Those side vent/access panels are begging to have some expanded metal grills installed in them. Gonna be nice. ;-)

Ern

 

Haha, yeah they are. I should put some in if it's going to be all apart anyway, and if I'm going to make my own undertail, and hence be at the hardware store anyway.

The more I think about it, the more I think I'll just paint all the stuff I was going to have powder coated. Saving a few hundred bucks means either more tools or more mods. I've been thinking about getting something to take the wheels off - it'd pay for about half the cost just during this project, and I can't quite bring myself to try the wood-lever-under-the-car method. An LED kit and some wheel stripes might be nice too, though.

Decisions, decisions

 

Well, I went out to ride my bike to school this morning, and it was real tough to wheel back and forth. Not completely impossible, but it felt like a brake was stuck or something. I walked it back, then rode it forward a few feet a couple of times, but it still felt tight (but it did roll, so if a brake is stuck it's not -completely- stuck.) Not wanting to kill myself on the road, and not having enough time for a proper diagnosis, I left it sit in the garage.

Any ideas on how to tell whether it actually is a stuck brake or if it's something else? It rode fine Saturday, and I haven't dropped it or stood on the brakes or anything.

Since the brakes are going to be off anyway for wheel painting and stainless steel lines, I'll probably just try and tear down the calipers using Slick 6's How-To.

I wish I knew what happened. It doesn't seem like there should suddenly be a brake problem after letting the bike sit in my garage for two days. The only thing I've done differently recently is add some Seafoam to the gas tank, but that shouldn't have anything to do with the brakes / wheels.

 

Nail in the tire happened. I'm still trying to decide between patching it and buying a new tire, and have read a lot about that the last couple days.

I got my paint and all my supplies over the last week.

Bikebolts.com came through, and the pieces look good, although I haven't dug into them too much. Quick shipping and good communication from them. My Haynes manual from Amazon came, and I have mesh for the fairings on the way this weekend or Monday.

Here is all the pics of my bike as it is, including a bunch of close ups from today. Tomorrow I'm going to get a video of the muffler revving for comparison to the new exhaust later, and also to warm up the oil so I can drain the fluids.

 

I don't know if most folks check the aftermarket section, but if anyone has an opinion on this new Dan Moto exhaust I found, I'd like to hear it. Thread here.

I've started tearing it down, but haven't gotten that far yet. Progress report incoming tonight or tomorrow.

 

Pulled off all the fairings today.
Made a video of the sound of the stock exhaust to 10k for comparison to the new muffler. I'll post it later.
Drained the oil and coolant.
Pulled the headlights.
Siphoned out the gas (the rubber part of the gas siphon melted when the gas hit it...)
Removed the gas tank.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get at the wheels, the radiator, the headers, the exhaust, the footpegs and rearsets, the gauge and the gauge bracket. Maybe the oil and stator covers too. I may need to spring for a chain breaker, and decide how much of the electrical system I want to dismantle off the frame. Most of it would be wise, but I'm -really- noobish with electrical stuff.

A few pics.

 

Got off to a bit of a slow start today, so I didn't get everything I wanted done, done.

I did get:
The battery out and hooked up to a battery tender
Both front brakes
The front wheel
The radiator
and
The air box

I'll get at the headers and exhaust tomorrow, which should give me more room to get at the rear wheel and brake.

From there, I'm not sure exactly what I'll get at next. I may work the bike in sections, cleaning everything I don't plan to paint before the painting begins. Or maybe I should paint first, using the grime to help mitigate any overspray. I'll figure it out in the next day or two.

A couple snaps.

 

I made up for yesterday today.

Removed:

Gauge & Bracket
Downpipes
Exhaust can
Rearsets
Passenger pegs (including labeling off the wires for the LED mod)
Kickstand
Chain guard
Rear wheel
Rear brake
Front & Rear brake lines
Fuel pump
Voltage regulator moved

Does anyone know whether the red and black wires for a LED passenger peg mod need to be kept individualized, or can any red reconnect to any other red?

On deck for tomorrow:

Everything on handlebars
Disassemble the wheels (rotors / sprockets / etc) and have the tires removed
Start washing out and stripping the paint from the tank
Blast a test panel with paint to get a feel for it.
Perhaps the plastic near the taillight that runs under the seat if I can figure out how
Maybe the engine covers that are getting painted
If the rear frame comes off, without special tools, I may take it off for ease.

I still need to break the chain: I ordered the tool yesterday.

A few snaps, the first of the bike as it is currently, and the second of my line of bits and pieces. Lots of other stuff is on the other side.

I've been talking with the folks at Dan Moto, and their new JISU exhaust seems to sound similar to their Carbon GP, but "it is much quieter." I'm not sure whether "it" is the new pipe or the Carbon GP, but the GP is loud enough that I hope the JISU is quieter. I think I like the design better, and will probably order it instead of the GP. If it doesn't work out, hopefully I can sell it.

I got my gas tank cap in today: It looks great, but I sold my old gas cap and the bolts that went with it. Gonna have to order some more bolts, it looks like.

Most of the little stuff for my bike is getting ordered as soon as my summer aid money hits, so probably Friday or Monday. I have most of a week to get this beast sparkly and to fabricate my undertail and wrap all my engine bits in plastic. If everything goes really, really well, I may be able to start painting this week. By this weekend, I hope to have the tank done, at least.

Shocking development of the day: One of my 12mm sockets split into thirds trying to torque a bolt off. When they go back in, they'll be just at spec.

 

Update from yesterday:

Forks, clip-ons, subframe, and that plastic tray thing have all been removed. Gas tank is stripped, test panel / undertail metal painted white, but it needs another few coats to cover the gray primer.

I was pretty stupid, though, and decided to unscrew the throttle cables from the handlebar side thinking I could set the handlebar somewhere else. Turns out I just loosened the top elbow connector and now it won't hardly go back in. I can get a couple threads in, but tightening the bolt doesn't pull the rest of the elbow screw in like I thought.

One pic of the throttle screw, and one of the bike.

Any thoughts on how to fix the elbow connector? It's operable this way, but it feels a little unsafe.

 

OK, first, let me just say it looks like you are doing a great job with this tear down! I am glad to see this thread because I am about to do the same thing. I have to delay my rebuild because I need to drop a new engine in my Stealth this week, but probably next week I will be doing the F4i.

The DanMoto exhaust looks cheap. You get what you pay for. I'd suggest buying a secondhand exhaust off eBay or something. A rashed up decent exhaust could be had for the same sort of money and wuld offer better performance. Or if money is not the issue try the Delkevic exhausts, they are a great bang for the buck!

The thing you want to make sure of when hooking up all the LED items is resistance and voltage. You don't want to burn up the bulbs or end up with indicators that blink like a jackrabbit making a porno! Get yourself a voltmeter if you don't already have one and triple check all your connections/calculations before connecting anything.

What gas cap did you get?

Not sure about the elbow, I have never messed with one of those.