Obsolete

I have a Buell. Really enjoy this motorcycle. Except - they are dead. HD put the nail in them in 2010. This past week I lost my second exhaust valve servo. The stock muffler has a valve that changes the runner length depending on RPM and throttle position. This drive servo sits on top of the air box but still gets warm. The gear inside is plastic and loaded by a spring. Over time this plastic deforms until it doesn't catch the drive and boom, engine light. This is a common problem. Some folks have just removed it and disabled the light through the ECM. I actually like it. I have the interactive exhaust control activated in the ECM. It adds some torque in the 2000 rpm range.

Problem: the part is now obsolete. Solution: modify an intake runner servo for a Ford. The Dorman 911-912 servo control is the same part without the correct cable pulley and mount. The mount is easy, a piece of angle cut to size with a couple holes and a slot. The pulley is a little harder. You start by grinding the weld off the existing lever. I then took it o the mill and cut the shaft to size, including the notch to match to the old pulley that I removed from the old servo. We have a laser welder at work and a few pulses of that to hold it all in place. I got it put on the motorcycle and cycled the servo. Crap, the servo was shipped in the open position, not the closed (home) position. I attached the pulley in the wrong place.

The shaft is a pain to machine. You have to hold the unit in the mill by the plastic housing. The shaft has some free play. I ground away the laser welds and re-cut the notch.  Not there wasn't a good enough fit for the laser (it really likes a nice tight fit). So I TIG tacked it back on. This is also a pain since the shaft gets hot and goes through a plastic housing. I finished it off with some epoxy to fill in the gaps.

All this too say that it sucks that HD closed Buell. It is a pain that parts are obsolete. However, with some elbow grease and patience, we can keep these things on the road for a long time.

For reference, in the closed position the pulley flat nearest the cable hole will be parallel to the housing nearest the wire connector.

Need more details? Hit me up.

Dry Lightning

I made it out last night for an unpaved ride on my d440. Just a short one, ended up around 16 miles and 1400 ft of climbing. I was within 2 miles of home when I caught a flash. It kind of startled me, wasn't sure what it was. The sky was a mix of clouds and blue with the sun in and out. Within about a half second came the boom. Lightning! Uncomfortably close. No rain. No other indication I was about to ride in to a storm. With my heart rate up, I pedaled hard for the house. A half mile later came a second bolt. Still no rain, just a small grey cloud over. Pedaled harder. Made it home with a few more claps of thunder. A check of the radar showed a very tiny cell that just popped up right over me. It did end up raining for a few minutes and then it was gone.

Scored from the record sale at the Jackie O's brewery.

Went to see Jake Dunn and the Blackbirds on Friday at the river front amphitheater in Pomeroy Ohio. This is hanging on the retaining wall along the boat docking area. I am not an electrician, but it does seem a little suspect to me.

Cool cloud formations.

This kid. He watched the Smurf's cartoon for the first time. A half hour later he built a Smurf head out of Legos.

Cotton candy clouds.

Hope you can get outside, spin some tunes, go see a band, do something creative. Just watch out for the lightning (or just bad wiring).