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SERVICE

Paul Dean

Bike vs. car stoppage

I have a question about brakes on both a motorcycle and a car. A friend and I have a bet about which will stop first from 60 mph to zero, a car or a motorcycle. Can you tell me where I can find information on this subject?

Paul Bouchard Horsham, Pennsylvania

How about from 100 mph to zero? The February, 1994, issue of Road & Track magazine contained an article in which nine of the world’s most capable high-performance production cars were compared to determine which could accelerate from zero to 100 mph and back down to zero again in the shortest distance and quickest time. And for a more-balanced perspective, the comparison also included a bike, a '94 Kawasaki ZX-9R.

Results? The Kawasaki made highdollar mincemeat out of every one of the door-slammers, accomplishing the 0-100-0 feat in about the same time-

but in less distance-than the quickest car took just to reach 100 mph. And in braking, the 9R also kicked butt, stopping from 100 mph in 4.3 seconds and 320feet, compared to 4.6 seconds and 344 feet with the best car. Considering

that six of the nine cars had anti-lock braking systems, the motorcycle clearly emerged as the better braker-although stopping safely in the minimum distance does require a higher level of skill on a bike than in a car.

Ze clutch, she chatters

I have a ’93 Kawasaki ZX-11 that runs really great, but when 1 engage the clutch, I hear a chattering noise. It only happens at low idle, and as soon as I raise the rpm above 1500, it goes away. The dealer split the case and looked at everything inside. He replaced the starter clutch and said the clutch plates were fine. But the problem is still there, and I need help to get it fixed. Ricardo B. Booker Jr.

Ft. Hood, Texas

Despite w hat your dealer says, the clutch plates may not he fine. They could appear to he in perfect condition, with no excessive wear or other damage evident; hut if their friction surfaces have gotten glazed over, particularly on the fiber plates, they will tend to chatter during engagement. Glazed plates behave this way because they have smooth, hard surfaces that tend to grab one another very suddenly as they engage, rather than sliding smoothly and gradually. The solution is to remove all the plates and break the glaze by sanding the friction surfaces with medium-grit sandpaper.

The ultra-low-rpm chattering you describe also can be caused-or made worse-by improperly adjusted or synchronized carburetors. The misadjustment makes the engine run erratically at very low' rpm, which causes enough fluctuations in engine speed to make the clutch plates rattle and chatter during engagement. Properly tuning the engine and balancing the carburetors usually makes the chattering go away.

Get your shift together

The shifter on my 1988 H-D Softail does not return to the center position after shifting. I have to lift the shift lever up a little before attempting to make the next upshift or downshift. I've installed Accutronics forward controls on the bike and have checked them out; there's no malfunction there. Any idea what might be causing this problem? John Affinito

Schenectady, New York

Either the shift-return spring has gotten too weak to return the lever fully back to the center position, or the shifter paw l in the transmission needs to be adjusted. If you feel no or very little spring resistance when you lift the lever prior to attempting a shift, the problem is most likely the spring; if you feel a normal amount of resistance, the pawl needs adjusting.

The return spring is a big, hairpintype spring looped around the shifter shaft, and it clips onto a pa\\/-centering plate that is positioned by an eccentric adjuster. To replace the spring or properly adjust the pawl, you must first take the top cover off the transmission which, on your Softail, necessitates removal of the battery and the oil tank. You don 't have to drain the oil from the tank; just unbolt it and swing it to the right, out of the way. The pawl adjuster is an Alien-socket bolt secured by a locknut, and it 's located on the left side of the transmission case just ahead of the front belt pulley at about the 10 o 'clock position. The adjuster is tucked away behind the inner primary, which makes it a bit hard to access, but it can be reached.

To adjust the pawl, you first must shift the transmission into third gear. Next, lift the lever slightly to ensure that it is fully in the center position, then measure the clearance between each side of the pawl and its respective pin on the end of the shift cam; whatever those clearances are, they should be equal within .010-inch. If they are not, loosen the locknut and turn the adjuster bolt one way or the other until the clearances fall within that limit. Lock down the adjuster, replace the transmission cover, oil tank and battery, and the shifting action should return to normal.

Stand by me

When I first got my '98 Suzuki Katana 750, it fell off the kickstand twice in the first two weeks when parked on pavement with a slight downhill grade-and I do mean slight. The other bikes parked there didn't do this. I decided to fix the problem, which is caused by the stand being almost vertical when it is put down. It doesn’t swing forward far enough to let the spring snap over-center and hold the stand in the down position. I filed Vx of an inch off the steel part of the frame that the stand rests against when down. This allows the bottom end of the stand to swing IV2 inches farther forward, which not only locks it in position but also lets the bike lean over a little more. Robert C. Neppel Huntsville, Alabama

Thank you for the tip. New Katana owners everywhere owe you one. □