What did you do to your FJR today?

[Fred W]

Dave, I'm always proud to be your friend. You are one of the most industrious guys I know. :thumbsup:

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Put the topcase back on after running without for a week. Found that a tech-spec pad had followed me to work. I have two techspec pads I removed from my tank sides, and two that I got from a guy who scammed me and told me I was buying techspec pads for an FJR (they were generic and had suffered some unfortunate dremeling). I leave a couple where I park my bike in my garage so my sidestand doesn't chew up my painted garage floor too much. Yesterday, I found one of the pads in my parking space at work. I have no idea how it got stuck or swept up and ended up at work, but if it wanted to go that bad, I'm leaving it in my parking space.

 

[hppants]

Anybody that can build a metal jig for $3.00 is not only industrious, but very talented!!

 

[El Toro Joe]

...gave it a rest today

 

[rbentnail]

^^^ Interesting.
I'd like to find a front that was a bit stickier than the Bstone T30, something that lasts about as long as the PR2 rears do (~ 9k miles).

Have you ever tried the Pilot Power single compound on the front? I know that was a favorite of some of the southern guys for a while.

Nope, never tried the single compound Pilot Power. I did try other brands though and back then, the stickier (softer) the front tire the worse the steering wobble became. I swapped to tapered roller bearings a few yrs back, steering wobble gone, so I've been moving back towards the softer fronts.

Wish I could help a little more but the differences in road types, riding styles, blahblahblah.

 

[rbentnail]

Installed a Koako throttle lock that another member sent my way. I have another brand of throttle lock that works well but can be extremely finicky with large temperature swings like the weather we have now. I'm planning on riding a lot of straight and flat coastal while the temps and humidity are still relatively low, it can be miserable during the summer there.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Rode it to work in the rain today. I am going to finish up my bending jig tonight for the feejer. Sunshine the rest of the week. Yahooooooooooo!

Dave

Edit: Well I finished up the bending jig last night and bent my brackets up and it worked great. I mounted the brackets and lights up on the bike and now have to get them wired in along with a bunch of other stuff.

It never ends,

Dave

 

[Fred W]

The last time I took out Big Red the weather was a bit drizzly for a good part of the ride, and I found myself on some wet, unpaved roads that got her all dirty. Today was the first sunny day that we've had in these parts for over two weeks, so I got her out of the garage and gave a nice sudsy bath (because I hate working on a dirty bike) before spooning on a new PR2 onto the back hoop. She looks so good now I'll have to only ride her on sunny days. (yeah, right...)

The old tire lasted for 8911 miles including our EOM trip last fall. Like all of my other PR2 rears, this one had the tread worn out on two stripes about 1/2 way up each side. The middle still felt pretty meaty after I got it off the rim.

New one popped on easy-peasy and balanced out with a single 10 gram clip on weight. Nice.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I have the opposite problem. I wear out the middle with plenty of sides left. Maybe we can switch.

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Or... you could move (back) up here, Dave, and then we can wear the sides out together!

I keep eyeing places for sale over in Stoddard, Washington, and nearby. Life looks good up there. Dirt roads abound and way lower property taxes are the rule. What's not to like?

We gotta get off the carousel 'cause the gold ring is rigged!

 

[BanjoBoy]

Sunday I dun changed fork oil, installed All Balls tapered steering head bearings, changed the front tire, and new EBC Double Sintered pads in da front; now I'm ready fer summer!

 

[draco_1967]

Mounted up a new set of shoes. I went with Conti Roadattack 2 EVOs. I didn't have to fight the old PR3s off, and the new tires went on easily. I've been studying up on technique, and I think I have it down now. I'm interested to see what kind of mileage I get out of tires on this bike. The previous owner didn't have the bike very long, and he wasn't sure how many miles were on the PR3s when he got it.

I'm doing a test run this weekend to see how all the new goodies are going to work for longer trips (have a 7-day trip planned in July).

Old rear

Old front

New rear

new front

One of the goodies is a Seat Concepts seat. I need to re-stretch part of it to get rid of those wrinkles...if it bugs me enough. My but will be on it, so it may not bug me enough to fix

One day, I'd like to put an RDL on there, but it's not in the cards right now.

 

[Uncle Hud]

draco_1967 posted: One of the goodies is a Seat Concepts seat. I need to re-stretch part of it to get rid of those wrinkles...

Or not, as the sun and your butt will work those wrinkles out in less than 1,000 miles.

 

[airboss]

Sunshine and ,mild temps. bit I can't ride.

Laundry Day!

 

[TomInPA]

Draco, those tires look like the take-offs I put back on. Where you going?

 

[RossKean]

I will be interested to see how the Conti Roadattack 2 EVO holds up. I haven't heard much about them - how's the pricing?

I have tried the Conti-motion and found they were surprisingly good for a budget tire although they did not last especially long. (Some people have had less luck with them)

(I also thought there was lots of good rubber on those PR3s - wouldn't change them unless I had a long trip in the works.)

Edit: I see that Continental is now offering a RoadAttack 3 - too many choices!!

 

[draco_1967]

Draco, those tires look like the take-offs I put back on. Where you going?

I'll be all over southern Utah this weekend, doing about 1300 miles. I will hang on to the PR3s as extras just in case. I just didn't trust them to do that distance without knowing how tires will do for me on this bike.

I will be interested to see how the Conti Roadattack 2 EVO holds up. I haven't heard much about them - how's the pricing?
I have tried the Conti-motion and found they were surprisingly good for a budget tire although they did not last especially long. (Some people have had less luck with them)

(I also thought there was lots of good rubber on those PR3s - wouldn't change them unless I had a long trip in the works.)

Edit: I see that Continental is now offering a RoadAttack 3 - too many choices!!

The Contis were about $100 cheaper for the set vs. PR4s, which have been my tire of choice so far. I read a few different tire review sites, and the Contis rated up,there with the PR4 and the Metzler 01.

I put a set of Conti Motions on my last bike, and had no complaints with them. Picked up a fat staple in the rear with only a few k miles, so I never found out how they did for mileage.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Rode to work today. The usual.

Yesterday I took the bike to Springfield MA for the Eastern tool show exposition. 248 miles round trip. Bad idea! It was 104 when I left Springfield. The worst part was for some reason I didn't wear my mesh jacket. Boy did that suck!

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Yeah, I went for a ride yesterday afternoon too, and it saw 96 degrees on the dash a lot. That's too damn hot for comfort for this northern boy. Luckily the front moved through last night and the temps are a bit more seasonable for the weekend.

PR4's are commanding a premium these days. Lowest price I know of is $346 for the pair of PR4 GT's in stock sizes (180/55, 120/70). I have tried to justify them with their promise of better mileage, but the numbers don't add up. I'll just keep on putting PR2's on the rear and a Bridgestone T30GT up front until that option is no longer available. At $243 per set it's hard to beat. $100 worth of gas will get me a lot of miles. Interesting to note that the T30GT front tires are now on closeout at Jake Wilson. I guess they won't be around for too much longer. But for the PR2 rear there is no "closeout" designation still (yet?).

 

[hppants]

$346 is what I paid for PR4GTs last week. They got installed yesterday evening and the wheels go back on tonight. I'm hoping for better mileage out of the PR4 than the PR2 - it will take 7500 miles to get me to YFO and back. Based on my current data, the rear PR2 would never make it back.

And the start of that adventure is only one week away!!!