Day2 of my time off. I had a swinger party, all by my lonesome. Was a decently good time. The Hellcat swingarm is just... ehhhhh. With better tensioners, it might actually be okayish, but the bushings were already super soft and mushy with a total of 155 miles. The darn thing also doesn't hold shape worth anything. I only took one photo, but it shows half the gap that opens up once you remove the nut.
The Honda bushings, despite having more miles on them, were noticeably stiffer. WHile I was in there, I took the opportunity to apply excessive amounts of moly grease. Wow! What a difference! When I get on the bike I can actually feel the progression of the rear shock, bouncing static I can discern the valving of the monoshock. One positive side effect is that the rear wheel is not as easy to lock up. I believe that is because the suspension can actually travel, and it's not just skidding across the ground.
Bike still leans left when I release the handlebars though. I need to find a piece of plate glass to put across the forks and see if they're actually running true.
After the swinger party was over, I went for a nice ride. Thew thing really does egg you on. They've been putting more of those automated speed reading signs with flashy lights around here. I don't think there was a single one I did not upset. I have the NDC chain adjusters in the grom swingarm and they're pretty nice. Manual measurement between swingarm bolt and rear axle shows the marks on both sides are dead on.
Shifting has improved substantially. It's so much better that I need to focus back on being firm going into second gear. All other gears would probably be comfortable with sandals if you were stupid enough to ride in those. Neutral is also pretty easy to find now, even when the engine is running but the bike is stopped.
On the fuel side of things, I finally got to apply my 10mm colortune adapter. My ears work pretty well, and I always tune idle with earplugs so I can better discern combustion events. Slow circuit was within 1/2 turn of what I consider optimal (blue, with the faintest hint of orange creeping in).
During my ride I did a little seat of the pants shifting. I felt the bike starting to break up at WOT, glanced down, and saw it go past 11k. I could probably go down one size on the main, but I like having my crank in one piece, so a fuel-induced rev limit of 11.5k is fine with me. It's something I struggle with on my XJ. That thing revs so easily you will go from 6.5k to 12k in a fraction of a second. At 12.2 the valves start to float, but the engine will still rev.
I really really really wish I could open these forks more easily. With the rear suspension actually working, if I could get some 15wt oil (read: Redline D4 ATF) in them and get the stupid bike to track straight I would have almost no incentive to change anything.
I think I have thoroughly defeated the purpose of this bike. A cheap, quiet, slow commuter that won't get you in trouble around the city. I guess it's still cheap, and it's slow compared to anything with a 100cc advantage in displacement, but it's pretty neat for what it is. I'm quite chuffed with this little china bike.