FJRiders.com

Posted: **Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:38 pm**

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 12:20 pm
Like your riding boots!

Too funny Wheaton

Of course that is not me just in case others might think so.

It was a curbside delivery. That was really something that they were giving out free food like that in our neck of the woods. Are you able to get out and ride some?

Posted: **Thu Apr 09, 2020 5:36 pm**

Alan's got the brake cleaning thing down pat, even more diligent than me. Agree CRC brake cleaner not as harsh. I don't lube anything either except encapsulated slide bolts, no sense attracting dirt and crud to those caliper pins, etc. Squeaky pads... lightly chamfer the leading edge. Hondas have thin perforated stainless pieces that clip on the back of the pad... have to transfer them to EBC's that come with nothing. Some lightly grease (brake grease of course!) the face of the piston that contacts the pad... haven't tried it. FJR pads are small, I can see why they wear unevenly, thus inspect/clean/swap at tire changes. I have a little collection of spares, I use OEM's on the FJR, don't get squeakies... YMMV.

Posted: **Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:14 pm**

Rewired the power supply for my GPS...

Modified the hookup/harness for my top box lights to add a plug for the GPS cable... Grabbing juice from the tail light lead so I have the "switched" power I wanted.
'Cause you know damn well I would eventually leave the GPS in the its cradle powered "on".. Likely over night or for a day or three...

Posted: **Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:53 pm**

Went out for my first ride on the '17 in the Spokane area today. Went south into the rolling hills and minor canyons in the Palouse. My lovely wife joined me. No photo just 4 hours of fun.

Lot's of bicyclist out today along Valley Chapel Road - more than normal.

The idea for the ride was to see some earth impacted by the great Missoula floods. Did that but on the featured cataract (dry waterfall) was on private property.

For images check this out. Image 1, Image 2.

It was a nice day to be on the FJR.

Posted: **Fri Apr 10, 2020 10:02 am**

ionbeam wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:06 pm
Every time I service my brakes I clean everything. I use a paint safe spray brake cleaner and -- -- -- toothbrushes. I collect clean toothbrushes in different styles and sizes, I have a coffee can full of brushes. (If someone were to hear me as I work you would be able to hear the calipers being instructed on good hygiene.) I have had very good results using CRC Brākleen but it isn't sold in some states. Wear gloves, do not ingest, do not spray directly into eyes... I have some child size brushes and some adult brushes that have varying bristle types which make a good crud buster with the brake cleaner. I have run out of pipe cleaners but haven't needed them anyplace on the FJR. Paper towel, if you can find any these days, can be rolled into long snakes that can be slipped into tight spaces.

To clean the slider pins I gently chuck the pins in a portable drill or my drill press, then at low speed I give them a light rubbing with fine (red) Scotch Brite as they spin, then flip ends and do the other half. After that is done I roll them on a flat surface to be sure they are straight. After cleaning the pad support (spring clip) I put it on the flat surface to be sure it isn't distorted.

I try to service one caliper at a time. With the caliper off I put on a set of really worn pads then using something the thickness of the rotor I gently press the brake until the worn pads just touches the simulated rotor then pull out the 'rotor' and remove the worn pads. This extends the pistons as far as practical. Clean the pistons and seal area. Push the dry, clean pistons back into the caliper bore. I extend the rear piston the same way as the fronts and give the piston and seal area a good cleaning, push in the piston and continue with the cleaning. I can usually spin the brake piston by hand to get good access all the way around the parts. It remains to be seen how this will go with the four piston front calipers. You do not want the extra work of accidentally popping out one or more caliper pistons.

This is most excellent advice - I've printed this and put it in my service manual for the next tire change. I especially like the idea of simulating "full safe piston extension" for the cleaning. I do have a set of worn pads (all the way down to the wear indicator) and using my dial caliper, as it turns out, a piece of 3/16" sheet stock is about 0.010" thicker than my rotors - that's close enough.

Thanks again, Alan!!

Posted: **Sat Apr 11, 2020 3:43 am**

Changed the oil on my 17. With 4800 miles since the last change just for fun I checked the oil level for the first time. It was as it was 4800 miles ago. This is why I have an FJR.

Posted: **Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:08 pm**

So far I used it to deliver some homemade biscuits and gravy to my daughter, this morning...getting ready to go and get a growler filled at a local brewery...so just doing a little essential riding.

Posted: **Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:44 pm**

Joe, you know darn well that if you don't ride it the fuel will go stale... be safe, Brother, and enjoy! Give the missus a hug for me.

Posted: **Sat Apr 11, 2020 9:37 pm**

Changed oil in the RH leg and general just forking around...and it works as designed!

~G

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:09 am**

escapefjrtist wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 9:37 pm Changed oil in the RH leg and general just forking around...and it works as designed!

~G

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now THAT looks like a fun little project.

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 6:55 am**

Now G, how many miles on those forks and what did the oil look like? Where we goin' with these forks? The stepper motor workins, do they just rotate or extend or both?

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 2:44 pm**

raYzerman wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2020 6:55 am Now G, how many miles on those forks and what did the oil look like? Where we goin' with these forks? The stepper motor workins, do they just rotate or extend or both?

Yeah what he said!

Yesterday I rusted proofed the Canyon Cage bushing. At least I think I have Canyon Cages on the 17. Is there another brand of cages?

Anyway removed the rear cage upper mount bushings, cleaned them up, then wrapped them in 3M vinyl film. The bushings are made of steel and are prone to rust. The already were a bit pitted. The bolts are steel too so I lubed them with silicon spray. In the future I may get some stainless steel bolts at the local hardware store but for now they are ok and I don't care to expose myself to others for the sake of a couple of silly bolts.

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:51 pm**

ionbeam wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:01 am ...I get see how fun 44°F PR4s are to wrestle off & on.

Surprise! My front brake pads are due to be changed...

Surprise! The front ABS sensor is frozen in the housing...

I brought the wheels into the house and set the wheel/tires on the heat vents (forced hot air) and let them stand. I have a setback thermostat that turns on the heat in these days of home isolation at 8:00 am. By the time breakfast was done the tires were plenty warm. I took the soon to be mounted tires and put them in a box and let my heat gun run into the box. The new tires got put on so it must have helped. The word 'easy' never came into play.

I have a Marc Parnes style balancer made by FJReady that I tried to use to balance the tires. For the first time I had repeatability problems getting the same light spot and then one time showing the weights were too much, then after a short spin the weights were not enough. There isn't much to the balancer that could go wrong. On a lark, I took the 40°F bearings from the balancer to the kitchen and set them in my convection oven set for 110°F for about 15 minutes. I went back to the garage, setup again and gave the tire a little spin and it turned, and turned and turned with no indication of slowing down. Everything was back to normal and the sensitivity of the balance was excellent. The rear tire took 30 grams and the front took 10 grams. It's the first time a PR4 took weight to balance. Apparently the grease in the balancer bearings likes to be warm and gets stiff when cold.

Once the brakes were cleaned up and in hand for inspection the fronts aren't an emergency like I thought, but they are still on the 'soon' schedule.

I did manage to get the front ABS sensor out, and now, after a little drive I can see that the sensor was undamaged. I was concerned about the sensor because substantial force was used to get it out. Both the front and rear sensor housings got cleaned and a very light swabbing with high temperature silicon spark plug boot release grease. Don't tell my car that it's sharing with my motorcycle.

So far as my first ride on the new tires --- aaaahhhhhhhhh!

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:42 pm**

First (FJR) ride of the year. Quick sorte north along Lake St. Clair, followed the St Clair River north to Port Huron. Rain and windy on the way home. Nothing fell off, so that was a bonus...

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:52 pm**

raYzerman wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:44 pm Joe, you know darn well that if you don't ride it the fuel will go stale... be safe, Brother, and enjoy! Give the missus a hug for me.

Thanks, and same to you...and Jacqueline enjoyed the hug.

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 7:18 pm**

I unloaded a bunch of crap from the bike. Took the bags off. Went through a bunch of stored stuff to clean things out a little. I’ll be glad when the pandemic has subsided so I can share the details of my rides like normal without stressing someone out. But as it is, you don’t get to hear about the close call with the giant turkey.

Ride safe or stay home. Be well.

Posted: **Sun Apr 12, 2020 11:12 pm**

raYzerman wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2020 6:55 am Now G, how many miles on those forks and what did the oil look like? Where we goin' with these forks? The stepper motor workins, do they just rotate or extend or both?

LH leg is brand new since I replaced the damaged slider. RH leg had about 29k when I changed the oil yesterday. Oil was dirty, much more contamination than I anticipated based on previous [forum] descriptions. Funny consistency to the oil, thick, almost like a slightly warm honey? Very strange. Flushed it well and refilled with M1 per the FSM. Didn't change the oil or dust seal. Have a complete set on the shelf so I'll change both at the next service. Based on what I saw, that'll be every two years and/or 20k miles. Same interval as the Penske's.

ES Fork Caps / Stepper motors: These couldn't be simpler. All they are is a bipolar stepper motor moving a needle valve in or out of a valve seat in the cap. Hard to measure, but I'd say movement from full hard to full soft is ~4-6 mm. Can't really see the seat, just needle moving. The dampening rod does not turn via motor. It bottoms into the cap with jam nut [just like a "normal" fork]. Fluid flow is vertical [upward] in dampening rod, through needle/seat assembly and returns via internal passages in the cap. Compression & rebound are the same design. When I started playing with the stepper controller I figured out these forks were set close to full hard. I can change adjustment on bike via laptop in less than 10 minutes. Could easily use two controllers running through a Pi and have on-the-fly adjust-ability.

For now I'll keep the stock ES internals and play with settings to dial them in. With this set-up I can adjust compression and rebound individually not tied to a pre-determined OE combo. Long term I still might invest in a set of GP [Penske] drop-ins.

~G

Posted: **Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:01 am**

Interesting to say the least. Agree Yammy should have not had a combo with the rear. Interesting about the oil being dirty, would like to know what that is some where down the road 20k or 30k.. the only rubbing parts are the two bushings to the chrome tube, not rubbing on aluminum as conventional forks do.
Meanwhile if someone wanted USD forks with cartridges, should investigate a set from an R1. I know some do conversions to USD but usually have to get triple tree, wheel, calipers and associated hardware, creating a hybrid. R1 might use the same wheel as FJR, that would be good.

Posted: **Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:23 am**

Is it possible that very fine dirt particles can get past the seal? Also, is it possible that some of the discoloration is not really from dirt, but from the oil getting hot?

Posted: **Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:55 am**

Pants might well be onto something with the comment about heat affecting the oil. Working at a hydraulic cylinder repair shop like I do I see a fair variety of dirty oil coming out of cylinders and a telescopic fork on a bike is just a smaller, less complicated version. The small volume of oil held in our forks would certainly overheat much quicker than the oil in a larger cylinder with greater volume. Additionally small particles of dirt will get past the seals. If you were to make the seal ride tight enough to completely block anything from getting past the fork wouldn't move it would be bound up tight. While the clearances are tight they still have to have some clearance to allow movement.

We've had a few cylinders come in from Hawaii a couple of years back and their operation in the vicinity of volcanic eruptions, the very fine volcanic ash had polished the rods to the point oil would now leak past the rod seals and the wiper seals. The ash had increased the clearance between rod and seal by minute amounts but sufficient to cause leakage. We repaired the cylinders and sent them back but the end user had to be much more diligent about cleaning off their equipment if they wanted it to last.

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