Trip Next Year

It's official.  I have made a conscious decision to do a road trip out west next year.

I've always wanted to head that way but not enough to actually do it.  ~ Riding the Swing would truly make the trip more than fun.

So, now it is to prepare the 2008 Swing so it can have fun too.  

As some of you know, I'm having the fork spring and oil changed this year.  I also bought many of the "little" parts that may need to be replaced while my Honda Guru has them apart.  He's doing brake pads as well, so that would mean bleed and fill brake lines, and inspect them as well.

I'm doing a final drive oil change this week.  This will bring me up to speed on the routine simple maintenance stuff.  BTW, my use of the word "stuff" covers a lot of stuff....

I plan to replace pretty much all of the variator parts.  I get the squeal like sound after very short time of slow speed riding, town and practicing maneuvers.  I read that this may be do to glazing of the clutch shoes.  I've done the referenced remedy i.e. rear brake and accelerate for a few seconds 3,000 rpm.  This works but continues on a daily basis.  I also read that bearing could be a problem.  -  so having 54,000 miles on bike suggests to me that the best thing to do is replace all the stuff.

I'll replace tires next year.  Boy, tire discussion on this site is confusing.  Some of you swear by Diablo, Bridgestone Hoop and Michelin Powerpure brands.  Also, some have one brand on front and a different one on back.  I really don't want to start a repeat of an entire thread.  Just a bit of clarification about what tire brand I should choose for general touring and occasional interstate riding.  Just a wee bit please. - My Swing came used with Viper tires on them.  They looked fairly new but have worn considerably ove the 2,500 miles of my riding.

Please advise me of any other work I should look at or do on a high mileage Swing.  I don't see a reason to grab another less mileage Swing.  I've already spent $$ on fixing this one up.  The only major item was replacement of Crankshaft Balancers.  Honda Guru took care of that and was happy with how the engine was/is running as well.  

BTW, finding out that the Balancers were not functioning was quite a wild experience.  Bucking bronco on ride when trying to decelerate below 50 mph.  Had some weird stuff prior but nothing made sense and I didn't know about this anyway.  The Swing just kept lurching from time to time or just plain stall and not start up for a few hours.  I guess there is a safety feature for Honda engines to shut down to prevent damage.  Great idea!

Needless to say I survived bucking bronco via engine kill switch and coast for quite a distance.  An experience I hope never to repeat.

Thanks ahead of time for advice and info sharing.

My experience with SilverWing---Michelin Power Sure SC on both ends because they wear round/handling stays same thruout life of tire. I got about 10,000 miles out of rears.

I found Bridestone Hoops to be crap.

Holy cow, Judy. In all the years I've been wrenching Silverwings and on all the Silverwing forums I have never heard of a Crankshaft Balancer malfunction. Glad you got it sorted. I sure would like to know what may have caused that problem.

Regarding tires: Pirelli Diablo's are inexpensive and very 'sticky'. Sticky is a big plus when riding in wet conditions. However, the down side of the that stickyness is that they have a shorter life span.

The above said, Bridgestone Hoops have a great reputation for long miles. Many Silverwings came with Hoops as OEM tires.

Tim

Thanks for the tire info.  I will go with the Bridgestone Hoops.  I try to avoid riding in the rain, fog, etc.  It does happen from time to time.  Ya gotta get home.  I really don't like it.  Spots on windshield.  Spots on helmet face shield.  Don't like seeing through so many random splashes of rain and run-off.

I have no clue why the balancer went all wacky.  I can ask Ray, a.k.a. Honda Guru, when I see him next.   Be a couple of weeks.  Springs and two other parts for Fork work were on back order.  

-- You have it right.  Holy Cow is appropriate.  Kind of what goes through ones mind when riding a bucking bronco.  Glad I was riding on Route 2 beyond where traffic gets busy.  The driver of the one car behind me caught on real fast.  Definitely something wrong.  Hung back quite a distance.  Made it to Jefferson, hit the kill switch and coast to stop.  Whew.  Yup, "Holy Cow!"  

John, I just saw your post. Sorry I missed it. Didn't scroll up far enough.

I'll look into comparing the Bridgestone Hoops and Power Sure SC.

Thanks so much.