[sqwert]

Sitting at a company shop, stuck, miles from home. Grrrrr!

Anywho, just finished all 46 pages of this thread. Lots of good ideas for lots of little fixits. Several ideas on parts to stock up for common fixits that may be hiding around the next holiday.

Answers to a couple of discussions:

1) Wheel sprockets are cut slightly out-of-round intentionally. Otherwise harmonics rear their ugly voices. Other than that, varying wear on different parts of a chain is quite common, so that is true, too.

2) A couple posts and a few other threads hold complaints of rapid wear of smallish countershaft sprockets. My experience over dozens of years has been that the biggest countershaft sprocket that will fit, then finalize the drive ratio with an appropriate rear wheel sprocket, and the best chain one can afford is the best for bikes that see lots of highway miles. Might cost a bit more to install such a system, but the expense is usually covered several times over with a 5- or 6-times increase in miles before a premium system fails compared to taking the "cheap" way out.

3) In the U. S. of A. it is a violation of federal law to modify a street vehicle headlight. The LED and HID systems that fit lamps designed for H4 and 9003 bulbs are also illegal, as they modify a headlamp by changing the lumen source technology. OEM headlights of any type are legal, if properly patterned and aimed. Modified or misadjusted headlights are not legal.

With all the blinded drivers out there that have suffered crashes from being blinded by such illegal modifications, many states are now rewriting state vehicle equipment codes to better empower state and local law enforcement officers to enforce the federal intent. Don't be surprised if cops begin targeting odd color, extremely bright, poorly patterned, and/or improperly aimed headlights, fog lights, and/or other forms of auxiliary lights for active ticketing enforcement. Too many people are needlessly dying from misused and mismodified lights. The latest Harley Davidson LEDs are examples of a good thing gone wrong because light intensity has seemed to become a compensation thing for those suffering condemnation to the low end of the mushroom curve.

Then, there are millions of people who have modified the lumens source of or turned their fog lights up to search for cheap nuts. Fog lights should never be turned on when low beams are on. The purpose of fog lights is to illuminate a little road surface to move a vehicle at a very slow pace when vision is blocked by airborne detritus with a minimum of glare from light reflecting off the detritus Fog lights are well over-driven at common speed limits in parking lots and have absolutely no legitimate use on higher speed roads. None. Huh, what? Oh, cheap nuts are those found under a buck. Anyone running fog lights when their is good visibility and high speeds are safe with headlights obviously has a mental illness concerning sexual activities with animals. There is no other logical explanation for the misuse of fog lights.

The H4 headlight bulb itself also illegal. The 9003 is built to the same drawing as the H4, with significantly tighter manufacturing tolerances. Therefore, the only replacement bulb that is legal in the U. S. of A. for highway use is a halogen 9003, which may or may not be marked H4. H4 means nothing in the U. S. of A. Not a terrible thing, considering there are several manufacturers of 9003 bulbs that are significantly brighter and better fill the illumination pattern than the 35 watt OEM RX3 bulb, yet gain their superior lumens by the use of more expensive materials rather than upping voltages as high as so many popular H4s (illegal) do.

I'm partial to the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra 9003, but there are several other brands just as good, maybe even better. Buy a pair, cut a few vent holes in the back of the RX3 headlight to allow heat to escape. Don't be surprised at a relatively short 2000 hour life. Such premium bulbs run hot. That's why best to buy a pair so you have a spare. The Ultra 9003 draws 55 watts on low beam, 60 watts on high beam, but the stock RX3 electrical system handles the load just fine. With a Silverstar Ultra 9003 I really don't need auxiliary lighting on the highway. One bulb is enough, even at 70mph. Silverstar Ultras and other legitimate premium 9003s are that good.

However, a little light to the sides of the existing pattern would be quite comforting in low speed, tight turn, crowded situations. That calls for auxiliary lighting.

As for HID and LED auxiliary lights, any technology that generates lumens is legal. Just make sure not to change to a different light emitting technology than originally fitted by the manufacturer.

Any light that illuminates above the horizontal on low beam is illegal. The exception is late model headlights that some moron in DC has decided should project 20% of their low beam lumens on street signs above and beside the road. I can't fix the stupids of such government morons. Sorry. Yes, they are stupid--the rest of us figure out quite quickly how to flick the high beams to read a sign without blinding oncoming traffic with a permanent focus on their eyes since we are not to stupid to flick the high beams to read signs as the government morons are. However, an auxiliary lighting used on low beam must NOT pattern above horizontal.

The headlight now features a Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulb. The 5 3/4 inch diameter headlights on each side of the headlight are LED systems made by J. W. Speaker, specifically for motorcycles. They are Adaptive LED Model 8691. They have a fairly normal low beam with a perfectly flat topped pattern and more light closer to the bike. Nice offroad. High beam is pretty normal, just brighter. There are a couple other features. When leaning into a turn extra LEDs illuminate the area beside the normal headlight patterns that normally go dark while cornering. Super confidence inspiring. There's a super high beam that I think lights up every LED in the housing. Very good anywhere no oncoming traffic. Shows up overhead and roadside signs, too. Not cheap, but all my illumination is functional and LEGAL.

So, how to tell if your choice is legal? DOT doesn't test every product. DOT lists expectations and limitations for specific types of products. Business people claim their products meet the DOT expectations and limitations when they place "DOT" on their product. I've seen such "DOT" marks cast or ground into glass on lamps, on stickers stuck on lamps, and of waterproof ink stamped on lamps. If a product marked "DOT" is reported to the DOT as not meeting the DOT's expectations and limitations, then the DOT may choose to test that product. Don't bet on it.

Anywho, with all the levels of government devising new ways to deal with the lower bell curve hooligans who are too stupid to use vehicle lights safely and responsibly, best to start learning about the DOT's lighting expectations and limitations and start living by them There are very functional options available in auxiliary lighting that meet DOT's notions, but they generally are not inexpensive. Cheap crap coming from the Orient isn't going to cut it.

Some things to shoot for:

Head and auxiliary light colors range from amber for fog lights to white for headlights. Some incandescent bulbs give off a slightly amber light, and that's okay. A very light amber tint won't usually be a problem with headlights, but the brighter headlights are, generally the whiter the illumination. No idea where the governments will go with this. One thing for sure, too amber headlights will be as big an issue as blue, green, pink, purple, and any other color headlight. Ticket city.

DO NOT run any lights on the street that have "NOT FOR HIGHWAY USE", "FOR OFF HIGHWAY USE ONLY", "NOT LEGAL FOR USE ON PUBLIC ROADS", or anything similar.