It's time to resuscitate this conversation, bearing in mind that it's directed at the essence of RLETS — why and how they profoundly change the CB1100. It's not directed at the mechanics of installation or other more practical matters. For that see here.
Right. So, after nearly 12 years of wear and tear (literally), it was time to replace the RLETs on my bike. It was much, much, much harder than I remember, leading me to wonder whether there was some RLET force resisting replacement. Have I done the right thing? Should I have left the originals undisturbed, despite the fact that they've become rather tattered? Or was it right to replace them and thereby renew their vigour? Or is it just my ageing and growing ineptitude?
Help, please, you RLET philosophers out there. Have I done the right thing?
Sometimes the road not travelled is best left that way. (Jane Goodall)
See my answer in the link below. Some of the Alpha’s laughed at the use of a very expensive set of needle-nose pliers when I published this “How-To.” I accepted the mocking and teasing gracefully because I retained my fingernails and the skin on all my fingers!
Help, please, you RLET philosophers out there. Have I done the right thing?
Yes! If it's torn or worn, said thingy may not actually perform the job it was designed to do; namely, protect your car doors from getting scratched as you try to ease your bike past the narrow spaces of your garage.
(02-03-2026, 10:00 PM)rdprdp01 Wrote: See my answer in the link below. Some of the Alpha’s laughed at the use of a very expensive set of needle-nose pliers when I published this “How-To.” I accepted the mocking and teasing gracefully because I retained my fingernails and the skin on all my fingers!
They are worth the trouble, Cormanus. It sets off your beautiful, well-traveled CB1100. David
I'd forgotten your technique, rdprdp01. I have a vague recollection of someone using a sheep castrator, but I couldn't lay hands on one.
Respectfully, my question is no so much about whether there was something lacking in my technique. You can take that as given. It's more whether there is something in the mysterious force surrounding RLETs that means, once installed, they shouldn't be changed. I broke a clutch lever once and just swapped the RLET on to the new one. I remember it being incredibly easy. So why so hard this time?
Sometimes the road not travelled is best left that way. (Jane Goodall)
I must refer you to the RLET Police Squad who truly manages this Forum. If I recall, the first law on the books is you will maintain proper RLETs at all times or be publicly singled out. Closely related is the mystical merging of Star Wars power that relies on the Force to protect all CB1100 riders and their machines once the RLETs have been applied.
As for the physics, it is my recollection that when rubber ages, it tends to shrink and loose some flexibility. I suspect your 12 year old RLETs are married for life to your current clutch and break levers. If you can remove them, they will be distorted and malshaped. In your previous experience, I suspect the tensile strength of the RLETs allowed for easy removal because they were new and flexible, and not old and rigid, like me.
2017 Honda CB1100 EX
The most sophisticated, smooth, perfectly engineered motorcycle I've ever owned. A pleasure in every way.
I've never quite understood how the Lord Popgun came to be RLET El Supremo. I mean, it was the Ferret who first installed them and many followed like lemmings — if, of course, lemmings can follow a ferret. I suppose being the holder of the Secret Decoder Ring for the other forum conferred some peculiar additional power on his lordship.
Ah, well, I await his thoughts with interest. I've kept the old RLETs just in case.
Sometimes the road not travelled is best left that way. (Jane Goodall)
