texscottyd

4 hours ago, SlipperyNiblets said:

Here is my spreadsheet, and at the bottom are the shims I am ordering. Does this pass the common sense test? 

@SlipperyNiblets - Great username… 😀

I only verified for cylinder 1, but the math checks out.  My calc spreadsheet for shim-under-bucket valve adjustments is essentially identical to what you have there.  

Good luck and happy shimming! 

54 minutes ago, skipperT said:

The intake valves don’t move much in my experience as long as you’re not running a K&N filter or the like and you keep up with regular paper filter replacement intervals. 

Ok, now I’m intrigued.   There are a lot of things mentioned on the forum that I just overlook as ‘yeah, whatever’ opinions, but I absolutely recognize and respect your experience with these bikes.  

So… can you elaborate a bit? 

Interesting range of responses so far… 

I’m averaging about 5,000 miles per year, spread over two (now three) motorcycles.   While I would like to ride significantly more, day-to-day life realities keep the mileage opportunities in check.  

On the plus side, that is 100% pleasure and recreation riding:  Exactly zero commuter miles.   I’ll sneak out occasionally during the work week of a short ride (typically the Speed Twin or now the XR1200), but the majority of my miles comes in 200 - 300 mile bites on the weekend (where the FJ is superb). 

11 hours ago, psyshack said:

K & N is now a dealer I want nothing to do with after a long relationship with the old owners.

I’m really sorry to hear that… Norm & Lucy are great people, and the dealership used to be The Place to go.  

A good friend still tells the story of driving from Houston to Tulsa on a Thursday to buy a new FZR600 from the McDonalds, putting a few break in miles on it Friday, spending Saturday stripping & prepping & safety wiring, and racing it at Hallett on Sunday.   Good times.  😀

1 hour ago, roadrash83 said:

Congratulations on the your new XR @texscottyd. Let me know when you have a small fortune to piss away on parts and I well point you in the right direction😁

I went with ‘Thanks’ as a reaction, but Like, Thumbsup, Haha, Confused, and Sad also seem to apply…  

I’ve already started down that rabbit hole, and I can see where you can throw an obscene amount of money at these.   I basically bought this for the cost of the upgrades that have already been done!  😳  My wife didn’t fall for the pitch that the bike was effectively free, but she’s pretty good-natured about my moto-spending.  

@betoney& @dazzler24 - The FJ is still the ‘go-to’ if I have miles to cover, or the need to carry anything with me.   It was about a 150 mile roundtrip to my friend’s shop to finalize the deal on the XR, and the FJ was the obvious choice.

My prior test ride on the XR was brief, so I wanted to log some more miles to make sure it was really right for me… about 60 miles today on some nice winding backroads convinced me.  So, I’ll still need to go pick it up at some point later this week, but the deal is done.  I’m happy.  

The timing was a bit awkward, since I just bought the new Triumph in July.   But this XR is just too nice to pass up, and knowing its history from day one is really compelling.  I know I would end up regretting it later if I let this one get away, and my friend is happy that it’s going to a new owner who will appreciate it… win-win.  

4 hours ago, Warchild said:

My aux cell fabricator also wants to cut the MT10's factory tank and enlarge it by 1.5 gallons. I am considering it.

A quality craftsman can do wonders with that, and make it look reasonably well integrated into the bike.   We had a massive tank on our ZX9 endurance race bike (dry breaks and all), but it looked good and didn't interfere with the riding position/experience...    Riding a 90+ minute race stint in the Texas summer heat was BRUTAL, but the Queen Mary fuel capacity allowed it.  

I'm going to follow this thread with great interest.   I really feel like an MT-10 inspired sport-tourer direct from the factory (along the lines of Suzuki's GSX-S 1000 GT) would be an instant hit worldwide. 

4 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

After the holiday weekend I was expecting glowing reports of those who were able to get out on the road, have an epiphany regarding our beloved mounds, or do some exciting new modifications.

I saved a turtle today, by relocating from corner apex to nearby creek.  

If I had been on the FJ, I might have kidnapped (turtlenapped?) him/her in a saddlebag, and rehomed him/her to the creek behind our house… 

Hi @stephen falco - There was a fairly detailed thread about this previously, but I can’t seem to find it with a quick search.  

The summary is that ‘yes’ the longer 900 GT swingarm will reftrofit onto a Gen 1 FJ.   You’ll definitely need a longer chain, and possibly need to lengthen or reroute the rear brake line and ABS sensor wiring (not sure if there’s enough slack to move back 2 inches).   

The unknown to me is the shock.  The aftermarket lists different shocks for the FJ vs the 900GT (Ohlins 535 vs 537), which I assume is related to valving and spring rates to accommodate the extra leverage of the longer GT swingarm.   They look identical externally, so while the FJ shock might physically fit with the GT swingarm, it may not perform optimally.   

I haven’t done it myself, so can’t help you with the details.   Is it a stability concern that has you considering the swap? 

-Scott

36 minutes ago, Larz said:

woulda had to sell <snip> the TW200

Nope.  That would be totally unacceptable.   😉

28 minutes ago, betoney said:

I can relate... by this time each year I'm already brain-storming projects and planning next years road trips.

6:15 am, making an emergency trip to the grocery store for Thanksgiving green bean casserole supplies.    The rain is supposed to start by late morning, so I’ll take whatever riding I can get… 

Oh, and to stay on-topic with the thread, those mufflers on the Triumph sound absolutely angelic… 😀

30 minutes ago, roadrash83 said:

 I still have one set of spacers left for the 320mm rotors conversion if anybody needs them. like to see them put to use and not collecting dust on the shelf. 

Somebody take him up on this... it's a great upgrade, and the caliper spacers are the only difficult part to source these days.  

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Try this?

That looks like even less fun… ☹️

Note to self:  You ride exclusively for fun.  This does not look fun.  ☹️

On 11/17/2022 at 12:07 PM, Larz said:

Did you ride it? Like it, or not? Be hard to find a bike more different than the FJ in engineering & character. Performace "Hardlys" are a bit of an acquired taste, but have their charms, as well as being great conversation starters. Still love my souped -up Dyna, totally primitive heavy metal riding experience compared to the Tracer.....

I did ride it, and I'm conflicted:  It's just so... uh, 'agricultural' in its core DNA.  But, I absolutely loved it for what it is.   I'm about 85% sure it will find it's way home to Scott's Home for Orphaned and Wayward Motorcycles...   Trading an Aprilia Mille R for a souped-up Sportster is an unconventional swap, but for me it makes sense.  I think.  Maybe...

14 hours ago, betoney said:

I put the bike on the center stand and remove the rear wheel then put a jack with a towel under the header and raise the front just so the tire is off the ground.  I reinstall in the reverse order, front first and then the rear, I have never used ratchet straps.

This is exactly the routine I use on my FJ.   It might sound a little sketchy, but in practice it’s been rock solid.   My only additional input is to loosen everything on the front (axle, pinch bolt, calipers) before you lift the wheel off the ground…

For what it’s worth, I use this technique despite having PitBull front & rear stands.  Especially with the front wheel ABS sensor on the early FJs being mounted in a low & vulnerable position, I find it easier to just have the front hanging & not have to maneuver around the stand.  

7 hours ago, dazzler24 said:

Having said that tex, wasn't there this recent Texas weather event down your way to put them off?..... 😲

Still find myself in awe of these things!

It was a weird one this week:  A couple of big storm fronts rolled through, but where we are they were both overnight events.   It was nice when we went to bed, we heard the wind & rain overnight, then it was nice & sunny in the morning.   The yard was full of random debris, but otherwise no indication that there had been a big storm just a couple of hours prior.  The really nasty stuff with tornados was north of us, closer to Dallas.   

Hurricanes, tornados, and 100+F high-humidity summers… other than that, it’s beautiful here.  😀

2 hours ago, betoney said:

Up here in the PNW, our weather turned quickly.  A few weeks ago it was 80 F and recently its been in the low 40's with heavy rain.  ☹️

Keep that to yourselves, please.   We're already tired of all you west coast folks moving to Texas...  don't be bringing  your weather now, too! 

21 hours ago, nhchris said:

@texscottyd how hard were they to break loose?

Not bad, but they did take a bit of effort to initially pop loose.   

On 10/28/2022 at 4:02 PM, betoney said:

With the current economy I can't afford to own and maintain more than my current 2 bikes.  I alternate riding both, so they get almost equal mileage requiring tires and oil changes at close to the same interval.  They take completely different size tires so keeping spares on hand is more expensive and takes up more space in the garage.  The VFR is more expensive to insure and gets lower fuel economy and they both require premium.  They both need to be setup ergonomically to suit me with handlebars, seats, wind screens etc.  I cant imagine having the time or money to outfit and maintain even more bikes to the same level and be able to give them all equal road time.

That’s an interesting topic.   I suspect that everyone will have a different ‘right answer’, based on their personal situation.   I don’t ride enough miles now to be overly-burdened by maintaining multiple bikes:  5K miles a year across a couple of bikes means I’m still only changing one or two sets of tires & doing a couple of oil changes.  I tend to just order parts & supplies as I need them, so spares inventory isn’t a real concern.   

My insurance doesn’t seem to change much as I add more bikes.  Adding full coverage for the new Speed Twin only added $112 a year to the bill; presumably since you can only ride one bike at a time.   Inspection and registration is additive, but at about $100/bike/year, I can ignore that one.

The one glaring hole in my logic is the actual cost of buying a bike, and the corresponding depreciated value over its lifespan.   If you’re financing, that’s a very real monthly cash flow number that’s hard to ignore.  I always pay cash for my bikes, which makes the purchase evaluation very binary: “Yes or No: Is it worth x dollars for me to own this new bike?”   I tend to keep them 10 years or more, so once I own a bike I sort of ignore the purchase investment in further cost/benefit discussions.   Note:  This is an example why I am NOT a good financial investment advisor.   

So, for me the magic number seems to be four:  Two modern, reliable, turn-the-key-and-go bikes; one fun occasional play bike (the role the XR1200 would fill), and one project bike to always be tinkering with in the shop.   Anything beyond that and I’m chasing plugged carbs/injectors, soft brakes, dead batteries, and other general neglect.   

As always, your mileage may vary.  Offer not valid in Ohio… 😀

Here were the plugs from the 24k mile service, original and untouched from new.   Definitely have some use on them, and each has a dark and light side based on how they were oriented in the cylinder.    I’ll probably change them at 12k mile intervals going forward…

Thanks @Lone Wolf - A ride is definitely next step before making a decision.   The current owner said basically the same thing... ride it before you get too serious:   "You'll know pretty quickly if you love it or hate it"  

I have an interesting opportunity to pick up a nicely sorted 2009 Harley XR 1200, and was looking for some feedback from the forum.   I recall seeing a couple of members having mentioned owning one, but can't recall who to reach out to directly.

Simple background:  I'm not a 'Harley Guy' but have always kind of wanted a Street Tracker... I've just never been up for building one myself.   A good friend has decided to part with his 2009 XR 1200, and offered me a reasonable deal for first right of refusal.   It's been nicely upgraded, only 5K miles, two owners from new... never wrecked or abused.   It has the long Ohlins piggyback shocks, upgraded X model forks with Andreani cartridges, and a spectacular Termignoni exhaust; otherwise is mostly stock. 

It would be a third or fourth bike (depending on how you count), so I'm not concerned about commuting, day-to-day practicality, etc...    Mostly, I'm just looking for something fun and different. 

So, what do you all know?