Headlight & HID

Its been awhile since I have installed the Desmoworld Clear Glass Headlight, but I noticed I have not posted any pictures of the unit! I had the ring powdercoated black, it comes chrome just like the stock headlight's ring. Here's an image with a standard H4 bulb (that happens to be blue, go figure):



HID Lights are all the rage right now, and for good reason: they are far brighter than conventional lights. With motorcycles, the more light the better, as there's often only a single headlight beam available. The common fix has been to increase bulb wattage to get a brighter output. While this does work, it also taxes the electrical system, which is not very robust on a motorcycle. HIDs put out a whole lot of light while using a low wattage, and are therefore very well suited for motorcycle applications. I tried out a DDM Tuning kit that's a 35W, 4300K color output setup. The wiring came to me with far more than I could ever use. With some quick cuts and some wires soldered and heat shrinked, I was able to remove what would have been a bird's nest of wires under my tank and fit the unit in the bike quite easily. The unit I have is the H4 Hi/Lo single bulb setup. This means I can still hit the brights switch and get a raised output from the headlamp. It works very well. Its almost TOO bright, so I have decided to be proactive and aim the headlamp down a little more than normal so I don't blind all of the DFW drivers. Here are a few shots of the unit installed:

Ready for Vegas

The bike is officially ready for Vegas. New Michelin Pilot Road tires are on the bike, and the DDM HID headlight has had to come off. The incredibly long, automobile-derived wiring loom is far too much for underneath my tank and was a short ride from melting into oblivion. The AG Hammer rearsets (AGgressive Hammer is the full name of the manufacturer) work very well, and all necessary adjustments to actuate the brake light and pedal position have been made. 

The Nichols flywheel performs very well, however there was a bit of a challenge in getting the VeeTwo basket/hub and Barnett Clutch to perform. The malfunction, however, was at the slave cylinder side, and was the result of the shorter (225mm) pushrod of my 1999, compared with the longer (235mm) pushrod of the later bikes. Also, the STM pushrod pin (cup that fits into the pressure plate bearing) had the small bearing inside it seize, and had begun to drill into my original pushrod, and similarly the clutch pressure plate bearing had all but given up as well. The combination of tight spot in the bearing, short pushrod, and seized pushrod pin bearing had the bike unable to shift gears very well (The clutch wouldn't disengage without repeated pumping of the lever). Stuart Rust was able to identify the problem, and we replaced all failing components, and bolted up a new Ducati Performance slave cylinder as well. (Turns out the malfunction was from no fault of my own!)

Here's a pic from about a week ago, and but they don't include the new slave cylinder, or new tires yet. New pics tomorrowish with the bike geared up and ready to go. 

After the trip, the bike is due a valve inspection, and there's a set of Sil-Moto Spaghetti pipes waiting at home as well. 

Pics as Promised - Vegas Update

Going to be working with Stuart Rust on some basic modifications for the trip. The headlight is being upgraded to DDM H4 HID kit so I can see when its dark (at long last) and meanwhile the bucket and glass have been upgraded to a clear-glass system from Germany thanks to Desmoworld. This should help out night vision immensely. Here's a pic of the current headlight with the ring powder coated black, and the new unit will look very similar. Powdercoating was done locally by Custom Powder Coating.

The blinker situation has been all sorted out, with the blinkers mounted to the carbon fiber headlamp brackets, and the headlamp mounted with titanium bolts and drilled titanium washers.  Additionally, many of the older corroded bolts have been replaced with stainless steel bolts, bought on the cheap from MonsterParts.

Stuart is going to help by putting on a new set of Michelin Pilot Roads, since the Vegas trip is 2800mi and my rear Pilot Power is looking pretty worn already (not to mention the aged Dunlop out front). He's going to give the bike a once over before the ride after I change my oil, and afterward he'll likely do an oil change, belt change, and valve check. If the valves need any tending to, I will be putting in a MBP collet set, and using the EMS Shims. Other bits include Nichols Flywheel and the Nichols Jambnuts for good insurance, as well as the Sil Moto Spaghetti Headers. Things are looking good, though I dread the upcoming wiring debacle that will be installing an AutoCom system to a switched positive lead. Here's a shot of the whole bike currently before the work begins:

Higher quality pictures will be taken next time, when I'm back to using my Canon SLR, rather than my Blackberry Bold.