What did you do to your FJR today?

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4 days of riding The Dragon and surrounding areas.

Me too!!

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The FJR looks good Andy!
Thank you.

Today, I pulled the top case to see why the left side lights weren't working. Grabbed tools, multimeter, etc. Pulled lid liner, and found the connector, clearly marked LEFT, was unplugged. On a HUNCH, plugged it back in and put it back on the bike to test - yup! Problem solved, and discovered I have the lights that flash amber for turn signals, as well as using red for running and brake.

The more you know!

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Mounted and balanced a new T-30 GT rear tire today. Did anyone ever mention they are stiff? The 190/55-17 is a tough SOB, and the trick is to keep the lower bead from setting before the top rim is installed. I ended up using a floor jack a breaker bar to keep the tire centered in the rim. Got the tire this month from Jake Wilson and the date stamp is 2814, so I expected a bit fresher tire than 2-years old.

 
It was about the right time so replaced the clutch and brake fluids with nice, fresh DOT 4 with the assistance of my wife.

She's always been real good when brake bleeding, topping off reservoirs etc. The second set of hands helps a lot. She was quite impressed with all the hoses, lines and connectors behind the right side panel when accessing the rear reservoir. Not hard but a bit of a tedious job, nice to have completed. Summer's here!

 
Spent the afternoon outside in this miserable and ridiculously oppressive heat. Changing oil on this, fixing that, maintaining this..... bla bla bla.

This time of year, in these parts, one has to take a break often and drink water. You need a towel and a stool. The air is heavy and it sits on you like a wet heated blanket. I retreat to my shop with a cold bottle and sit down on the stool. The fan is blowing in my direction, but not overly so. At my age, if I catch a chill, I'll start sneezing and before you know it, I'll have bigger problems. I wipe my brow off and put my glasses back on. And right there, right then, my attention focuses on the FJR.

Intuitively, a smile comes upon me.

She's sitting on the center stand. Immaculately clean and shining beautifully under the florescent light. She looks like she is running 75 mph just sitting there. I study the fairings closely and try to think about what Yamaha was thinking when they designed the bike. How could they come up with a package that is so perfect? It's really the best of all worlds. She's made for mileage, but not at the compromise of performance.

From my low angle perception, I can see the motor. It's a compact and gorgeous package that is all about business. There is NOTHING there without a purpose. I think about where this package has taken me over the past 8 months and 12,000 miles. And I think about the ones before her, identical in design and performance. Collectively, these motors have hauled my fat ass and all my shit all over the country. I've run them up to high speeds at times. Low speeds at others, and still in between most of the time. She doesn't care what I ask of her. Fast, slow - it doesn't matter to her. She's just glad to be out of the shop and part of the adventure. She does it with a confidence that is representative of her lineage, and rightfully so. She's not a squid machine. She's not a bar hopper. No - my baby is a REAL ride. She's ready to go wherever I want to, any time, any day.

What did I do to my FJR today? I spent 5 minutes of quality time with her, day dreaming about adventures past and future.

Stay thirsty, my friends.....

 
Well, not just today, but since Sunday I've put about 2,200 miles on my bike! :) Took 4 days to get to Grand Junction. Yesterday we rode from GJ on Hwy 141 to Hwy 145 down through Delores, to Durango and up the Million $ highway to Ouray for the night. Rode by Blue Mesa Lake today, along the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and up and over Grand Mesa. Temps ranging from 60F to almost 100F today. It's been a blast!

 
I worked in and out of the "oppressive heat" hppants is complaining about all day. At the end of the day, just like every day, I put on my Tourmaster Transition 3 and walked out of the plant to my waiting FJR. Folks used to look at me like I was crazy wearing that thick jacket in 95 degree South Louisiana Humid Heat. Now they take it for granted that I ride in all sorts of weather. They still think I am crazy.

I do feel bad about how dirty the FJR is right now. But Scar is not doing touring duty right now, he is doing commuter duty. Dirty work.

 
What did I do to my FJR today? I spent 5 minutes of quality time with her, day dreaming about adventures past and future.
Stay thirsty, my friends.....
Beautiful post.

I rode mine three times today, just local errands, 10/20/40 miles, in the same oppressive heat. I just love how this bike runs. The torque. The grunt. Then - when able - the power when she gets to breathe. I feel like I'm piloting a cruise missile. I feel like if I could point her at the moon, she'd take me there....

 
I changed the oil and filter. I was very meticulous with a blanket laid on the garage floor, tools carefully laid out. I changed the oil and sealed everything up only spilling one drop of oil on the floor. I put my tools away

...and then...

while pouring the old oil from the pan into the empty one gallon container through the funnel (with another pan under the gallon jug for extra security) the funnel filled and tipped over the gallon jug. Three quarts of oil splatted onto my porous concrete floor, my jeans cuffs, my flip flops, AND MY IMMACULATELY CLEAN FJR. I said out loud, "how could this get more fucked up?" I spent the next three hours cleaning up the giant mess. I washed the FJR and then had to take it out for an hour to blow dry it. So, not all that bad.

 
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