Midnight Star in Montana

[Dr. D]

Hey all you heathens,

I've been gathering knowledge on this forum for months now. Finally decided to make a profile after I scooped up my R*.

2005 Midnight Star. Pretty stock - for now. Everyone says they have big plans for their machines, as do I. I tore mine down the first 24 hours of ownership.



In case anyone wants to know - my plan is as follows: Pretty much a vicla/chicano build:
- 16" straight jacket apes - 1 1/4" diameter

- also installing the PCS "space age plastic" riser bushings in the triple tree - if anyone has experience with how they feel, chime in please

- PCS Monster Pro 2into1
- some classy air filter
- PCS ported intake manifold
- PCS potato chip seat, or maybe the low profile Z1R, still unsure
- small luggage rack in place of the rear seat
- white walls of course, but with the factory mag wheels - everyone does spokes, and I love spokes, but the mag wheels look great cleaned up with white walls.

I come from an M109R so unfortunately I have been spoiled by big power. I would like to keep the internals stock, but I foresee the high compression 108"/110" in the not so far future.



Thanks in advance, and retrospectively for all the knowledge I will/have gained so far. The M109Riders forum is awesome, you all seem to be as well.

If anyone has advice for a noob, I am all ears. I have already addressed a few things (seat latch, soft riser bushings, front pulley nut, etc.). I know there's always more.

I will also be posting in the classifieds - but if anyone has rear fender stay/brows they want to sell, I would be stoked. I have a rear seat and sissy bar I would love to get rid of, too.

I am currently polishing my rusty soldering skills to lengthen by control wires - to run inside the 1 1/4" 16" apes, it appears 8" of wire-lengthening is about right. I have read about people lengthening them for apes, but none with specific measurements for internal ape-routing.

Lastly, I will be doing some kind of windshield angle mod to be able to have a shield with apes angled forward. I have read how a few have done it, but haven't come across a detailed write up. Depending on how redneck mine turns out, I'll gladly share it.

[Lug Nut]

Can't keep stick internals with a 108/110 l. Very expensive and will end up at BEST with 95-98hp at the tire and that's with EVERYTHING included hand ported heads cams pistons big bore kit HSR 42 or 45 carb etc.....AND it still wouldn't run with a M109 so you might be disappointed....but you can make it look cool and be comfortable. Be careful with PCS....some quality issues and trouble getting products in a timely manner after buying them.

Also consider a RoadWing rear shock...best mod for your bike....and better front springs (Racetech or Progressive). Also a better clutch spring is a must have (Barnett is popular)

Having a Midnight with chromed front end is awesome!

[Dr. D]

Yeah I am aware the R* will likely never break 100hp (112hp at my m109r wheel lol), I am looking forward to a comfy, classic looking ride.

I have read about the roadwing shock - spent some time on eBay looking for them. I'll be making an ISO post in classifieds soon.

Bummer to hear about PCS. Not to talk bad on anyone - is this an ongoing issue? They are very helpful and informative over the phone, and they're just over the hill from me in Spokane. However, I would not be opposed to try SS Custom's polyurethane bushings for an additional $10 if PCS is that much of a drag.

Oh, I forgot to mention - I got the bike for $1900. 21k miles. Still can't believe it.

Thanks for the guidance Lug Nut.

[Chromepony]

Nice score on your scooter. The more you ride it, the more you'll love it.
LugNut is absolutely right...that big-inch kit is terribly expensive. Your 102-inch motor is plenty stout, and with a few minor mods (proper jetting, massaged intake, 2-into-1 pipe) it will easily hold it's own on the street. Don't go nuts porting the intake. Open it up on the ends and radius the hard corners in the middle. The motor will RPM quicker, it will be real fat in the mid-range, and still make a ton of bottom-end.
Just my $.02 worth...pulling the wires thru the bars SUCKS. I would lengthen the other end and hide the work under the tank. But that's just me. If you're gona pull the wires thru the bars, it will go a lot smoother without the added material, especially around the curves in the bars.
Keep us in the loop with progress reports along the way.
Enjoy the ride !

[MidnightRide]

Nice find, and welcome.

I really don't get the search for HP on these things. Buy another bike if your focus is on HP. Mine has plenty of grunt and gets great mileage as well, and I'm rocking the dreaded Hyper Charger intake. All of the mods on my bike came with it from a previous owner.

I don't know what mine runs, maybe 85 HP with the mods? Doesn't compare to the near 135 HP of my RF900R Suzuki of years past. If I want fast I'll find another one. These bikes are just fun and cool to ride. May be the favorite bike I've owned, and coming from a former racer, that's saying a lot. Just fun to set the butt on and point down the road. Great sound as well. Excellent for 2-up rides. FUN.

I'm not crapping on you, my friend, just saying something that I've been thinking to myself for a very long time when I read about all of the mods and money going into that almighty search for HP on a Roadie...

My last bike ran around 175 MPH but this one gets me nervous at around 105 MPH. I rarely take it over 90 now.

I'll look forward to seeing your upgrades. I have a Midnight as well and have to confess that I'm thinking about bobbing this one and picking up a fuel injected model for road trips.

[roadiemort]

[FireFighterZero]

Where in Montana?

[Lug Nut]

Road Wing is a modified Honda goldwing 1800 shock...Smokescreen on this forum makes them WHEN he can source a donor shock.

Your Road astar stick puts out 58.5 hp to the tire. With ported manifold jetted carb and exhaust maybe 70 to the tire. It makes good torque though. 115mph is about as fast as any of these can go.

Hyper charger sucks when removing check the directions....supposed to replace the stock air bleed screw in carb when using hyper charger so you will want to check and re-replace lol.

Hopefully you'll have good luck with pcs but have known many who did not. The potato chip seat looks kind of neat but isn't comfortable....the ED Big Touring seat is the most comfortable. A good cheap functional air cleaner is K&N ra066v....just throw it on. I've used several of them.

Make sure you do AIS delete and properly jet the carb (not by jet kit instructions but the advice of "us" on here)...

[Chooch]

It should be easy to route the wires through 1 1/4" bars. The wires can be removed from the connectors in the headlight using a small diameter pin. I used the smallest hex key in my set with the long end sharpened to a point. 8" extensions sound about right. Make sure you stagger the splices so you don't have a big knot in one spot. Use the best quality shrink tubing you can find. I drilled two holes through the upper triple tree so the wires can exit the bars and run straight to the headlight.

[Dr. D]

Lots of good stuff gentlemen.

While the desire for power is most often insatiable, I am more excited to have a good canvas. The 9 is great, but it’s not exactly a “blank canvas” - for lack of better description.

Where in Montana?

I’m in Bozeman, from Butte.

I picked up on the “road wing” lingo pretty quick after failed searches anywhere other than the forum, and consistently seeing Smokescreen’s tag lol. His work really seems to be the way to go. Fabulous ingenuity I must say.

Chooch, I’ve got the control wires sitting on my kitchen table (where they belong lol) ready to be disassembled. The apes I’m going with are nice and round, so (hopefully) the wire pushing goes smoothly.

As soon as it’s time to fire her up again in the spring, I’ll be all over the tuning/jetting pages.

Many thanks.

[Jimmy C]

I want to go in the vicla direction also so very interested in this build.

[Dr. D]

Stay tuned Jimmy. In the spring I plan to post a "winter wrenching" summary of all I have done with pics and specs (jetting, etc.)

So far I've got going on:
- KST customs Straight Jacket apes in 1/14" diameter and 16" rise
- SS Custom Cycle riser bushings
- canning the AIS
- porting the manifold
- cleaning up the previous owner's hack job of an integrated taillight wiring job.
- spark plug replacement, all fluids, the normal stuff.

Still yet to decide:
- Cobra power pro HP 2into1 vs. PCS monster pro 2into1
- RA-066V vs. something else (likely the former)
- Dragger vs. Z1R low profile seat (leaning dragger for a number of reasons, but Revzilla has the Z1R for $200!!)
- aluminum carb enricher cap - but my factory plastic one is in good shape
- buying the forward floorboard relocation vs. fabbing my own
- fender lowering instead vs. new links + roadwing shock

Thanks always gentlemen.

[EnergyGuy]

instead of changing the windshield angle, I would suggest different risers altogether. I've got a 2 piece set off of a Victory High Ball that are 2" pullback and I can still run vertical 12's. Pushed much farther forward and I rub my clutch cable.

[Dr. D]

Hey EG,

I have been considering this for some time - I recognize the advantages to a pullback riser over manipulating the angle of the windshield. Here in MT, highway speeds are 80mph+, I frequently cruise at about 90ish. That wobble would be terrifying.

My bars are 1 1/4" diameter - which makes the riser selection slightly narrower. There's plenty, but if I want pullback, I find most are 3" rise or greater. I personally don't love the look of tall risers with apes, but it appears that beggars can't be choosers.

Your setup looks great - but are your bars 1" diameter at the clamp?

[EnergyGuy]

Yeah, they drop to 1" at the clamps

[Dr. D]

Well the bike is together! Got out for a first ride yesterday. After some float height screwery and returning here for info (measure float height from the intake-side of the float bowl seam, damnit) the bike ran great. First real warm day here in central MT, so I called up a friend and we pounded some pavement. Made his VTX1300 its' bitch (not very impressive, I know).



What almost ended as a fabulous day came to an unfortunate end. It seems all the attention I've been putting into performance and other goodies left some critical pieces neglected. At a stoplight, my drive belt broke. Factory Yamaha unit that is who knows how old. Looked like a small rock got wedged in it. So at 9:00pm, I got a friend with a low-enough truck to come pick my ass up off the side of the road.

Seems that Panther and Gates are the recommended belts? Harddrive is an option, but I am not familiar with them.

For those that wanted some information on the build thus far: It was a busy winter.

- 16" KST apes with wiring ran internally (lots of fun with that project), 1.5" LA choppers risers, goodentight riser bushings.
- Motion pro +6" throttle and clutch cable, just about the perfect length, and a 32" end-to-end front brake line from Raymond Chan - highly recommend this gentleman.
- Yamaha Stiletto seat - stoked I found this on eBay for $120. New old stock.
- floorboards moved forward about 3"
- some comfy grips
- integrated tail light
- AIS delete
- NGK plugs gapped at 0.034"
- K&N RA-067
- nicely ported intake manifold
- Carb shit: barons needle in the 4th groove from the top, 172.5 main, 40 pilot, 2.5ish turns out on the PMS. Removed the inlet screen.
- Dumped the pump - grizzly 3.0 needle/seat, 5/16" clear tygon fuel line with a pretty in-line filter.
- Cleaned the tank and petcock, removed filters from petcock. Flows very well.

Still to go - as soon as I get the funds lol:

- whitewall Shinko 777's
- license plate relocation
- 2into1 system - Cobra Power pro HP or V&H pro pipe - whichever I can find used.
- considering the flip n' grind, will likely do it and find that I need a roadwing unit. Currently, it rides pretty nice (compared to my stiff ass M109R).
- Strat 18" front
- might flip my mirrors. Unsure how I feel about the look.
- strongly considering lower/leg fairings. I think it would look slick, but I think that it would be pretty useless without a windshield.

Thank you all who have provided lots of learning material on here (and the old clinic).

Most importantly, I'll see you lunatics in Ione WA in a few months!

[Lug Nut]

The stratiliner front wheel is a very nice mod...

Rowdy Rick makes a fender lowering kit that doesn't lower suspension...

2 INTO 1 pro pipe is great for power

Don't think you can do flip and grind and road wing

[Dr. D]

Yes sir I am familiar with the few different tricks to lower the fender - I like this seat too much, and lowering the fender would likely make it so that I can’t get the ‘ass end’ of the seat bolted to the fender.

Same goes for the flip and grind - I’m sure I’ll do it and find myself wishing I just forked out the money for the road wing. All I have to do is flip the bone back over though…

[Yamatech]

I know you've already got your seat but I went with the zr1 and love it. It curves nice around me and I feel more apart of the bike and not on it. It is firm but I like that as I start hurting on a super soft seat after longer rides. I'm not a big guy, about 165 so take that in consideration if you are a bigger dude.

[Yamatech]

Yes, it has the 108 set up. Not done by me but a previous owner. I've been inside the top end so I can vouch it is the 108ci, funny thing is the guy I bought it from didn't even know what he had and marketed it as a standard 1700 with exhaust. He didn't realize it was actually a 108ci. I think he got it basically given to him and he just needed some dough. Anyways, after I got it jetted correctly you can feel that extra grunt it has. It has a nice fat midrange with a sweet sounding, deep and powerful bark when you blip the throttle. Like most have said, its no arm jerker but it always puts a big grin on my face to twist the throttle back. I am going to be buying a dyna ignition soon because it does rev out so quickly in 1st and 2nd and I just feel like the motor has a little more to give when opening it up. It just pulls good through the revs and feels beefy, you can tell its a big displacement motor if that makes sense. I have no heating issues and no issues with fueling as I have deleted the fuel pump. I hope to in the future do cams and head work. I love cruising this bike around and that's coming from someone who just sold a worked vmax.

[Dr. D]

How did you confirm the bore from the top end? You're running the stock mikuni CV? Either way, great find. My other bike is an M109R, but like you, I love riding the road star regardless.

Unsure if you can still get cams from Patrick Racing, but maybe you can. Whatever you end up doing, keep us updated!

[Yamatech]

I've had the head off and measured with a dial bore gauge. Yes its the stock carb, I wish I could shell out the dough for another but it suits me fine. I've been busy cleaning up the signals front and rear, I now have leds in the front and rear and ditched the big stalks and driving light bar. Just going for a clean, classic hot rod look.