I pulled this tip off of a muzzle-loader list I'm on and it really works well for getting the rust off parts without causing any other damage:
I can report that this electrolytic system that does truly remove nothing but the rust. Amazing! It works great!
Take a 12-volt volt battery charger. Add some longer leads and alligator clips. (If you put the original battery lead clips in solution the negative will get eaten up. Just extend them with some suitable electrical cable.)
Connect the BLACK terminal to part requiring rust removal. RED terminal connected to as steel plate (el cheapo paint scraper ) suspended in solution.
For the solution, I use a teaspoon of bi-carb of soda (baking soda) in a gallon of water and suspend the steel part on a bit of nylon and give it a couple of hours. Just hose it off and dry the part.
In this tip, Jerry Reidel tells of some less-expensive replacements for the stock mirrors on the Sportis:
I mostly like the stock mirrors on this bike, but the rubber boots on mine cracked and started disintegrating, probably because of exposure to the New Mexico sun, where the bike used to live. After finding out that the boots were not available separately, but new mirrors were, at $55 each, I started looking for alternatives. Best deal I found was approximately $23 each at Cycle Gear for EMGO mirrors that are for 1999-2001 Honda CBR 600F4 and 2000-2001 RC-51. The part numbers are 20-87022 (left) and 20-87021 (right). I don't know what the other Sport 1100s use - these mirrors may fit the carb models as well.
I did have to rotate the mounting plate 90 degrees from how it is positioned on the Hondas, and I reversed the mounting screw where the mirror arm goes into the bracket. These mirrors don't have the rubber boot and will give if the bike falls on its side, like the stock mirrors. They also vibrate just like the stock mirrors, but that is a function of the fairing mounting bracketry.
Craig Fitzgerald sent in this tip that you'll find useful if you ever make a replacement windscreen for your bike:
Before you go cutting your windscreen, get a plexiglass cutter. It'll make your life a whole lot easier. It's just a flat piece of steel with a sharp little point on the end. A good neighborhood hardware shop ought to have one. If not, you can try to buy one from a glass shop. Mark off where you want to cut the screen with a Sharpie magic marker. Then score one side s-l-o-w-l-y so that you can control where that cutter's going. Once you get a groove in there it's easier to cut a little quicker. When you've cut a good groove in one side, flip it over and do the same thing on the other side, staying as close as you can to the first cut. Eventually, you should be able to wiggle the scrap part and run a break all the way along. Once you've busted off the scrap part, you can sand the edge of the Lexan to smooth out any rough edges. If you're using an orbital sander, be careful to hold the Lexan as close as you can to the edge. Otherwise, it'll move around a lot and could crack the whole screen right down the middle.
MGNOC New Mexico rep Kevin Hamman sent in these two tips:
This winter, since the low temperatures have gotten below 30 degrees F or so, the Tenni hasn't been starting too easily when cold, so I started thinking about why. It seemed that after I switched on the ignition and tried to start the bike repeatedly it would just fire once or twice, but not keep running. With my '89 LeMans the limitation with cold starts was always getting enough fuel into the engine. So I wondered if the same was true for an EFI bike.
Then I tried switching the ignition off and on again so that the fuel pump could fully prime twice. Presto! The bike started right up. It took me a while to remember this trick, but when I did, and switched the ignition on and off twice before trying to start the bike, it has always started right up when cold.
Probably the combination of less current from the battery and thicker oil doesn't allow the engine to spin as fast and get enough fuel into the cylinders or there isn't enough fuel pressure for the injectors to spray effectively enough or both. We have also used this with success on my wife's EFI bike, a non-Guzzi Italian air-cooled twin.
Inverted forks are a good idea for suspension response and unsprung weight advantages, but they put the fork seal and fork tube closer to the road and potential road hazards like rocks, grasshoppers, and perpetual mild sandblasting (well, at least here in the arid Southwest). My wife's bike with inverted forks went through three fork seals in less than two years (under warranty thankfully) and suffered a rock ding on one tube that was luckily polished out with a grindstone. Something had to be done to protect the forks and fork seals. At the non-Guzzi Italian bike dealer I found some neoprene fork guards that wrap around the fork sliders and tubes and are held on with hook and loop (Velcro) fasteners. They cost $18 and can be cut to fit snugly and cover only the exposed portion of the fork tube while the bike is being ridden. To me they aren't unattractive. From the packaging it states "Neoprene has memory and bounces back into shape...Neoprene is stretchy and durable." I've put a red set of these on my Tenni as I'm not anxious to find out what a titanium nitride fork tube costs. The wife's ride got a black pair; everything is black on her bike. These fork guards are made by NOJ, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, phone 800-456-0485. And you know what, if you put two of them together they just might fit around your favorite canned or bottled beverage!
