Igofar Reviews

Well, I owe. And I’m stubborn. I would have exhausted hours of brain drain trying to troubleshoot that flashing ABS light. The forums told me how to get the failure code (fuse M1, M3, wait 5 seconds but not 9, read the number of flashes). Nope. No code flashes. Just a glaring solid red light seemingly insisting that I was too dumb to even follow those simple instructions! Tried M1 not M3, M3 not M1, M1&M3, neither M1 norM3, kickstand up, down, turned bike to align with true north. Finally after one last try under a full moon on the third Thursday of the third month, I gave up and resorted to something I had never done before. I became a poster on the forum.
Within a few hours I had helpful suggestions from posters here. Thank you all! Unfortunately none solved the issue. Then along came Larry(IGOFAR). I read the reviews here. Wow! Larry provided contact info and said he was confident he could help me, maybe in one phone call. It took two but only because it took me a couple of days to check/correct a couple of thing Larry pointed out just in a short conversation. Phone call no. two taught me more about my bike than years of riding and doing most of my own maintenance. I’ve been riding ST‘s since 1996. I didn’t know how much I didn’t know. Two phone calls. Maybe an hour total and three pictures. By asking me focused questions Larry led me through some assessment procedures, narrowing possible causes until we arrived at a likely cause. And I say “we” fully meaning “Larry”. I have some home work to do, but I’m confident I’ll be back on the road and with Larry’s help the bike will be in better shape and I will be much more knowledgeable about my ST.
Mechanic is not an adequate description, nor is technician. I think maybe ‘ST Systems Analyst‘ might fit. If he ever offers help, accept gratefully!
I owe, and will repay somewhere down the line.
 
Oh. My. Gosh. I don't know how I can add to what has previously been said, but Larry (Igofar) has been like an angel sent out of heaven for me. I like to think I'm pretty handy with mechanical things but its clear I'm just a shade-tree knuckle buster after being tutored by Larry. After flushing the brake fluid on my 08 ST1300 the front brakes started dragging. I tried a few things I thought would help, but no bueno. I posted a question for help in the forum and was pointed to the "White Courtesy Phone." Larry called me back and set up a time to troubleshoot the next day. He spent over 2 hours of his time helping me figure out the correct problem, sent me a list of parts I need for the proper repair, and apologized for taking up so much of my time! No way!! This has truly been an amazingly positive experience!!
 
I have come to accept that Larry can humble an ST owner in very short order... yet he does it not in a condescending manner, but an encouraging way.

The other thing I learned is, don't argue with him about what's going on with an ST!

I'm hard-headed and I was making assumptions about things on my bike, but Larry quickly convinced me of the error of my ways.

I'm glad to know him, and extremely fortunate that I got to meet him in person last year.

Thanks for all you do!
 
Oh. My. Gosh. I don't know how I can add to what has previously been said, but Larry (Igofar) has been like an angel sent out of heaven for me. I like to think I'm pretty handy with mechanical things but its clear I'm just a shade-tree knuckle buster after being tutored by Larry. After flushing the brake fluid on my 08 ST1300 the front brakes started dragging. I tried a few things I thought would help, but no bueno. I posted a question for help in the forum and was pointed to the "White Courtesy Phone." Larry called me back and set up a time to troubleshoot the next day. He spent over 2 hours of his time helping me figure out the correct problem, sent me a list of parts I need for the proper repair, and apologized for taking up so much of my time! No way!! This has truly been an amazingly positive experience!!
After consulting with Larry and buying parts I drove down to Tucson to meet with him at his house. I arrived a little after 9:00am and he worked straight through until near 6:30pm. Larry took the time to not just explain what he was doing, but the reasoning behind it, the probable causes for wear/failure, and how what he was working on could affect other systems. I've never seen someone give such attention to detail as he did my bike. My brake problem has been completely eliminated and I now feel safe again on my bike. I even encountered two emergency braking situations on my way home and the ST responded wonderfully - so much for having to simulate a test! He also spent time with my suspension, front forks, and a handful of miscellaneous "little things" that made noticeable improvements!
Thank you, Larry, for the amazing educational experience.
 
Larry has come to my rescue, as he has done for so many others on this forum. He identified the weak link causing a first gear shifting issue, when my ST1300 was at full operating temperature. The weak link was a $14 simple brass bushing in the clutch lever that engages the clutch master cylinder piston. The bushing has a recess which engages the outer end of the piston and the recess had worn too deep, such that the clutch was not fully disengaging with the clutch handle pulled in. More fundamentally, he generously donated a few hours of his time and encouraged me to fully think thru and exhaust the simple inexpensive solutions to bike maintenance issues, and kudos to him for that most appropriate advice. He also generously took more time and mailed me a few brass bushings from his gold stash, saving me time and money, thank you sir!

It was a pleasure to met Larry and learned about his past and current activities. He served our country for many years in the military as a diver and in various other governmental agencies protecting our well being - Larry, thank you for your service. I also enjoyed learning about his rattlesnake population control activities in southern Arizona - all aimed at helping others - perhaps a TV mini series opportunity. His value to fellow ST owners cannot be overstated. Larry, stay in good health!
 
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My Gas gage works again. It would go down to three bars and stay there until the very last bar would light up. It would skip the second bar. I followed Larry‘s instructions to remove the sending unit out of the gas tank and use the white pencil eraser on the contact points of the sending unit. it works great now thanks Larry.
 

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I can’t thank Larry enough for his time, generosity, insights, and perseverance in helping me deal with the issues that were affecting my 03’ST 1300.
After noticing my rear caliper assembly and bracket looked like it belonged in a Dali painting, I reached out to Larry for assistance. His promptness in replying and generosity in sharing text messages were instrumental to my learning of the way things ought to appear. I began the process of correcting my brakes. While in there, and in having the rear wheel removed, Larry guided me through replacing the flange bearings, instructing how to moly paste the splines in addition to replacing numerous brake parts along the way. Larry paints a near perfect picture in his tutorials, which greatly illuminated this visual learner throughout the process.
Larry is such a great asset to this wonderful forum, and I assume, to a great many outside it.
I hope to be able to make it down to Arizona sometime.
Thanks, Larry

-Dylan, “He’s singing his song for me, at his own expense”
 
I want to give a big shout out to (Larry) Igofar for helping me in my time of need as I put my 2004 ST back together from the faulty water pump replacement (impeller depth improperly set) as I drove the bike on the road after reassembling had a serious clutch slipping issue and I had replaced the friction plates(EBC) and their spring kit ???? Well I missed a few key parts at least 2 out of 3 bevel spring and pressure plate order and direction. Steel plate have a particular direction and the last is the position of the final clutch plate in the shallow groove not in the deep groove with all other plates. I measured all of the oem plates and reused them 115k and still in the almost new spec. I chose to reuse the stock springs as the replacements were 4mm shorter than stock and didn't want to take a chance as it was not slipping before. After reassembling with the verified used parts the clutch was working as it should. Thanks to my good friend Sidekick fo having the patience and the time and referring me to

Igofar

for the answers.
 
I would also like to thank Larry for his assistance in helping me get my ST back on the road. I was planning on going to the BRG this year and in preparation I figured I would start putting so time in on the bike. Never had any issue with it running, until my planned trip to the BRG which I was really looking forward to. I go to start the bike and it won't even hardly start or stay idling on its own. It seems like something must seriously must be wrong and now I'm stressed out over the situation with the bike and the trip. I knew Larry was having some medical issues and although I was pretty sure he could diagnose it over the phone, I didn't want to bother him with my bike issues when he was having his own issues to deal with. So I posted about my bike on the forum here, and along with other helpful members, Larry responded and volunteered to help me figure out the issue even though he was not up to 100%. He immediately was sure it was the five way tee needed cleaning and walked me through the process. He was 100% right. It run like a champ after following his step by step instructions. What a relief off my mind. Saved me from having to carry it to the stealership and I understand better how my bike works and know the work was done right because it was directed by Larry! Thank you very much Larry! Your assistance is truly appreciated! I hope your doctors are able to help you as much as you help all of us at ST-Owners.
Sincerely,
B.R.
 
We can only pray Larry's doctors are as good at fixing backs and bodies, as Larry is at fixing Honda STs.

And if body parts need replacing, we should hope Larry's doctors are as good as @Uncle Phil 's.

I have rarely found any man in any profession quite as competent, caring and conversational as Larry is at his "job."

Ya gotta love it...
 
Like, holy ***** I found out how stupid I am on my own bike... Seriously holy *****! This is a very particular machine and in short order, everything I know or thought I knew was swiftly and concisely blown out of the water... After having me lay on the floor and spinning this and rocking that and short of making me do the makarena, I found out I am lower that the grasshopper on this totem pole... Lot of references that don't make sense here I know, but that's just how much Larry knows about this bike. I'm surprised that Honda has contacted him with plans on reviving this bike and making him a spokesmodel.thats right, for those of you who have spoken to him, Larry a model can you imagine that?Down to earth and cuts through all the BS! ain't no time for screwing around with junk. Larry does it and does it right like HOLY *****! I'm looking forward to the day I get my beloved Elise (2006 my ST1300) up to Larry's standards! If it weren't for the numerous snakes he keeps as pets, lol, I might find my way to his shop and gladly have him make me try to take the pebble from his open palm... And get smacked when I miss. That's a grasshopper or novice joke if you didn't get it...

All in all, Larry is a unique and once in a life time treasure that makes me feel safer in this world. I can not thank him enough for all he's done for the very many of us on here.

Short as I might be on money to just get it all done, it's going to be a long while (hopefully not too long) to make this bike the proper sport tourer she is meant to be, and I will make the trip to our mecca to shake the hand of the man that has done so much for so many and has asked for nothing but to pay it forward.
 
I too, owe Larry a huge debt of gratitude for his help with fixing my ’06 ST1300 braking system. It started with me changing out the rear brake pads which resulted in heavy brake drag. I dove into rebuilding the rear caliper with one new piston, new piston seals, rubber boots and caliper spring – still they dragged. After an SOS message on the Forum, Larry reached out: “hold my beer, I got this” he told everyone else.

Let’s see, there was a new SMC (of course), rear bracket sub-assembly, numerous other small parts including brake line crush washers (there is a top and bottom), and stuff you wouldn’t know about like what to grease, what not to grease, don’t grease too much, the correct angle of the SMC for bleeding, AND correcting the shop manual like torquing the rear caliper brake slide to 20 lbs., not 51 lbs. and the order in which to bleed the brakes.

After numerous bleeding go-arounds, the whole system is working well. What I thought would be a simple pad change evolved into this giant brake system re-build – frustrating but a great experience. I could not have done it without Larry. He is oh so patient and calm and the guitar music he plays in the background while I’m executing his latest instruction helped keep me calm.

Larry, I hope you are well and recovering from whatever it is you are fighting. Best to you, thank you!!

Jack
 
Larry has been so helpful in instructing me on how to sort a few issues out. I really appreciate the help and have only so far done a couple of minor jobs due to limited time. Replaced the preload damper oil and he was right, it was very low on oil after being so old. Thanks Larry. I’m sure I’ll be giving you a shout when I get onto the bigger jobs!
 
The middle hose on the same brake caliper had some damage

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Below is a cross section of a Honda brake hose:

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From your pic, you're already through the first layer which has the role of protecting the second and third layers from the elements. Looking at the pic I have to wonder the condition of remaining layers especially since the location is a high stress area (the crimping at the fitting). If this were my bike I'd replace the hose...

Not gonna bring up safety implications, common knowledge... ooops, I just did :)
 
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Just for the record, it was strongly suggested that the brake line be replaced for safety reasons, and for whatever reason he didn’t want to replace it at the time, so I warned him to keep an eye on it.
Something like this would not have left my lift table, but that’s just me.
 
Hey brothers, figured I’d drop a line to share what’s been going on in my world - I feel so incredibly blessed!

My 9yr old is riding dirtbikes now, my 6yr old is just about to start riding ATV’s, and my 11yr old is a little gun shy with dirt bikes & atv’s - but loves the go-kart :)

I’ve got a buddy coming out tomorrow with his skid steer and we’re going to clear out a little dirt bike track on our property (I’ll post some pictures when it’s done). Brothers - my kids are living my dream childhood - so freaking cool!

On another note - it seems there’s been a little miscommunication about my brake line on my motorcycle. I want to clear the air that Larry told me to change that brake line - but I communicated I won’t be able too right away due to finances & time - so he told me to keep an eye on it and get it done as quickly as possible.

I want to shine a little light on how much @Igofar (Larry) has helped me grow my confidence to work on the ST - as well as @aniwack (John) - a man that Larry coached and is now having the same sort of impact Larry has and has helped me replace the clutch slave cylinder, sync the starter manifolds, and replace a valve cover gasket.

They take time out of their day (which is a limited resource we can never get back) to serve people in many different ways. Heck, I was having a rough day with my kids and Larry sensed the stress in my voice and offered to do a magic trick for my children on FaceTime to give me a little bit of reprieve.

Brothers, that’s real legacy right there - a legacy of real significance. I hope to serve in that way as well.

God bless you Larry and John.

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I just took the first ride on my ST since IGOFAR talked me through a complete brake job including:

•rebuild rear caliper
•install new SMC
•old fluid removed and master cylinders cleaned
•new OEM pads installed
•completely bleed the system using the lever and pedal only
•clean and re-lube rear pumpkin gears and install new bearing
•safety test the braking system

Unbelievable difference in the “feel” of the bike. So much smoother and the rotors are staying so much cooler.

THANK YOU IGOFAR (Larry). I look forward to the next upgrade with your guidance.

ScottST

OH YEA, he was also right about loose fasteners in my saddle bags. No more pushing closed with my leg

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