BVEBRAD

I was wondering why it is necessary to replace the nut on the front sprocket. I've heard this before. I wasn't planning on doing so but will if it's better to do so.

I got a new chain and sprockets for Christmas. A new D.I.D. 525 VX chain and JT rear sprocket with a Superlite front with damper. If anyone can offer any helpful hints regarding taking on the job replacing the old ones it would be greatly appreciated. My 2 concerns are anti-lock sensors and shift linkage. I also need to look up torque specs. I got 16500k out of the originals but they are definitely in need of replacement. My dealer quoted 3 hrs. labor which is total BS.

Your painted panniers really look great. Heck, Yamaha would charge another $500 for that look.

Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0. I find it great from early fall to late spring. I purchased the jacket based on the fact that it was affordable. I'll have to see how far into summer I'll wear it.

I agree 100% with you. Sometimes enjoyment wins out over good sense. I'll ride in shorts and a tee shirt once in a while and I love it knowing how stupid it is. I never claimed to be very bright.

It's oh so tempting, but oh so dangerous. On a hot summer night a few years ago I was riding down the freeway with my visor up. I had a great big barn-door windscreen, so why worry? A giant June-Bug beetle hit me just above the eye brow, below the helmet edge. It felt like I was hit by a golf ball at 70mph. It hurt so bad I had to stop. If it had hit 1" lower... I'll ride with my visor 'open' now, but I'm always looking through it, never under it.

I plan on buying a motocross helmet with a big sun visor mounted. I find the sun to be the worst problem when riding. A nice visor and a good pair of sunglasses, Bobsters, or googles is my plan. Basically, a setup like Norman Reedus uses on his show Riding With Reedus.

It's oh so tempting, but oh so dangerous. On a hot summer night a few years ago I was riding down the freeway with my visor up. I had a great big barn-door windscreen, so why worry? A giant June-Bug beetle hit me just above the eye brow, below the helmet edge. It felt like I was hit by a golf ball at 70mph. It hurt so bad I had to stop. If it had hit 1" lower... I'll ride with my visor 'open' now, but I'm always looking through it, never under it.

I just wanted to share an after thought concerning the Parabellum. Today I received and installed a set of Shad SH36 panniers on my FJ. I mentioned before that I thought the bike looked pretty good with the tall shield mounted. It did but certainly could have looked better. After installing the bags I must say that the windscreen now looks perfectly proportioned with the rest of the bike. This is with the bags on the bike. It now looks like a true Sports Tourer which is to say that it looks sexy as hell.

I totally agree with your evaluation of the Parabellum. I love mine and can't imagine a better one. I rode with mine all last summer and was just fine. Plenty of air from the side. I ride visor up all summer long.

Mine is the tall screen, 26". I just measured from the top of the rubber grommet (above the mounting bolts) to the top of the windscreen. It was 16" exactly. Although I haven't ridden behind any other screen I can't imagine anything else being better. As I said before , I love it. Hope this helps.

I'm glad to see this posting, I too thought the chain noise on the FJ is excessive. I've had the bike to the dealer several times complaining about a noise that I describe as a ball bearing rolling around in a tin can. Their solution was to tighten the chain just a bit. I do not follow Yamaha's recommendation for chain adjustment. After seeing your post and the picture provided I'm certain the stock front sprocket is generating the noise I described. I see no concerns with this and will replace the sprockets when needed. Thanks!

Can you please tell us where you got the Kevtex unit? It is definitely something I'm interested in.

This past weekend I did my first poker run. I put about 600 miles on the FJ from Friday afternoon to Sunday. The poker run was a 160 mile lap that ran through some incredibly scenic routes in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Lots of rolling hills and farm land on some great twisties. It was me and several hundred Harleys. We started out with 7 bikes and ended up with 6. One of the Harleys went home on a tow truck (go figure). The event took place at Daniels, a cool biker bar in Elkridge Md. The event was followed by a great blues band. Unfortunately my hand was only an ace high. I must add the Harley riders treated me great.

Where is Mr. Ed's shop where you had your seat done? It looks fantastic not to mention extremely comfortable.

Any blurriness through the mirrors when using these? I have the Kuaba (I think that's how it's spelled) which I love but the mirrors do get blurry at times. Nothing I can't live with.

With riders showing a total disregard for the law like seen in this video, I would have no problem whatsoever if the cops were simply allowed to take them out with his cruiser. No wonder our society is out of control. This video is not about lane splitting, if a state allows that practice to exist then I'm all for it. This is a video of a bunch of punks just taunting the police because they can.

Repeatative post but I finished my remote garage opener today. Works perfectly not to mention the fact that it looks factory installed. I mounted the SARS momentary button on the black plastic shroud on front of the tank. No depth issue at all. I simply wired the button directly to the remote with no involvement of the bikes electrics. I had to remove all the plastics from the left side but not the tank. Very easy install and again, works perfectly. Longevity to be determined. BTW, to remove the black phillips head looking rivet, turn 1/4 turn CCW. Best piece of advice you'll get today. I believe Piotrek's pictures covered the look. Highly recommended addition or farkle as they say nowadays.

Thanks again, the mounts aren't too bad without the bags but it does look better with them. I like the nice tight fit. I also had a Concours for 4 years. It was a 2002 that I bought new in 2004. Unfortunately I wasn't crazy about the bike. It was pretty fast and handled OK once you got it going but it was a pig when going slow. It also developed an oil leak with 5000 miles on it. I didn't care for the riding position either. I got it out the door for $7200 so I couldn't say no. Thanks again for the great pictures. I can't wait to get mine.

Timg, thanks for posting the pictures. I must admit the bags are wider than I was expecting but they do appear to fit close to the bike and they look great from the side. Your pictures confirm to me they are the bags I want. How do the mounts look without the bags, similar to the Yamaha mounts I'm hoping. BTW, your bike looks really cool with the side bags along with your tank bag. What kind of tank bag is that. I also wanted to ask, did you remove their label from the bags or black them out? We apparently have similar tastes because when I order them I'm gonna ask them if they can omit them from the bags. Nice job man!

I'm on the opposite coast, right outside Ocean City Md. I've been able to put about 300 miles on since Saturday. It hit the low 60's unfortunately the wind has been relentless. I'm not complaining, anytime I can ride here in February I' m happy.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll certainly follow up on that. Patience is not one of my virtues. The gentleman who responded to my email I sent them stated he would offer a 10% discount or a free set of inner soft bags. Once I'm ready to buy I'm hoping he will do a little better on the offer or give me both. Just waiting for my tax refund.

Side cases are my next purchase. I've looked at a lot of them in great detail and I decided to go with the Shad SH36 bags. They look pretty good on the bike and their 3 point mounting system is best I've seen aside from how Yamaha mounts their bags. The Shad mounting system is very similar to Yamahas plus their SH36'S are 12 litres larger each bag. I must say I Iike the look of the windscreen on the bike. When I first got it out of the box I was concerned about how big it was but I think it looks OK, not near as nice as the stock screen looked but the trade off in noise elimination and wind protection is well worth it.

I'm surprised to hear you say the screen wasn't fitting properly. Mine fit perfectly and makes contact everywhere it should. I've had it to 105 mph (on a closed road of course ) with no issues whatsoever. I'm assuming you installed the large rubber stops at the top of the bracket. You had to remove the small rubber plugs where the stock screen sat against then install the large rubber stops in their place. Aside from the up and down movement the windscreen SHOULD NOT adjust any other way.