I'm back.... and with a new bike!

[primal]

Hey guys, long time no see. Many of you may remember a few months ago I got a Suzuki Katana. Well, while it was a great bike, it just wasn't my cup of tea, and wasn't as practical as a cruiser would be for my needs right now. So last week I sold my Kat and this weekend picked up a 1998 Suzuki Marauder 800.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_100_0098.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=100_0098.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_100_0099.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=100_0099.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_100_0100.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=100_0100.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_100_0101.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=100_0101.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_100_0102.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=100_0102.jpg)

Unfortunately, the bike came with drag pipes. So, as time and money permits, I will eventually replace the current pipes with some that are quieter.

I also just won an eBay auction for a set of used Mustang seats and a sissy bar for $250. Hopefully I'll have my new tires and seats by next weekend so I can riiiiide!

[alanmcorcoran]

Welcome back! What didn't you like about the Katana if I may ask?

[primal]

It just seemed a bit cumbersome. Great fun in the twisties, but around town riding was a bit annoying. Plus, I was tired of my wrists hurting. Of course, if I lost a few pounds that last issue may not have been so bad, haha.

Also, there were a few maintenance issues that I didn't want to fool with. The emulsion tubes in the carbs were worn and needed replacement... made my fuel efficiency drop down below 40 mpg (Kats usually get around 50 mpg). Also, the chain and sprockets were worn and due replacement.

Edit: Oh! And I also wanted a liquid-cooled engine. I'll hopefully be moving down to Georgia next year for vet school and the air/oil-cooled engine in the Kat probably wouldn't fare too well in the Georgia heat.

[alanmcorcoran]

Good luck with vet school. Congratulations on getting in! I understand it's very competitive. Did you take a loss on the Kat?

[primal]

I haven't gotten in yet! I'll be submitting my application at the end of the month.

I took a $300 loss on the Kat, which isn't bad seeing as how it is the end of the season. If I had kept the bike I would have had to invest $200 for chain and sprocket, $100 for new emulsion tubes, and ~$130-150 for a rear tire at some point next season.

[burkbuilds]

Welcome back! Your new ride looks really nice!

[primal]

Thanks! I gotta say, I love the look of that v-twin... :)

[dannylightning]

how loud are the drag pipes and what brand, do they have baffles?? . im looking for pipes for my new suzuki volusia 800. i want them to be loud enough but not crazy loud.

there is a set of vance and hines pipes that sound great and a set of cobra pipes that sound great on the bike. only problem is with a sould clip you have no idea how loud the pipes will be in person.

cool bike, i would rather have a cruiser any day than a sport bike. one of each would be nice but the cruiser comes first, there way more comfortable and your less likley to get really crazy on a cruiser

[music man]

I Love those bikes, because it is just a bigger version of the GZ, and we all love the GZ's looks, and now you have the Elusive "Power Upgrade" that everyone has been looking to put on it. :lol: .

[primal]

how loud are the drag pipes and what brand, do they have baffles?? . im looking for pipes for my new suzuki volusia 800. i want them to be loud enough but not crazy loud.

there is a set of vance and hines pipes that sound great and a set of cobra pipes that sound great on the bike. only problem is with a sould clip you have no idea how loud the pipes will be in person.

cool bike, i would rather have a cruiser any day than a sport bike. one of each would be nice but the cruiser comes first, there way more comfortable and your less likley to get really crazy on a cruiser

To me these pipes are way too loud. They don't have any baffles (something I may look into adding instead of replacing the pipes all together). I'm not sure what brand they are, but they look like the Cobra drag pipes.

[primal]

I Love those bikes, because it is just a bigger version of the GZ, and we all love the GZ's looks, and now you have the Elusive "Power Upgrade" that everyone has been looking to put on it. :lol: .

Yup, the bike reminds me a lot of the way the GZ handles, except it is a bit bigger (which isn't a bad thing!). The seat is very, VERY reminiscent of the GZ seat and I can't wait until the Mustang seat I won on eBay gets here. That's one thing I'll miss about the Katana... other than it being slightly uncomfortable due to the forward lean, the seat was SUPER comfortable. Best stock seat I've ever sat on.

[music man]

Yup, the bike reminds me a lot of the way the GZ handles, except it is a bit bigger (which isn't a bad thing!). The seat is very, VERY reminiscent of the GZ seat and I can't wait until the Mustang seat I won on eBay gets here. That's one thing I'll miss about the Katana... other than it being slightly uncomfortable due to the forward lean, the seat was SUPER comfortable. Best stock seat I've ever sat on.


Yea I rode a friend of mines Katana a few weeks back and I am like you, there is no way I could ride in that position all day every day, but it was a fun ride :ride: . I just noticed something funny, me and you and Danny all got Suzuki 800cc cruisers, that are all fairly close together in year model, but none of them are anything alike.

[dannylightning]

Yup, the bike reminds me a lot of the way the GZ handles, except it is a bit bigger (which isn't a bad thing!). The seat is very, VERY reminiscent of the GZ seat and I can't wait until the Mustang seat I won on eBay gets here. That's one thing I'll miss about the Katana... other than it being slightly uncomfortable due to the forward lean, the seat was SUPER comfortable. Best stock seat I've ever sat on.


Yea I rode a friend of mines Katana a few weeks back and I am like you, there is no way I could ride in that position all day every day, but it was a fun ride :ride: . I just noticed something funny, me and you and Danny all got Suzuki 800cc cruisers, that are all fairly close together in year model, but none of them are anything alike.

I saw some one else on here that had a VL800 also.. we should start a Suzuki 800 club, too bad it would be hard to meet up once a week and go riding or something like that.

[dannylightning]

I Love those bikes, because it is just a bigger version of the GZ, and we all love the GZ's looks, and now you have the Elusive "Power Upgrade" that everyone has been looking to put on it. :lol: .

Yup, the bike reminds me a lot of the way the GZ handles, except it is a bit bigger (which isn't a bad thing!). The seat is very, VERY reminiscent of the GZ seat and I can't wait until the Mustang seat I won on eBay gets here. That's one thing I'll miss about the Katana... other than it being slightly uncomfortable due to the forward lean, the seat was SUPER comfortable. Best stock seat I've ever sat on.

mine feels nothing like the gz, i would like to get a mustang seat for mine, i hear there the best seats out there for comfort. mine is comfortable but i don't need a seat as wide as a football field, plus i guess the mustang seat makes your seat height about a inch lower as well.

im gonna go on ebay right now and see if i can find one for my bike and get a idea on the price, that's crazy you got 2 of them that cheep. corbin makes a really nice looking seat for my bike called the young guns seat. i hear some folks say Corbin seats aren't really comfy.

hope you enjoy that bike, i really dig my new Suzuki.

[Sarris]

I always liked Mustang seats. A bit police style & hard, but definately a comfy chair. I suggest either a solo or a two piece instead of the one piece pan. They have quality studs too.

The knob guy makes a rear deco knob / screw for the seat rear mount also.

:2tup:

[primal]

The knob guy?

[Sarris]

Sorry, go here http://www.x-cessories.net/

:)

[primal]

Sorry, go here http://www.x-cessories.net/

:)

Nice stuff, but a little too pricey for my college student budget.

[alantf]

Nice stuff, but a little too pricey for my college student budget.

Chrome dome nuts would do the trick nicely (& cheaply!) :2tup:

[primal]

A few more pics and a video.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0248.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0248.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0249.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0249.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0250.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0250.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0251.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0251.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzL7BjNdeEY

[dannylightning]

A few more pics and a video.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0248.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0248.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0249.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0249.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0250.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0250.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0251.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0251.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzL7BjNdeEY

watched the video, looks like a really nice bike sounds like its got a real nice tone to those drag pipes from what i can tell.. i just removed the baffles on my bike. people on the other forums say it's not that loud, well compared to some of the Harley's i have heard its not loud at all. but if it were much louder i dont think the neighbors would like me any more. but to be honest im pretty happy with it. its a little louder than i was looking for but even my mom says it's loud but not too loud (sounds like a motorcycle she said) so i guess it cant be that bad, when i first fired it up i was like holy crap its gonna piss ever one off. but that was in the garage once i got it out side i said not bad and once i got going down the road i thought i really like it, just about perfect but would not want it to be any louder.

[primal]

The video really attenuated a lot of the higher frequencies. It's not nearly has deep as it sounds in the video... much more obnoxious. I'm hoping that adding some aftermarket baffles will help. If not I think I've found a few more mods that should quiet it down a tad. Plus the added backpressure should help the low end torque quite a bit.

[dannylightning]

The video really attenuated a lot of the higher frequencies. It's not nearly has deep as it sounds in the video... much more obnoxious. I'm hoping that adding some aftermarket baffles will help. If not I think I've found a few more mods that should quiet it down a tad. Plus the added backpressure should help the low end torque quite a bit.

you can get some baffle wrapping that is made of thin sheets of fiber glass, supposed to quiet things down a bit and improve the tone, never tried it just read about it.

[primal]

I may end up making some homemade Thunder Monster baffles and see how those work. If I can just get rid of the loud high frequencies and get it down to a low rumble I would be happy.

[BusyWeb]

Hello, Mr. Primal.

New bike looks great..
BTW, I saw your You Tube video about cam mounting.
Looks good, except some vibration.
Very clear looking output.
I wonder what is the camera and the video settings about clip.
Because, I have a plan to buy some cheap HD camcorder to get clean video, I'm curious about it.
Searched, most of them are some pricy for me....

[primal]

Hello, Mr. Primal.

New bike looks great..
BTW, I saw your You Tube video about cam mounting.
Looks good, except some vibration.
Very clear looking output.
I wonder what is the camera and the video settings about clip.
Because, I have a plan to buy some cheap HD camcorder to get clean video, I'm curious about it.
Searched, most of them are some pricy for me....

The camera I have is a Kodak Zi6. It doesn't have image stabilization so its really not that great, but the mic is AMAZING. If I wanted a camera just for video I'd probably go with a Flip camcorder.

[BusyWeb]

O.K.

Let me look at the Flip camera, hope it has some functions that I wanted...

[primal]

Alright guys, the weather finally let up and I was able to take some updated pics. Since the last pics I have added the mustang seats, sissy bar, and fabricated a luggage rack out of aluminum from Home Depot (about $35 in parts).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0253.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0253.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0255.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0255.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0257.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0257.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0256.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0256.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/th_Zi6_0254.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Marauder%20800/?action=view&current=Zi6_0254.jpg)

Up next will be baffles for the pipes and sometime next week changing the tires. Then I'll be ready to ride!

As money permits I want to add a windshield, fabricate a light bar, and add some crash bars.

[music man]

Are those seats comfy? Duh, I guess I need to ask you that after you have had a chance to ride it. Just noticed what you said about the tires and such.

[primal]

Are those seats comfy?

A RESOUNDING yes! 100x more comfortable.

[music man]

A RESOUNDING yes! 100x more comfortable.


Except for the studs on the back seat, they are not that drastically different looking than the stock ones are they?

[primal]

They are much, MUCH larger. The Mustang passenger seat is about twice as big as the stock passenger seat. In fact, the new passenger seat is roughly the same size as the stock driver seat. When I get a chance I'll take a pic of them side by side for a comparison.

[music man]

They are much, MUCH larger. The Mustang passenger seat is about twice as big as the stock passenger seat. In fact, the new passenger seat is roughly the same size as the stock driver seat. When I get a chance I'll take a pic of them side by side for a comparison.


If you ever have a passenger on it, I am sure they will appreciate that. I wish I could run across a deal on some seats for my bike like that.

[primal]

Gotta keep an eye on eBay. It was really a fluke that I even found the auction. I literally had just brought the bike home, started browsing eBay, and bam, there they were.

[burkbuilds]

Nice job on the luggage rack, seat looks good too!

[primal]

Well, I finally got around to finishing the baffles I was making. Some high heat epoxy putty, some grinding to get a perfect fit, and now my bike is much less obnoxious! It doesn't pop on decel at all now, and I can definitely feel the extra torque from actually having some back pressure. I'm much, MUCH happier now.

Now all I gotta do is wait for my Dynabeads to get here. :)

[Easy Rider]

Now all I gotta do is wait for my Dynabeads to get here. :)

For dynamic tire balancing, right?
I'll be interested to see what you think.
I never was too impressed with the concept.

Some folks like them just fine and never have any problems; a few seem to end up with strange vibration problems that might be related to the beads.

[primal]

I've heard nothing but good things about Dynabeads. If I had had some forethought, I would have gone to Wally world and picked up some airsoft pellets instead (a much cheaper option that many people have had success with), but I don't feel like breaking the bead on my tires to put them in. I'll post my review of them when I get them installed and have a few miles under my belt using them.

Here's a pretty neat demo of them in action:

[youtube:ljmxvdut]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg[/youtube:ljmxvdut]

[primal]

Got my DynaBeads in the mail today and put them in my tires. First impression: WOW! HUGE difference! Anyone who says these beads don't work are idiots!

At first I actually kept my original wheel weights on so I would have a control of sorts. Went for a ride and it was smooth as silk (with the wheel weights on, which were balanced for the previous tires, the ride was quite rough). Then I took the wheel weights off and went for another ride. Again, smooth as silk. This proves that, at least in my case, the DynaBeads worked great.

I'm sure you'll get varying degrees of effectiveness based on how naturally balanced your tires are, i.e. you probably won't notice much difference if your wheels without weights are more less balanced to begin with. However, based on my three trials (previous wheel weights only, wheel weights AND DynaBeads, and DynaBeads alone), I'm confident when I say that these things work as advertised.

So, go out a try some!

[mrlmd1]

Tell us how you made the baffles.

[primal]

Tell us how you made the baffles.

I got some 1" electrical conduit pipe from Home Depot and a couple exhaust reducers from Advanced Auto that would fit in my pipes (still had to do a bit of sanding). Drilled 4 rows of holes along the length of the pipe. I used some chopped up toggle bolts to serve as spacers between the pipe and the reducers. I used high heat epoxy putty (yes, designed for use on exhausts) to epoxy it all together. It was really a rather sloppy, though functional, solution. I'm going to try to get some quieter pipes next spring.