Batgirl

Rode to work yesterday and today (my employer observed the holiday on Friday instead of Monday).  Was a nice, hot, but low traffic day on Monday.  Had a great ride.  

Trying to ride to work as much as possible (tomorrow and Thursday are heat stroke warning days so no riding).  

Griffin, GA  

No photos of it, just yet, but after meeting with Dave Moss for the suspension set up, he recommended that I get new levers (adjustable).  I got some new Pazzo levers from PJschurchofspeed.com and finally got them installed.  Got the matching red to go with the bike.  They look great.  Was able to get them adjusted for a perfect fit for my hands.  It's like riding a brand new bike.  

On 9/20/2019 at 2:49 PM, koth442 said:

I had the pleasure of riding / racing with Dave in the AFM years ago. He's a really nice guy, dedicated to the sport. Little bummed he was out here and I didn't get a chance to go catch up with him. Oh well. 

Glad to hear you liked his magic Batgirl!

He really was a super nice guy.  I enjoyed chatting with him.  

6 minutes ago, duhs10 said:

You only need 1 relay for all the signals... it replaces the OEM relay under the driver seat.

Are you sure you aren't referring to resistors that they sent you? You can hook up resistors for all the lights but the relay is much easier and cleaner IMO.  It also removes the need for the resistors.

Nope, not 100% sure.  I will have to check when I get home.  I thought it said relay, but maybe it was resistors.  

1 hour ago, betoney said:

Dave Moss touched your bike?  You know you can never wash your bike again, right?  😎 

Seriously, Dave is a suspension guru!  What an opportunity to have him wrench on your bike.

Several years ago I went to a rally and was fortunate enough to attend a cornering/braking clinic with Nick Ienatsch.

Nice.  I would love to have attended that clinic.  

He did a great job and was super quick about it.  I had never heard of him but had been talking about getting my suspension done when they announced that he would be at the rally.  I decided to sign up and then found out who he was.  I was glad that i signed up. 

6 minutes ago, duhs10 said:

I have that tail light on my '15... been several years now with no issues and it is WAY brighter than stock.

Also if you are going with LED flush mounts, I highly recommend using a flasher relay as opposed to finding a place for the resistors. I have the TST Industries flasher relay. Direct plug and play.

TST Industries | Gen2 LED Flasher Signal Relay

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They actually packaged the relay with the taillight, when I purchased it.  The front turn signals that I got also have relays with them.  Thank you for the heads up though.  Also, glad to see that it is a good tail light.  I have a 15 also and look forward to seeing the new lights.  

32 minutes ago, koth442 said:

How did he correct the geometry? Drop the front end by raising the forks in the triple clamp?

That is the next step, according to his video.  3mm drop.  

To start with he just adjusted the rear shock and preload and dampening on the front.  That completely changed how the seating on the bike felt.  

8 hours ago, chesterburnet said:

I'm 240 pounds so I needed to do more than the stock suspension would allow but I'm guessing for lighter riders, a properly set up suspension probably works well. I did a Blaster X integrated tail light and added LED turn signals front and rear. For me these were important mods as the tail light is substantially brighter and has a strobe and with the rear led signals it's super visible. They also looks pretty cool. I got hit in a parking lot last year by someone that didn't see me and I decided that I going to do everything I can to keep getting hit for lack of being seen. 

I bought the MotoDynamics integrated tail light.  I has the strobe so I am hoping to be more visible with it.  All the lights and levers will go on this weekend.  

I recently took a trip up to Deal's Gap to attend the Women's Sportbike Rally (13th year for me).  While hanging out at Deal's Gap resort I met another FJ rider who had some nice looking flush mount turn signals on the front of his bike.  Found those online and got them ordered. 

Dave Moss, of Dave Moss tuning was there during the rally, and for a fee, he would set up suspension and ergonomics on your bike.  I am slowing making my FJ mine with mods here and there so I decided to go ahead and get the suspension set.  He started with the ergonomics and found that my levers were sitting too low and that I needed a new clutch lever (factory is not adjustable and it sits too close in for me).  (Pazzo levers were ordered when I returned home).  He also found that my bars were slightly off center and I had been riding with my left arm bent and my right arm straight to compensate.  Got the bar centered up and then we moved on to suspension.  The way the suspension was, from the factory, had me sitting like it was a chopper style bike, back end low and front end higher.  Got that corrected (which was very noticeable on the first ride).  Front suspension was adjusted since I was barely using any fork travel.  Once he was done, I took it out for a test ride and it was like riding a brand new bike.  I am still adjusting to the changes but I really like everything that was done.  In a month, I will be reviewing some changes he  made to his Tracer 900 forks and making those changes to the FJ (his recommendation).  I look forward to seeing what those changes bring about.  

This weekend I will be installing the new levers, new front turn signals and new integrated rear turn signal (had to change the rear turn signals since the front were getting changed  )

On 7/10/2019 at 2:58 PM, johnmark101 said:

I love the area so much I tried to convince the wife that we should move there.  Lost that battle, but at least it is not that far away.  The new section of the Foothills Parkway which opened recently is very nice.

Some beautiful spots on the new section.  

On 7/17/2019 at 3:59 PM, duhs10 said:

Right down the street from me... unfortunately dont usually have a lot of time to ride. 90% of the time I'm on the FJ is for commuting.

I am actually just over the Fayette County line.

On 7/17/2019 at 4:28 PM, superfist said:

How do you folks feel about a mid-late September or early October group meet up?

weekends that I'm not scheduled to be on call for work that I might be able to plan around are:

• Sep14 or 15
• Sep 28 or 29
• Oct 12 or 13
• Oct 19 or 20

I usually get two weekends a month where I get to go play for a day.  Like @duhs10, most of my riding is daily commuting so non-commute rides are a nice treat 😃

 

I could maybe do October 12.  I commute a lot, but also make several trips up to the mountains and ride.  Getting ready to go back up for 10 days at the end of August.  

I am in Griffin.  

53 minutes ago, betoney said:

That is great to hear, I'm glad it was an easy fix for you. 

Me, too.  Looking forward to many years of joy with Orion.  

Rode the bike to work this morning and all is right in my FJ world.  No decel pops for the entire hour ride.  No cold start sputtering either.  It was the wonderfully perfect for me bike that I remembered it to be.  

I cannot say thank you enough for all of the information.  You guys, as always, are a great help.  

1 exhaust bolt was loose and the muffler portion had slipped a slight bit.  No chance to test ride due to weather. I will update as soon as I test ride. 

13 hours ago, nhchris said:

To put the bad flash idea to rest...

Is there another FJ you can swap ECUs with?  Just replace yours with another and ride and you'll quickly have an answer to that question.

cb

Not another one that I know of. 

Thank you all for the ideas.  When I get home from work I will be checking all of these out.  I will update if I find anything.  

9 hours ago, skipperT said:

As NorCal mentioned, double check the things you may have touched or bumped when the sync was performed. Also depending on how the caps covering the throttle body ports were removed, one of the rubber nipple doo-dads could be torn depending on how you removed them (pliers can be brutal). Or if those weren’t removed, perhaps a line is open, maybe leading to the IAP sensor. The crankcase breather line being kinked or not connected properly could cause some weird things too. Same with a twisted fuel line, or one of the tank drain lines that hook into the bottom of the fuel tank. If those vents are kinked and blocked it can cause the fuel pump to have difficulty providing the correct pressure into the fuel rail.

a loose o2 sensor in that exhaust could also cause it, as Koth442 mentioned. Another poster had a bad weld seam on his Yosh pipe which can introduce air into the system where the ECM doesn’t expect it. Ultimately causing a running problem.  

I’d pull it apart and double check all of these things. You really shouldn’t need to idle the engine longer than 30 seconds before riding away without any drama. Good luck, and keep us posted. 

I’d backburner the “bad flash” idea for now until you 100% know the rest of the bike is ok.

-Skip

 

Exhaust will be thoroughly checked tonight also.  Making sure everything is tight and not kinked or twisted.  

I think the flash is fine (bf just wants to prove he was right and I was wrong for not going with Ivan).  

12 hours ago, norcal616 said:

Possible the airbox breather hose is a bit twisted up... AIS hoses mixed up?...Airbox rubber boots on TBs not tight... I'm just thinking of all the things that get pulled off when the TBs get synch... 

The weird start and the fact it starts better after riding for about 10mins reminds me of when I didn't notice my airbox breather hose was twisted up... You should hear the distinct airbox whine if breather hose is not kinked up... 

I will check this also.  I don't remember hearing the whine, so that may be something.  

12 hours ago, koth442 said:

I'm skeptical it's the ECU flash, but not impossible. 

How's the O2 sensor? Has it come loose?

I will be checking that when I get home from work.  

9 minutes ago, betoney said:

Did the cold-start issue begin right when you got the ECU flashed?  

I agree with @skipperT - it could potentially be an air leak somewhere.  The fuel map within the ECU flash doesn't change or gradually go bad, something else has changed.

Not immediately, but not terrible long after (within a few months).  I didn't think it would change, but he keeps on about it so I said I would ask around.  He keeps saying that there should have been updates done, etc and I should let him send it to Ivan to be redone.  

20 minutes ago, skipperT said:

How many miles?  Maintenance  history?

Decel pop can be a couple things: exhaust gaskets/leaks, intake leak, or too much or too little fuel when the throttle is closed. 

I think you may have 2 different things going on that may or may not be related. 

-Skip

It has 8500 miles.  I have changed the oil at the start of every riding season. I changed the air filter last year.   I synced the throttle body last year.  Other than that, nothing maintenance wise.

I have recently developed an issue with the bike not wanting to run smoothly at first start up (usually takes about 10 minutes of warm up) and very loud decel pops.  The cold start issue started last year and I thought it was just because we were in the mountains but it has started to be a regular occurrence, even at home.  The issue is after starting the bike, if I don't let it warm up for about 10 minutes, it will feel like it is shutting off at random intervals.  Once it warms up, it runs smoothly but that first 10 minutes almost feels like a TPS issue in a vehicle.  The decel pops just started today.  Very loud, almost sounds like gunshots when I let off throttle or shift gears.  

The bike is a 2015 with an ECU flash from 2WDW and a Mivv exhaust system.  

My bf (who wanted me to get Ivan to flash the ECU) says that it is all probably related to the flash and I should get it redone.  I have no idea what it is.  Checking the diagnostics, there are no codes.