checkereddemon

I really *like* your backrest solution!! I did something like that with an '83 GL-1100 Gold Wing. Man, that bike could EAT up highway miles. And, for such a big bike, I could hustle it thru the turns pretty smartly too. Having a driver backrest is, IMHO, mandatory if you're serious about long daze in the saddle... -CD-

As for applying proper torque values to fasteners, I, like many others, usually go by feel. The purpose of a bolt is to mate two surfaces together without fear of them coming loose during service. And this is done by actually threading the fastener in until it hits a "soft" stop. And here is where I go into "by feel" mode. I find that I can generally go from 1/4 to 1/2 a turn in order to seat the fastener. If I haven't a particular re-build before, I usually proceed with extreme caution and back out 2-3 times and do it over, just so I can get a feel for this particular fastener. In over 45 years of wridin' and mechanicken , and with a fair dose of plain ol' good luck, I've fortunately stripped only a small handful of bolts - Hallelujah!! The bolt will acually "stretch" just a bit, this is how it maintains its fastening power. And you can feel it if you sit back and really concentrate. Maybe find some junk surfaces that could be used as beta sites and stretch away. A little bit of practice here will pay off big in the future! -CD-

I made the score of the decade about 10-12 years ago when I scooped up a pair of Sidi's "Combat Touring Boot" with the cleated sole sold by Aerostich. The MSRP for the boots was right around $350, found a guy on the internet who had a pair that were only worn once. Honestly. $100 + $10 shipping. Here's a linky to the exact same boots: http://www.aerostich.com/aerostich-combat-touring-boots-20.html Sure enough, the boots looked absolutely brand new and fit me *perfectly*. I have had them re-soled twice, cost was about $50, IIRC. The boots are awesome and will probably last me another 10-15 years, they are exceptionally well made and even worth every penny of the MSRP.... -CD-