What did you do to your FJR today?

[Fred W]

yabbut... I bet the friggen glove box latch mechanism is still plastic.

 

[ionbeam]

...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...(a trial of patience in its own right)...There is a little wedge shaped piece of plastic that is supposed to retract the lid catch, that has worn itself down...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....

Ya, I knows about that. In my glove box the spring that actuates the little wedge shaped piece of plastic bent and broke. This caused the catch and the guide for the push-plunger to destroy the plastic in a way that JB Weld, fiberglass, plastic welding, duct tape and some Double Bubble couldn't fix. After living with it for over a year I finely gave in and bought a new box. It has been sitting for over a month (along with many other bits 'n pieces) waiting for me to get the time for 'trial and patience' to replace it.

In the mean time I have confirmed that my old plugs look normal and new ones have taken their place. I have new oil to wear out at NERDS, my shift lever has yet again been removed and lubed -- I can hit neutral again *and* down shift quickly. While at it my engine is now in sink, err synch. I left my brake pivot so everyone at NERDS can tell me my brake pedal is sticking; I'm playing along to give people cheap thrills

My air blocker has been removed along with 2 pounds of sunflower and thistle seed which was replaced by an air filter that actually flows air. If I keep following Fred down dirt roads I may look into some kind of K&N pre-filter for the main paper filter

 

[Fred W]

Wait...

You have a new ohl filter...

new ohl...

new tahrs (I know cause I hepped ta' spoon them ohn)

a new air filter with all the mouse detritus removed (not really a good idear since we all know that mouse detritus is an excellent filter medium)

...and you still don't want ta ride them dirt roads?

I jus do not know wut to say to you brother. (headshake)

 

[smithe68]

Cleaned the millions of dead bugs that sacrificed themselves for my riding enjoyment over the weekend along the Lochsa and Lolo Pass.

 

[Chuck35]

Put the finishing touches on my weekend farkles. Sunday was the prettiest day for riding we have had in weeks. I spent all of it working on the bike lol

I installed a new R/R harness from https://www.roadstercycle.com. I followed the factory harness to the front (along left side), adding some high temp loom where things got a bit tight under the airbox.

Voltage readings went from 13.5 - 13.8 to 14.1 Not a huge difference, but this was preventive and I plan to add heated gear and aircraft landing lights.

Then I routed the unused wires under the seat and installed an FZ-1 fuseblock. This required running a wire loom along the right side and rewiring farkles.

Installed PAIR block off plates

For 1 night my farkle parts box was empty. Today the mailman brought the APE manual CCT I ordered.

 

[PhilJet09]

Hey Chuck, did you order the standard length harness from roadstercycle or a different length? 3' seems like it might be a little tight. Was it plenty long, just right or other? I tend to run my wires with a little extra built in for contingencies.

 

[Chuck35]

Phil, he makes a kit for the FJR. It's 6 feet or so. The length was perfect, I had maybe 2 inches to spare

This left a little slack crossing the engine bay in front of the valve cover. IMHO a little slack is a good thing.

I also have a "serviceable" amount of slack at either end.

Coming up on the inside of the battery would have given more slack, I went to the outer side along the factory harness.

This kit is very well built and in a pvc loom. It is "plug and play"

Had I known how much work I was getting into, I may have put it off until I actually needed to do it lol

It was right at $50 delivered (quickly)

greets to dcarver for mentioning Jacks kit in his charging system thread

 

[kamal]

Finally got around to doing something about my rear brake pedal.

A slow speed drop on gravel, a couple of months ago, led to my pedal 'pad' snapping off.

As I rarely use the rear brake, I was in no rush to replace it. However, a buddy saw it the other day and suggested I attach a folding shifter to it for now - he even gave me an old one.

Drilled and tapped both pieces, applied a layer of 'plastic metal' between them and screwed them together. Just have to pick up a couple of lock nuts sometime.

Looks a bit 'ghetto', but it works - for free!

Al.

 

[Fred W]

I too finally got around to doing something I have been putting off for a long time. I finally installed the GP Suspensions revalve kits in my stock FJR fork legs.

I had made a false start a while back, getting one leg fully disassembled before realizing that GP had shorted me the needles and springs for the new rebound damper valves. I had thought that the original needles would just be swapped over but I had thought wrong. Any way, they sent them out to me a while ago but I have been procrastinating doing the full job.

Today was the day. Not too hot in the garage, nothing going on at work that I couldn't just monitor my phone while wrenching in the garage. And this time everything went pretty much according to plan. Ran by the LBS and snagged a couple of liters of Motul Light (5W) fork oil, jacked the bike front up and went to town.

The one other thing that I modified was how the aftermarket springs were installed in my forks. When I bought the bike the previous owner had already swapped out the springs with some Sonic 1.0kg/mm springs. I had noticed when doing fork oil changes previously that the springs did not seem very well held concentric in the forks.

When I ordered the valve kits this winter GP also sent me a pair of their 1.05kg springs. On those springs they have some little flanges that fit into the bottom ends of the springs, which got me thinking...

Here is the first gen cartridge after removing it from one of the fork legs (fork disassembly is detailed in many other places)

The stock spring on a first gen is wound tapered at each end, and the bottom of the spring rests on top of the large flat area on the top of the cartridge. But that large flat are is actually a large washer lightly pressed onto the stepped top of the brass hex of the cartridge top. You can just tap that washer and it will pop right off leaving what looks like the same as a second gen's cartridge

Notice that step in the upper edge of the brass hex area. This is where the spring seats on a second gen FJR, and it is clearly where GP suspensions intended their springs to seat as well.

Here's the flange separated from the GP spring and fitted on the top of the cartridge, and you can see how this would both support and concentrically capture the bottom of the spring.

I'm not sure if any other 1st genners knew about this, that you could just knock off the stock washer and use a second gen type spring seat, but it was a surprise to me.

I'll eventually be installing the 1.05 kg/mm springs (which are shorter, so I'll have to make new spacers up for them) but for now I'm running with these new lower seats on the old Sonic springs, and the new GP valves inside the cartridges.

Took the bike out for a short romp this evening to rough adjust in the damping. All I have to say is: Wow!!

The fork re-valving has made a huge difference. I can now dial-in way more compression damping, enough to all but eliminate nose dive when braking, but without having a superstiff unresponsive fork over the bumps due to the improved high speed orifices in the valves. These well worth the $300 in parts that it cost me for the two valve kits (compression and rebound) IMO.

Now I can feel that the rear Penske is definitely a bit too highly sprung for solo rides. I'll try backing off the preload first, but it may require going back to a softer spring back there.

It's always something...

 

[rbentnail]

It's always something...

Yeah, but only b/c of those **** roads you ride on. I was up your way last week and I had a revelation as to why so many New Englanders say the suspension is so lacking and why so many others drink their koolaid. I've always thought that PA had terrible roads but discovered that they are mostly glass compared to upstate NY, VT and NH. Regardless of the scenery, my experience dictates "never again"....

 

[Fred W]

It's always something...

Yeah, but only b/c of those **** roads you ride on. I was up your way last week and I had a revelation as to why so many New Englanders say the suspension is so lacking and why so many others drink their koolaid. I've always thought that PA had terrible roads but discovered that they are mostly glass compared to upstate NY, VT and NH. Regardless of the scenery, my experience dictates "never again"....

Same thing I've been saying for years. If you can ride fast on the roads in New England you can ride even faster anywhere else. And you didn't even experience the really bumpy roads of the northeast. Maine and New Brunswick make NH and VT look smooth. Why do you think ADV bikes are so popular up in these parts? And you don't see a lot of hardtails out on the roads here either.

But on another note, We do have a few smooth roads: The ones that have been repaved within the last year.

You probably should have given us a heads up and we could have clued you in on where the better roads are this year.

 

[MCRIDER007]

Took the bike out for a short romp this evening to rough adjust in the damping. All I have to say is: Wow!!

The fork re-valving has made a huge difference. I can now dial-in way more compression damping, enough to all but eliminate nose dive when braking, but without having a superstiff unresponsive fork over the bumps due to the improved high speed orifices in the valves. These well worth the $300 in parts that it cost me for the two valve kits (compression and rebound) IMO.

Now I can feel that the rear Penske is definitely a bit too highly sprung for solo rides. I'll try backing off the preload first, but it may require going back to a softer spring back there.

It's always something...

Welcome to the world of premium suspension

, but what seems great today quickly becomes the new norm....and anything less becomes undesirable. You can always go back to OEM suspension.....but why would anyone want to?

 

[ionbeam]

...And you didn't even experience the really bumpy roads of the northeast. Maine and New Brunswick make NH and VT look smooth...

True dat!!! At one point in New Brunswick my pillion was ready to get off and walk the 80 miles back to our room. That trip pounded the guts out of my Wilbers shock with a bad Penske rebuild.

 

[Geezer]

...And you didn't even experience the really bumpy roads of the northeast. Maine and New Brunswick make NH and VT look smooth...

True dat!!! At one point in New Brunswick my pillion was ready to get off and walk the 80 miles back to our room. That trip pounded the guts out of my Wilbers shock with a bad Penske rebuild.

Just go up and ride around in Quebec province for a few days and the New England and NY roads will seem smooth enough.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Well I decided to change the headlights on my FJR. My high priced manual was just about useless. So I reverted to google searching and found a nice right up on another forum. He is a member here also though. It was the first posting google came up with. So it wasn't the difficult challange I thought it might be. The infomous Gen II headlight change was easy. I think where some folks might go wrong is by not removing the upper panels which only take a few more minutes. This opens everything up and gives you plenty of room to get your hands in there.

So now I have two new light bulbs per Fred W's recomendations. I may not get the life of the original bulbs but the performance is much better and worth the trade off. I got to test them out while driving home from Twin Rivers Casino after the YES concert. My brother treated me to Front row seats come to find out. Doesn't get any better than that.

So on another note:

While i was in there I decided to take a look at the mirrors also. I took one side off and made a template and wrote down all the dimension needed to make some future light brackets. If it goes as usual i will have them done in a year or sow.

That's it for now

Dave

 

[rbentnail]

Same thing I've been saying for years. If you can ride fast on the roads in New England you can ride even faster anywhere else.

And you didn't even experience the really bumpy roads of the northeast. Maine and New Brunswick make NH and VT look smooth. Why do you think ADV bikes are so popular up in these parts? And you don't see a lot of hardtails out on the roads here either.

Vermont did have one smooth, comfortable road. I think it was US-4. I'd really hate to see the "really bumpy roads". What killed me was that I'd be riding along, getting my teeth knocked loose, and see the sign. You know the one. "Rough Road 8 miles". I'm thinking, "WTF. How much worse can it be?" What a *******, I found out....

But on another note, We do have a few smooth roads: The ones that have been repaved within the last year. You probably should have given us a heads up and we could have clued you in on where the better roads are this year.

Everything had been planned months and months ago by others reasonably familiar with the area(s) but I appreciate the offer. Stayed in Lake George, NY; lunched in Lake Placid and Clairmont, NH; Sunday dinner in Cambridge, MD (Delmarva) for mussels and crab. It's great when you go into a place and instead of $$ you see MKT on the menu. That's last night's market price for fresh off-the-boat.

 

[Goodman4]

If you can guess what this is sticking out from under my mirror, you will know what I hit this afternoon on the beginning of our ride.

 

[griff]

Finally got around to replacing the 3 out of 4 burned out lights in my instrument dash today.

Hope I can get it all back together.

 

[Geezer]

If you can guess what this is sticking out from under my mirror, you will know what I hit this afternoon on the beginning of our ride.

I was going to guess deer, but that doesn't look like deer hair.

Hope you are not hurt.

 

[Fred W]

Same thing I've been saying for years. If you can ride fast on the roads in New England you can ride even faster anywhere else.

And you didn't even experience the really bumpy roads of the northeast. Maine and New Brunswick make NH and VT look smooth. Why do you think ADV bikes are so popular up in these parts? And you don't see a lot of hardtails out on the roads here either.

Vermont did have one smooth, comfortable road. I think it was US-4. I'd really hate to see the "really bumpy roads". What killed me was that I'd be riding along, getting my teeth knocked loose, and see the sign. You know the one. "Rough Road 8 miles". I'm thinking, "WTF. How much worse can it be?" What a *******, I found out....

Yeah 4 is smooth west of Queechee. It was just repaved from there to Woodstock. The short section from White River to Queechee is how the whole thing used to be. But it's also pretty boring as Vermont roads go.

I just took an ADV tag ride in VT yesterday (on my 'strom) and enjoyed a number of roads better than Rte 4. Two mountain gaps, Rochester Gap from Bethel to Rochester and then Brandon Gap from Rochester to Brandon (the tag was at the Horrid Mt. Cliffs overlook in Brandon Gap), are both relatively smooth and nicely twisty with lots of fun elevation changes. Middlebury Gap (aka scenic 125) is another good road.

Did your friend take you over the Appalachian Gap? That is Rte 17 between Waitsfield and Huntington. That's a great road (people "from away" tend to flock to it) but the road surface has been pretty beat up for the past few years, especially on the west side of the gap.

Did you ride the Kangamagus in NH (Rte 116)? Not just the touristy part from Lincoln to Conway, the best part is from Woodstock NH to the Vermont border at Woodsville, NH.

Yeah, we could have set you onto some much better roads.

But on another note, We do have a few smooth roads: The ones that have been repaved within the last year. You probably should have given us a heads up and we could have clued you in on where the better roads are this year.

Everything had been planned months and months ago by others reasonably familiar with the area(s) but I appreciate the offer. Stayed in Lake George, NY; lunched in Lake Placid and Clairmont, NH; Sunday dinner in Cambridge, MD (Delmarva) for mussels and crab. It's great when you go into a place and instead of $$ you see MKT on the menu. That's last night's market price for fresh off-the-boat.

Oh my gosh. Now I'm really sorry you didn't consult us locals. Seems that whoever your guide was steered you wrong in a myriad of ways. We generally try to avoid Lake Placid whenever in the 'Dacks. There is a road (The Old Military Rd) that circumvents most of the center of town. Too many tourists with too many cars in too little space for me. And Claremont is the absolute slummiest town (city actually) in NH. It's another town we strive to avoid whenever possible. We definitely could have made some better suggestions for you. I can't even think of a good place to eat in Claremont...

No wonder you didn't enjoy yourself very much in New England.

Also, those "MKT Prices" in the menu doesn't necessarily mean it is any fresher. It mostly means it is expensive so they don't want to print it in the menu. They figure, if you have to ask... Plus the prices do change from weeke to week and they don't want to have to keep reprinting the menues. That little technique is usually reserved for shellfish; lobsters, clams and oysters. Crab too, in some places.