What did you do to your FJR today?

[user 31223]

No I don't tend to run tires to the end, indeed these metzler z6 tires still had ok wear bars, and I had it booked in for tire change because they were close, but these tires have , as I found out on this site after I hit the issue, a design flaw, they have a solid central section and the wear bars closest to that do not reflect the amount of tread left. Won't be fitting these tires again. The key indicator I discovered is the central section develops a dark line just before wearing out, like last 50 miles.

I have pr2s now that have tread all the way across and wear bars which will give me a better indicator.

 

[Fred W]

The old Pirelli Diablo Stradas had a similar tread design on the rear tire and also caught a lot of folks off guard. They were, in all other regards, an excellent tire choice at the time. But that design prompted many of us to run a Dunlop Roadsmart on the back (the front roadsmarts were garbage) paired with the Pirelli Strada on the front. Now that was a great combination...

 

[Fred W]

Rode to work today. Now I have a light out and it needs to be replaced. Should I replace both? Since Fred is just a regular yankee he might know where to get a good deal on replacement feejer bulbs. I haven't done a bulb change as of yet. This will be the first time.
Dave

Dave,

First off, stay away from the blue tinted bulbs. The blue is just a film coating on capsule and it reduces the light output to get that color. The brightest halogen headlight bulbs are clear ones.

You'll want to stick with the stock 55/60W (low/high) bulbs for the sake of your wiring harness and headlight bucket, neither of which will do well with the increased heat of higher wattage bulbs.

Don't waste your money on "overclocked" bulbs like PIAAs (stock wattage, but put out more lumens) unless you have too much of it (money that is) or want to change out the bulbs far more frequently.

I would suggest something like the Sylvania XtraVision which you should be able to find in your local car parts store.

Bulbs can be changed without any tools, if you are handy. One trick is to watch the bulb's alignment through the headlight while you feel the bulb into the hole and flip the wire bail retainer. We did both of bbdig's bulbs in the parking lot at CFR Fredrickton a few years ago. Of course he is lucky enough to have a superior 1st Gen bike...

FWIW - After having replaced my headlight bucket for the second time on the FJR I've decided not to reinstall ny HID headlights. The HIDs ran hotter and in both buckets they corroded the reflective area above the lamp capsule which would result in less light being thrown down low towards the roadway foreground. It was nice to have the added conspicuousness of the HIDs, but not worth the effort to me of doing the install a third time.

 

[ionbeam]

Do you always let your tires wear down to the metal bands? Just my opiniom but I replace em at or just under the wear bars......I think traction suffers with that last bit of rubber left, rubber seems to wear faster after the wear bars also.

Never. I always change mine at, or near, the wear bars...yet many folks around here have a cavalier attitude about how worn their skins become before changing them. Some even take great pride in wearing them as far as possible.

Not only does the dry traction suffer in the last bit of rubber, but your risk of hydroplaning in wet weather increases dramatically, and the risk of a puncture goes up significantly too as these tires are pretty darned thin by the time there is no more tread left on them. A sharp stone or piece of glass in the road could be a quick end to your ride day.

Well there are swamp yankees. Dems even more frugal den regular yanks. Rode to work today. Now I have a light out and it needs to be replaced. Should I replace both? Since Fred is just a regular yankee he might know where to get a good deal on replacement feejer bulbs. I haven't done a bulb change as of yet. This will be the first time.

I'm one that just changed a totally tread-free, paper thin BT023 at 6,730 miles. I tend to be a World Class procrastinator which leads to some late tire changes. Other times like this CFR I get a little surprise where I leave on perfectly good tires and come home with no tread on the sides of the tire. Then life throws in a curve ball or two so the tire change gets pushed out weeks beyond what I really need. Then Fred takes me 'n my baldies down dirt roads and all I can do is listen for the POP

I absolutely hated the BT023 and had a set of PRs delivered to my house just before CFR, planning to take off what appeared to be perfectly good tires. For once I was ahead of life's little surprises and had new tires waiting for me when I got home from CFR. Then life gets revenge by throwing me a curve ball or two which resulted in baldies.

Dave, for the first time you are going to find that your Gen II sucks (when it comes to headlight changes). I've been running Osram Silver Star 9003XV 3,200K bulbs for >2 years (>25k miles) with out hurting the headlight buckets or wiring. The lights are brighter than stock; enough that I think it is noticeable at night.

 

[Fred W]

Osram Silver Star and Sylvania Silver Star are manufactured by the same company, but are not the same bulb. The Sylvania product is an "extra white" bulb with blue glass. They have an unreasonably short lifespan and produce less light, not more, than a standard bulb. This is because the blue glass blocks a significant proportion of the light from the filament. Bad value given their very high price.

The Osram product has clear colorless glass so all the light from the filament escapes the bulb and is available for use within the beam pattern. These are a good choice.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will break the manual out tonight and see what kind of torture I am in for. No, my big hands do not fit well in tiny places. Doesn't look like I am going out for lunch it is raining torents right now. I hope it clears before I leave work today. I have the rain gear just in case. Would be nice to hear Odot poke his head in once and a while.

Dave

 

[Niehart]

Dave, just be aware that the aftermarket bulbs have a shorter life span. I get about 30,000 miles out of my Osrams.

 

[kamal]

I think I must have a mild case of OCD. My bike is running perfectly, zero problems - that I know of.

However, the other day it occurred to me that I have never done any maintenance to the final-drive system, other than looking at it when I did a tire change and a differential oil change.

I spent an hour or so reading through the many posts on this subject and came to realize that this was a non-issue and I shouldn't worry about it.

So......., next thing I knew, the bike was up on the hoist with the bags, mufflers, rear wheel and pumpkin removed. I also removed the shift linkage cover.

Guess what? The posts were right, it's a non-issue. But at least I know everything is lubed and torqued.

Now I can go for a ride and find something else to obsess about.

Al.

 

[Bungie]

Loobing the shift linkage pivot (under the cover) made a HUGE difference of how my 04 shifted.

 

[Fred W]

But now you'll have to loob (sic) your turd-teen's shifter. (it'll probably still make an appreciable difference)

 

[rbentnail]

New front tire installed today. Went with the Shinko 005 Advance. I've never had one on the front before but I used one on the rear once. Stuck like glue, even in the wet, but the life was a little low at about 4000 miles. I'm thinking a) I want a stickier front end, and 2) for $128 installed I can easily buy 2 per year without hurting the wallet if I get only 5-6000 miles out of them.

Scratch that. The Shinko caused a death wobble. Now have a Pirelli Diablo on the front. A little softer than the old Strada and current Angel, smooth as a baby's butt. We'll see how it goes, taking a little ride around the block beginning tomorrow, may be sans computer: Wed night in Hazleton, PA; Thur-Sun nights in Lake George, NY with Friday lunch in Lake Placid and Sat lunch in Clairmont, NH: Sunday dinner is in Delmarva Maryland for seafood, then home Monday. See ya's on the road!

 

[Sharif]

Great evening here, accomplished two things - drained the bike, mowed the lawn, buttoned up the bike, and gave it a nice fill of Mobil 1.

Nothing like an evening ride with temps in the 60s and the buttery smooth shifting of fresh synthetic!

 

[Bungie]

But now you'll have to loob (sic) your turd-teen's shifter. (it'll probably still make an appreciable difference)

Not yet, it shifts like buttah.

 

[user 31223]

Added an Alaska leather butapas and lowered passenger footpegs from mcl, trying to get the Missus to ride with me, but high degree temps aren't helping - lol

 

[PhilJet09]

Engine oil and filter change, final drive oil change, new spark plugs, removed the air box and cleaned the butterflies and throttle bodies and did the RDCUTBS for the first time. It made a noticeable difference in the smoothness of the engine, don't know why I waited 50,000 miles. Thanks Fred!

 

[RossKean]

How long did it take to remove and replace the airbox?

 

[PhilJet09]

Not long, 15 min maybe. Remove tank, pull off forward seat bracket thingy, disconnect a couple vent lines and the air temp sensor, then loosen the clamps on the boots. I also removed the two rear screws securing the tray under the seat which gave me just enough room to wiggle the air box out without having to actually remove the whole tray.

 

[RossKean]

Thanks!

 

[Fred W]

Thanks from me too. I need to do that soon (clean the throttle bodies).

Today I dis a little pre-inspection inspection before I bring the bikes in tomorrow morning to have NH State safety inspections done. Yes, I'm a month late (all bikes are due on June 31st, but I've been too damn busy and the Aprilia wasn't re-registered yet, and the Vstrom had the clutch all torn apart (now all fixered up).

Discovered the running light bulb on the front left was out. Pulled off the left side lower faring and changed the bulb (had to go to Oreilly's to fetch one first) and while I had that side panel off I pulled out the glove box to see why its latch is messed up. I could feel the solenoid pulling out but pressing the top button did not release the lid.

After getting the glove box out of the faring (a trial of patience in its own right) I pulled off the solenoid and little lock latch gizmo and the button still wouldn't release the lid. There is a little wedge shaped piece of plastic that is supposed to retract the lid catch, that has worn itself down over the last 80k miles of button pushing. I jammed a piece of plastic in there for a temporary shim / fix, left the solenoid off entirely, heated and bent the tab on the underside of the lid to be further inboard, away from the catch, and sanded down the lip into a wedge shape to make it easier to operate the lid.

I guess that I'll have to decide if I want to pony up the hundo for a whole new box if I want it to work better. Or else make one of the homebrewed catches that other people have uses. Since I don't put anything valuable in there anyway (who the heck would?) I don't really care if it locks. I just want to be able to open it when I need to.

Now why didn't they make that little ramp out of metal? Huh?

 

[Bungie]

Now why didn't they make that little ramp out of metal? Huh?

It's why Gen 1's are 50lbs lighter than Gen 2's. Lots of little bits saving a gram or two.

After pushing my 04 around parking lots and gas stations and stuff for the last 4 years, the Gen3 feels like the Queen Mary in comparison.