What did you do to your FJR today?

[rbentnail]

Sunday was Under-the-Tank Day. I was going to replace the spark plugs but a quick check of my records showed they have about 8k miles on them and I know what the maintenance schedule says but my personal experience says "I don't care, I know how long they're good for" so I said the heck with that. I decided instead to check some hoses even though I had no indications of a problem. And I had no problem. And while under there I did a quicky TBS- no adjustments needed. And I replaced my rotting vacuum caps with the ones from AutoZone that were shown elsewhere, somewhere. 5/16" Help brand. Fit fine. And I hadn't taken a peek at my saddlebag lock mount screws in about 5 yrs so I did that- all still tight. Then I rode to Danville, Virginnie and had lunch with my buddy Ken the HD Guy. He lives in Lynchburg so Danville is almost exactly 1/2 way.

The bestest part of the weekend was trying to find pipe cleaners. I know when I was younger pipe cleaners came in a yellow fold pack and were available at any drug store. Apparently I've been out of the PC loop b/c one little girl didn't even know what pipe cleaners are! Finally found some "Fuzzy Sticks" over on the crayon aisle. Geez.....

 

[Kelvininin]

Been busy in my garage, in true Kelvininin fashion spring has finally come to MN and my FJR looks like this...

I finally got around to using my craigslist score, Nomar tire changer. I have learned that, even with the nomar, changing tires is 90% technique. While the front wheel is off, I am going to change the fork oil, and install a set of tapered roller steering bearings in the hopes to eliminate my front end decel head shake.

I also got around to installing the STS auto turn cancel dohicky. I built a wire harness for it so it's plug and play. I admittedly forget to turn off my turns way too often. A bad habit I developed from the last few bikes that had auto turn cancel. Here are some pictures of that.

 

[rbentnail]

Hit some lube points: rear brake pedal, shifter lever & joints, kickstand pivot & springs, and lubed both throttle cables. Also raised the shifter up about 1/4".

 

[lnewlf]

put on new Wilbers shock....lubed all suspension needle bearings with moly..[bearings still look new]...This would have been a Penske except for the scheise storm on the clevis thread...no such issues with the Wilber and it prolly is just as good a shock.....now if it would stop raining...

oh yeah- the stock shock was leaking...45K

 

[Kelvininin]

Got a little shop time tonight. Finished the tapered head bearing install, changed the fork oil. Now I just need to do some cleaning, install the new front wheel seals, get it back together, and ride like my tires are new.

 

[Kaismo]

Rode 315 miles to see my brother and then enjoyed his comapany to install my Clearwater Darla's and my fuzeblock. Win win.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Nothing. It rained and was miserable cold all day. I like spring, but the wind and cold that come with it are notorious for messing up weekends around here.

 

[mech 1 twa]

Short ride 120 or so. Winter is over. 62 deg sunny.

 

[Kelvininin]

Finally got it all back together. New tires, fresh fork oil, and tapered steering bearings. The decel front end wobble is gone. The steering is solid.

My bike is a 10 with 12K miles on it, the fork oil was nasty. Glad It's changed. From here on I will likely change the fork oil with every other tire change.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Positioned the 2015 in MaMa's bay and put her car outside to work on the bike. I played around some with a custom light bracket set, paper dolls to make out of Stainless Steel. It will be a one off for now. Sorry folks.

Took the 08 to work today. Had to get on the binders real hard since officer freindly was sitting on the corner. Lucky once again.

Dave

 

[gapiob]

cleaning it

 

[Fontanaman]

Rode it for the first time in nearly five months. Went to Hama Hama Seafood store in Lilliwaup Washington for some Oysters on the half shell. Yummy.

 

[Fred W]

Just finished my 25k mile maintenance including the first valve check on my 2014. Clearances were all on the tight end, but in spec, and with a bit more variation than what I'd seen on my '05. Several of the intakes are at the .15mm minimum and two exhausts are at the .18mm min. I'll be shimming this one at 50k no doubt.

The third gen is a little better doing this check than my old 1st was. You can get the valve cover out without removing the throttle cables from the twist grip. The lower end of the cables has two Allen screws holding the base down by the throttle bodies that can be removed to allow you to wiggle the cover past. Nice.

But you do need to disconnect the harnesses that go to the injectors and right side coils as the bundle runs right over the right side of the valve cover. It wasn't too bad, except the locking tab for the #3 plug coil snapped clean off when I pressed to release it. I ty-wrapped the connector together, so it should be fine.

Removed the PAIR junk while I was in there, and replaced the plugs for the first time and they looked excellent. Really no reason for doing them at 25k miles. But I had the new ones and took them out for the valve check, so...

I did not bother to remove any lower side covers this time. Just removed the tank and the center and left dash covers to access the radiator filler. Used the rear wheel in 5th gear to bump the engine forward. Next time I'll plan on removing everything to get at the timing cover.

Had a little "oh shit" moment when I fired it back up and the ES suspension fault light was on. At first I thought it may have been somehow related to the now missing PAIR solenoid. Took me a while to remember I'd disconnected the right fork connector to get more slack on the throttle cables. That's what I get for not plugging that right back in.

But she's all set now and ready for the next 25k smiles.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Took the 08 to work today. If it wasn't for the hot job coming down the pike next Tuesday would make an excellent play hookie day. Well we will have to wait for the next one. If the new boss pisses me off enough I may do a sick day anyway.

Edit: Oh yeh, I did check the air pressure in the tires on both bikes today. The 2015 pressure increased from the last time. Go figure?

Dave

 

[s.ga.rider]

Retorqued the steering head bearings while it rained.

 

[El Toro Joe]

Rode it to work, then back home, for a plumbing emergency...good thing my daughter was home, to shut off the water, then back to work, then back home, after stopping at the hardware store.

 

[s.ga.rider]

Today I replaced the front avon storm xm at about 12k miles. It still had some life left but I have a 500 mile trip this weekend so I changed it out with a road smart 2 I had in the garage.

 

[tcfjr]

I was off the bike for a couple of months, first due to a minor bout of bronchitis, then with battery issues. Last weekend I installed a new battery, and yesterday I replaced the Powerlet jack in dash panel D, so the bike was ready to go.

Today, I did a short, 80 mile shake-down ride up into the hills south of my house. Lake Silverwood is nearly full, and looking really good.

It felt great to be back on the bike!

 

[RossKean]

I started it up for the first time since last December!!

It has sat, since then, in my unheated attached garage in the frigid northeast. Since I planned on replacing the battery this year (10 years old and 163,800 miles), I didn't have it on a tender (never use one anyway) all winter and did not do my customary every-two-months top-up trickle charge. Battery was connected to the bike the whole time so there would still be a (very small) parasitic draw to keep the clock and computer alive. This is in addition to the natural self-discharge for any AGM battery. Just for fun, I thought I would see if there was ANY juice in the battery after almost four months of unattended cold storage. Turn key, dash lights up, needles sweep. It cranked a little slower and longer than I would generally prefer but it fired up after maybe 5 seconds!! I'll have it on the trickle charger for a few hours tonight.

The use of battery tenders is way overrated!! Never understood why people seem to think the bike has to be plugged in after every ride (or even if they aren't riding for a week). More likely to damage the battery by overcharge if you are not using a temperature-compensated charger or if voltage calibration and cut-off voltage are not correct. (Does anyone check theirs regularly???)

I am still going to swap out this battery this year. The old one can produce the volts OK while cranking but I suspect that the ampere-hour capacity is well down from new. I wouldn't want to get stranded somewhere remote (I do a lot of motorcycle camping) and have a starting problem. (Will probably pick up one of the Lithium emergency starter batteries in case of primary battery problems and to charge electronics - cell phone, tablet, Bluetooth speaker, Sena etc.)

Going for the first ride of the season tomorrow. High temperature for the day is only 10 °C (50 °F) but that's better than it has been. Going up to high 60's or maybe even 70 °F by Tuesday!!

It's been a LONG fucking winter!

 

[08FJR4ME]

Spent a butt load of $$$ today for the 2015. Getting it ready for summer fun. Next weekend will be busy installing farkles.

Dave