FJRiders.com

Freshened up Fontanaman's Penske and then Niehart and I bled the rear brake circuit on my FJR. This afternoon, burned up two gallons of gas in the FJR and enjoyed a working rear brake again.

No more Flintsones imitation!

--G

Here is a photo of --G's thumb and my very clean Penske shock.



It was great seeing --G and the Pieman today. Those guys are great! Always a good to spend time together with these gents.

My rear shock was the first one --G has rebuilt twice. It had 19,000 miles on it. The oil was really clean, the seal in good shape and we decided to not replace the bushing as it looked great. --G was in tech heaven looking at hist first second rebuild! I figure this thing could go 3 years or 40k miles which ever comes first.

I returned home installed the shock and bled the rear brake on the front side. Going for a ride on Monday to Dewatto. Life is good. Big shout out to --G!

I see you have what appears to be a good clevis..... was that a replacement for the original? How long did G spend cleaning up the red rebound adjuster knobbie thingie?

Rode it to work again but today is a little more special. Today makes 365 consecutive days I've managed to ride 10 or more miles on the street on a motorcycle. My "perfect year" has come to fruition! Now for folks that live somewhere that offers a hospitable climate for year round motorcycling this may seem like no big deal but where I live in South-Central Pennsylvania it's a little tougher than that. I've ridden in temps from 7 degrees to over 100 degrees. I've ridden in torrential rain, high winds, and snow. I've gotten out of a warm bed at midnight and geared up to go for a ride just to keep my streak alive. I've taken the bike on trips where the rest of the group were in cars just so I had a motorcycle available to get my ride in every day. I had to plug a rear tire in late December and cross my fingers that it held knowing full well it was unlikely a local dealer would have a tire available the next day and fearing my streak would be broken.

Friends and neighbors helped shovel a path out of my driveway to the plowed road when we did get some snow to help enable me to complete my mission. I've done 3 IBA cert rides so far and plan on doing some more but this "perfect year" has been by far the most difficult motorcycling challenge I've ever taken on. I'm going to continue riding everyday and will continue to post my progress until something should happen to stop me. Can I make it 2 years? Time will tell.

Thanks to all of you who have followed me on this quest! Your support and cheering me on has meant a lot to me especially on those late night Paul Revere rides!

raYzerman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:40 am I see you have what appears to be a good clevis..... was that a replacement for the original? How long did G spend cleaning up the red rebound adjuster knobbie thingie?

The clevis is a replaced. To avoid another broken clevis the bolt was put on a lathe to reduce bolt head to increase the bolt's effective grip length.

I cleaned up the shock before bringing it to - - G and he spit polished while working on it.

Pieman was assisting me in the conversation department and said bring a Gen III fairing fastener when - - G removes the faring. When he has it installed show him the fastener and say look what I found. All had a good laugh at that one.

^^^^
How long did you and the Pieman let that linger with George?

fontanaman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:21 am To avoid another broken clevis the bolt was put on a lathe to reduce bolt head to increase the bolt's effective grip length.

Someone should be selling these bolts.

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:56 am

fontanaman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:21 am To avoid another broken clevis the bolt was put on a lathe to reduce bolt head to increase the bolt's effective grip length.

Someone should be selling these bolts.

Well it was two years ago Penke committed to a fix the problem by developing a special bolt. Never happened. A junior engineer could have had the design done in 4 hours.

So I believe it was --G's idea to shave the bolt head to increase the grip length. Anyway I use that bolt now and lots of blue locktite and snug the nut (forget the FSM torque value).

I road my FJR about 200 miles today. Nice! This retirement gig is great.

My FJR with 87k miles. Looks pretty good to me.



Went to Dewatto Bay on Hood Canal today. This is where Leprechauns live. This photo is better at high tide and when the clouds don't obscure the Olympic Mountains.



Me with my FJR at Dewatto Bay.

^^^^^

Can it get any gayer here?

fontanaman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:25 pm

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:56 am

fontanaman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:21 am To avoid another broken clevis the bolt was put on a lathe to reduce bolt head to increase the bolt's effective grip length.

Someone should be selling these bolts.

Well it was two years ago Penke committed to a fix the problem by developing a special bolt. Never happened. A junior engineer could have had the design done in 4 hours.

So I believe it was --G's idea to shave the bolt head to increase the grip length. Anyway I use that bolt now and lots of blue locktite and snug the nut (forget the FSM torque value).

Can't take all the credit. Panman and I were spit-balling ideas when this one happened to stick. No reason Penske couldn't do the same thing and include a new lower bolt with each shock purchase.

@Jasen...too much liability my friend. All it would take is one klown to lose the lower shock bolt and say he got a modified part from good 'ol escape. Game, set & match.

--G

Bust wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:19 pm ^^^^^

Can it get any gayer here?

Can you fit Zilla in that picture?


If yes, then it’s way gayer.

Not there is anything wrong with that!

Rode it. Ormond Beach to Lafayette LA. 767 miles in 11 hours while dodging a few morning storms in Florida.

Chuck, it goes without saying, what YOU accomplished, is staggerBig. I am in awe of your dedication and resiliency.

Congrats! Ride on safe!

escapefjrtist wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:36 pm @Jasen...too much liability my friend. All it would take is one klown to lose the lower shock bolt and say he got a modified part from good 'ol escape. Game, set & match.
--G

Damnit.

Snuck in a quick 10 miles this morning BEFORE taking my truck to work. Apparently Mother Nature may not be done with Central PA after all. Snow expected to begin falling here around 8:00 am and continue through the afternoon and night into Wednesday morning. Accumulations of 5-8 inches forecast for my area. Day 366 complete and will be keeping an eye on the weather. May have to go Paul Revere one last time before Spring finally arrives.

I've got Big John at my house for a couple nights. Redfish and Pops came over last night and I cooked them something edible. Took the day off and the 4 of us are going to try and find some trouble. The sun is shining and it's going to be nice. Think I might bring the camera....

Stay thirsty, my friends...

Rode it to work. Rain for last several days; rain forecast for the weekend.

fontanaman wrote:

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:56 am

fontanaman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:21 am To avoid another broken clevis the bolt was put on a lathe to reduce bolt head to increase the bolt's effective grip length.

Someone should be selling these bolts.

Well it was two years ago Penke committed to a fix the problem by developing a special bolt. Never happened. A junior engineer could have had the design done in 4 hours.

So I believe it was --G's idea to shave the bolt head to increase the grip length. Anyway I use that bolt now and lots of blue locktite and snug the nut (forget the FSM torque value).

Oh yeah?

Well, a senior engineer could have gotten it done with seven trade studies, consultation with manufacturing leadership, 27 meetings with the drafting department to select the correct line weight, blaming HR for not having the proper head count, fighting with supply chain management becausr A286 steel cannot be replaced by cast aluminum, telling the processing and finishing department that we can't substitute purple pigmented aluminum coating for cad plating, asking methods if purple pigmented aluminum coating will cause a corrosion issue, telling processing and finishing it's ok to use purple pigmented aluminum, asking the EPA auditor when California decided the color purple causes cancer in lobsters, arguing with the share holders over why we can't sell these bolts for $23,078 over cost, and finally getting laid off because there isn't enough market for a special purpose bolt when you can just chuck up an existing one in a lathe.

Plugged the flat last night that kept me from riding to work yesterday. Then rode to work today, and hope the tire is still round when I leave tonight.