nsmiller

I just noticed the graphic style of my wife's Shoei GT-Air is on clearance.
 
This is a great stylish helmet for female riders. The graphics changed from blue to purple/pink depending on which direction the light hits it.
 
 

Pentosin A3??? What the hell is that and where would one find it?

I got it at my local NAPA for $16 a gallon. Also available at Advance Auto Parts. If your local store doesn't have it in stock they can certainly get it within 24 hours typically. Its blue, and its used in new Honda's. The reason I love Pentosin is they are completely transparent about what ingredients are in each formulation of their coolants. 
Advance Auto Link
 
Pentosin A3 Product Data Sheet
 

in Europe, Yamalube is orange! https://www.yamaha-motor.eu/uk/accessories/yamalube/careline/service-maintenance/yamalube-coolant/YMD-65049-00-82/details.acc
 
The spec is given on the page
"Contains reinforced hybrid anti-corrosion additives, based on mono-ethyleneglycol, suitable for light aluminium alloys used for engine design"
 
Claims to be compatible with other fluids - my 2015 bike came with blue fluid which is still in there after 16900 miles.
 
If it gets changed it will be any old glycol based shít from a local motor factor

What you're quoting about the 'spec' tells me nothing I don't already know. Doesn't say what the hybrid anti-corrosion additives are or in what percentage they exist. Looking up the MSDS of Yamacool; however, tells me that it is at least a phosphate based inhibitor package.  
I've seen the effects of using "any old glycol based shit" on water pump impellers, clogged heater cores, and rubber seals, and I would never recommend it. I recently inspected the valves on a friend's 2005 FJR 1300, which required draining the coolant and removing the coolant pipe which runs into the cylinder head. Someone at some point had put that crappy coolant in it and as a result the rubber o-rings basically disintegrated when the coolant pipe was removed. Evidence of aluminum corrosion was abundant. Cleaned it up the best I could.
 
So remind me not to buy a used bike from you. 
 
But its your bike so do as you please. My point is that you can buy a quality coolant and not spend a fortune.

Surprised no one replied! As the owner of a new 2015 that sat at a dealer for 2 years untouched, and with the blue color coolant at the very, very bottom of the LOW mark on the reservoir, this is very timely for me!!

I don't really trust anything my dealer told me about the changes in color of Yamacool. They are a small dealer, and say a lot of stupid stuff. I ended up using Pentosin A3 which I highly recommend. You can find all my thoughts on coolant summarized in the following video: 
 
[video src=https://youtu.be/lhMAqfr16Bo]

 You must live somewhere where riding without a helmet is still legal in this day and age?   

I can think of more states that don't require a helmet than states that have a mandatory helmet law. Most states only require helmets for children, but adults can ride without one. The state I currently live in is one of 4 with no helmet law on the books, so you can let your child ride on the back of your motorcycle with no helmet and it is totally legal. But you're a terrible parent if you're 5 year old isn't still using a booster seat while in the back seat of a mini-van. Makes zero sense whatsoever.  
I wish I could get people advocating for legal lane filtering the same way we have $ invested in fighting helmet laws. 

My condolences, Cruzin. Dropping my passenger pegs on this afternoon's ride in memory of your friend.

Well, i just lost another friend in a motorcycle accident. No helmet, les than a mile from his house. I now have to go to his house and help his wife tell his kids.  
Just how in the hell do I do that? He is their hero. Their rock. Their only financial source, his oldest boy is disabled and the mom cannot handle him on her own.
 
Here is a blanket statement. If you ride without a helmet and you have family, you are a phucking idiot. It's selfish and the life you ruin isn't yours, it's your families lives that are ruined.
 
Get damn good gear. There are deals galore in this very thread, so you have no excuse. Good cold weather gear. Good warm weather gear.
 
Don't be an idiot. Wear good gear or park your bike until you can afford it.

And then get a good life insurance policy to protect your family financially in the event that you're killed even while wearing gear. Term life insurance is not that expensive.

I feel now this is a trap for you to get me drunk so you can put the clutch on your bike. Lol. I would diffently take you up on the offer but it looks like you live quite a ways form the pacific northwest.

That's okay you can still send the clutch and some beer via UPS and I"ll make the video so you can see how to do it. 

If someone sends me the parts I'll make a YouTube DIY for the procedure, haha!   
 

Okay so what your saying is that I send you the parts bring my bike over and you will put it together for me while I drink a beer and hold the camera for you to post on youtube? You got a deal.

Bring enough beer for me and you got a deal. 
Edit: Scotch is also acceptable

If someone sends me the parts I'll make a YouTube DIY for the procedure, haha! 
 
 

I'm getting ready to change the coolant in my FJR and FJ-09. I'll be making a how-to video as usual for the FJ-09. I'm currently trying to decide what type of coolant I want to use, and also educating myself on what Yamaha calls for, and exactly what type of coolant Yamacool is. (IAT, OAT, HOAT, etc?)
 
Anyway, I stopped into my local Yamaha dealer, which is a relatively small shop, and wanted to know if Yamacool came in concentrate gallon jugs (I prefer that over the premixed quarts at $8.99 a pop). The short answer is no it doesn't. But the dealer also said that Yamaha updated their coolant color/chemistry in 2016/17. The old coolant color in the 2015 models and some of the 2016's is blue. The new Yamacool is green. Obviously these are just dyes, but it signifies a change in chemistry. And according to word of mouth from this guy at the dealer they are not supposed to be mixed. I have not been able to find anything official about this from Yamaha. The dealer guy claimed if you were going to use the new Yamacool green coolant that you should flush the system with water first. He claimed he spoke with Yamaha and they said it would be better to have a bit of extra water in your block than to mix the two coolants. This seems odd, not sure why they would make this change and not publicize it well. 
 
I'm not sure I completely believe the dealer, and I may also choose not to use Yamacool because 8.99 a quart is ridiculous. But regardless, has anyone else heard anything about this?
 
I know a lot of people have opinions about coolant brand and color, just like oil. I'm not really interested in that. I want to know the chemistry of the coolant I'm using. That's what I care about. What ASTM standards does it meet? What anti-corrosion agents does it use? How toxic is it? These days color means nothing because it varies drastically between manufacturers and its all dye based anyway. Coolant without dye is clear like water.
 
I know that the Yamaha service manual calls for an Ethylene Glycol antifreeze containing corrosion inhibitors for aluminum engines. That's it. Nothing more or less.

Your oil level is clearly low. Not a lot, but still you should top it up so the oil reaches the full mark.

I don't think that is supposed to be a 'full' mark. My understanding is that those are 'max' and 'min' marks. So the picture shows the oil level in the middle of the acceptable range. Nonetheless, I did add a bit more oil just to be on the safe side.

We changed the oil about 100 miles ago on my wife's FJ09. Today, I added an SAE battery lead to her battery so that she can plug a heated vest in. After installing the SAE cable I went for a short ride to test it out to verify it was working correctly. The air temp was about 44 or 45, running the heated vest for testing purposes. Got about 5 miles from home and came upon a group of slow moving traffic. I had an opportunity to pass 4 or 5 slow moving vehicles at once so I rolled on the throttle in A mode in top gear. Hit about 110 mph, and made it around the traffic. Started slowing back down to cruising speed and I noticed the oil warning light was on. I immediately started slowing down and by the time I was going about 30 mph I killed the engine just in case.
 
I checked the oil level, which was fine. Looked like it had a little condensation in it that still was trying to burn off so a little bit bubbly/frothy. Restarted the bike, no oil light this time. Rode home normally without problem. Got back home and checked the oil again. This is what th e oil level looked like:
 
 
 

 
So clearly there is no problem with the level. If I had to hazard a guess, the oil had just not warmed up completely yet and the as a result didn't make quite the pressure it was supposed to when I jumped up to 100 mph for a brief time. Nonetheless I added a bit more oil, so now its probably a tad overfull. But not by much. Just thought I would share my experience.
 
 
 
 

Waiting on these boots to go on close-out:
 
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/daytona-lady-star-gtx-boots

That's a cool set of gauges!

Did mine today, thanks, the video helped a lot.

Heh, I started my 4K maintenance yesterday.  Not in a big rush, so I'm using the downtime to also clean the bike top to bottom as I disassemble the biker upper.  Everything is apart and  cleaned, probably get the throttle body and spark plug gaps done this week sometime. 
 

I'm working on doing a 4K maintenance video. The big items get their own video. Items like steering bearing torque, oil change, TBS, and spark plugs. Other smaller items like inspection of hoses and brakes for safety will be included in a general 4K maintenance video once its all finished.

Did mine today, thanks, the video helped a lot.

I'm glad it helped you! There will be more DIY videos to come so stay tuned for those.

Additional detail, the initial 10% fill socket weighed 23 grams, so the cost was $1.15. I imagine if I do 100% plastic it will probably cost $4 or $5 in plastic. Also the print time will dramatically increase. Even if it doesn't work, its still a fun experiment to find the limitations of 3D printed PLA plastic when it comes to making tools.

 How did you find it when you did it?

It cracked loosening the nut on my FJR (which had never been done until tonight). Although I didn't find the torque on either the FJR or the FJ09 to be higher than 38 ft*lbs initial bearing seating torque. More than the final 13 ft*lbs it should be at, perhaps, but not a crazy 50-60 ft*lbs high.

My first experiment with a 3D printed socket resulted in some good and some bad news.
 
First, I need to say that I printed it using the Makerbot default settings of 10% plastic fill. This first iteration was primarily done to verify the dimensions would come out correct - and they did. The socket fits nicely onto the nut just like the metal version. The 1/2 drive hole needs to be widened up just a smidge, I had to force the 1/2 extension into the slot- which pre-stressed the plastic.
 
The bad news is that the socket in its current state couldn't take the torque. It cracked right away near the 1/2 drive insertion point radially outward to the edge. The 6 teeth are actually all quite strong. By their nature being small they have a higher amount of plastic density in those regions.
 
The next step will be to refine the dimensions slightly, primarily with the 1/2 drive insertion hole, and increase the plastic fill percentage up significantly. Then the true test of whether or not the plastic can support the load will come.
 

 

 

 

38 ft*lbs is the torque required to seat the bearings. I'm familiar with PLA, it will depend greatly on the percent fill selected when the object is printed. I expect that this particular design will hold up just fine to the job it is intended for. But I'll test it thoroughly before I start selling it.

I just drew it up based on measured dimensions. And yes, as long as a decent amount of filler plastic is used to spread out the load, it shouldn't have any problem. I can print the tool for $0.05 a gram at my university. Not sure how many grams of plastic this will use, but I imagine the actual printing cost will be about $1 to $2 of PLA plastic. The dimensions the makerbot prints are usually pretty accurate but in my experience they sometimes need to be tweaked to get it to come out just right, so printing a test model or two will likely be necessary.

I drew this up tonight in SolidWorks. I'll see if I can print a test piece to verify the dimensions and that the plastic will handle the load. Then maybe I'll start selling them for $10 a pop...
 
 

 
 

You should try 3D printing it. That would be cool, and probably work well. Would only cost a few $ in plastic.
 
Sometimes local libraries in larger cities have 3D printers available for use.

Caliper has both cm on top and inches on bottom. Dial is thousandths of an inch.
 
Tooth Measurement (6 Teeth):
 
NOTE: The teeth have a slightly larger inner diameter than the rest of the socket does (which is what was measured). Add a mm or two to get the ID for the teeth.
 
 

 
 
 
Outer Diameter:
 
 
 

 

 
 
Inner Diameter: