Tech Day in Southwest Virginia

[vasteve]

We have heat! I stopped by the local Southern States and got a good deal on the stand up style Mr Heater. I tried it out and seems to work great. So even if it's a little cold outside we should be fine in the garage. Who all wants to come by Friday when you get in? I think jeff is going to start wrenching as soon as he gets here. We can have a little meet and greet Friday for anybody that wants to come. See you then!

 

[HaulinAshe]

Clothes packed. check.

Tools packed. check.

snow flurries tonight. check.

So long as I can see concrete when I open the garage door Friday morning, I will be south bound and hammer down...

Wayne

Uhhhhh....

Clothes packed. Uncheck.

Clothes still smelly & dirty. check. Perhaps I'll wear them a few more days?

Tools packed. Sortacheck. At least I know where they are.

Snow flurries tonight. Oh God I hope not!

So long as I can see concrete when I walk into the garage, that means the sun is up and I'll be northwest bound. No friggin idea where the hammer is. Still can't find it! You need a big hammer to work on some FJRs.

 

[rcpd807]

We have heat! I stopped by the local Southern States and got a good deal on the stand up style Mr Heater. I tried it out and seems to work great. So even if it's a little cold outside we should be fine in the garage. Who all wants to come by Friday when you get in? I think jeff is going to start wrenching as soon as he gets here. We can have a little meet and greet Friday for anybody that wants to come. See you then!

Yeah....heat!!! Way to go Steve. Now all we need is a kegerator, wet bar, and a chef. I am planning on arriving shortly afternoon to assist Steve with any last minute details. My FJR can't wait for its makeover. See y'all tomorrow.

 

[Burnspot]

May or may not make it...discussions over weekend plans with wife underway...again, lol. If I do go, I'll mostly likely shack up at the Econolodge as well (they still appear to have room).

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Things are not looking good for me. Instead of being able to cut out of here at noon, it looks like I may have to work late. That means I would ride over tomorrow. Still looking at dealing with rain and cold temps between here and there. I still hold a glimmer of hope, but that glimmer is fading.

 

[E.T.]

Eating some lunch in Hazard, about half way there...

 

[wheatonFJR]

Eating some lunch in Hazard, about half way there...

...been there.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Weather is no longer a concern. I have gone from working late today to working this weekend. Have fun guys!

 

[Burnspot]

You guys have fun up there! Wish I could have gone to learn the steering bearing stuff, but my long range trip plans for the weekend have been foiled. :glare:

 

[extrememarine]

661 miles today. Landed safely in VA and just in time for dinner. A lot of slab time today, but not all...

 

[wheatonFJR]

Wayne, you are my hero!

 

[Jogle]

Great group of FJR owners !!! Learned a lot and had a good day .

 

[extrememarine]

Home safe. Ride report to follow. 1300+ miles in 3 days. Ohlins & HA007 is the sheeznit

Big thanks to Steve for hosting, and it was great meeting everyone!!

Wayne, you are my hero!

What? It was just a short shake down run for my new golden pieces...

I found out exactly how far a Pirelli Angel will go:

All better, courtesy of the Ironpony.com service department in Columbus:

 

[SCB]

Well, my first Tech Day couldn't have been better, in fact the whole weekend was great.

I'm home safe but I can't say it was uneventful. Ended up hitting SNOW on the Blue Ridge Parkway! First the road was mostly dry, then wet spots, then mostly wet,then there was snow along the side of the road, then slush here and there on the road, then I came around a bend and there it was, SNOW SHOULDER TO SHOULDER! Fortunately I had slowed to about 10 mph and just slid sideways into the ditch. Didn't drop it but did end up getting stuck. Stuck in snow in Virginia in April. Turns out PR2's don't do very well as snow tires. Fortunately a car driver saw me slide and came back to help. He ended up helping push me out of the ditch then was kind enough to mention that it was only another mile or so of snow and then the road cleared up pretty well. I thanked him for the info but thought it might be safer to back track and cut over to RT 81. Guess he never tried riding a 600 lb motorcycle in the snow.

Anyway, as I said, I home and none the worse for wear. Thanks again to Steve for hosting and to Jeff, Frank and Wayne and all the guys for sharing their hard-earned knowledge. It really is a great group of guys!

SCB

 

[HaulinAshe]

We rolled out at 07:00 this morning and just like Bugs Bunny, I must have made a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Because I made it almost all the way to Lewisburg WV for breakfast and turned around 180 to head home. Arrived home about 20:45, tired as hell and happy.

Everyone pitched in an contributed. A big thanks to BigFrank and Extrememarine for helping so much with the wrenching. Good folks all weekend long.

 

[rcpd807]

Wow....what a great, but very busy weekend. Jeff, Wayne, and Big Frank are extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of the FJR and Steve was an excellent host. I greatly appreciate everyone's assistance and participation to make this tech day a success. I only hope this is the first of many tech days like this to come over the next few years.

I must say my bike was one sick puppy and had some very serious wiring issues. But after these guys working there magic on it, I swear I am riding a totally different bike. With only 26,000 miles, I did not know how much of a negative effect carbon build up would have on the performance of the motor.

Again to all that helped and participated, I can not thank you enough for the education and assistance.

 

[vasteve]

I hope our tech day turned out to be what everyone was hoping for. I want to thank Jeff Wayne and Big Frank for all there help and know how. I found out that I had paid for services that hadn't been done. After checking and regreasing the steering head bearings I can see why someone might tell you they did it and really didn't. To do it right it's a job. With out Jeff's help I would have never got it done right. Wayne's help with the TBS and checking all my spider connecting was great. These guy's really know there FJR's. I was glad to host and hope to do it again. Thanks again to Neil and his help to put this together. Now that Spring is here I hope everyone has a safe and fun riding season!

 

[wheatonFJR]

I assume everybody made it home okay...

PR2s are not great cold weather tires for grip. Okay enough for some...but if I have those on my bike...and it's cold 30s...I back off.

 

[HaulinAshe]

I tried to follow Wayne home. We took a leisurely morning run up VA-311 and over the snow-dusted top of Potts Mtn. Then down the other side and had a great breakfast at Paint Bank General Store. After breakfast, Wayne looked at me and said "go home", so I tucked my tail and turned around.

Whimpering back across 311/Potts Mtn., I consoled myself by doing some traditional goat trail exploration. After a light rain the night before, country gravel beckons for puddle jumping.

Here's my jewel of the trip, near SimmonsvilleVA (GPS coordinates N37 22.735 W80 20.914)...

 

[wheatonFJR]

Dangit Jeff...now I'm gonna havta find that spot...without a gps even.