Help me with my L/D winter FJR project

[Brodie]

TriggerT

This being an LD bike, you are looking for reliability first, comfort / convenience second, I don't see the yellow ribbon on the ignition switch lead.

Do you have the recall switch installed?
How are your ground spiders looking?
Now would be a good time to inject dielectric grease into the electrical connectors to keep the resistance causing oxidation at bay.

Just a thought.

Brodie

 

[TriggerT]

I was told the ignition switch recall was done. I took the guy at his word, and while i planned on checking out myself, I just never got around to it. What is the Yellow ribbon of which you speak? I don't recall seeing that on the replacement ignition switch on my old '06.

I am planning on getting a ground harness from you after the holidays, and I will grease things then.

Good points though. I was spoiled with my first '06, since it never had any problems at all.

 

[Brodie]

This is the Yamaha Recall Ignition Switch...

When I had it installed on my first AE, that evening I dissected it to share with the forum members what made it different.

Please go here to see the thread...

The Recall Ignition Switch - What's new about it?

With all the commotion about it in January/February I'm surprised you missed it.

As you can see it definitely has a yellow tag where the pigtail splits in two. I didn't see it in the pictures you posted, that's why I asked. With the tank off now is the time to look for this tag to verify the recall.

Brodie

 

[dcarver]

I don't want people who don't know me to misunderstand what I am after here. I have done several IBA rides, SS1K, BBG1500, Great Lakes Gold, and one or two others I can't think of right now. I had my old 2006 FJR set up pretty well for long rides. What I am looking for here is some of the things other people would put on, so that as I replace things that were lost in the crash I take into account items I may have overlooked the first time.

I also am hoping that it will give other members ideas for things they may want to add to their LD bikes.

Thanks for the responses so far.

Great thread Trigger - Tx.

Please give me some ideas of what you would put on a stock gen 2 FJR to make it the ultimate Iron Butt motorcycle.

Jeeze what faggy advice you're getting.
?First thing to put on the bike?

How about a For Sale sign,

see if you can get enough coin to make a down payment on a superior Gen1.

I want to thank RenoJohn for answering the question I had when I first started this thread. Before I even started to write the post, I was wondering how long it would take some Gen 1 A-Hole (a term I say with nothing but affection) to chime in on the fact that my bike is a Gen 2.

Yeah, Johhny80's has 'Welcome from San Diego' and RJ has 'How stupid is your Gen2 bike', jes sayin' :****:
You know what you haven't thought of yet?

So simple, yet so cool..

I have a visor cleaning rag attached to my tank bag via one of those spoolable 'wire' key chains. I routinely ride in inclement weather.. when the visor gets funky, reach into the tank bag, grab the rag, clean the visor.. and no worries if I have to release the rag to grab the bars or clutch or whatever - it's tethered!

 

[Brodie]

I'm curious how handy one of these LittleLights mounted to the clutch reservoir would be.

I see the LED version has a switchable white / red light option.

Brodie

 

[TriggerT]

I will have to check the ignition switch.

Good idea on the rag tethered to the tank bag. I like that one a lot.

Not sure about other members, but the map light is low on my list. I have a head lamp in the tank bag, and a small flashlight on one of the zippers of my Stitch. If you use paper maps a lot, or maybe if I end needing to read rally instructions while on the road often enough, then the permanent light would be a good idea.

 

[TriggerT]

Just checked the ignition switch, and there is the yellow wire on it. It was hidden in the pictures I took.

 

[karstenp]

I'm curious how handy one of these LittleLights mounted to the clutch reservoir would be.

I see the LED version has a switchable white / red light option.

Brodie

In rally mode, this light is great. It allows you to easily read rally instructions at night, and because you need no hands to operate like a flashlight, it permits easy and quick recording on odo/date/time readings etc. The red light on the LED version is very handy.

 

[TriggerT]

Got the go ahead from the wife to invest the money in a fuel cell as part of my Christmas present. Now I just need to figure what and where to buy one.

 

[TriggerT]

What is the mount (where did you get it?) you used for the cruise control panel?

Thanks.

Drew, sorry I never replied to your question. I was just re-reading this thread, and noticed it.

The entire CC set up was supplied and installed by Smitty. I believe he was having the mounts made by a local fabricator. Who knows, he might even still have some?

 

[TriggerT]

My full day set aside for working on the bike turned into only about 4 hours, but I was still able to get a few things done. First I drained the fork oil. Judging from how the oil looked (it only had 8K miles on it) I am really glad I took the time to do this. The forks are still hanging in the shop, since the oil takes quite awhile to drain all the way.

Then I took off the rear wheel, and pulled the drive shaft the grease the splines. I also took off the4 rod that connects the rear brake, since i am going to convert over to the dark-side. I then took off the stock rear shock, and installed my newly serviced Penske.

I then put my Audiovox CC on, though the install is far from complete. I will have to talk to Smitty to figure out how to complete a few of the connections.

I also started to pull some of the electrical wires from the front to the tail of the bike where I have the Fuzeblock mounted.

I didn't connect them, but I just couldn't resist mounting the Clearwater lights on one side of the bike. I think I am going to need to modify the brackets sent from Clearwater, since they are not drilled out enough to allow them to mount on the metal studs for the mirrors. They sit on top of the rubber gasket that normally goes between the mirror and the plastic, and I don't feel like that is solid enough. Still, they look great!

Hopefully I will get a chance to work on it for a few more hours this weekend.

 

[TriggerT]

Weekly Update:

I don't feel like I got much of anything done this weekend, but I do feel like I spent a lot of time chasing my tail, and making trips to the hardware store.

I was able to finish making my stainless steel brake bar, and got it installed. This required one of the trips to the hardware store, for 5/16" drill bit, after I FRIED the one I had.

I then decided to try and finish mounting the Clearwater lights. I wanted to drill out the mounting brackets that came with the lights, so that they actually went over the studs from the mirror mounts, and didn't just sit on top of them. I wanted to make the fit of these as perfect as I could, and while it looked like a 3/8" drill bit would work perfect, I ended up having to make another trip to the hardware store to get a 25/64 bit. Even at that size, the brackets are VERY tight on the posts. I think the 4 light set up looks bad-ass, but I won't be 100% convinced until everything is hooked up, and I can use them on a dark road.

I spent a decent amount of time pulling wires, and starting to get things set up for connecting the Krista's. Between all the wires for the 2 sets of Krista's, and the wires form the converting the head lights to HID's the nose of the bike is a mess. I am just praying everything works when I start the bike up and turn the lights on. Otherwise it is going to suck to pull everything out to find the problem.

I also wanted to finish changing the oil on the forks and get them installed, but I ran out of oil after finishing one of the forks, and there wasn't anywhere to buy fork oil that was open on a Sunday. That will have to wait until next week.

I have also been making slow progress on hooking up the Audiovox Cruise Control, but I have NO IDEA what needs to be done in regards to hooking up some of the wires just behind the air filter. I didn't have time to inspect them carefully before I removed them from the old bike, and I know something needs to be changed in regards to the factory settings, but I again I don't know what. Any help would be great, and I have sent an E-mail to Smitty, since he installed the unit on my old bike. FWIW, I have red, blue, and purple wires coming from the Audiovox that need to be hooked up.

The fuel cell from Joe will be here tomorrow, but I haven't done anything to get things ready for installing it. I had been hoping to have bought some of the fittings and fuel lines by now, but there just aren't enough hours in the day.

I almost forgot, that I also received the G2 throttle tube from Highlander, and installed it. It was a piece of cake to install, and I hope it smooths things out as much as some of the people who have them say.

 

[TriggerT]

I'm curious how handy one of these LittleLights mounted to the clutch reservoir would be.

I see the LED version has a switchable white / red light option.

Brodie

Where do they sell these?

 

[Brodie]

Good job on the brake strut, stainless steel can be tough on a drill bit. The bit needs to be sharp, not turning too fast, but push a little to make it bite into the stainless. Ease off as you are breaking through to avoid damaging the tip, and by all means hold onto the workpiece with a vise - not your hands.

I then decided to try and finish mounting the Clearwater lights. I wanted to drill out the mounting brackets that came with the lights, so that they actually went over the studs from the mirror mounts, and didn't just sit on top of them. I wanted to make the fit of these as perfect as I could, and while it looked like a 3/8" drill bit would work perfect, I ended up having to make another trip to the hardware store to get a 25/64 bit. Even at that size, the brackets are VERY tight on the posts.

Have you talked to Glen at clearwater concerning this? I would have thought the brackets would be a no brainer here. Has anybody else from the group buy had the same issue? I haven't looked at mine yet, other projects keep getting the way.

Brodie

 

[Brodie]

Where do they sell these?

Try here... Littlitedirect.com

I havent bought one yet, I have a few other things to get first.

Brodie

 

[TriggerT]

I had to clean out the same holes when I mounted the Top Gun light brackets on my old bike as well. On those the holes had gotten filled in with the powder coating, but otherwise were just about the right size. On the ones from Clearwater, they weren't even close to fitting over the studs. For one set of Krista's it might have been OK the way they were, but for two I didn't think they would hold up.

 

[Brodie]

Interesting, I will have to look at mine.

Do you still have the rubber sandwiched in between the mirror mount and the bracket?

Brodie

 

[karstenp]

I'm curious how handy one of these LittleLights mounted to the clutch reservoir would be.

I see the LED version has a switchable white / red light option.

Brodie

Where do they sell these?

I purchased mine from a local music instrument store.... Seems that most music instrument stores carry or at least will order "Littelite" stuff.

 

[Brodie]

Was yours the LED version, and how much did you pay for it? The Littlitedirect website wants a C note for it.

Brodie

 

[TriggerT]

Do you still have the rubber sandwiched in between the mirror mount and the bracket?

Brodie

No, I took the rubber sandwich out. I put some thin rubber on the back of the bracket, but that is all. I wanted the bolts from the mirror to have as much thread engaged as possible. This is how I had the Top Gun brackets mounted on my other bike, and after 40k miles, and the bike flipping in the ditch a few times, the bracket were bent, but they were still solid and the sub frame, at least at the mirror mounts, was solid.