DIY Suzuki DRZ 400SM Windscreen Tutorial

Wind is a challenge especially when riding the DRZ at freeway speeds because without a front windscreen, riding on a windy day feels like someone turning on a leaf blower to your chest.

I had an extra windscreen from an Aprilia RSV Mille 01-03 laying around, and figured I'd adapt it to my DRZ for some wind protection. Using a few nuts and bolts, a Dremel, and a sanding block, I was able to create a functional and stylish windscreen for my DRZ 400SM.

Materials:

Aprilia RSV Mille 01-03 Dark Smoke Windscreen

Masking tape

4 of each: nuts, bolts, washers, and locking washers

Dry erase marker

Bill of Materials:

$25

Tools:

Drill

Dremel

Sanding block

120 Grit sandpaper (very coarse)

Tutorial:

• 1. Place your windscreen over the front DRZ cowl and mark the drill holes with a dry erase marker
• 2. Drill out the holes
• 3.  Secure the windscreen with nuts, bolts, washers, and locking washers
• 4.  We're going to use the masking tape as a guide on where to cut, so using the edge and angle of the DRZ cowl as a line guide, we'll place the masking tape on the cowl and all the way to the end of our new windscreen.

• 5. Do the same as step 4 on the other side

• 6.  Use your Dremel and carefully cut while using the masking tape as your guide.

• 7.  The edges will be rough with melted plastic from the heat of the Dremel. We'll snap this gunk off, then using our sanding block, sand down both sides of our new windscreen.

• 8. Install the windscreen/front cowl to the DRZ. Now we can enjoy riding longer distances at freeway speeds.

DIY GoPro Extended Battery Pack :: How To

While GoKarting at our local track, I was a half an hour into the session when my battery died, and I thought to myself, "Man, I will be missing some epic footage. When I get home, I'm going to put together a rechargable battery pack for the GoPro."

This extended battery pack will let you record for an extra 2 hours give or take. You can replace the batteries of the Tekkeon Battery Pack with more AA batteries. The only downside to this mod is that you will be drilling into your GoPro's plastic case, so it will no longer be waterproof. Other than that, you will have hours of recording time, which means you'll run out of memory before the batteries run out.

Materials:
USB to mini-USB cable
Tekkeon USB Mobile Battery Charger (Also works with the iPhone, Pod, etc.)
Hot Glue Gun stick
4 AA NiMH rechargable Batteries

Bill of Materials:
$24

Tools:
Drill
Dry erase marker
Hot Glue Gun

Disclaimer: This is for demonstration purposes only. Please use safety precautions whenever working with power tools.

Instructions:

1. Grab a dry erase marker and mark your drill point at the USB connector.

2. Remove the GoPro.

3. Drill out the marked point.

4. Fit USB cable into GoPro

5. Prepare hot glue

6. Create a seal of hot glue around the GoPro. Once the hot glue cools down, it can be removed along with the cable, so you'll have a perfectly molded seal for the cable and case. On days when you're recording short sessions, you can remove the cable and insert a plug.

Remove Yamaha Raptor 700 Baffle :: How To

Yamaha 700 Raptor Muffler	1. Remove bolt with an allen wrench
2. Grab a torch and heat the outter ring of the baffle. 3. (Be careful of the heat) Then use a flathead screwdriver to kneed the baffle loose. 4. Use a pair of pliers to pull out the baffle.	5. This is how the baffle looks removed. The torch is pointing to where you need to apply heat. As you can see, there's a bit of rust on the baffle, which is causing the seizure.
I was attempting the Foot's Mod for my DRZ 400SM's Pro Circuit T4 exhaust. The exhaust is way too loud for my taste, and the Foot's Mod requires a Raptor 660 baffle to insert into a T4 exhaust. I could not source a 660 baffle, so I went ahead and tried the next best thing, the Raptor 700 baffle.	Well, I can tell you now that the Raptor 700 baffle does not directly fit, so for those looking attempting the Foots Mod, try and source yourself a 660 baffle. The 700 baffle will require some modification to make it fit.

Blogger blog has been removed Error

My blog has been down due to an erroneous SPAM issue with Blogger. Somehow my blog was automatically marked as spam prompting Blogger to completely remove my blog. My blog was no longer viewable on my Dashboard, and my blog disappeared without a trace.

I understand how spammers make spam blogs, i.e. quick rich schemes, but I wish Blogger had some kind of warning to inform me that my blog was being reviewed for SPAM. It was alarming to wake up, log into my blog, to find everything gone. "Was I just hacked?" was the first thing that went through my mind. After some further reading, I found some answers.

The only solution is to post on the Blogger user forums and request a Spam Appeal. Only legitimate requests meeting Blogger's appeals criteria will be accepted. Spammers need not apply because you'll be banned forever anyway. Also, if your Google account is blocked from the forums, then you'll need to sign into another Google account to post a question to the forum:

Tip: Be clear and concise to have your question answered.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/label?lid=42512ba1ddda2647&hl=en

My appeals process:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=0776b0d4c1f9a9e8&hl=en

I'm happy with the response time in the Blogger Forums. My question was answered in a timely manner, and my issue was addressed within the day.

How to fix a MAF Sensor CEL Tutorial

Almost all cars after the 90's have a MAF sensor. The MAF sensor detects airflow thereby sending signals to the engine to adjust how much fuel to deliver. They oftentimes get dirty from years of driving, and the sensor gets clogged with dirt and oil causing poor gas mileage as well as poor performance. Your car may even throw a Check Engine Light (CEL). In my opinion, most MAF sensors don't need to be replaced, but just a good cleaning will make the MAF sensor perform like new again.

Disclaimer: This is for demonstration purposes only. Removing and mishandling the MAF Sensor can be a costly mistake. Some of these newer sensors go for a few $100. Proceed at your own risk.

Materials:
CRC/Mass air flow sensor cleaner
Flashlight
Q-Tip

Tutorial:

1. With the car off and key removed, disconnect and remove your MAF Sensor

2. Looking down the MAF sensor with your flashlight, you should see two platinum wires with two tiny sensors in the middle of them. If these are covered in black gunk, take your CRC MAF cleaner and spray it at the wires. The cleaner should evaporate quickly. You can stop here if the wires become clean.

3. If the gunk is still stuck on the wires, grab your Q-tip and spray some MAF cleaner on it and again down the hole. Carefully clean and rub the wires as they are very fragile. If you break the wire, then you'll need a new sensor.

4. Reinstall your MAF sensor. Turn on your car and go for a test drive. If there was a CEL, it should now be gone. Enjoy better gas mileage and car performance!

Polish Plastic on a Smart Car Fortwo :: How To

Polish & wax the 3 uncoated plastic pieces on the rear end of a Smart Car Passion. This method is applicable to other plastics as well.

Materials:
Meguiar's Plastx
Cloth
Plastic safe wax (I'm using Zaino Z2)
Wax applicator & a Cloth to remove the wax

Disclaimer: Demonstration purposes only. Please use safety precautions whenever working on a vehicle. Do it at your own risk.

Tide Allergic Reaction :: Hives/Dermatitis

For a month and a half, I had an itch that wouldn't go away. The symptoms included raised red bumps all over my body, constant itching that got worse at night, difficulty breathing, and difficulty sleeping. I truly feel for you if you're dealing with hives/dermatitis.

To cure the itching, I tried everything! I tried refrigerated Cetaphil lotion, J&J baby lotion, ice packs, Allegra, Benadryl, Zyrtec, rubbing Guava leaves on my itchy spots, eating Eastern medicines (gross tasting btw), meditation, and switching to an organic diet. These attempts temporarily calmed  my symptoms, but the allergies kept coming back. My body was reacting to something, and no amount of medicine or lotion would cure it.

It turns out I had hives due to my laundry detergent, Tide Clean Breeze. With every wash, my clothes would be coated in allergen causing my skin to severely react. The difficulty breathing was from drying my clothes, and the detergent residue would get shot into the air from the dryer outlet, which I would then breath in and react to. From what I read, the itchyness gets worse at night because our body's natural defense goes dormant where its less active than during the day.

I've used Tide for many years without any reaction, but either my body chemistry changed, or something in Tide's formula changed. I switched to a 100% Natural detergent from Costco. Then I rewashed all of my clothes and bedsheets. 3 days later, my symptoms improved dramatically. No more bumps, and no more itch! If you're dealing with the "Itches," hang in there. I wish you strength.

Update: 5/24/2013

I wanted to give some closure to this post. Since the day I wrote this post in '11, my detergent allergies disappeared. I continue to use a 100% natural detergent.

Update: 8/4/2013

From the comments, thanks anonymous, for a detailed detergent comparison breakdown, check out http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html