My Florida Trip
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Joined: Jul 2010
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My Florida Trip
I have had several bikes, this is the first time I trailered one farther than across town. The first thing I learned is when you trailer your bike never put a tarp over it. That is probably posted here someplace; I wish I would have checked before I did it.
What I got when I tarped my bike was a broken windshield, marred paint and a broken antenna. I anticipated the marring of the paint and put a soft blanket over the bike between it and the tarp, but the blanket would not stay in place, I took it off just before it blew away completely, I should have taken the tarp off at the same time. I have a friend that does custom bike paint; I was thinking about it, if I cant buff out the paint, maybe Ill go that route.
I had a Clearview windshield with the recurve, now broken, I bought a Clark Custom windshield before left, one of those that are extra wide, about 3 or 4 inches on each side, no curve at the top. I planned to bring it along and test it out. It is now my main windshield. The Clark works pretty good but I think the Clearview was better. The air pocket behind the Clark is larger and includes my hands, but the air is a little more turbulent. The air still goes over my head even without the curve at the top. I rode in the rain and my hands did not get wet, but my face still got soaked, even when I hunkered down behind the windshield, I could not get my face out of the rain, there was more calmness and less rain behind the Clearview.
My Shorty antenna still works but the top 3 inches broke off and the plastic is worn thin down the side of it. Over all I would say do not use a tarp.
Just before I left for Florida I put a car tire on my bike, a Dunlop High Performance Tire. Nobody freak out, it actually works very well and I plan to stay with it. The first 15 or 20 minutes was weird, but I got used to it quickly and it does a better job than a Motorcycle tire in every way. I expected it to be a little harder to turn the bike since it is not as rounded as a MC tire, and was surprised to find it turns (leans) easier. Sounds strange, I know, since a MT is rounded and has no resistance, but the CT leans like it is flowing on wet ice, extremely easy. In the sharper turns the feeling is odd, kind of like the feel of riding with the air pressure too low. I got used to it very quickly and dont even notice it any more, even when feeling for it I can barely tell, usually I dont feel any difference, it was quick and easy to get used to and the ride is much better than a MC tire. I am not worried about the sidewalls, before I bought it I watched a video of the tire on a sports car, close up, in slow motion. The tire is made to flex under extreme pressure and it does flex excessively on a sports car. My bike will never exert the kind of pressure and flex caused by a sports car; it is safe and fit the rim better than my MC tire did. I am not encouraging anyone to try this; I am just telling you what I did.
I also used dyna beads for balancing. I do not recommend them, next time I will have it balanced. The beads work very well under normal conditions, but on occasion in high gear at over 5000 rpm the tire will bounce because it is out of balance. I dont ride at 100 mph very often so Im not worried about it too much, I may have them taken out and the tire balance anyway just to be safe. I probably never would have noticed except I had my bike dynoed while I was in Florida and a couple times it bounced. Check out the charts in my other post on Docs Performance Tuning and you can see the bouncing at the end.
All summer I tried to get the right map on my PC V but could never get the right balance between power and fuel economy. I even had it dynoed at my local dealer, they were not properly trained and it was a waste of money. I got several maps from the PC V vender, some were not bad, but none of them did the bike justice. I know a lot of people have had great luck with the PC V and AT, I gave up. When I was in Florida I had Doc install a TTS and do a dyno. Impressive difference. Since the PC V uses wide band sensors it can never be as precise as the TTS, and with Docs tuning I am very pleased with the outcome. I cannot say for sure how much of the improvement was due to the TTS over the PC V since the TTS was tuned by one of the best tuners in the country and the PC v was tuned by me and an incompetent dealer with a dyno and some maps from the vender hundreds of miles away who never laid eyes on my bike and knew nothing except what I could communicate to him, which obviously I failed to do a good job of. You may be one of the lucky ones who easily gets the correct map right from the start, but one thing I know for sure, you cannot do better than to have your bike turned by a skilled and knowledgeable tuner like Doc. If anyone is interested in a PC V and an Auto Tuner, contact me, I have them for sell.
Also when in Florida I had my compensator upgraded to the SE under warranty for the price difference in parts, with tax $139.93. Something no local dealer would do. They also replaced the race inner bearing and roller. They did not do anything against policy, but if there is any way they can squeeze out a warranty claim for you, they will. It was hem and haw on the cusp with my bike, they did not have to do it but they did. When all my local dealers didnt have to do it, they didnt. My favorite Harley Dealer in Florida is now Stormy Hill Harley, 2480 S. Hwy 27, Clermont FL 34711. 352-243-7111. www.stormyhillharley.com. Thank you Alyshia, I really enjoyed talking with you.
Florida is a great ride around, but use sun tan lotion, I pretty much burned my face off.
Post on Doc's Performance Tune: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...ml#post7717764
What I got when I tarped my bike was a broken windshield, marred paint and a broken antenna. I anticipated the marring of the paint and put a soft blanket over the bike between it and the tarp, but the blanket would not stay in place, I took it off just before it blew away completely, I should have taken the tarp off at the same time. I have a friend that does custom bike paint; I was thinking about it, if I cant buff out the paint, maybe Ill go that route.
I had a Clearview windshield with the recurve, now broken, I bought a Clark Custom windshield before left, one of those that are extra wide, about 3 or 4 inches on each side, no curve at the top. I planned to bring it along and test it out. It is now my main windshield. The Clark works pretty good but I think the Clearview was better. The air pocket behind the Clark is larger and includes my hands, but the air is a little more turbulent. The air still goes over my head even without the curve at the top. I rode in the rain and my hands did not get wet, but my face still got soaked, even when I hunkered down behind the windshield, I could not get my face out of the rain, there was more calmness and less rain behind the Clearview.
My Shorty antenna still works but the top 3 inches broke off and the plastic is worn thin down the side of it. Over all I would say do not use a tarp.
Just before I left for Florida I put a car tire on my bike, a Dunlop High Performance Tire. Nobody freak out, it actually works very well and I plan to stay with it. The first 15 or 20 minutes was weird, but I got used to it quickly and it does a better job than a Motorcycle tire in every way. I expected it to be a little harder to turn the bike since it is not as rounded as a MC tire, and was surprised to find it turns (leans) easier. Sounds strange, I know, since a MT is rounded and has no resistance, but the CT leans like it is flowing on wet ice, extremely easy. In the sharper turns the feeling is odd, kind of like the feel of riding with the air pressure too low. I got used to it very quickly and dont even notice it any more, even when feeling for it I can barely tell, usually I dont feel any difference, it was quick and easy to get used to and the ride is much better than a MC tire. I am not worried about the sidewalls, before I bought it I watched a video of the tire on a sports car, close up, in slow motion. The tire is made to flex under extreme pressure and it does flex excessively on a sports car. My bike will never exert the kind of pressure and flex caused by a sports car; it is safe and fit the rim better than my MC tire did. I am not encouraging anyone to try this; I am just telling you what I did.
I also used dyna beads for balancing. I do not recommend them, next time I will have it balanced. The beads work very well under normal conditions, but on occasion in high gear at over 5000 rpm the tire will bounce because it is out of balance. I dont ride at 100 mph very often so Im not worried about it too much, I may have them taken out and the tire balance anyway just to be safe. I probably never would have noticed except I had my bike dynoed while I was in Florida and a couple times it bounced. Check out the charts in my other post on Docs Performance Tuning and you can see the bouncing at the end.
All summer I tried to get the right map on my PC V but could never get the right balance between power and fuel economy. I even had it dynoed at my local dealer, they were not properly trained and it was a waste of money. I got several maps from the PC V vender, some were not bad, but none of them did the bike justice. I know a lot of people have had great luck with the PC V and AT, I gave up. When I was in Florida I had Doc install a TTS and do a dyno. Impressive difference. Since the PC V uses wide band sensors it can never be as precise as the TTS, and with Docs tuning I am very pleased with the outcome. I cannot say for sure how much of the improvement was due to the TTS over the PC V since the TTS was tuned by one of the best tuners in the country and the PC v was tuned by me and an incompetent dealer with a dyno and some maps from the vender hundreds of miles away who never laid eyes on my bike and knew nothing except what I could communicate to him, which obviously I failed to do a good job of. You may be one of the lucky ones who easily gets the correct map right from the start, but one thing I know for sure, you cannot do better than to have your bike turned by a skilled and knowledgeable tuner like Doc. If anyone is interested in a PC V and an Auto Tuner, contact me, I have them for sell.
Also when in Florida I had my compensator upgraded to the SE under warranty for the price difference in parts, with tax $139.93. Something no local dealer would do. They also replaced the race inner bearing and roller. They did not do anything against policy, but if there is any way they can squeeze out a warranty claim for you, they will. It was hem and haw on the cusp with my bike, they did not have to do it but they did. When all my local dealers didnt have to do it, they didnt. My favorite Harley Dealer in Florida is now Stormy Hill Harley, 2480 S. Hwy 27, Clermont FL 34711. 352-243-7111. www.stormyhillharley.com. Thank you Alyshia, I really enjoyed talking with you.
Florida is a great ride around, but use sun tan lotion, I pretty much burned my face off.
Post on Doc's Performance Tune: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...ml#post7717764
Last edited by jjnoble; Dec 30, 2010 at 12:40 PM.
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 609
Likes: 0
From: Grand Rapids MI
You used a CT and are still around to type about it !?!?!?!?! Oh My!!!!!... lol
Somebody is going to claim you died because of the CT and it's really your ghost typing.....lol
Stormy Hill eh? Kudos to them! Nice to hear of dealers who go the extra mile for us.
Glad you enjoyed Fla! I rolled the entire perimter of Fla a few years back, great ride and great time!
Somebody is going to claim you died because of the CT and it's really your ghost typing.....lol
Stormy Hill eh? Kudos to them! Nice to hear of dealers who go the extra mile for us.
Glad you enjoyed Fla! I rolled the entire perimter of Fla a few years back, great ride and great time!
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 931
Likes: 11
From: Orlando, FL
My favorite Harley Dealer in Florida is now Stormy Hill Harley, 2480 S. Hwy 27, Clermont FL 34711. 352-243-7111. www.stormyhillharley.com. Thank you Alyshia, I really enjoyed talking with you.
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