A busy weekend.

[txknight67]

Three weeks ago I pulled my :spyder: into the garage and got busy. A little back ground; approximately two or three weeks before that I had done an oil change and gone straight up synthetic oil instead of using the BRP "blend". Shortly after I was getting oil dripping inside the right hand side fairing duct for the radiator airflow. Time to do the oil separator mod so went shopping at Harbor Freight, Home Depot, and Lowes. Didn't have the messy problem with the blend so hadn't seen a need to do it. Also my right side front tire was shot due to poor alignment. Having gotten the alignment fixed I had ordered tires and they had just come in. I also had received the K&N airfilter I had ordered and it had been sitting for two weeks waiting for me to find the time to install.(sorry no pictures of that) On top of that, I had the Gerbing plug-in I had been needing to mount for two or three months. The results follow. I apologize for the picture quality....new camera and still getting used to it.

First; tires mounted and balanced at the local garage for $40 for both (due to needing the stick on weights; would have been $30 with regular weights). Went with 185/60R14 General Altimax HP's ($53 a piece @ The Tire Rack). Went with those because I wanted car tires for the increased tread life and possible handling advantages. So I had done some research and the overall dia. of those tires is 22.7". OEM is 22.5". Was a :cus: to get them back on the bike, but well worth it. Wound up having to remove the mud flap and then weasel/spin the wheel into place. Here is how they fit;
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0011.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0013.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0015.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0017.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0019.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0028.jpg
Love the tires. Took me a bit to find the right pressure. The guy that mounted the tires knew what they were for, but still put 40psi in them as the sidewall stated they were a 50psi tire. The bike skittered like mad and was only riding on about the center inch and half of the tire. Dropped pressure to 30 as soon as I got to work that Monday. Let it ride like that for about two days, keeping an eye on how much rubber was hitting the road. Tread was still not meeting the road square, so I dropped pressure to 25psi. Tire now meets the road square and the cornering is phenomenal. Also a very smooth ride.

Next, the fix for the oil in the airbox, after having installed the K&N and mopping up the pint of oil already in the airbox,
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0007.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0008.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0010.jpg
And yes, the 90 is threaded directly onto the nipple on the airbox. It looked the right size, so I trial fit and I could see that with a little "persuasion" it would work. So I took a die to it to cut threads on it and it was indeed the perfect size. The pictures were taken about a week after all the install, so the oil in the separator is from a weeks worth of running back and forth to work, about 400 miles. The engine runs much smoother with the separator installed and no more white smoke on start up, even on the coldest days.

Finally the Gerbing plug. The hard part of it was figuring out where to put it. Wanted to put it up on the console/instrument panel somewhere, but the Gerbing supplied adapter interfered with the handlebars anywhere I could find room on the back side of the console for the clearances needed to mount it.(The pictures clarify) Thought about putting it on the side of the console/IP, but was afraid the slip stream would cause the jacket connection cable to start flapping and damage/mark up the side panels. Also thought about putting it on the "gas tank"(what else to call it? Airbox cover? That's what it does.), but didn't like the thought of that black wart on the yellow. Where I wound up putting it isn't the best because that happens to be one of the most flexible panels and places on the bike. Which didn't register until I started using it.:gaah: Oh well it works and looks good. I just have to be careful plugging in....can't get too forceful.
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0021.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0022.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0024.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0030.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0031.jpg
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af189/txknight67/DSCF0032.jpg

Overall a very satisfying weekend.

[Firefly]

:congrats:

Nice job. Nothing like a good weekend of modding!

[SpyderWolf]

Wow! That was a very busy weekend for you. That tire looks very tight in there. How much clearance do you actually have between it and the wires? The oil separator looks like a very cool idea as well.

:congrats: on getting all of that done.

[txknight67]

Wow! That was a very busy weekend for you. That tire looks very tight in there. How much clearance do you actually have between it and the wires? The oil separator looks like a very cool idea as well.

:congrats: on getting all of that done.

Just a rough guess, about a quarter of an inch. If they get moved around to the "inside" of that brace they would rub the tire. I check just about every time I get on to make sure they haven't moved.:pray::joke: They haven't moved in the interim, so I am pretty sure I am good. Just keeping an eye on them.

[fastfraser]

:2thumbs: Nice install . Just a small note by the looks of your oil catch can set up ,unless you empty the reservoir often you will get blow by into the air box .:dontknow:

[txknight67]

:2thumbs: Nice install . Just a small note by the looks of your oil catch can set up ,unless you empty the reservoir often you will get blow by into the air box .:dontknow:

You are correct. About once a week. I let it go a little too long just this last week and a half and started getting the rough running and white smoke again. Don't think it made a big mess in the airbox because that is a 50 micron filter in there, but enough was getting in to affect the performance.

An interesting note on that. Someone else did this mod and was getting milky oil (water in the oil) in that catch can. There is a thread on here somewhere about that, I don't have time to go look it up right now, but anyway I thought for sure something was wrong with their engine, but now I don't know. Mine's doing the same thing. I don't know what would be doing that....wild temp fluctuations? I ride in to work it is 70+F and by the time I ride home it's 40F or lower. Condensation in that catch can?:dontknow:

[coolpilot]

Hi,
Awesome.
I didnt know one can do so much on a :spyder: !!!!
a learning experience. Thanks for posting the info and the pics.:2thumbs:
I'm a newbie , just got my spyder 3 weeks ago. Stock , yellow, 2009 SE5.
learning from the gurus on the site.

Cheers
:spyder:

[boborgera]

.

Mine's doing the same thing. I don't know what would be doing that....wild temp fluctuations? I ride in to work it is 70+F and by the time I ride home it's 40F or lower. Condensation in that catch can?:dontknow:


Condensation in the crankcase, Normally it gets burnt up thru the throttle body's When the oil gets hot the moister will burn off, unless some thing is trapping it and it can't fully burn off.

[Prense01]

Finally the Gerbing plug. The hard part of it was figuring out where to put it. Wanted to put it up on the console/instrument panel somewhere, but the Gerbing supplied adapter interfered with the handlebars anywhere I could find room on the back side of the console for the clearances needed to mount it.(The pictures clarify) Thought about putting it on the side of the console/IP, but was afraid the slip stream would cause the jacket connection cable to start flapping and damage/mark up the side panels. Also thought about putting it on the "gas tank"(what else to call it? Airbox cover? That's what it does.), but didn't like the thought of that black wart on the yellow. Where I wound up putting it isn't the best because that happens to be one of the most flexible panels and places on the bike. Which didn't register until I started using it.:gaah: Oh well it works and looks good. I just have to be careful plugging in....can't get too forceful.


Can you put something on the backside of the bulkhead connector to distrubute the load across a wider area? It shouldn't flex so much if you could. It doesn't look like there is enough threads on the connector to hold anything very thick though. Perhaps bonding something on the backside then reinstalling the connector? Looks very good though.

Chris :spyder:

[txknight67]

Can you put something on the backside of the bulkhead connector to distrubute the load across a wider area? It shouldn't flex so much if you could. It doesn't look like there is enough threads on the connector to hold anything very thick though. Perhaps bonding something on the backside then reinstalling the connector? Looks very good though.

Chris :spyder:

Hadn't thought of that. But as you pointed out, not only is there not enough threads, the whole thing is plastic and probably wouldn't hold up to a doubler as well as me pulling the plug out all the time. Have to puzzle on that a bit. Maybe something with a hole that fits around the connector, but stiffens that panel somewhat? Or a standoff that reaches the center frame piece.

[Prense01]

Hadn't thought of that. But as you pointed out, not only is there not enough threads, the whole thing is plastic and probably wouldn't hold up to a doubler as well as me pulling the plug out all the time. Have to puzzle on that a bit. Maybe something with a hole that fits around the connector, but stiffens that panel somewhat? Or a standoff that reaches the center frame piece.

Exactly, a fiberglass doubler with a hole cut out large enough to facilitate a socket to install the nut on the back side of the connector. As long as that area doesn't get too hot, bond it on with epoxy.

Chris :spyder:

[WackyDan]

Nice write up!

I like what you did with the oil catch can. I simply put a breather on my exit but you will still get oil out of it...

I may do exactly what you did, but also put foam in the hose inbound or outbound to the airbox ( If I have a hose to the airbox versus fitting.)

Word of caution. I also have a similar air filter/catch can. Every oil change I pull the breather off of mine and make sure she is puffing with the engine running. I was concerned about that filter in there getting gunked up and not allowing positive ventilation, which will cause bigger issues.

What I did with mine was to dremel a few small slots at the bottom end, eliminating part of the that concern. I also place a piece of filter foam inside that metal filter to give the oil something else to condense on. That is why I still check for that puffing every change.

I think I finally have my catch can tuned just right, but I like what you did man!