THanks for sharing your experience Scoot! Sounds like our paths are not too dissimilar.
I plan to keep the stock choke lever, and I would like to keep it functional. It looks like polini makes some parts that night be right up my alley.
Attachment 21136
Would just need to measure the choke parts and order the proper size. Not this exactly, but something similar could work. Making the bracketry isn't too hard. I made some custom bracketry for the old XJ that I think came out really well.
It is indeed too late to cancel the 190 order, and I was already planning on the shift star mod. The cost difference between the two motors is not insignificant, and I can rebuild the transmission (with Daytona parts) about two times over for the price differential. If I wanted top speed from the bike, then I would def go Daytona. I just want something for city streets that has enough power to get out of a sticky situation, and maybe do a canyon climb.
Plus, coming from the Yamaha XJ world, I am
no stranger to transmission work.
The cush drive rubbers, swingarm bolt, rear axle, and front axle are cheap enough I will be ordering them soon. May I ask what made you swap the rear hellcat sprocket carrier? It is not exactly an anemic part, and the genuine Honda hub is showing as ~$150 which is a tough pill to swallow once you consider that also requires a different mounting scheme.
If I had to guess, failures would probably be due to loose bolts gradually egging the holes in the Hellcat hub. 20hp (more like 16-17 at my altitude) is not a lot to put through such a beefy piece; especially when it is rubber-damped.
I did see the kepspeed exhaust over and over. I even priced one out. Came to ~$280 delivered. It is difficult to rationalize that on a bike that will not be my primary ride by any means. I do really like their swingarm as well; for no other reason than it uses actual bearings and isn't just direct tube to tube contact. I think if I ever do that, I will need to upgrade the rear shock at the same time. I suspect the friction of the stock swingarm is part of what keeps the rear shock from bottoming out lol.
I wholly agree on the suspension though. Rather garbaggio. Going over speed bumps makes the front forks wheeze and gurgle like a terminally ill pneumonia patient. I will be dumping the current fluid (once I have plates) and replacing it with some Redline D4 ATF as a temporary cleaning fill. It also visco's out to be between a 15W and 20W fork oil at almost all temperatures.... and I have like 12 quarts of it but no cars with an automatic transmission.
You are correct on that part where I did not need to order the 5-pin adapter. Oh well, it is what it do.
RE: Carbs. I looked at the Nibbi, and looked at what little video content there was available. I'll be honest, it just looks like a coated clone carb with a couple aluminum pieces and a dremel polish. Certainly convenient and less than a genuine Keihin, but I was born in the hellfire of 4x CV carbs with passive air balancing on a 40 year old abused motor, so how bad can one slide carb be? (insert lightning and sudden downpour sound effects)
I just want my paperwork to get here so I can actually do a real riding eval.