FJRiders.com

Adjusted the valves on my Husqvarna snowblower today.


Oops wrong forum.


Meanwhile the FJR sat in the hot garage today waiting for some attention. It will be a while as it is Dual Sport season in Idaho. Whoo hooo!

Took the hydration rig off for the first time in months, put a top case on for the first time in a while, because the grandson demanded a ride.

Not today, but Friday/Saturday. I've been slacking on pretty much everything lately.

So, on my way to Red Lodge I noticed my steering head bearings giving the tiniest of clicks under braking. 3300 miles later on returning home it's definitely more noticeable. I add that at the top of my "To Do" list and park the bike. Been struggling with maintenance on the DRZ instead, and it's friggin hot in the garage so she kind of sits and waits for cooler weather to do maintenance.

Meanwhile, I need to get my son some new dirt riding gear. Kids, they grow fast, even faster when you buy them expensive stuff like helmets and boots. I swear he got two rides out of a brand new set of boots. The good news is that he's grown into needing smallish adult sized stuff, which is easier to come by used, IE, cheap. He's seven inches shorter than me but wears the same size helmet and one size down on shoes. I put a request to buy a helmet and boots on Two Wheeled Texans and a guy about an hour away says "He can have his pick of either of these helmets, free." I called Jakob in and showed him the red helmet and the blue helmet and asked him which one he wanted. He is kind of dragging it out but says "Well, my bike is a Honda, so I guess the red one." I know he likes blue so I tell him that he doesn't have to match the bike, and he gets a big smile and says "Oh definitely the blue one!" I contemplate taking the truck over, but instead, Friday night I tear the stuff off the FJR and tighten up the head bearings, then the next day go for a nice (90F is nice this time of year) ride over to the guy's house. Jakob was pleased.

Long ago I added peg lowerers and kind of fiddled with the brake pedal. I sort of got used to it but never really liked it as the lowerers also move the pegs out an inch or so. I originally made a pedal extension but made it too long and it touched asphalt and mangled the pedal so I removed the extension, straightened the pedal and just lived with it. So I finally dug it out, cut off about 3/8" and remounted it. Much better and I think I got the length right this time.

So my recent failures with my FJR include having my ABS/TCS/CEL lights go off randomly on a ride a few weeks ago. Applying throttle caused the bike to surge intermittently and I had to disable TCS to get it to run properly. A Google search led me to think that it was a problem with the rear ABS sensor, so I took everything apart and cleaned it (although it all looked pretty clean) and put it back together. No dice. I still have my YES warranty, so off to the dealer it went. A week later, they told me it was because the FRONT ABS sensor was loose. They tightened the bolt, charged me a diagnostic fee (Yamaha declined the warranty claim since nothing was technically broken and they said those bolts should be checked during tire changes), and all was good.

Then yesterday, I go to change my spark plugs for the first time. I struggled a little bit to get the boots removed but managed to get those off. Got the plugs changed and could not for the life of me get the boots to go back on. I struggled for this for longer than I'd like to admit. Finally I got the bright idea to physically compare one of the old plugs to the new ones. Little did I know that the terminal on the new plugs were covered with a removable terminal nut and the old ones were just the threaded stud. I removed the nuts and the boots all clicked into place just fine. *sigh* I felt like such an idiot.

On a good note, the bike is all ready to ride for the weekend.

Funny thing FJRs sure are heavy. I keep my FJR in the little one car garage at our house. Really small garage. We have a freezer, washer and dryer and a small area for a home gym. No car. I can wedge a couple of bikes in there and close the door down. Now for some reason when who ever poured the concrete in the garage they decided it needed to be polished to a mirror smooth surface. It's kind of slick when dry. You would not believe how slick it is if it's a little wet. One drop of sweat or if the freezer release a little water defrosting and we have what equals a skating rink.

So I go out to move the bikes out so I can workout. I have a small rack and some weight on a piece of plywood. I start moving the FJR and get a little unbalanced. It tilts over and touches the water heater. I am in rubber sandals. It's fine the bike is barely resting on the heater so no harm done. However, it's going to be tricky to up right it.

So I just start blowing the horn. Wife comes out and grabs the back rack and we pop it back up easily. Of course I am not hearing the end of it.

I probably could have gotten it up, but I didn't want my foot to slide, then I would have been tangled up with a falling FJR with no where to go.

It only went over to about 45 degrees so does that qualify as a drop?

Hey, 10 posts, I missed the welcome Drinyth. Don't sweat the idiot stuff, we've all been there, some of us more than others.

Dan, you know you are getting old when you have to call the wife in to help you get it up.

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:07 pm ...Dan, you know you are getting old when you have to call the wife in to help you get it up.

Nothing wrong with that at all. Recently I needed to have my wife help me to get it up too and it was quite a relief when it popped up.

Between getting old and some recent physical damage I don't know if I could pick up my FJR by myself anymore. I proved I could pickup my Gen I several times but don't know if I could get my Gen III up if it became necessary.

!

Just increasing my post count.

My garage floor is like ice when it’s wet. You were right to get help, and that’s before flip flops even enter the equation.

danh600 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:06 pm Funny thing FJRs sure are heavy. I keep my FJR in the little one car garage at our house. Really small garage. We have a freezer, washer and dryer and a small area for a home gym. No car. I can wedge a couple of bikes in there and close the door down. Now for some reason when who ever poured the concrete in the garage they decided it needed to be polished to a mirror smooth surface. It's kind of slick when dry. You would not believe how slick it is if it's a little wet. One drop of sweat or if the freezer release a little water defrosting and we have what equals a skating rink.

So I go out to move the bikes out so I can workout. I have a small rack and some weight on a piece of plywood. I start moving the FJR and get a little unbalanced. It tilts over and touches the water heater. I am in rubber sandals. It's fine the bike is barely resting on the heater so no harm done. However, it's going to be tricky to up right it.

So I just start blowing the horn. Wife comes out and grabs the back rack and we pop it back up easily. Of course I am not hearing the end of it.

I probably could have gotten it up, but I didn't want my foot to slide, then I would have been tangled up with a falling FJR with no where to go.

It only went over to about 45 degrees so does that qualify as a drop?

danh600 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:06 pm Funny thing FJRs sure are heavy. I keep my FJR in the little one car garage at our house. Really small garage. We have a freezer, washer and dryer and a small area for a home gym. No car. I can wedge a couple of bikes in there and close the door down. Now for some reason when who ever poured the concrete in the garage they decided it needed to be polished to a mirror smooth surface. It's kind of slick when dry. You would not believe how slick it is if it's a little wet. One drop of sweat or if the freezer release a little water defrosting and we have what equals a skating rink.

So I go out to move the bikes out so I can workout. I have a small rack and some weight on a piece of plywood. I start moving the FJR and get a little unbalanced. It tilts over and touches the water heater. I am in rubber sandals. It's fine the bike is barely resting on the heater so no harm done. However, it's going to be tricky to up right it.

So I just start blowing the horn. Wife comes out and grabs the back rack and we pop it back up easily. Of course I am not hearing the end of it.

I probably could have gotten it up, but I didn't want my foot to slide, then I would have been tangled up with a falling FJR with no where to go.

It only went over to about 45 degrees so does that qualify as a drop?

That is not a drop and I know exactly what kind of floor you are dealing with. A buddy of mine had the same shit. If I got out of his truck in his garage, I had to hold on to be sure my feet didn't slide out from under me. His was painted or stained but seriously polished. Whomever came up with that was an idiot.

He got tired of it after he ate shit with groceries in his arms. We used cheap bed liner type stuff with grip on it and rolled it onto his floor. I think it was floor stuff but it reminded me of the DIY bed liner stuff. Now, it's got grip and it's a studly gray.

danh600 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:06 pm Funny thing FJRs sure are heavy. I keep my FJR in the little one car garage at our house. Really small garage. It's kind of slick when dry. You would not believe how slick it is if it's a little wet. One drop of sweat or if the freezer release a little water defrosting and we have what equals a skating rink.

Danh,

Check out the cheapest, hardest, toughest, thinnest carpeting-for-stairs that's available to you there. Make it wall-to-wall, of course; you want the appliances to be holding it down. The carpet store might even install it for you. I have pot holders that are thicker material, but hey, no more slips. You might also put down self-adhesive carpet tiles, only in the traffic area, if available.
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Buddy and I left early this morning and found good riding in the back country. About 200 miles of it before noon. The sun stayed mostly behind the clouds and with a wet t-shirt under my mesh jacket, it was actually quite pleasant. We stopped at a familiar gas station in the boon docks that has a tremendous selection of spirits and a very nice tasting area. I chose a nice Rye Whiskey, which fit perfectly in the tank bag.

Fuel mileage was about 43 mpg - meaning right wrist was applied, but not liberally. I did execute a "2-downshift" pass maneuver among about 5 combines/farm equipment convoy that put me merging right in the "buck fifteen" range. That was nice.

A really good ride. At 65,xxx miles, this bike is still plenty tight, man. I've enjoyed this one more than any of the others.

Hppants wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:28 pm I did execute a "2-downshift" pass maneuver among about 5 combines/farm equipment convoy that put me merging right in the "buck fifteen" range. That was nice.

My wife picked up my GPS the other day playing around with it. I am trying to talk her into getting one or at least a mount to use mine.

She is scrolling around and asks what does 115 max mean.

No idea.that must be the max speed a GPS reads if anyone actually went that fast....

Hppants wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:28 pm Buddy and I left early this morning and found good riding in the back country. About 200 miles of it before noon. The sun stayed mostly behind the clouds and with a wet t-shirt under my mesh jacket, it was actually quite pleasant. We stopped at a familiar gas station in the boon docks that has a tremendous selection of spirits and a very nice tasting area. I chose a nice Rye Whiskey, which fit perfectly in the tank bag.

Fuel mileage was about 43 mpg - meaning right wrist was applied, but not liberally. I did execute a "2-downshift" pass maneuver among about 5 combines/farm equipment convoy that put me merging right in the "buck fifteen" range. That was nice.

A really good ride. At 65,xxx miles, this bike is still plenty tight, man. I've enjoyed this one more than any of the others.

Those combines must move much quicker than the combines in the wheat fields south of Spokane.

Hppants wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:28 pm with a wet t-shirt under my mesh jacket, it was actually quite pleasant.

With your humidity I'm not sure how that is possibly pleasant, but at least you don't have to rewet it throughout the day!

Met Ken the HD Guy in Roanoke, VA then rode to Huntington, WV to meet up with Rob the Indian Guy. 390 twisty, turny miles day. Boy, did we get wet!

Today we expect to get wet too but whatever. Hoping to get some pirogi in Columbus, OH.

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:43 am

Hppants wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:28 pm with a wet t-shirt under my mesh jacket, it was actually quite pleasant.

With your humidity I'm not sure how that is possibly pleasant, but at least you don't have to rewet it throughout the day!

It is surprisingly pleasant, really. I have one of those "cooling vests", but soaking the T-shirt works a ton better. The vest is just too insulating to me. In our humidity, the evaporative cooling will work for about 2 hours, maybe 2 1/2.

Honestly, in the summer time, it's really the only way I'll ride.

Hppants wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 2:42 pm

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:43 am

Hppants wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:28 pm with a wet t-shirt under my mesh jacket, it was actually quite pleasant.

With your humidity I'm not sure how that is possibly pleasant, but at least you don't have to rewet it throughout the day!

It is surprisingly pleasant, really. I have one of those "cooling vests", but soaking the T-shirt works a ton better. The vest is just too insulating to me. In our humidity, the evaporative cooling will work for about 2 hours, maybe 2 1/2.

Honestly, in the summer time, it's really the only way I'll ride.

What is this humidity thing you speaketh of? Is it like work? I don't understand the concept of work either. Just kidding of course.

The sooner you leave work the sooner you will forget all about it. No joke here.

Pants it was wet during my visit with heavy rain in the forecast for six consecutive days. Now it is wet in the summer. It is ever dry?