For those of you who use custom-molded silicon earplugs, try a few drops of Oto-Ease on them before insertion. I was just introduced to this stuff on the F800GT forum and it really helps improve the sealing of the earplug, making for a noticeably quieter ride. Wish I knew about this 20 years ago. Available on Amazon.

For personal reasons, I find I will not be riding for a while and decided to finally send my headers off to Jet-Hot. This will, of course, require packing and shipping.

I am trying to pull the headers from the collector, at the catalytic, but they do not budge. Before I expend wasted effort I thought I'd ask if they do come apart. I can see no signs of welds holding them in place. Has anyone taken them apart? Or, am I stuck with shipping them assembled with the flanges on the headers?

Thanks for any feedback!



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I'm waiting to get a rear tire put on but the weather is perfect and some friends want to go on a ride (nice roads). Could I get one more ride out of this tire or not safe? Sorry for my ignorance.


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Let's say you had a 2013 CB1100 with, say, a hypothetical 31,187 miles on it. Then, let's say your Honda dealer found a brand new 2013 CB1100 with ABS at an auction. How much would you pay if you were offered the opportunity to trade your 2013 for the new 2013 ABS? Oh, and if your bike had an aftermarket exhaust, a Superbrace, and a Honda rear rack, they would switch all of that over to the new bike as part of the deal.

What would you pay? This is strictly hypothetical

Replaced my front tire today with a new BT54 that I found on eBay for $50 from a liquidating dealer. The BT54 that I removed had traveled about 5,500 miles and was getting down to the wear bars, though the profile was still intact (no cupping or scalloping).

I used a sissor jack under the engine to lift the front of the bike off the ground. There was sufficient clearance between the headers to fit the jack and a piece of 2x4.

I was amazed how easily the calipers came off. On my BMW's, you really need to wrestle with the calipers, back and forth, before you gain enough clearance from the rim to remove them, but on the CB, they slipped right off. Easy peasy.

I didn't have a 17mm male hex tool to remove the axle, but I discovered that the butt end of my Honda oil filter wrench has a 17mm nut which fits perfectly into the axle. Using the cup as a hand wheel, it was easy to twist the axle out of the forks.

I torqued everything down per the service manual specs and was done in no time. All in all, this was a very easy job.

Somewhere I read a post where someone was having difficulty raising a CB1100 onto the centerstand. I was too, but placing a 1" thick board under the rear tire changes the pivot point and raising the cycle is so much easier. I took an old piece of scrap lumber and cut about a 60° angle to better roll the rear tire onto the board.

I got this idea from the Goldwing forum this morning and tried it on both my Goldwing and the CB1100. I had previously ordered the "EZ-LIFT" for the Goldwing, but since the dimensions of the centerstand are so close, it might fit the CB1100. I'll sure give it a try, as I currently find the Goldwing easier to lift up than the CB1100.

Having both knees replaced in 2011 at the same time, I do not want to do anything that would do damage to my knees, thus the purchase of the EZ-LIFT.

I'm planning my first overnight trip to Deal's Gap and I'm looking for recommendations on what you all think is essential to have for a long ride.
Aside from a luggage rack, my bike is stock. I'm thinking a windshield might be the best choice, but I'm curious what others consider important to have on overnight trips.
Thanks!


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My poor CB1100 has been sitting in the garage, under its cover, on the trickle charger, WAY too long.

My excuse; I was out for a long ride on my 2009 ST1300.

I needed to go to Seattle for some family business. My travel options; Airplane, Automobile, or Motorcycle... no-brainer, Motorcycle.

The ST1300 is the perfect tool for gobbling up miles.

I left The OC and rode north to Bass Lake CA to spend the night with and old friend. 300 mile day

The next day I decided to ride through Yosemite on my way to another friends home in Groveland CA. It was raining lightly most of the way to Yosemite, nothing hard, just cold and wet. 100 mile day

The following day my target was Merrill OR, just over the CA boarder. I rode east on SR-88, Kit Carson Pass in the morning. Snow still on the ground in shady places at the summit. From there I headed north on SR-89 past the west side of Lake Tahoe. WAY too may tourist around the lake, but I managed to solder on through the throngs of tourists. At Truckee CA I shot over to Hyw 395 to make some time on my way to SR-139. California SR-139 is a two lane ranch land road. An amazing piece of paradise. Little or no traffic. Just sit back and enjoy the view. Stayed at the http://www.wildgoosemotel.com/ in Merrill OR where the sign on the wall asked that you do not pluck your fowl in the room. 450 mile day

The next days target was Corvallis OR to visit with more old friends. North on OR Hwy 97 past Klamath Lake. Then west on OR-58 to Eugene. Drone up I-5 to the Corvallis exit onto OR-34 into Corvallis. 250 mile day

My target for my final day north was Seattle. I-5 bla bla bla... there. 300 mile day

Following my short day and a half stay in Seattle I headed home. At 04:00am I left Seattle where the lights of downtown, and the Space Needle, wished me a pleasant journey. My day ended at home in The OC 1200 miles and 22 hours latter. They call me "Mr." Iron Butt.

The ST1300 is a true mile eater. 18 hours in the saddle and no discomfort. I have a Corbin seat and Heli Bars that make this bike fit me like a glove.

PS
WHAT! Not pictures!? Long story short, I lost my camera on day one and decided to just enjoy the ride.

The final thing I need to fix after sliding out on my 2014 CB1100 standard is a small circuit board on my instruments (meter) that has a damaged connector. The entire meter assembly is about $600 but I am trying to get away cheaper. They don't seem to show the individual circuit boards on the parts lists. One connector got damaged. It is for the ribbon cable that contains the tachometer. Someone told me it is not that hard to remove the solder and solder a new one on. I was told by an electronics repair place I should be able to find one at the digi-key.com website but they have hundreds of connectors for sale.

Any electronics gurus out there know what the tachometer's ribbon cable connector would be? My buddy is an electronics technician so he could probably help me. The industrial electronics repair places I spoke with seem to be afraid of liability issues for repairing a circuit board from a motorcycle.

Question for all of you on your chain adjustment practices. I ride on average 240 miles or so a week and feel like I have to adjust the chain at least once a month to keep the slack just over 1". At the moment it's probably close to 1.5" which I know is the upper limit listed for slack. I've kept an eye on the rear axle and it's definitely not moving so I know it's the chain stretching. I lube it frequently so it's not due to lack of that.

Does anyone else have to adjust their chain this much? I know I ride a little harder than a lot of the others here but I still feel like that shouldn't cause this. Is it just because my chain is close to EOL? I'm at about 16k miles now and I think 20k is the recommended time to change it.

I also ride in the rain a lot so I probably abuse it, I'm guessing that could be part of it. Anyone have any thoughts? I've never had to keep an eye on the chain this much on any past motorcycle I had. I probably will be taking it in for the chain and sprockets soon due to this, anyone think a higher performance chain would help?