beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Very nice photos Roger and Deb, Old Michael said he has taught you everything you know!
SW-FOG 2011: Please post up your FJR pictures here!
- Thread starter beemerdons
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SacramentoMike
Not Safe For Work
My SW-FOG extended to 18 days and 3,800 miles, ending on Tuesday this week. It would have ended a little sooner, and had more miles, but for the problems with the bike. It started to run rough in Utah, especially at low rpm's, but it was the Friday before Labor Day weekend and I was a long way from any dependable service; I decided to continue toward Taos, since it was smooth enough at 3 or 4 K and above. It's amazing, though, how much of the joy of riding an FJR is connected to that amazing power you feel when you kick it up to pass on a hill or something at 70 mph or so. That part was sadly missing, plus the concern about what the matter was behind the rough running.Our meetup with Alex and? I am so sorry, I forget her name!
Alex's (Patch308) lovely g/f is Hannah. She is NOT his daughter!
SacMikes bike prepped for diagnosis:
The interim diagnosis was not good. It goes into the shop tomorrow and we'll see what's up. More on that below.
Well, I did continue, and made it to Taos. Did a little riding there too, but after the second day, Mike--Hycle--offered to take a look under the tank. Mike and FJRob are both mechanics, and they got into it far enough to confirm I was working with just three cylinders, and came up with a few possible explanations, none good. Unfortunately, since I didn't much understand what they were telling me, I can't pass it along to the forum right now. The bottom line was a recommendation to get it into a shop as quick as possible, preferably by trailer. Ugh.
Taos doesn't offer much in the way of Yamaha dealerships or even service that I could find, so I finally decided to book for Albuquerque that day, about 150 miles. We picked a dealership there off the internet and they agreed to check it out that day. I left the Kachina Lodge about noon Thursday, having paid for all three nights (including Thursday night), and to their great credit, when asked they agreed to credit the full amount of the Thursday night lodging back onto my card! "Things like this happen," said the darling girl at the desk.
Made it to Albuquerque and the first dealership, where they now said they "might be able to look at it tomorrow." Since AJ--Hot Rod Zilla--had previously offered his hospitality overnight on my way home from Oklahoma City, where I'd planned to ride after Taos for a family visit, I called him to get his thoughts on the problem. He told me he'd have sent me to the other local Yamaha place, Bobby J's, that he uses, and also that he'd come and get me and put me up for the night. I'd decided to leave the bike and make the OKC trip and back to Albuquerque by plane, but that would be in the morning.
I excused myself from dealer no. 1 and rode to Bobby J's. As I understand what they did, they did further diagnosis, finding zero clearance in one of the valves and the others very tight. They did a valve adjustment and told me to get it to my shop when I got home. It should make it, I was told, but I shouldn't go out of a pretty direct line back to Sacramento. I more or less did that, but did get in a little more sightseeing of the gorgeous Southwest on the way. Amazingly, both the fierce desert heat and the mountain thunderstorms I'd feared so much held off for the entire trip. At least till I began the descent into the cauldron of the Sacramento Valley the last 60 or 70 miles.
Well, the bike goes into Roseville Yamaha in the morning, and I'm holding my breath. I guess I didn't burn up the valves, or whatever the worst-case scenario could have been, and I did get home. I'll post an addendum to this when I see the total damage. I definitely want to express my gratitude to AJ and his beautiful wife and three daughters for their gracious hospitality (and the use of the girls' pretty pink bedroom on both ends of the OKC part of this trip), and to Hycle and FJRob for digging into the guts of the bike Thursday morning (and Mike tearing up his finger doing it) and warning me off continuing my planned extended ride to Oklahoma, where I'd planned to take it to the local shop the following Monday. I think it could have gone much worse. I'll let you know.
And I still got to have a great trip through the Southwestern states. Some of the shots:
This is Skyline Drive above Canon City, CO. It follows the top of a long ridge above the town, no wider at the top than this little driveway-sized road. There's a great YouTube vid of it (not mine)
.
Teluride, CO. One road in, same road out (which I only learned after doing the "ride IN" part.) Georgous, though.
Arches National Park, and after seeing a good bunch of them, now I think Arches is the most amazing!
Leaving Albuquerque, AJ escorted me to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. I was interested especially because I'd worked on "nukes" back in my Air Force days, including the model below. These were the two recovered "B-28" bombs dropped over the Med (and on Spain) after a mid-air collision with a refueling tanker. After that, no more nuclear bombs flew. The one on the left went into the drink, the other landed in soft mud and didn't explode. Two others did, but only the explosives went off. No nuclear yield (but some radioactive leakage--we hauled away 1,400 tons of dirt from the area.) I dunno, I thought it was interesting. Um, these bombs are empty now, by the way.
The '50's. What a wierd decade. (Among the paintings on display were several of the "town" they'd built to test the destructive effects of the first "Trinity" bomb test near Alamogordo, NM. They dressed mannequins up, sitting around tables, drinking coffee. Somebody had a sense of humor; the women wore hats, white gloves and pearls, just like Donna Reed. They called the place "Doomtown.")
Had to see this place, just a few mile detour. One foot, four states.
And one more amazing place. You've seen plenty of pictures of Bryce Canyon, you don't need to see mine. But I really liked this sunset shot of my campsite. Guess it was about 8,500 feet. Cold and crystal clear. Perfect camping weather.
Thanks for looking.
beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Thanks for checking in here SacramentoMike and I hope the FJR repairs are light in the wallet for you! Great photos and very witty comments, but I thought Alex's pretty young girlfriend was named Holly!
By the way, how many miles ago was your last valve check before the mishap? Inquiring minds want to know. https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/ Very interesting personal info about your nuclear background!
By the way, how many miles ago was your last valve check before the mishap? Inquiring minds want to know. https://www.nuclearmuseum.org/ Very interesting personal info about your nuclear background!
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Not to do a "me too me too!" sorta thing, but I was a missile technician on a Polaris submarine and wanted to clarify this. All US nuclear weapons are "one point safe" meaning they are designed so if they are dropped violently such as these were that if they exploded, it will only be the HE surrounding the core if it's not armed. I remember seeing training films in school of warheads being dropped from cranes to show how safe they were.Two others did, but only the explosives went off. No nuclear yield (but some radioactive leakage--we hauled away 1,400 tons of dirt from the area.) I dunno, I thought it was interesting. <snipped>
Don't know alot about this particular incident other than what I've seen/read (and Cuba Gooding as Chief Carl Brashear involved in the retrieval of the one on the left), but what SacMike said makes sense; no nuclear explosion, but release of nuc materials, usually alpha particles IIRC.
I was first assigned on the USS Proteus in Guam - a Polaris sub tender aka repair ship - and we'd actually sit on the warheads on duty nights while jokin and cokin' - OK, it should be smokin' and jokin' but the smoking lamp was OUT in the secured area of missile/warhead storage, and the "cokin'" as in Coca Cola, not, er, you know..... I've never had kids so don't know if they would have had 7 fingers, 2 noses, etc, but that nice tingly feeling you'd get down under when sitting on them was, oh, never mind again! Just joking - that's what we'd tell the new kids that sitting on the warheads was what caused "Guam Rot" aka a rash that was common out there due to the conditions. I know, TMI, 'nuff said, etc.
I wanted to go with you guys that last day to this museum, but I did enjoy just a leisurely day around Taos, doing some exploring. Oh well, there's always next time!
Now back to your regular FJR scheduled programming..........
rogdeb
Scouser
Thanks Don
.. Most of the credit to Deb though. Old Michael ..... nyaaahh ... didn't teach me everything :winksmiley: ..... How not to take peeps seriously maybe :lol:
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beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Are you indeed 100% sure Roger, not even an inkling regarding the salmon colored object in Mick's left hand?Thanks Don
rogdeb
Scouser
I tink I'll plead the fith :lol: (Gotti voice here)Are you indeed 100% sure Roger, not even an inkling regarding the salmon colored object in Mick's left hand?Thanks Don
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It's a friggin' KEYCHAIN!Are you indeed 100% sure Roger, not even an inkling regarding the salmon colored object in Mick's left hand?
Dr. Rich seeing it as a vibrator? That says much more about Dr. Rich than about the appearance of the keychain.
Excellent photos, Deb!
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beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Right! And it's a completely innocent coincidence it's the exact same "keychain" that Tyler, Barb and MEM have in the top drawer of the nightstand in their bedrooms!!!It's a friggin' KEYCHAIN!Are you indeed 100% sure Roger, not even an inkling regarding the salmon colored object in Mick's left hand?
Dr. Rich seeing it as a vibrator? That says much more about Dr. Rich than about the appearance of the keychain.
Doktor Itch may be a drunken Dane, but he is not as blind as a bat! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!
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patch308
Well-known member
beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Thanks for the clarification, patch308; by the way, what is a beautiful girl like Hannah doing dating an ugly ass Jarhead like you!
rogdeb
Scouser
HotRodZilla
GOD BLESS AMERICA
She's either blind, or has some type of fetish for Sasquatch. Kinda like Barry loves things with wool, she is more into fur...maybe
