FJRiders.com

I used to think that North Carolina with all its beauty and fantastic riding was also state who valued the freedom of its citizens and the constitution. Like so many states run by L/D governors they seem to relish in their power and put that ahead of peoples basic rights. The difference over the weekend and yesterday between SC and NC said it all. In SC they opened the State Parks along with restaurants (with some restrictions) stores etc. On Saturday the parks were packed and the state was vibrant. People were free to live their lives. Great to see.

You cross the line into NC and its its the total opposite. They have roadblocks set up and some counties closed completely. In the Highlands I was told I could not stop or go into a store, that I had to ride through or be quarantined! How would they do that? Lock me up? It would not surprise me. Graham County that surrounds The Gap and that area with all that great riding is closed to travelers and visitors. The same county living in the Dark Ages where you can't even buy beer for goodness sake. What is wrong with these people? I wanted to ride in and stay at IronHorse and they told me I would not be allowed in.

Yesterday I rode up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the whole thing is closed. Unbelievable, like the virus is a threat to anyone up there. 469 open miles, no stores to speak of just a two lane motorcycle marvel. Closed? I stopped and talked to a Ranger and all he could do is shake his head. Governors orders. I can see why people are protesting. I know lots of you live in states like that and it must be terrible. For me it would be far scarier than the virus to have your state govt lock me up like that for months on end. Anyway, yes this has to to do with politics on an MC forum but it also has to do with what we all love to do as motorcyclists and that is ride and be free. Unfortunately for now many states like NC have taken that freedom away without any scientific backing at this point that show social distancing is necessary in any open air place like a beach or places like the parkway.



The Unfortunate difference. NC is Closed



Wayside Falls Rt11 SC was packed this weekend and this is on a Monday.



And Man oh Man Rt 276 from the parkway heading north to Cruso and 215 has to be one of the sweetest MC roads in the country.

BkerChuck wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 7:28 amAny local hardware stores that carry metric fasteners?

Chuck,

I know I posted this before, someplace, but the for-real Yellow Pages/white pages listing on the Internet is:

https://www.anywho.com

NUTS AND BOLTS is a totally separate business heading there. Choose the Yellow Pages tab, and FIND A BUSINESS; give that NUTS AND BOLTS heading, and Search. Give a local ZIP code, and the site will SORT the results found, by the distance from you. Print out the map to the store, if needed. Call ahead for availability of stock, but those guys can usually get anything you need, at good prices and quickly. They can usually get the bolts you need in any type of head that you want.
.

Torque wrenches rarely used hold a cal pretty long. Set it back to zero, and keep it from banging around and hitting the floor. Use another tool for disassembly.

Used to calibrate torque wrenches way back in the day. My arm was strong and I could guess pretty accurately.
Big ass ones with the extension handles I needed help to make click.

I'm usually a day late and several dollars short....but yesterday I rode to work, beautiful ride in at 0545....coming home....well not so much! Lol. Got swept up in a wicked storm! Luckily I abandoned ship and ducked under a bridge for a bit to allow the winds to calm down. When I resumed travel I was soooo glad I got off the road cus had I stayed motoring I would have ended up in this mess! I was probably 10-15 mins behind this. Hail was easily the size of golf balls! Another few hundred feet the lanes within the lanes shrunk even more and the road was almost completely covered in hail. Luckily it didn't last long. Quite a ride home for sure!!



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I find the Ace in Dover caries an ok supply. Maybe try an Ace hardware?

BkerChuck wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 7:28 am 64 Newton meters = 47 foot pounds........I think I found your problem Jim!

That sucks. FWIW, I really dislike those torque wrenches where you set them for a particular amount and pull until it "clicks". I've had a couple of bad experiences with them in my life. Where I work now we have 2 sets of them and send one set out every quarter for calibration and bring out the spare set and rotate them to make sure they're always accurate. Any local hardware stores that carry metric fasteners?

Powerman wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:53 pm Torque wrenches rarely used hold a cal pretty long. Set it back to zero, and keep it from banging around and hitting the floor. Use another tool for disassembly.

Used to calibrate torque wrenches way back in the day. My arm was strong and I could guess pretty accurately.
Big ass ones with the extension handles I needed help to make click.

I agree and always dial them back to zero for storage. I also agree that if it isn't calibrated, then there is little point in using one. I try to keep them out of a damp area for storage. Still, I have had a clicker simply fail to click. Wrench hadn't been abused and was fairly new. I have gotten into the habit of at least doing a "reality check" before using one. Make sure it will click using against another wrench first. A quick (rough) calibration check can be accomplished using a digital fishing scale or even barbell weights and seeing where it "clicks" and then simple calculation using the lever length. I have also compared one torque wrench against another - by seeing if they click close to the same point when used with each other.
(20 lb at one ft radius is 20 ft-lb. 20 lb at 18" radius is 30 ft-lb. for those who want to check theirs at home)

I sold my 09 today. Sad to see it go.

Last photo.

I can imagine.

...but it was for a good cause. I mean, you have to pay for that trip to SC somehow.

fontanaman wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 6:09 pm I sold my 09 today. Sad to see it go.

Last photo.

He gotta steal.

Jim, I felt the same way when my 04 pulled away. But we got a great machine to make more memories with.

Got my bearings, pins and pads in today. Tomorrow there will be a concerted effort to make Halle road worthy again. Just in time for some crappy weather.

The buyer of my 09 got a good deal. I wanted a quick sale. I wasn't interested in wringing every last dollar out of my 09. I might have left a couple of bucks on the table but I got what I wanted in a very poor market for Sport Touring bikes.

Many like Big John are going to big to mid bore Adventure bikes and this is taking a toll on Sport Touring sales. I think the market for 4 wheel drive ATV is taking a toll as well. Go into a dealer today and you will see vehicles like a Polaris ATV in the front of the store. Motorcycles are taking a back seat on dealer show rooms. One could argue 4x4 ATV are keeping dealers open.

Look at the Sport Touring market by new models.

Honda - No the ST1300 is not new.
Kawasaki - Concourse is not new.
Yamaha - The FJR is being maintained.
Suzuki - No Sport Touring offered unless the Bandit is considered Sport Touring.
BMW - They offer current Sport Touring models.

So there is slim pickings out there for new Sport Touring bikes. Manufacturers will make what people will buy.

This affected how I priced my 09.

After sourcing parts from a couple different places, it was tile to put Halle back together.

Old pin on the bottom. This pin was tore up from having to use vice grips on it, but the other ones didn’t look much better. I used a tiny bit of anti Anti seize only on the shouldered chamfered part where the bolt contacts the caliper. So much easier with the new 8 mm hex head. It think it was 8.




Perfect use for my wife’s hair dryer. As hot as that thing eventually got, I am surprised she is not bald. My local mechanic/dealer that I sourced parts from told me to heat the wheel area and freeze the bearing and they would slide right in. Well, slide was not totally accurate. I had to squish them in pretty firmly on the first side. Second side was much easier.




It’s really nice having a shop manual to see all the exploded drawings. All put back together


Well, not quiet. Still had to torque everting down and re-align my ABS sensor. I had it rotated too far clockwise and it was pulling the cable too right. I don’t want to GixxerJasen anything, so I took my time and called Pants for a quick refresher on brake bleeding order.

I had to re-bleed because the clutch side piston came out when I was prying open the throttle side. When I bleed the throttle side, it was about 4 cycles before anything came out and 7 before the lever built much pressure at all. About 6 reservoirs and all seems good. Brakes still are a little soft, but I can rectify that later. Thanks for all the help! Time to find someplace to go ride!


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Cav47 wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 9:16 am ...Still had to torque everting down and re-align my ABS sensor. I had it rotated too far clockwise and it was pulling the cable too right...

I may have missed it someplace, but there is an indexing slot on the ABS housing that keys it so it can't move.

fontanaman wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 11:48 pm The buyer of my 09 got a good deal. I wanted a quick sale. I wasn't interested in wringing every last dollar out of my 09. I might have left a couple of bucks on the table but I got what I wanted in a very poor market for Sport Touring bikes.

Many like Big John are going to big to mid bore Adventure bikes and this is taking a toll on Sport Touring sales. I think the market for 4 wheel drive ATV is taking a toll as well. Go into a dealer today and you will see vehicles like a Polaris ATV in the front of the store. Motorcycles are taking a back seat on dealer show rooms. One could argue 4x4 ATV are keeping dealers open.

Look at the Sport Touring market by new models.

Honda - No the ST1300 is not new.
Kawasaki - Concourse is not new.
Yamaha - The FJR is being maintained.
Suzuki - No Sport Touring offered unless the Bandit is considered Sport Touring.
BMW - They offer current Sport Touring models.

So there is slim pickings out there for new Sport Touring bikes. Manufacturers will make what people will buy.

This affected how I priced my 09.

In Florida the dealers in smaller rural towns sell mostly 4x4s and dirt bikes. There are few street bikes on the floor. You have to go to the dealers in bigger cities to see street bikes on the show room floor. Like you mentioned you usually have to go to a BMW dealer to see sport touring models.

I seldom see an FJR in a dealership. The Yamaha dealer I am getting the MT-09 from has a 2016 FJR sitting in the show room. Not sure if it's used or old new stock.

As for the FJR it's sitting lonely this weekend. I am going to pick up the MT-09 so it's going to get all the love.

Supposed to be a major rain event Sunday and Monday. So I need to get my riding in tomorrow.

ionbeam wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 9:22 am

Cav47 wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 9:16 am ...Still had to torque everting down and re-align my ABS sensor. I had it rotated too far clockwise and it was pulling the cable too right...

I may have missed it someplace, but there is an indexing slot on the ABS housing that keys it so it can't move.

Yes, but the wire is just long enough to allow it to index one off of the home position. It was so much easier to rectify because my 15yr old boy is just dying to find something to do. Being cooped up in the house for him is absolute torture. He asks me at least 5 times a day “is there anything you want help with?” Trust me, having someone to help bleed brakes is nice. Prob the best use is getting help inserting the axel smoothly when lining up all the components.

Cav47 wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 9:16 am I don’t want to GixxerJasen anything, so I took my time and called Pants for a quick refresher on brake bleeding order.

Excuse me sir, but you are in violation of forum code 478.243, section c. You may only use the term "GixxerJasen" either to refer to the individual forum member, or specifically to seizing up the forks of an FJR during seal maintenance. This may not, in any way, be applied to any other maintenance catastrophe you might have incurred.

Cav47 wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 10:42 amIt was so much easier to rectify because my 15yr old boy is just dying to find something to do. Being cooped up in the house for him is absolute torture.

Similar things have been happening at our household. I ran down last weekend to Austin to snag a new bike for my son. Since the FJR was still nice and clean from it's previous washing, I dragged the blue one out to clean it. My son came out and asked if I need any help. Since I'm still babying the Suzuki, and don't trust his cleaning methods (drop sponge on ground, pick it up and keep using it) I told him that no, I didn't need his assistance, but he could wash his own damn bike if he wanted to. Good times.

CAV, zip tie your brake lever to the handlbar grip and let it sit overnight... if there's an air bubble in there it should migrate to the reservoir. Next morning a wee squirt out of the bleeder and you should be done.

New front tire today. Michelin Pilot Power 2CT.

Prepared it for a two day ride. The ride starts tomorrow and will take me into some great county roads in NE Washington. Darn it is tough being a local here.

fontanaman wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 11:10 pm Prepared it for a two day ride. The ride starts tomorrow and will take me into some great county roads in NE Washington. Darn it is tough being a local here.

Good on you. I've been trying to get a couple guys off their duffs to ride with me today. It's going to be cooler but I'm going solo if I have to. Gotta scrub my new tire some!