T minus six weeks...

[SkooterG]

He had a compelling reason for a one-time member display name change.

What? A *** change?

Or did he/she simply contribute to a certain city councilman's campaign?

:****:

 

[LDRydr]

I'm more worried about me. With so little riding that I've done this year I really think the 11 days are going to take a toll quickly. This is why I'm going to try and get a few good LD rides in. Not that it can help that much, but I'll take any little bit I can get at this point!

Well, you could signup for the 2009 Dam Tour and see if you could knock all 20 dams off in a long weekend as practice. Let me know if you want the Mapsource or S&T file that has all the dams. If nothing else you'll have a nice ride around OR, WA, CA and MT.

 

[Warchild]

Dale,
Will you be riding this to the start of the IB? Can we check them out there

I will be riding to the SoCal checkpoint, and to the Finish. Sadly, we are in the middle of a Contract Transition here at work, and I can't get away long enough to ride to the east coast and back, so I must fly to the Start.

 

[Warchild]

*******.

You're welcome. B)

As to your mounting of these lights, it doesn't look like you can rotate them along the y-axis for fine tuning the aim. Is this so?

See the two stainless steel fasteners on the Top Gun bracket? what you do is not just drill two holes for them; you should drill two "slots" so that you have sufficient fine-tuning "room" along the Y-axis. I cheated and only made a "slot" for the outboard fastener, so I can rotate along the y-axis with one fastener serving as a "pivot".

How do they compare weight-wise to the PHIDs?

They are actually very close... the 4GHIDs are a pinch heavier due to the larger reflector housing and glass lens.

How big are the ballast compared to the PHIDs?

These are what make these "4th-Generation"... this is a new "Uber-Slim" ballast from Philips, completely new, and quite tiny. Even smaller them the "slim" ballasts we have seen in the last few years. In fact, the ballast is so small, they had to "beef up" one end of the ballast in order for the connectors have enough "meat" to make a solid connection. Can't believe I didn't take a photo of it prior to installation... I'll remove one of the ballasts and photograph it here shortly.

Got any side-by-side photos the the PHIDs?

I tried desperately to get a side-by-side photo when I was down at Brian Roberts house last week... he has PHIDs on his V-Strom that we could have used for comparison photos. Couldn't get it done.... we partied too much... :^(

So same bulb technology and wattage as the PHIDs, just better reflector?

I dunno about the electronics (the Philips Uber-Slim are likely more efficient that the older PHID ballast), but the HID capsule is a full DS1, and yes, it's the reflector housing that makes this lamp far superior to the PHIDs.

 

[vectervp1]

Well, I would like to do the Dam Tour, but I dont know if that'll happen. I'll have to see what I've got going on to see if I can do that.

Now I've got one more thing to worry about. This tankbag I decided would work well for me (since my current bag blew out the main zipper) is no longer made. Now I'm scrambling a bit to find another bag. I've narrowed it down to 3 that should work, and Cycle Gear carries one of them so I'm going to go down and check it out after work today.

 

[doctorJ]

I'm almost ready still looking for a bucket for my water jug and need to do oil/drive train. I'll do a tire change in SC then I should be ready to go. Does anyone know of a good dealer around Spartanburg for tires?
The job has been keeping me close to home so I have not been doing any rallies. I have gotten in several long rides so I hope I'm ready.

I'm going crazy trying to put a packet together with all the info needed for the start :dribble: .

Dave

I know some peeps in Charlotte where you could ship tires from SWmototires so they could bring them to Spartanburg. I'm sure there are some folks in Spartanburg who'd do the same thing for you. I just don't know them.

doctorj

 

[doctorJ]

"Install new Aux light switch if time permits"

You might try an autoswitch. It is pretty cheap and easy to install and works soooo good.

doctorj

 

[ChrisW]

So how is the rest of the 09 IBR riders around here fairing? Is anyone else feeling the crunch as the time quickly approaches? Everyone got the **** in one sock, or are you still trying to gather it up.

Lets roll!

 

[turbodave_98]

Just a reminder that if you suffer a system grounding failure like I experienced in April, you will be SOL until you can figure out the problem. I was fortunate that YOC owner knew the corrective action which was to replace the main electrical harness uner YES, no questions asked.

I strongly recommend checking those little seven black connectors with the spider pins covering the various wires to make sure there is no corrosion evident on the connections, also apply dialectric grease.

As you guys know me, I am not a mechanic in any league with some of you , but I learned with the ground failure to be very careful.

wishing all you guys luck and safe riding in the rally..

 

[Go Far]

Mount a set of tires on the spare set of wheels and ship them off to our bi-atch in Kali!

I was going to ship to the hotel. But, who knows who's on staff when the UPS man arrives. Could be a wrinkle in the plan. Who are yo ushipping to? FWIW I'm waiting to ship 'till after the St Charles bonii are in the GPS. Lisa did do a lap to Prudoe, you know.