What did you do to your FJR today?

[draco_1967]

The brake isn't sticking. When I apply the brakes, the whole cruise unit shuts off, even in diagnostic mode. It is supposed to flash a green light indicating that the unit reads the input.

The brakes are working fine, lights all work correctly. I'm hoping it isn't something with the MCC brain caused by the PO.

 

[Niehart]

draco, that rear brake is always supect. Clean and lube that pivit point, 07 I'm sure it needs it anyway.

 

[draco_1967]

I will do that for sure. Thanks!

The gents at MCCruise called me (left a message) and said that it might be a ground issue.

Well, stupid me didn't make sure that the ground leads on the battery post were actually for the cruise control. There was the lead for the battery tender, and another lead that I assumed to be the cruise. It turns out it goes nowhere. There must have been some accessory that the PO removed.

I found the cruise ground lead hiding in the dark corners of the plastics. Reconnected it, and boom! Cruise works. I still need to adjust the speed sensor, since it doesn't work below 70mph (which isn't a big deal anyway), but it works. This is going to be so nice!

 

[eflyguy]

Damn.. I had to check my fuel logs, until Thursday, I hadn't filled up since mid-October. Oh, the shame..

Anyway, after putting her back together, I took her for a short run to get gas (Ethanol-free now sold locally.) I've installed LED headlamp bulbs and so far, I think I like them. Only thing is, they came with optional filters which I think make the light too yellow, so I might try removing them to see if I prefer that.

Today, went on an adventure to take a couple of pics for a local "tag" game. Who knew this active bridge was in Metro ATL?

 

[AdamK]

Went to a friend's funeral yesterday. He was killed on his Ducati a few weeks ago. Was hoping to ride to the service but the rain was just too heavy. We got a sunny respite from the rain here in the Seattle area today so I took a ride and thought of my friend. Ride safe everyone!

 

[08FJR4ME]

Took the 08 to work today. 36 degrees this AM. Hoping for mid 40's later on today.

Dave

 

[08FJR4ME]

Rinse and repeat again. 28 degrees this morning. Going into the 50's later on today.

Dave

 

[El Toro Joe]

road the dirty pig to work...Woohooo!!!

 

[user 89952]

A bit late on it but finally got around to doing a TBS and only needed small adjustments. Got to sneak in a ride with the warm (to MN) weather yesterday. Itching for riding season now.

 

[pista]

Bought a dash shelf and stiffy kit from Tony.

Picked up a Fender Extender.

Ordered a pair of Leo Vince slip ons from Italy.

 

[BkerChuck]

Swapped out the warped rear brake rotor for the new one. Rode it to work for day 3 starting my next try at a perfect year.

 

[El Toro Joe]

rode it to work again...19 degrees for my ride in this morning

 

[BkerChuck]

^ Ditto, Day 4 of my attempt for a perfect year. 19 degrees here in PA as well.

 

[Fred W]

Wednesday I scored one of those Harbor Freight auto clamping wheel chocks and made myself a wooden base for it from a couple of 2x6's. Got the idea from FJReady who shamed me into doing my suspension arm maintenance on the '14 for the first time at 24k miles.

Put the bike in the chock and tied the front down with a couple of cam-lock tie down straps and my Canyon Dancer bar strap. Then set up my Black Iron Pipe stand and lifted the rear end only. Kind of nice that the T-Rex luggage guards are the same width as my pipe stand, so with the bike lifted I wrapped some rags around the guards and Ty-wrapped them to the pipes. Helps keep the bike from swaying around when lifted up in the air.

I used some nice hefty 1 1/4" ratchet straps to lift the rear. Looped the bottom end around the base of the the passenger footpeg brackets, which seems to be pretty sturdy. I did not trust the cast aluminum cross braces under the seat, though that is how Russ did his.

With the front wheel in the chock, and the luggage guards ty-wrapped its a very stable setup. Good thing I've got this all worked out 'cause I have a couple more FJRs to do this service on in the coming weeks.

Relay arm removal went pretty much as usual. The only real bitch of the job is getting that one lower right side center-stand bolt out without removing the exhaust header. On my '05 I was able to just barely squeeze that bolt out by flexing the exhaust a little bit. No way it was coming out that way on the '14. It would have to be cut.

After holding various tools up to it, neither my 4 1/2" angle grinder, nor little Dremel rotary tool could get up there to cut it. I was going to take a whack at it with a sawzall, but didn't like how close the blade would come to other stuff I didn't particularly want to cut. That's when I found I already owned the perfect tool to cut that damn bolt: A Dremel MultiMax 30 with the little metal cutting blade. That was a bit slow cutting, but got the job done neatly without butchering anything else up.

That long pivot bolt doesn't need to be removed all the way on these new 3rd Gens. Just slide it all the way right and leave it in the frame, there's plenty of room to get the relay pivot free.

And now I look out the window and see more snow flakes drifting down... When does that "out like a lamb" stuff happen again?

 

[rbentnail]

Front & rear brake fluid change, cycled ABS, then changed fluid again. May be a bit over kill but I'm all warm and fuzzy inside so it was worth it. Changed the clutch fluid too. Also took a leisurely countryside ride, repeatedly honked the new PIAA horns I installed last week for no good reason except to hear them.

 

[biknflyfisher]

Changed the engine oil, oil filter and rear diff. oil (Yamalube Syn 15W-50, good stuff...).

Such an easy project on this bike. My son (who rides a nice 2006 Suzuki Bandit 1200) stopped by for a visit and said his oil filter is hidden behind the exhaust headers and is no fun to get to.

Biknflyfisher

 

[Fred W]

Finished up my relay arm maintenance this morning. Greased all of the pivots with some good marine grade grease and everything went together nicely. Before reinstalling the frame pivot, I used the long bolt to pull the spacer out so I could clean and grease it. That way tightening the bolt clamps the inner bearing race, as it's supposed to.

The Home Depot replacement bolt for the right side center stand bolt that had to be cut was just a tad shorter than the original, and was inserted from the inside. Since the mechanical locking mechanism of the nut wont fully engage the shorter bolt you'll want to use some locktite on that one.

Went ahead and greased the brake pedal pivot while I had the tools out. Last maintenance I'll need to do soon is the bike's first valve check and I should be good for the summer, not counting tires of course.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Took the Cee Bailey off. Put the Yamaha touring back on. Noted that the dash shelf contacts the windshield bracket, leaving bare metal/slight gouges. While the box was intact, given the number of problems I've had from it, and the lack of those problems in others, I'm guessing mine was not at the right bend angle when I got it. Cheaper to leave it on now than to fix what it's messed up. On a lark, I removed the huge-ass HVMP bar ends and put the OEM back on. I think I can feel a very slight increase in vibration through the whole range of RPM's, but nothing notable. I've got 2 oil changes worth of oil, one filter, a few washers in stock, but I'm about out of unicorn spit for the FD. Time to order or pick up some.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Finished up my relay arm maintenance this morning. Greased all of the pivots with some good marine grade grease and everything went together nicely. Before reinstalling the frame pivot, I used the long bolt to pull the spacer out so I could clean and grease it. That way tightening the bolt clamps the inner bearing race, as it's supposed to.
The Home Depot replacement bolt for the right side center stand bolt that had to be cut was just a tad shorter than the original, and was inserted from the inside. Since themechanical locking mechanism of the nut wont fully engage the shorter bolt you'll want to use some locktite on that one.

Went ahead and greased the brake pedal pivot while I had the tools out. Last maintenance I'll need to do soon is the bike's first valve check and I should be good for the summer, not counting tires of course.

I take it you skipped adding the grease fittings?

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Yeah, I did skip that. Russ offered to put one in for me, and I was going to send it to him for the mod. But after getting it out I decided it wasn't all that bad to do once every other year, if you have the lift and wheel chock on hand. And it's an excuse to remove and grease the center stand bolts.

Besides, it gives us New Englanders something to do while we are waiting around for the snow to melt...