Aftermarket Mods can be troublesome

[riceburnr]

Hello all. Great site here. you are all very friendly and helpful. I just wanted to post my thoughts on doing mods when you have limited mechanical skills like myself. I had posted before about installing the Arlen Ness air intake kit. well the problems have continued . I see now why it has been discontinued and have to say I dont think I would purchases anything like this from Arlen Ness again. As some of you had said, I did need to have carb adjusted . Before the inrtake mod I had some coughing and sneezing in the carb . the bike has V/H longshots and I assumed it had been rejetted to accomodate the pipes but I was having my doubts. I tried to get away with not doing carb adjustments after the intake mod but upon test riding it coughed and engine cut out on the road. so that along with the coolant leak which I still could not get to stop even with using fiber washers and thread sealant and liquid gasket finally prompted me to bring it to the bike shop. I can do things like brakes chainging oil but have never messed with carbs before .

Well , the mechanic called me and told me that the Ethanol now being put in fuel was wreaking havoc with bikes causing these problems. to me, though this may be true it felt like he was already lining up an excuse when the bike was returned to me with the same problem along with a bill . I hate going to bike shop mechanics , you never know if they have the skills training experience or committment to get the job done right even though they will charge you like they do. Though the bike was indeed already rejetted he thought he would have to install new needles to accomodate the new air intake. well turns out he didnt need to do that and could turn them out enough. well so far the bike coughed once but since then it seems ok , took it out for cpl hours yesterday. they also stopped the leak out of the upper idle cable bracket bolt by putting in a longer one than the one supplied by Arlen Ness . this cost me $158.00 for 2 hours labor no parts needed. does 2 hours seem reasonable for this adjustment ?

so in closing, Arlen Ness putting in a bolt which is to short is pretty lame, not a big deal for some but for me its the kind of thing that will result in me never doing business with them again. directions sucked and fiber washer was missing in the kit also. Plus I now realize if I want to clean the filter I gotta take the whole mounting back plate off cause the filter is attached permanantly to it!!!!!!!! I got this kit cause i didnt want to do the $250 Hyper charger even though I like how it looks , but I ended up spending it anyway and ended up with less.

I have ordered the light bar kit from Dennis Kirk for my 1500 classic '99 and liked the fact they have a service line which I called to get the low down on this kit. they spent a good amount of time with me even pulling up the directions for installation on their end . after this I am done with mods. I would luv ape hangars on my bike and would like to install reed vavles but I really hate the hit or miss of aftermarket parts. most dealers dont know anything specific about any given year/model of bike and a nasty expensive surprise is always waiting for you around the next corner.

still luv riding though

[Johnny5]

Always go to a service department you are comfortable with. If you feel strange or weird at a place, then leave. As far as your issues go, I hate to say this but you should of researched a little more about the Ness intake.

I wouldnt give up on aftermarket though. Read reviews from other forumites and how they did with such and such.

Hope you have better experiences in the future. Pipes and intakes should be joyous, not Hellish.

[Tbone800b]

Sorry for your bad experience. Most of the time the jet kit that comes with the pipes is the wrong one for a breather/pipes combo. I see that you have the 1500. I don't have the link but I think Gadget has a site with a lot of information. I know Russian Wolf has one for the 800 that has been a ton of help for me. You may have to search a bit but check them out. Don't be intimidated by jetting. It's harder to get to the carb than to do the adjustments on it. Don't let this deter you from aftermarket mods. Just use the available resources to steer you in the right direction. They have already done the homework for us.

[bluestringer]

First off, if only pipes were pit on it to begin with, and no air mod, then it didn't need rejetting.

Second, since it was rejetted when it should not have been, and now with the air mod, it needs rejetting, I can just about guarantee the first rejet used the wrong jetting.

Find out what jets and needle were put in it, then go to VROC and get the right jetting information and get the bike running correctly.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by riceburnr

Hello all. Great site here. you are all very friendly and helpful. I just wanted to post my thoughts on doing mods when you have limited mechanical skills like myself. I had posted before about installing the Arlen Ness air intake kit. well the problems have continued . I see now why it has been discontinued and have to say I dont think I would purchases anything like this from Arlen Ness again. As some of you had said, I did need to have carb adjusted . Before the inrtake mod I had some coughing and sneezing in the carb . the bike has V/H longshots and I assumed it had been rejetted to accomodate the pipes but I was having my doubts. I tried to get away with not doing carb adjustments after the intake mod but upon test riding it coughed and engine cut out on the road. so that along with the coolant leak which I still could not get to stop even with using fiber washers and thread sealant and liquid gasket finally prompted me to bring it to the bike shop. I can do things like brakes chainging oil but have never messed with carbs before .

Well , the mechanic called me and told me that the Ethanol now being put in fuel was wreaking havoc with bikes causing these problems. to me, though this may be true it felt like he was already lining up an excuse when the bike was returned to me with the same problem along with a bill . I hate going to bike shop mechanics , you never know if they have the skills training experience or committment to get the job done right even though they will charge you like they do. Though the bike was indeed already rejetted he thought he would have to install new needles to accomodate the new air intake. well turns out he didnt need to do that and could turn them out enough. well so far the bike coughed once but since then it seems ok , took it out for cpl hours yesterday. they also stopped the leak out of the upper idle cable bracket bolt by putting in a longer one than the one supplied by Arlen Ness . this cost me $158.00 for 2 hours labor no parts needed. does 2 hours seem reasonable for this adjustment ?

so in closing, Arlen Ness putting in a bolt which is to short is pretty lame, not a big deal for some but for me its the kind of thing that will result in me never doing business with them again. directions sucked and fiber washer was missing in the kit also. Plus I now realize if I want to clean the filter I gotta take the whole mounting back plate off cause the filter is attached permanantly to it!!!!!!!! I got this kit cause i didnt want to do the $250 Hyper charger even though I like how it looks , but I ended up spending it anyway and ended up with less.

I have ordered the light bar kit from Dennis Kirk for my 1500 classic '99 and liked the fact they have a service line which I called to get the low down on this kit. they spent a good amount of time with me even pulling up the directions for installation on their end . after this I am done with mods. I would luv ape hangars on my bike and would like to install reed vavles but I really hate the hit or miss of aftermarket parts. most dealers dont know anything specific about any given year/model of bike and a nasty expensive surprise is always waiting for you around the next corner.

still luv riding though

Rice - sorry you had such a time with the air mod. Reed valve covers (also called coasters) are a snap. The Barons are very complete and included the right bolts, seals and the plugs needed for the emissions crud.

You might find Gadgets Vulcan Pages very useful. Lots of things to do do your Vulcan Classic and/or Nomads. http://www.gadgetjq.com/gadgetsfixitpage.htm

[riceburnr]

since I got the bike used and the shop knew nothing about the bikes history and I got bike fever I jumped in and bought it. I dont even have a manual for it. I always thought you had to rejet with pipes? it's running good now though. thanx guys I will check out thise resources

[napanock]

Good mechanics aren't expensive, THERE PRICELESS!