Great ride report, Shuey, it was a pleasure to read! 
Patty
Patty
Igofar Reviews
- Thread starter kscssmith
- Start date
Shuey
Site Supporter
I give Larry . . . * * * * * (Well, I looked through the Imoges and couldn't find a star, imagine that!) and I didn't even bring him a Honda!
Accolades described in my recent trip report: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/i-go-far-to-see-igofar.182217/
Shuey
PS: Mellow, can a "Star" be added to the Imoges list? I'll bet it'd get lots of use here. Just a thought.
Accolades described in my recent trip report: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/i-go-far-to-see-igofar.182217/
Shuey
PS: Mellow, can a "Star" be added to the Imoges list? I'll bet it'd get lots of use here. Just a thought.
John OoSTerhuis
Life Is Good!
Thanks for the ride along, Shuey. Bill Rankin and I had a nice visit with Larry a few years ago, enroute home from WeSTOC Fortuna the long way. He thought my old ‘91 ST1100 was ‘interesting.’ Weathered red Stiches do have a certain cachet.
BeST, John
BeST, John
the Ferret
Daily rider since May 1965
Great write up Shuey.
sirbike
Site Supporter
Thanks for the report. Made up for me not riding the past couple days
Handling fixed!!! Thanks Larry!
I had two handling problems that were obvious as soon as I bought the bike. I had a form of the ST weave I guess. The bike "wandered" back and forth about 2 feet in a nice casual weave at 70 mph. I could hold it straight but that meant applying light pressure to the bars. Something was obviously wrong. The second problem was the bike would "fall" to the left when entering roundabouts. That felt really terrible. 2 up it was a real concern for that one moment of turn-in. I was thinking about new suspension parts, springs, shock, etc.
BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I called Larry on the white courtesy phone. BEST PHONE CALL EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Larry said fixing the handling was easy. It was shockingly easy. It was also a unique solution I had never heard of and I have not been able to find on YouTube, Google or any forum including this one. (If Larry's Alignment is well described on this forum I don't know where it is. It would make an excellent ST article in my mind.) Larry showed me how to finely align the front end components in a way I have never heard of and would never have thought of. I've been riding since 1978 and I swear I don't know why Larry's alignment method isn't common practice on every bike, every time a front wheel comes off. But it was all news to me. GREAT NEWS! No weave, no falling into roundabouts, no ST high speed handling concerns, no silly solutions involving not using a top box or a bigger windscreen, none of that nonsense. Just Larry's alignment method. Of course, if you want to know the details about the Alignment talk to the Maestro Larry.
There is also a good chance in my mind that Larry's alignment can eliminate front tire cupping. Wouldn't that be some kind of magic?
Huge thanks Larry. You are a terrific mechanic and an even better person.
I had two handling problems that were obvious as soon as I bought the bike. I had a form of the ST weave I guess. The bike "wandered" back and forth about 2 feet in a nice casual weave at 70 mph. I could hold it straight but that meant applying light pressure to the bars. Something was obviously wrong. The second problem was the bike would "fall" to the left when entering roundabouts. That felt really terrible. 2 up it was a real concern for that one moment of turn-in. I was thinking about new suspension parts, springs, shock, etc.
BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I called Larry on the white courtesy phone. BEST PHONE CALL EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Larry said fixing the handling was easy. It was shockingly easy. It was also a unique solution I had never heard of and I have not been able to find on YouTube, Google or any forum including this one. (If Larry's Alignment is well described on this forum I don't know where it is. It would make an excellent ST article in my mind.) Larry showed me how to finely align the front end components in a way I have never heard of and would never have thought of. I've been riding since 1978 and I swear I don't know why Larry's alignment method isn't common practice on every bike, every time a front wheel comes off. But it was all news to me. GREAT NEWS! No weave, no falling into roundabouts, no ST high speed handling concerns, no silly solutions involving not using a top box or a bigger windscreen, none of that nonsense. Just Larry's alignment method. Of course, if you want to know the details about the Alignment talk to the Maestro Larry.
There is also a good chance in my mind that Larry's alignment can eliminate front tire cupping. Wouldn't that be some kind of magic?
Huge thanks Larry. You are a terrific mechanic and an even better person.
My poor brakes, fixed!!! Thanks Larry!!!!!!!!!
I had one of those BMW's from the early 2000's with whizzy power brakes and 9 bleeders I think. So the design of the ST's brakes didn't make me blink. But my ST brakes turned into a huge project for me. I'm so grateful for Larry's help. Without him I expect I would have removed the calipers from the bike and completely rebuilt them, replacing every part I could. That was not necessary, but that's the way it would have gone without Larry's help.
My SMC was not releasing the rear brake like it should, which I did not know until Larry told me how to test the SMC. I replaced the SMC and the rear brake bracket which was damaged just like Larry told me it would be. Also replaced pads, pad pins and serviced the disc rivets.
Replacing pads unexpectedly did not go well. I have always been able to push the brake pistons back with only my fingers on every bike I've owned. The ST's brake pistons would not move at all by hand. I was confused. Larry coached me to extend the pistons and remove the ring-around-the-collar dirt on the pistons using his very simple paracord method. I couldn't believe that a small amount of crud would freeze the pistons, but they all moved perfectly by hand afterwards. Thanks Larry.
I used the very simple, inexpensive Motion Pro bleed tool. Larry said not to use anything else like a suction pump or power bleeder style push bleeder like I was going to use. He was absolutely right. The Motion Pro tool is a bargain and it worked darn well.
Over more than a week I bled my bike's 7 bleeders two times each bleed for 4 rounds. That was 8 bleeds on each bleeder total. No brakes.
After much head scratching I discovered my bleeders were bleeding well but not sealing afterwards. 4 or 5 of the bleeders had tiny leaks. When I pulled them they were extremely dirty. I removed the plumbers tape, cleaned them with a wire brush and put them back in. After the cleaning and a couple more rounds of bleeding, no change. Still did not seal. No brakes.
I gave up on those bleeders and ordered replacements. Larry suggested I use thread sealant, not plumbers tape, on the bleeders. I did. Wow, success on the very first bleed with new bleeders and sealant (and new SMC, rear brake bracket, pads, pad pins, and disc rivet service).
And just that easy, fantastic ST brakes! Thanks Larry!
I had one of those BMW's from the early 2000's with whizzy power brakes and 9 bleeders I think. So the design of the ST's brakes didn't make me blink. But my ST brakes turned into a huge project for me. I'm so grateful for Larry's help. Without him I expect I would have removed the calipers from the bike and completely rebuilt them, replacing every part I could. That was not necessary, but that's the way it would have gone without Larry's help.
My SMC was not releasing the rear brake like it should, which I did not know until Larry told me how to test the SMC. I replaced the SMC and the rear brake bracket which was damaged just like Larry told me it would be. Also replaced pads, pad pins and serviced the disc rivets.
Replacing pads unexpectedly did not go well. I have always been able to push the brake pistons back with only my fingers on every bike I've owned. The ST's brake pistons would not move at all by hand. I was confused. Larry coached me to extend the pistons and remove the ring-around-the-collar dirt on the pistons using his very simple paracord method. I couldn't believe that a small amount of crud would freeze the pistons, but they all moved perfectly by hand afterwards. Thanks Larry.
I used the very simple, inexpensive Motion Pro bleed tool. Larry said not to use anything else like a suction pump or power bleeder style push bleeder like I was going to use. He was absolutely right. The Motion Pro tool is a bargain and it worked darn well.
Over more than a week I bled my bike's 7 bleeders two times each bleed for 4 rounds. That was 8 bleeds on each bleeder total. No brakes.
After much head scratching I discovered my bleeders were bleeding well but not sealing afterwards. 4 or 5 of the bleeders had tiny leaks. When I pulled them they were extremely dirty. I removed the plumbers tape, cleaned them with a wire brush and put them back in. After the cleaning and a couple more rounds of bleeding, no change. Still did not seal. No brakes.
I gave up on those bleeders and ordered replacements. Larry suggested I use thread sealant, not plumbers tape, on the bleeders. I did. Wow, success on the very first bleed with new bleeders and sealant (and new SMC, rear brake bracket, pads, pad pins, and disc rivet service).
And just that easy, fantastic ST brakes! Thanks Larry!
Nice write-up Shuey!
I've had a few great phone talks with Larry, he is awesome.
Just one thing though: "On the way, I was surprised by my first ride in a hail storm! "
I seem to recall some hail forcing us to pull off the road in Texas on our way to San Diego during our 100CCC ride. That was only around 12 years ago. How quickly we forget...........
Also it was great to see you last week.
Eric
#531
I've had a few great phone talks with Larry, he is awesome.
Just one thing though: "On the way, I was surprised by my first ride in a hail storm! "
I seem to recall some hail forcing us to pull off the road in Texas on our way to San Diego during our 100CCC ride. That was only around 12 years ago. How quickly we forget...........
Also it was great to see you last week.
Eric
#531
Excellent writeup Shuey!
I enjoyed reading and thank you for sharing!
I enjoyed reading and thank you for sharing!
Shuey
Site Supporter
Nice write-up Shuey!
I've had a few great phone talks with Larry, he is awesome.
Just one thing though: "On the way, I was surprised by my first ride in a hail storm! "
I seem to recall some hail forcing us to pull off the road in Texas on our way to San Diego during our 100CCC ride. That was only around 12 years ago. How quickly we forget...........
Also it was great to see you last week.
Eric
#531
So . . . you have photos? Oh wait . . . coming out of San Antonio, oh yeah, I remember that now. Thanks so much for reminding me! 
Shuey
PS: It was great seeing you at breakfast too. Sorry I couldn't stick around to maybe see Shirley on Saturday. Hope you both made it back up.
lddave
been there
Next time you are in the Columbus / Sealy area let me know and we can have a visit.
Beeflips
(it's me...Greg) Returning some videotapes
Enjoyed following your adventure.
ST Gui
240Robert
A nice turn of phrase.
Shuey
Site Supporter
Frydek? You moved again? Maybe a late breakfast / early lunch (brunch?) . . . on January 20th on my way to WinterSToc?
Terminator2
Site Supporter
What a privilege to read such a trip share. Thank you seems inadequate. Happy for you guys
jfheilman
Site Supporter
Great write up and pictures.
Messaged Igofar and he had me call him on the bat phone. Had a (what I thought) was a basic question .... but Larry just gave me a SOLID hour (or more) of his time... blowing my mind with his knowledge of this machine! I think I learned more in this call than a week of reading the shop service manual. Wow.... this guy is A M A Z I N G!!!! If you need help, look no further. Incredible resource. Write a BOOK LARRY! (seriously) Thank you so much.
IGOFAR!! Yeah you do. Goes far out of his way to help a rookie ST1300 owner/aspiring mechanic like me to tackle some jobs I was (totally) scared to do. After calling him on the courtesy phone, he diagnosed (one) of my probs as a shot SMC. Sent me shopping list of what to get and where.... Fast fwd a couple of weeks and with Larrys help I have replaced the SMC, completely bled out all brake lines, changed out the fork oil, properly aligned the forks, found some stupid crap the PO had done, and learned some valuable skills that basically saved me a ton of money (vs taking it to the Stealership) and had a great time doing it and getting to know my machine better. Win, win WIN! I swear, Larry knows more about these bikes... tips... tricks...shortcuts...improvements and other things than I could ever learn in what is left of my lifetime. Cant say enough about how kind he is to volunteer so much time to coach a rookie like me. Thank you Larry!!