Put about 60 miles on the bike today. It runs beautifully..

What a way to break in the new piston rings - in the forest

This is what it looks like to have had 6 months off, a motor replacement, and a hand surgery - then finally get back on the saddle!! hahaaaa



Had a couple buddies with me - this is a couple miles from home:




One thing I noticed - the 6th gear in the 09+ bottom end is way shorter than in my 07. I really wish I still had the 07, but oh well, things could be worse. Why did Kawi do that?!

Anyways... Other than that the motor runs awesome. Got everything hooked up, even the neutral switch. Just a matter of splicing a wire. The battery was even still good after 6 months in my garage just sitting there!

I love this bike. I love riding, I'm glad I'm back Just in time for the nice weather

 

Welcome Back!

David

 

EXCELLENT end to the saga. Now you can do a leisurely patch job on the '07 bottom end, then next winter you can swap IT back in.

 

Good deal!!! Glad it all worked out.
Dan

 

Good stuff. Just in time for spring.

 

Congrats, have fun, and take care.

My riding is still one month away, nowadays it is maple sugar time.

Ray

 

Well, Larry it's about stinkin' time. I thought for sure before this debacle ended you'd wind up ventilating your cranium with a .45.

But seriously, glad you got the rig up and going again. I'll bet you've learned a ton with this project...and that's always a good thing.

 

Yes, I definitely learned a bit about the motor and pulling it out!

hahaaa... Good to know..

And RayCour - I love fresh maple syrup! I just got a small jug of it when I was up in VT last week - grade A dark amber.. Sooooo good!

 

Glad you're rolling again! I'm also really, really jealous (mine is still busted - no 5th or 6th gear - and I've got no time to get it to the dealer or get at it myself).

That's a damn good question. Rider complaints of the stock bikes not pulling 6th gear? I guess on that account they succeded, as the stock '09 has no problem pulling 6th gear.

Whatever the reason, it really screws up the ratio spread. 5th and 6th are too close with the stock sprockets, I can only imagine how bad it would be going to a 13T front (I haven't tried that yet). The situation is most pronounced on downshifts for power (such as for passing on two lane blacktop): the downshift from 6th to 5th pretty inneffective, but dropping to 4th is frequently too much.

For reference, in 6th gear, an '09 with 15/42 combo will have about the same final ratio as the '06/'07 with 14/42. Looking at it the other way, the '06/'07 bikes with 13/42 combo have about the same final ratio as the '09/'10 bikes with 14/42. That forces a bigger compromise on sprocket selection - at least for those of us who do a lot of road riding in combination with trail riding. By the way, Larry, what sprocket combo are you using?

 

Thats not Pahcaug. Thomaston Dam perhaps?