Bernardo said:
even when you hustle, you still get a good life out of your tyres...

I would have to agree. I had just over 8,000 miles on my tires and I knew I was in need of a new rear tire. I had ordered the replacement (Bridgestone Hoop) and even had set up an appointment for tomorrow (Tuesday) to have the new tire mounted, but last Friday while on the way home the old tire blew out when I was cruising along the highway at about 60 mph. When it went, it sounded like a gunshot blast right in my ear - very loud. But the bike didn't feel squirrely or anything, so I wasn't exactly sure what had happened (But with a loud boom like that I knew it wasn't good), so I coasted off the road and looked things over. Sure enough I had run the tire down to cords in one place and that was where it blew. I guess the good news is that the sidewalls of a motorcycle tire are stiff enough that when they go flat the tire doesn't sit down on the rim, the sidewalls hold it up a couple of inches.

So, the new tire is on and my HyperPro springs (my father's day gift) should be here tomorrow and I will have the springs mounted when they get here.

Thanks Bernardo:
I'm sure that luck played a big role in my outcome. If I had been going 85 mph (like I had that very morning), or If I was in a hard sweeping corner in the twisties, or IF it had been the front tire...

But it wasn't (this time) and I know that in the future, I shouldn't try quite so hard to squeeze every mile out of my tires.

Based on your reviews, I am looking forward to the new springs. And by the way, I liked your story about taking your father for a ride. We need to savor those moments. Very cool. Take care.
David

Hi David,

I've just had to buy a set of tyres for my bike.... I had forgooten how expensive they can be! I ended up getting "Maxxis" They were significantly cheaper and from the reviews I have read are as good as the competition. I hope to get them fitted tomorrow. I think they make sccot tyres too.

It'll be interesting to read what you make of the springs! All the better with a new tyre, and better still with a michelin on the front (well at least I've found that the best set up for my S'wing)

Glad you liked my write up..... Have just had a great day out to a local biker spot, will post something about it later.

Happy riding!

Installed it and the new belt tonight and went for a ride. All I can say is HOLY SH*#! I was expecting an improvement but nowhere near this much extra performance. My helper with the install has a brand new full bagger Harley Ultra Classic and he was even impressed with how fast it is now. We were screwing around kinda racing each other and he never pulled away from me at all. I don't know if he had anymore left in it but we did it several different times and he never pulled away like he used to be able to. Of course he won't come right out and admit it if I were to ask him being a Harley owner and all....LOL. I was kinda skeptical after reading the one guys post on here about how he didn't think it was worth the money, but I don't understand how he wasn't impressed with this thing???? Either his is defective, installed wrong, or he expected crotch rocket wheelie pulling performance. It is a scooter after all but it now impresses the heck out of me. I'm still grinning ear-to-ear. Enough of me rambling. If you want a mod and you wish you had a little more of a performance style bike instead of a scooter don't hesitate to do this mod, you'll be happy. I can assure you. If you just use it to run errands in town,and as a commuter, don't bother.

I think this should be J.Costa's tag line:

"J Costa...We keep Harley humble." :Santa :

Som2002,
Well said and I agree 100%. I really enjoy the difference and was just as perplexed as you with the one person that didn't see any difference. This winter I will change out the belt and put dry lubricant on the pins just to see if they last longer. But, I would not give up the improved performance for anything. Thanks for you post.

Im getting jelous now (need upgrades) cant stand the belt slap and vibrations any longer its driving me mad

p.s Scooterist glad your ok i had a blow out once fortunatly it was after i had hit the car when the bike flipped over the top


p.p.s i am wondering if i changed the rollers would this help with belt slap? (cheap option)

I will try that thanks

Mr. Fish
Thanks. I was pleasantly surprised how stable the bike felt after it blew, but I think I may have been lucky. If I had been going fast, or if I had been laid over in a curve, or if it had been the front tire, things may have been different.

From what I hear the J Costa should take care of that belt slap issue. Plus from a performance point of view, I totally agree with som2002. I think it made a huge difference in acceleration, but that is just me. Maybe I'm just easy to please.

Yes, I forgot to mention, belt slap that I have had the entire 16,000 miles is now totally gone. I was so excited about the performance aspect that I forgot to mention that little bonus side effect in my first post. LOL

I feel i need to sweet talk the wife again for the j costa, as for the accident internal bruising hurt like hell but did it all again a week later on the insurance companys bike wrote that off as well they thought i had broken my neck with that one ,9 hours on a spine board about 15 xrays just to find out im a proffesional bouncer lol (witnesses said the the hight and flip was amazing and said i should take up gymnastics)so i learnt my lesson and bought a 1200 bandit had it tuned to about 140bhp then realised i have a family so sold that bought a gilera 180sp, and guess what......... wrote that off in the side of a van ( signaled left but turned right) and they say bikes are dangerous yet i never seem to hit another bike its vans and cars that hurt, touch wood since then ive been learning how to ride to my ability and bikes ability

Hi,

I never had the belt slap with my SWing but it was brand new when I bought it and installed the J. Costa at about 4,000-5,000 miles, so maybe it just didn't slap. I have the sliders in now and I still don't get any belt slap, but I have the Mitsubishi belt now, so maybe that helps.

I'm going to keep the sliders in for the rest of the year and maybe buy some new pins then and re-install the Costa. I just like to play with things. But the J. Costa is really a huge improvement and I do kind of miss the power and acceleration of it. The sliders seem to do good but you can really feel the power in the entire power band with the Costa.

[quote="Bernardo"][quote="mr fish"]Im getting jelous now (need upgrades) cant stand the belt slap and vibrations any longer its driving me mad

John, there are a couple of things that have reduced belt slap for me. First - a couple of years ago on the yahoo forum, Whit mentioned that he sprayed some belt dressing on the dive belt and it made everything run smoother and quieter. I tried it, and got the same results. Just remove the CVT cover and spray some belt dressing on the inside of the belt while you are gently giving it some throttle. After I did this, acceleration was much smoother and much quieter. However, the result was fairly short lived and the noise and shudder during acceleration returned after a couple thousand miles.

I also noticed that doing the brake torque to eliminate clutch squeal also reduced overall CVT noise. I'm not exactly sure why this happens, since the brake torque technique is designed to remove glaze from the clutch shoes, but it does seem to help with belt noise, slap, and vibration as well.

I have since noticed that I can accomplish the same effect by simply doing a series of WOT starts in quick succession. Simply find an empty parking lot or road. Stop, do a wide open throttle start, stop as soon as you get up to 25 mph, do another WOT start and repeat this about 5 or 6 times. This helps to reduce CVT noise. It doesn't completely eliminate belt slap, but it does seem to reduce it and also result in a smoother acceleration. When the CVT noise returns.....which it will, I simply repeat the WOT starts again.