple of quibbles, first the velcro style closure for the neck leaves something to be desired. I guess this comes from being built to a price point, but the neck closure needs to be redesigned with either a larger tab to give the hook and loop fabric they currently use a larger gripping surface or to switch to a stronger grade of material for this one spot since it is the only one where the velcro actually has to hold something in place as opposed to keeping a flap closed. It would also be nice to have the good inside pockets without the liner installed. It’s too early for me say anything about the long term quality or durability but right out of the box I am impressed.

These pants that I ordered are the Ballistic 7.0 size 2xl short. Joe Rocket list the short inseam as being 30″ which means that with my boots on they are just barely off the floor when I am standing straight up. When the liner is in you have to be very careful zipping the leg closures down or the zipper will catch the fabric of the liner & jam. When the weather warms up & I remove the liner this problem will be resolved but for now I am just being very careful not to jam the zippers. Walking around the house it feels as if the knee pads are way to low but once I sit on the bike they cradle my knee & shins perfectly. There was no problem putting these pants on over my triple e wide work boots. As with the jacket there are a couple of relatively minor complaints, the biggest complaint is the fact that you really have to be careful of the liner & storm flaps when zipping up the pants as the zippers will grab them and jam pretty easily if you are not careful. If you know you are going to be needing your wallet or house keys etc. you need to transfer them to the pockets of these pants or your coat. They could have put in a zipper to reach into your street clothes but that would have been one more potential entry point for cold air or rain so it’s no big deal, until you get to the gas station and have to unzip your coat and pants to get your money out.

<Joe Rocket Ballistic Revolution>

So far my impressions are great and I would feel comfortable recommending that you try the jacket, the pants, or both if you are in the market for protective gear. Just purchase from a reputable vendor with an easy return or exchange program just in case it really doesn’t fit you well.  If by some chance either piece falls down on the job I will be sure to come back here & let you know all about it.

Peace Y’all

(*Can’t Remember Shit)

advrider.com The November Website of the Month

Posted on by Motopsycho

This is one of the largest, craziest, motorcycling communities on the internet. I have actually joined this forum even though so far I have only made one post. But when I am researching a motorcycle, accessory, or gear advrider.com is my “go to first” resource. It’s all in there sometimes you may have to dig through layers of bullshit but the information I needed was always there. Beside a lot of the BS is amusing or interesting. The Shinko 705 tires on my scrambler were purchased based on reviews there. After consultation with another inmate I just ordered a Joe Rocket one piece suit to try.

Let me go ahead & clear one thing up. I am not an adventure rider (anymore & yet) but I do pose like one at the local coffee shop. I’m just another guy who loves motorcycles but puts in most of his mileage commuting with the occasional 50-100 mile weekend ride. I used to ride more & someday hope to do so again.

One thing you need to do right now is just open up the advrider.com home page and just sit there and watch the slide show of fantastic pictures that play on the screen. Since I am running multiple monitors I often just open the home page & let the slide show play. They do rotate in new pictures on a regular basis so check it often.

If you are a thin skinned politically correct wuss, you probably want to stay away from this site. This forum does not have members it has inmates. Down in the basement there a many things that are both disturbing and fun. You will find things that will offend you no matter who you are, so if you are not man or woman enough to suck it up & get over it, stay the hell out of this asylum.

As I said at the beginning this website there is more real motorcycle & gear related information at advrider.com than I have found anywhere else on the internet, but I must admit, being the garage rat that I am, that my favorite sub-forum is the “Some Assembly Required” section.

Just be careful, you can get sucked into this place, and next thing you know the sun is coming up and you haven’t been to bed yet. Some threads have had me laughing so hard that my wife was wondering what was wrong with me. If you are just browsing the site out of curiosity or to see what is new I recommend using a tablet or laptop so that when the battery goes dead you know it is time to take a break.

Peace Y’all

‘Psyco

Mac Four Into One Exhaust for Vintage Motorcycles.

Posted on by Motopsycho

This is the first time I have purchased a Mac exhaust system for one of my motorcycles. In the past I have purchased a few from Kerker, Vance & Hines, Yoshimura etc. Never really gave Mac products much thought as high performance was always the ultimate goal, and I, like so many young men thought they just made cheap replacement systems for oddball old Jap bikes. Fast forward a few years & now my favorite thing to do is customizing oddball old Jap bikes such as this CB650 here. Performance & sound are still important, just not nearly as important as they use to be. Bang for the buck & good availability mean a lot in this day and time & that is two main things that Mac has going for them. Lets get started installing a set shall we? For this ratty old scrambler conversion I picked out a plain black 4 into 1 system with a shorty muffler.

First thing to do is remove the old exhaust and set aside the parts that you may be re-using. One of my favorite things about this system is that it uses the o.e.m. finned exhaust flange that to me, are very important to the looks of an old air cooled engine.

original Honda CB650 exhaust flanges

original Honda CB650 exhaust flanges

I had actually pulled the stock pipes off a couple of weeks ago and just stuffed the ports with rags to keep the critters out.

<cb650 exhaust ports>

the mud daubers around here, love to nest in motorcycle engines

Lets look at what comes with the new Mac exhaust system.

Mac exhaust hardware

Mac exhaust hardware

As you can see in addition to the muffler this set came with new split collars, muffler clamp & bolts, and 2 different hanger bracket. not shown in this picture is the new center stand stop that comes with it.

The split collars were joined together by a small strip of metal that was left when they were sawed in two. Resist the urge to break them apart.

new Mac split collars

new Mac split collar

After you place the o.e.m. exhaust flanges on your new head pipes carefully spread the collars open just barely enough to go over the pipes and then squeeze them back together so that you only have one piece to hold in place while you position the flanges & start the nuts.

split collars on Honda exhaust

split collars on Honda exhaust

I always use plenty of anti-seize compound on exhaust studs and so should you.

anti-seize compound on exhaust studs

Have some mercy on the next person to remove he exhaust system on your scoots …

Here’s a shot of the pipes in place, I had to pull on the pipes a little to persuade them into place, nothing major just a little tugging & spreading. After you get the pipes in the ports and the flanges back on do not tighten the bolts all the way down until you get the entire system installed.

<Mac Performance Motorcycle Exhaust>

Mac shorty muffler

Mac shorty muffler

Put the clamp on the muffler and slide it into place and then get your hanger bracket and figure out which one you need to attach the muffler to the passenger foot peg bracket.

exhaust hanger brackets

exhaust hanger brackets

The enclosed instructions said to use the short bracket for a CB650C (custom cruiser model) which is what this bike started off as, but in my case it did not fit. I don’t know why and it really does not matter that much to me. The longer bracket worked just fine, I bent the dog leg into it so that it would support the muffler at its natural resting point on the head pipe instead of pulling it in toward the bike. Now tighten all of the bolts attaching your new exhaust to the motorcycle to the correct final torque.

The process of tightening the clamp & muffler mount does bring me to my one major pet peeve with darn near every major motorcycle accessory manufacturer doing business in America. Here I am working my way through this install with the 3 wrenches that will disassemble 90% percent of motorcycles existing in the world today a 10mm, a 12mm & a 14mm, and I have to stop what I am doing and go get a 1/2″ wrench to install the last 2 bolts. I realize that when some of these products were first created back in the ’70s & early ’80s metric hardware was a little more “exotic” and not as cheap and easy to find as the “standard” stuff, but here in 2013 there is no excuse whatsoever to still have standard fasteners on accessories for European & Japanese motorcycles or for that matter modern Harleys & Triumphs too. It would only take a little effort & I for one will be eternally grateful.

On the other side of the bike install the new center stand stop, unless of course you are planning to remove the stand.

<center-stand stop>

After I got it all on, it looks the part & sounds great too.

Mac 4 into 1 On Honda CB650

Mac 4 into 1 On Honda CB650

With this system I get to retain the center stand, have easy access to the oil filter & I have a little cash leftover too!

Did I mention that it has a mean sounding growl too! Click this link to have a listen.

Peace Y’all

9-1-113  Just a quick update on one minor problem that surfaced after 3-400 miles of road time. The rivet holding the baffle in became loose, allowing the baffle to rattle inside of the muffler until it got hot and expanded. My solution was to tack weld the baffle into place & repaint, but one could just drill out the rivet & replace it with a bolt & nut, if by some chance you have the same problem too.

Riding a CRF150! A Psyco Used Bike Test Ride!

Posted on by Motopsycho

The last week or two I’ve had the privilege of having a really nice super clean late model Honda CRF150 visiting my stable for a tune up & fresh front inner tube. Since this model is still in production and seems to be the replacement for the venerable old XR200, I though I would take it for a spin. Plus it been years since I’ve had the chance to ride an “adult size” off road motorcycle.

left side view Honda CRF150

left side view Honda CRF150

One thing needs to be totally clear to anyone looking at one of these, they are play bikes first and foremost not motocrossers. The power is low, the front tire is a 19″ etc. Yes I know they get raced in the mini class but those are usually heavily modified. There is a version with the smaller wheelset for the more advanced young riders. I got to admit though with the right suspension mods and tires this thing would make one heck of a trainer for flat track or supermoto racing. If anyone has tried it send me some information, I’d like to see your set up.

Like most of us out here on the east coast I was a woods rider when I was riding dirtbikes on a more regular basis so that is how I am evaluating this bike. Nothing like running a slalom course through a bunch of Loblolly pines while bouncing over tree roots and sliding around in the leaves and pine needles. Did I mention there were a lot of thorns too? Nothing like having completely fixed and  immovable objects to possibly crash into with a motorcycle that you don’t own to get your blood flowing!

a Honda CRF 150 in the briar patch

a Honda CRF 150 in the briar patch

In the woods almost everything was just fine. Right away I could tell the suspension was definitely not set up for shall we say a “bulky” man to ride and if I tried to sit down and ride the forks would bottom out with surprising regularity. The engine has enough grunt and is geared right but chassis just isn’t up to the task of dealing with 235 pounds of fine middle aged stud sitting in the drivers seat.

a large man on a small motorcycle

a large man on a small motorcycle

Still it was a fun ride as long as I remembered to stand up on the pegs going into the rough stuff.

<standing on the pegs for picture>

As long as I kept the revs up and remembered that I could not power wheelie over fallen logs & stuff like that I had a really enjoyable couple of hours threading it through the woods and around the cornfields.

through the woods on a CRF150

through the woods on a CRF150

pine tree slalom

pine tree slalom

Then I decided to hit the dirt roads and see how it felt in the sand & the gravel at (relatively) high speed. This one wearing the original Pirelli tires and on the long sandy stretches of it was nice and stable, even holding the throttle pinned in fifth gear. The only problem was that at wide open throttle in high gear you may may be going fast enough to get hurt if you crash, but you are definitely not going fast enough to get an experienced rider’s heart rate up. When I got to the loose gravel sections though I was kinda glad to be going slow as the front end felt busy. There was never any imminently dangerous or unstable feeling, it was just a little twitchy as the rocks slid around under the tires.

Did I forget to mention the most important advantage that this and an increasing number of other modern dirtbikes have over the old ones?

magic-button-crf150

magic-button-CRF150

Yep that little magic button on the handlebar to fire it up for you. What a wonderful thing for us old guys who have had our crash damaged knees replaced with not quite as good as original equipment parts. The engine is your typical cold natured Honda & wants a good warm up before it will idle, other than that the fueling and throttle response was excellent. Shim under bucket valve adjustment means that you will seldom have to actually adjust the valves unless you are extremely cruel to your equipment or if you modify or overhaul the engine. Just feed it right, oil it, and keep the battery charged when you are not riding it and it will probably last for decades.

Normally I would recommend this bike to anyone whom has just outgrown their 80 or 100 but is not ready to move on up to a 250 class machine or to a lady of petite stature. How ever there is one other class of folks who could benefit from either this bike or it’s CRF230 stablemate. I am talking to all of you parents out there, when you get your kid an off road motorcycle, get one of these for yourself so that you can ride with them. Do it! Going trail riding on a regular basis with you child is the most fun the two of you can have. Don’t take my word for it, just ask my daughter.

Peace Y’all

The 2013 Honda CB1100!!! A Psyco Road Test & Review!

Posted on by Motopsycho
2013 Honda CB1100

2013 Honda CB1100

Today, I went for a fantastic ride on a great motorcycle! The motorcycling press has waxed semi-poetic (some get it & some don’t) about the new 2013 Honda CB1100, and when I finally saw one live & in the flesh at the Charlotte International Motorcycle Show, I captioned the picture, “finally the retro bike we’ve all been waiting for.” Well after riding it I can definitely say it is the retro looking bike that I was waiting for.

<13 CB100 florence honda>

In the Florence Honda showroom.

Yes, I have lusted over so many motorcycles over the years, but no matter what I have logged more miles on Hondas than any other brand.  I have actually owned, a CL125, XL500S, a 99 750 Nighthawk, and personally put over 100,000 miles on a 1980 CB750F. I sold the 750F after buying the Nighthawk which is the only new motorcycle I have ever owned. Oh yeah, I just remembered a few weeks ago I bought an 80 CB650 project bike that I’ll get back to work on soon.

Let me go ahead and give you my little disclaimer, this motorcycle was loaned to me for review by my former employer Rusty Davis at Florence Honda in Florence S.C. We parted company on good terms when I was ready to get out of working on motorcycles for a living, and I still consider him to be a friend and will tell anyone if you want a good deal on a Honda motorcycle, atv, or generator Florence Honda is the place to go.

Enough nostalgic fluff let’s get down to my impressions of the CB1100. First of all it is not a modernized version of the original SOHC Honda CB750, The engine bears a remarkable resemblance to the DOHC CB750/900/1100 fours of the early eighties. But it is much smoother with almost no perceptible vibration even if you touch the engine directly while it is running. The power delivery is turbine like and smooth. Yes my old 750 had a 10 & ½ grand redline instead of 8500 rpm but I didn’t miss the extra revs one bit today.

To me the styling is more like the mighty CBX especially the shape of the tank, side covers and that broad comfortable seat. Homage to the Hondas of the 60s shows up in the tank badges which would not look out of place on a CA160 Honda Benly. The four into one exhaust pipes look like the typical aftermarket headers most of us installed on the old Hondas back in the day. I wish they could have mimicked the sexy pipes found on the old CB400F. Of course the fit & finish of all components was typical Honda, that is flawless.

<cb1100 exhaust>

Two big analog gauges flank a small digital display that handles all of the idiot light functions. Now I love technology & tend to be an early adopter whenever possible but give me a good old analog tachometer that is easy to read day and night, when I’m flogging a motorcycle.

CB1100 Speedometer & Tachometer

CB1100 Speedometer & Tachometer

The best part about it is that it is not some super-sized pig of a bike. The seat height is actually lower than my old 750F was, and though this bike weighs in at over 500 pounds it felt very light & nimble at parking lot speeds. The fuel injected engine is responsive and ready to go time you hit the button.

<Motopsyco on the 2013 CB1100>

Motopsyco on the 2013 CB1100

Motopsyco on the 2013 CB1100

The chassis is a basic steel frame with a 41mm fork & pair of chrome shocks on the rear. Nice looking 18 inch wheels on both ends with conservative but competent steering geometry serve up decent handling when you want to dance a little back roads boogie. You can’t follow the latest liter bike repli-racers around a road course but for just plain fun riding at a surprisingly swift pace the big CB works very well.

After circling the parking lot a few times to get used to the surprising light steering and easy to modulate brakes, I rolled into the traffic on Palmetto Street in Florence and headed west a mile or two and turned onto Meadors Road. This two lane road has a few nice long sweeping curves at the end closest to Palmetto, but once you get past the golf course & it’s accompanying housing development it is an arrow straight 2 lane for the next few miles. The big wide bars, and the big wide easy to use mirrors made flicking through the traffic easy even when some bitch in a beater Yaris turned right across two lanes of traffic just to get in front of me. Not a problem, bleed a little speed with the predictable brakes, check my six in the mirrors, checked the right lane to make sure there was room, got back on the gas and just zoomed around her. You can’t slow a fast man down! I didn’t get to a really tight & technical twisty road with it but I can tell you with utmost confidence just from the few fast sweepers I rode that the handling is there and the ground clearance is superb.

Motopsyco on the 2013 CB1100 playing in traffic

Motopsyco on the 2013 CB1100 playing in traffic

The experience was rather sublime, sitting in a comfortable up right position, with the engine’s torque smoothly available at all times, and it just felt so right. I really hated to give this one back at the end of the ride.

<Motopsyco on the 2013 CB1100>

In the world of retro bikes there is a bit of a paradox, the tendency is to try to replicate, or in the case of some companies maintain the character (read design flaws) of an earlier time. Even Honda got into this with the old Shadow ACE deliberately unbalancing the engine so that it would shake & vibrate to mimic the archaic engine design of the other Brand H. People have forgotten that Honda more than any other company put America on two wheels and they did it with smooth reliable motorcycles that didn’t vibrate, require excessive maintenance, and were fast and powerful. People bought the original CB’s & Gold Wings because they were so smooth, perfectly functional and superior to everything else in the world at that time. This means that to make a truly retro Honda it had to be as close to perfect as possible, with no “character flaws” allowed.

<honda CB1100 review>

Back from the ride!

For the most part however I feel that this bikes biggest competition will not be from the other brand new retro bikes but from the earlier versions of itself. The old CB Hondas are still so good that even in the 21st. century, it’s hard for their devotees to imagine anything better. Trust me on this one folks; you need to ride the new CB1100, it’s that good.  A good original 83 CB1100F can fetch over five thousand dollars if you can find one at all, that makes this new CB1100 seem like a fair deal at $9999 ($10,500 w/ ABS). It has all of the things you loved about the old Hondas wrapped up into good looking thoroughly modern fuel injected package that runs even smoother than legendary Hondas of yesteryear.

UN-RESTORED 1976 Gold Wing

This is Rusty’s all original UN-RESTORED 1976 Gold Wing

I would like to thank Rusty & the crew at Florence Honda for letting me borrow this motorcycle for testing & would like to mention that Rusty is ready to retire and that Florence Honda is up for sale. If you have the scratch and are interested in purchasing a fully operational motorcycle dealership, give him a call at (843) 669 7056.

Until next time

Peace Y’all

Psyco