Hi from the UK as well

[foxxy]

Hi.
WOW Axman thankyou very comprehensive answers.
Plenty there for me to digest.
At the moment I am in the middle of fitting my SW Motech centre stand.
Why are these jobs never as simple as they look on paper !

I am sure I read a post somewhere re fitting them and will look for it once I have sent this.

Having a look underneath first it seemed sensible to remove both the original exhaust cans for better access.
Now they are off I thought this is daft I may as well order and fit some new cans
Was going to wait but hey.
Guess what.................... ordered and hopefully arrive end of the week.
Thankgoodness for credit cards !

I am going to try and find the post re centre stands as the C shaped spring bracket has me a little Foxxed
(boom boom ) at the moment if i can't suss it looks like I will be ringing Germany.
The UK importers have never fitted one to a Bulldog so aren't to sure.

Thanks all again Foxxy

-- Monday 10. May 2010, 21:26 --

Hi ..... again.
Right telephoned SW Motech and spoke to a very nice lady who speaks very good english.
She confirmed re the C brackets location.
Then came all out WAR with that darned spring !!!
It was a war of attrition but not having a spring puller ( boy do I wish I had bought one when I got the stand)
I devised my own and eventually got the spring on ...... Phew.

I mentioned to the wife that I had ordered some exhaust cans..........................
lets just say I got the look that I am sure many husbands get at times.
Oh well sleeping in the garage isn't soooooooo bad

Ref the stand the bike seems very upright as in when on the stand it seems somewhat precarious
and wouldn't take much to roll off it !
Has anyone else found this ?
I will check it tommorrow, had a quick look tonight but it seemed mounted ok .
I fitted an SW Motech stand on my last bike a Hornet 600 and that wasn't as precarious as this one .

I weighed one of the Yamaha exhausts and it weighed approx 5 kg on the bathroom scales so it will be interesting to see what the new cans weigh in comparison.
Thanks again for your tips good people .

Regards Foxxy.

[Axman]

Hi again,

the precarious position of the bike on the centerstand has been matter of discussion here in the forum ...with no real result except to be careful..

I´m no fan of CSs, so I haven´t fitted one to my Bulldog (to me they are too bulky, too heavy and hang too low for spirited riding ) but I´ve heard how much of a pain it ist to fit the springs..without a proper puller. Next time, try a trick I learned : my two-stroke motocross bikes all had springs joining the exhaust to the cylinder...to get them on or off was always a hassle and more often than not resulted in the loss of copious amounts of blood and hours spent crawling on the garage floor looking for shot-off pliers and/or springs

Next time in the pits I saw a competitor doing it in a matter of seconds..: with a sawn-off coat-hanger Don´t try this with the cheap ones you give your guests to hang their wardrobe on...take one of those sturdy things your wife uses to hang her furs on..she´s already mad anyway, so...

And after avoiding the hatchet you´ll see : it works like clockwork

Greets

Axman

[foxxy]

Hi Axman
Thanks re your idea of a spring puller/coat hanger. I was in a hardware store yesterday and found a metal hook on a bracket I think it is for a flower hanging basket ! it cost all of £1.
Lol don't laugh but with the combination of a cable tie , big beefy screwdriver (to act as the T piece handle) a strong split ring and the hook bracket thing I managed to get the springs on . I needed to add the split ring into the equation as the hook was too big to manouver the springs into place, by using the split ring it was thin enough to work. I used on ordinary one at first and it just unfurled so had to find a stronger one, but anyway it worked. Somewhat Heath Robinson but hey if it works.

Today I have fitted a fenda extender, Xenon blue tint headlight bulb, nicked your idea and fitted a mudflap and stuck it to the rear mudguard to cover that small gap exposing the rear shock , thanks for that .
Fitted an optimate lead to the battery. Decided to take the sidepanels off, strewth the screws had obviously never been out, tight or what . Then took the grab rail section off mega strewth those bolts were really tight


I have emailed SW Motech re my concerns about the centre stand but judging by your answer it will be interesting to see what if any answer I get . Having another look at it today , it looks like the flat plate at the top of the legs so to speak, When you put the bike up onto the stand this hits against the spacer and mounting bolt, this appears to be what stops the plate and therefore stops the stand from going any further back. With the bike on the side stand I can see where the coating on the flat plate is getting marked by the spacer bolt tube.
If I don't get an answer from SW Motech I am thinking of trying to file a small groove in the flat plate to allow it to settle further back in relation to the spacer tube if you get my idea. Obviously I will have to be careful not to weaken it, the plate is fairly thick and I am only thinking of a fairly shallow groove, but the way I see it the CS at present is basically unusable unless the bike is pointing up hill, so unless I can modify it so it works there is not much point in it being on the bike.

Regards Foxxy.

[Axman]

Good morning Foxxy,

just bacause I don´t like the CS that doest mean, that everybody else doesn´t like it either..

I´ll put your "problem" in the German section and I am sure, that someone has come up with a solution..hang on and I´ll see what I can get..

Regards

Axman

[Wuz]

after the Telefoncheck with Axel,

Check the assembly

[Axman]

...now this was really fast...

Wuz believes, that you may have mixed up the sequence of the parts while assembling.. He says, that if everything is put together properly and if the bolts are torqued down as they should, the Bulldog stands like a rock..

Have fun checking..

Regards

Axman

[ronald53]

Hello,

I have mounted the CS (SW-Motech) as well, some 6 months ago. I do not remember to have had serious trouble. The cans had to come off, indeed, as well as the header pipes to the cans. One of the bolts in the pipe clamps was pretty rusted, which was a bit of a problem. When I first put the bike on the CS, I was unpleasantly surprised by its upright position. It seemed the bike could jump off the stand to easily. I figured this would change with time, and it did. Even quite soon, no filing was needed. I use the stand when parking the bike in my shed, or when servicing or cleaning the bike. I still prefer the side stand for parking outside, as I believe it is just a little bit more difficult to throw it off the side stand then it is thrown of the CS.

regards,
Ronald

[Axman]

Hello again,

the problem with the bike being too upright when on the CS has been posted here quite a few times..
Wuz believes that the reason for this is an unprecise following of the mounting instructions. Maybe the mounting sequence of the bolts, shims and whatnot can be altered??

Greets

Axman

[foxxy]

Hi Axman Wuz and Ronald53 .
Thankyou for your quick repsonses.

Axman I had not assumed everyone else did not like CSs sorry if I confused the issue somewhere
Thank you for being my intermediary

Thank you Wuz for your call to Axel and the mounting instructions.
I have compared them to mine the only difference I can see is that the C shaped spring bracket item no 14
on my english instructions point upwards but downwards on your intructions and the split pin and washer
that goes onto the end of item no 3 the axle is the other way round, as in on mine the the split pin and washer is on the right side. Though I don't really see how reversing these would solve my present problem,
but I will try as you suggest loosening it all off and seeing if I can adjust things differently for a better outcome. If you could suggest the preferred sequence I would be grateful

Thank you Ronald53 for your comments. I gather initially the bike was precarious but after a while it seemed more stable yes ? Hopefully mine will improve like yours.
Though you comment that you still when parked out leave it on the sidestand, so am I right in thinking you don't trust it 100% ?

Thank you again all for your fast responses Foxxy.

[WullDee]

Hi everybody!
It's a well known "problem" that - after some days/weeks/months - the center stand becomes instable.
Not meaning that the bike will fell off, but it is "shaking" sidewards. This can be corrected by tightening the main * of the center stand.
Add'ly, I never ever had the feeling the bike may become instable because of the center stand - except parking on downwards roads, but than I preferred parking "hillwards".

[Axman]

Hello Foxxy,

I posted your "problem" in the German section...lets see with what tricks they come up...

Weren´t you looking för better sounding Cans that, on, top enhance performance??

Look at the thred "Krausepötte" in the German section..

These are the original Bulldog cans, internally and externally modified by "Krause", the well known Bulldog-Tuner in Dortmund. (I´ve got them too..look at my "Album") Due to these mods and the much bigger endcap the Bulldog not only gets more ooomph but the sound is a deep, throaty bark too.

The asking price for these used but good cans is a very reasonable 280€ plus transport...if you are fast you may get them..

Regards

Axman

[foxxy]

Hi Axman and Wulldee.
I ordered some exhaust cans monday having taken the originals off on monday, please see an earlier post.
The new ones arrived today complete with a bar of Kendal mint cake ! (a sugar sweet bar) they are a made by a company called "Fuel" based in Cumbria. They have removeable baffles
One original Yamaha exhaust can weighs approx 5 kg one of the new ones weighs slightly under 2 kg
Thankyou anyway Axman re the ones in Dortmund but as you can see I am now sorted.
Tomorrow fitting of new exhausts and see if i can make the CS more stable.
I am thinking if I loosen the 2 mounting bolts slightly while the bike is on the sidestand
then put it up onto the CS let the bike settle and then retighten the bolts to see if this helps ?
Possibly then make a start on the Givi rack.
No reply as yet from SW Motech.

Have got my eye on ebay for one of the touring screens.

Ref your international rally hoping to make it in the future and get to meet you people
How does the rally tend to operate?

Regards Foxxy.

[Axman]

Hello Foxxy,

I got some interesting responses to my (your) CS-questions. There seems to be an unanimous uneasiness about the stability of the bike on the CS In most of the answers I´m told, that the CS is only used in the garage..hmmm..

But I got some positive feedback too : it seems, that the CS "settles" a bit in time.. One of our tech-wizzards wrote, that, not wanting to wait for that, using a half-round file, he filed a shallow groove into the retaining plate, allowing the CS to settle further back..

Oh, and the C shaped spring bracket has to point down and forward

About the higher Screen : for longer trips I fit a Touring-Screen from "MRA" to the Bulldog. It is higher an wider than the original and fits perfectly.(All screens on Yamaha-Bikes are made by MRA) Best of all, it has a movable "flap" that allows you adjust airflow up and around you, It´s not a gimmick..it really works! Look at the pictures in my album.
And by the way..when replacing the screen make sure not to strip the original screws..they are made of plastic and cost a fortune (one costs 3,15€...and you need six ) Better still..throw them away and replace them for aluminum "fairing-screws"...you should get them in good bike stores for a fraction of this price.

All the info on the "International Meetings" can be had in the "Meeting" section in the of the English forum..

regards

Axman

[foxxy]

Hi Axman.
I have just phoned Motohaus the UK importers and distributors of SW Motech.
I asked them why the German instructions are slightly different to the UK ones in relation to the C shaped bracket.
They said that the instructions I have with english and german on them are the new updated instructions and that the German only instructions are an older version and that when they had become importers they had got SW Motech to re write them in English as well !

I also asked them about it being unstable.
Apparently they have been queried about this before not just with the BT1100 but with other bikes and that when they have got back to SW Motech the answer has been that sometimes the plastic coating that they put on the stand is sometimes too thick. That after a period of time this wears down / beds in and then the situation improves. So it would seem it is as you guys suspected. I will hold off on the file idea and will see if using it for a bit improves things, if not then the file will be used.

Yes I saw your gallery pic of the MRA screen I will bear it in mind thankyou and re the screen screws.
More bits to buy


Regards Foxxy.

[Ben]

Hello Foxxy

I have an 05 Bulldog but have not been out on it for 18 months. This is because I have also got a MT 01 which I have been using. The Bulldog is a fine bike and if you can get one I would suggest buying a tall Yamaha screen for it. It is still quite small and is very effective. I am not bothered about the Topham kit but plan to remove or isolate the AIS. I have Duotech silencers, SW Motech center stand (very well made) and Ventura rack and luggage. I would not bother with the crash bars. Tyres, I use Avon Storms, which I find very good.

Ben