I ran out of cut off wheels for my dremel tool but I have these pliers that managed to get the OEM carb screws out without much fuss even with the red thread lock on the bolts. Engineer PZ-57 Japanese pliers($16 on Amazon, a great alternative if you don't have a dremel tool or don't want to spend the money for this one job). You will need M4-.70x20mm screws to replace the OEM headless bolts.



I could only fit one .5mm shim under the needle and still have the white plastic needle retainer clip into the slide piston.



https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1500_.jpg

Lowered-Kickstand fix
 

I posted the 5/8" new lower mounting hole on the rear shock (post #59), which drops about 1.75" and if you drop the front forks about a half inch, you get a solid 2" lowering. I also compressed the preload by about 175 pounds (~ half inch @ 350 pounds per inch). This is a NICE way to stiffen and lower the bike moderately.

BUT, the kickstand is too long now. Aussie mentioned that the kickstand had nice thick walls, so I decided that my weak welding skills could be successfully brought to bear :hehe:

I took a ~1.25" section out, below the lower spring mounting post:
Attachment 31575

I set it up pinning it vertically to a red landscaping cinderblock and ground off a section to pin the grounding clamp:
Attachment 31576

A strip of masking tape was good enough to hold it for the first tack weld, then pulled the tape off and finished it off:
Attachment 31577
Attachment 31578

Lovely weld, eh :tup:
In my defense, most of that is slag. It was pretty good underneath the mess :tup:

I filed off the crap and gave it a flat black finish. Done. The bike leans over nicely. You can even park it with the kickstand uphill now. Plenty strong enough.
Attachment 31579
This worked great.

I was chicken with mine. Cut 3/4" off first and then about another 3/4".

FYI: the rear axle nut is 31mm.

No, it's 31mm. I bought a 31mm socket and it fits perfectly compared to the loose fit of a 32mm.


Nut 31.22mm
31mm socket 31.4mm
32mm socket 32.2mm (ISO/DIN standard: 32.08 - 32.48mm)



If someone uses a 32mm with an impact to loosen it they are going to deform the nut.

32mm works. A 1-1/4" socket will also work. I use a breaker bar.

If the nut measures 31.22mm, it is considered to be 32mm nominally by every industrial and automotive measurement standard. Cheap hardware is notorious for being below standards, and often greatly undersized. If a 31mm fits, great, I would use that.

If a 32mm fits, also great, I would use that.

If some standard size fits better than either of them, I would use that.

My point is. Who cares? Use whatever fits the tightest or works. This is like arguing about who got more milk in their glass.

I'm glad the 31mm socket works for you. My 32 works, and I have a 1-1/4" backup that works too. It's just a couple of turns to loosen, tightens easy to, and I like using a breaker bar to make it easy. It's like 55-60 foot pounds. No need to use an impact driver. I don't need to buy a new socket.

I used an adjustable wrench because I couldn't find a suitable socket. I think I have a 11/4" socket so if I can find it easily I'll try it next time. Maybe buy the right socket some day.

I'd appreciate it if like a half a dozen or so posts at the tail of this otherwise very helpful resource thread were deleted.
And then this one too. For the record, until a few posts back I never knew or cared what size the axle nut was. I just loosened and tightened it with whatever it was I had that fit. An adjustable wrench would work. I see it as a non-issue.