PNW Spring Tech Meet #16 - May 14th

[Panman]

A view looking up.

A view looking down.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Yup...that's the driveway!

For those interested from the north-end, we'll meet at the Carnation $bucks again for the ride down. Plan on coffee and mini bull session and then head south at 8-ish. That'll put us at Auburn's right at 9A.

For those of us that are waaay out in the sticks, Panman and I will begin our ride at the Monroe Shell, corner 2/203 at 7A.

Looking forward to seeing all y'all there!

--G

 

[Auburn]

Time for the Spring gathering, bench racing and tech day. Saturday May 14th at my house again. (If you haven't been here, PM me and I'll send you the address) Starting at 9 AM going until 5 PM. (Cost is $10 includes lunch and helps with shop consumables) PLEASE Respond to the thread if you are coming so we can get a head count for lunch.
Try to keep in mind if you are doing something that takes a lot of time, that it may not be the best place to do it. Some have tried to do a cruise control install for the first time and have not been able to finish.

Maintenance suggested so far are:

Grounding system

Tire changes (Derek Weaver tire machine) for those who need to (please take your used tires with you to the recycler - Les Schwab will take then for a nominal fee)

TBS

PAIR system block off

Various electrical and electronic additions

Brake system flush - please RSVP this

Fork rebuilds

If you are traveling some distance and need a place to stay, there are a couple of motels in Auburn about 5 miles away (La Quinta Inn and a Pepper Tree Best Western).

Lunch - snacks, pizza or spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and soda. Bring your own beverages for stronger stuff.

There will be a swap meet also. Bring your stuff you want to trade or sell.

Attendees: (Please RSVP that you are coming for a head count on the food)

AuburnFJR & Mrs.

Niehart +2

Beamer Reamer & Mrs.

escapefjrtist

Hudson

Panman

Ahchiu

MCRIDER007

Fontanaman

samamoto

Salish1300

wingshot

JamesW

SeattleTy

Horsefly

n2osx +1

AdamK

audiowize

lonewolf

PhatAir4Me +1?

harper

List is up to date

 

[Fontanaman]

Panman said A view looking down.

Here is a wide angle view with a better view of the famous driveway..... And look at all those peeps attending PNW Tech event. Yep this event rocks!!!

 

[JamesW]

Hello, I guess it's Bryan, right?
I'd like to attend, first timer. Coming from Spokane, I'll probably fo a Fri/Sat overnight.

Horsefly

Its worth the trip.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Outta **LIKES** nice pic Fontanaman! That's how the driveway feels for first timers!!

--G

 

[RoadTrip]

Count me in

 

[SacramentoMike]

That second driveway pic is misleading. It's not straight.

Did this a couple years ago just for the meet, not the tech, and it was a great get-together. Bryan and Marisa are very gracious hosts. But when I came it rained like hell. And those PNW guys all claimed it hadn't rained for months! I think they were lying to the Californian.

 

[RC65]

So here's a question for the attendees:

I've been strongly kicking around the idea of a FJR1300 for a year or two, and have yet to pull the trigger for two reasons (well, beyond liking the bike I have), one of which was addressed by Yamaha with its new six-speed tranny for 2016. The other is that as a cruiser rider of many, many years, the three or four test rides I've taken on the FJR suggest I will need risers...while I want a little forward-lean to help with my lower back, the stock is oddly too much on my palms. I really think I need a relatively upright sitting position. Test rides and sitting on the showroom models aren't really helping push me over the edge since they're all stock, and I have no idea if risers really will be the solution to my problem.

So my question is: Is anybody who is attending and has risers willing to let me sit on their bike and see how it feels? If I can get the riser issue resolved, chances are very, very high I'll be joining you all for 2017's meetup with a new, leftover 2016.

 

[audiowize]

You might only find one or two bikes at Tech Day without risers, you're welcome to sit on mine, and I'm sure there will be a GenII and GenIII that you can sit on also with risers.

 

[lonewolff]

RC65 - I have risers on my bike and in the farthest back position ( closer to the rider ). This really helped and the corbin seat I have helps too. You are more than welcome to sit on my bike and see how it feels.

 

[RC65]

Great -- thanks, guys...much appreciated. Lonewolff, I'll be sure to seek you out in particular, since you sounds like your setup is precisely what I have in mind. AuburnFJR, no need to put me in the headcount for lunch and shop consumables...I'll just plan to quickly drop by, sit on a riser-installed bike or two and then get out of everyone's way.

 

[AdamK]

I haven't research risers yet because I thought I'd try the bike with the stock bar position first and see how I hold up. Are there many options for risers? Any better than others?

 

[RC65]

My understanding is that there are both standard risers and Helibars available...no idea which is perceived by the majority as the better of the two.

 

[AdamK]

I have Helibars on my ST1300. I'm thinking they are what people refer to as a "bridged" riser, one piece. I <think> I read somewhere here that a bridged riser would interfere with the RAM-Bone gps mount I purchased. I have a friend who bought some two piece riders but never installed them before selling his FJR. I might take thos off of his hands just in case. Can always sell them if they don't work out.....

 

[Hudson]

I have the Helibars - but I actually prefer the MCL risers. There are also riser plates (not a complete triple tree). You should see a whole bunch of various options at Tech Day - between customizing the seat and various riser options, you should be able to get the right fit.

 

[AdamK]

Wow! I see the MCL riser is a complete replacement for the stock, upper triple clamp assembly. Interesting idea.

I guess I'll try the stock setup and then sample some of the other setups at Tech day. My friend has a set of BlackPath riser plates. Sounds like those raise the bars 1" and set them back 1/2". The Heli and MCL risers look to do even more.

Larry used to come to WeSTOC and setup his tent and sell stuff. I think he did pretty well there! After he passed I believe his daughter took over the business. Wonder if that's still the case??

 

[Auburn]

So here's a question for the attendees:
I've been strongly kicking around the idea of a FJR1300 for a year or two, and have yet to pull the trigger for two reasons (well, beyond liking the bike I have), one of which was addressed by Yamaha with its new six-speed tranny for 2016. The other is that as a cruiser rider of many, many years, the three or four test rides I've taken on the FJR suggest I will need risers...while I want a little forward-lean to help with my lower back, the stock is oddly too much on my palms. I really think I need a relatively upright sitting position. Test rides and sitting on the showroom models aren't really helping push me over the edge since they're all stock, and I have no idea if risers really will be the solution to my problem.

So my question is: Is anybody who is attending and has risers willing to let me sit on their bike and see how it feels? If I can get the riser issue resolved, chances are very, very high I'll be joining you all for 2017's meetup with a new, leftover 2016.

There will be many different styles of risers and options at the tech meet for you to check out. As well as seats, lowered pegs, just about anything you can think of has been done and there is a good chance it will be here. If you ask, I am sure several will let you sit on their bike and see how it feels. Going for a ride may be another thing.

 

[Auburn]

Great -- thanks, guys...much appreciated. Lonewolff, I'll be sure to seek you out in particular, since you sounds like your setup is precisely what I have in mind. AuburnFJR, no need to put me in the headcount for lunch and shop consumables...I'll just plan to quickly drop by, sit on a riser-installed bike or two and then get out of everyone's way.

You are welcome to stay and talk with the others. There are many things to see and do.

 

[lonewolff]

I have also lowered my pegs with the MCL lowering kit. After I lowered my seat with the Corbin seat so I could put both feet down flat it bothered my knees on long rides. So I bought the lowering kit for the pegs and all is good. IF ..... I really dip the bike in a corner I will touch my toe down but then again...... why am I leaning that far down on the bike!! To avoid this I simply just put the balls of my feet on the pegs in the twisties and I can lean away. I have my bike set up for a comfortable ride day of 500 miles or so and am not fatigued or have any aching joints.

Now let's hope we have another awesome weather day like the last Spring tech day!!