phpaul

Installed the handlebar risers I got from @piotrek in our swap. I think we're both happy! I didn't need to raise mine so much as pull them back towards the rider.

In this installment of The Further Adventures of the Cheapskate Fabricator, I installed this tail tidy on my FJ. With my home-made soft bag mounts there's no room for the stock turn signals OR the smallest after-market LED signals I could find. Plus, I didn't want to mess with snipping and wiring on new connectors. So, I made up some new mounts for the stock signals and attached them to the bag mounts. This is at or near original height and separation and clears the bags when they're mounted. The plate mount tucks up nicely under the rear and eliminates what I call "the hemorrhoid" hanging off the back of the bike, just asking to get whacked. There was no way to mount the original license plate light so I did have to butcher the wiring harness and graft the connector onto the LED unit that came with the tail tidy. The repositioned stock taillights required drilling a couple of holes up through the plastic bottom of the tail for the wiring. This was both due to length of the pigtails on the signals and the fact that the wiring notch in the tail tidy doesn't quite line up with the hole in the tail and I was afraid of the wires chafing. Plenty of room for the tiny wires on the LED plate light, but too tight for all of them. While the bags are not attractive, they ARE practical, easy on and off, and mostly, CHEAP! I'm a happy guy.

Made an appointment for the 4000 mile service. It's a bit early mileage-wise, but I wanted to get the oil change done before riding season opens up. Looking at the weather for the day of the appointment, it looks like I'll be trailering it up... ... 29°F for a high. While I was at the dealer, I wandered through the showroom mainly to check and see if they ever got that SCR950 in that they had on order. Nope. That's the bike I originally had the hots for but they kept slipping the date and Summer was getting away from me, so I threw a leg over an FJ and the rest is history. They DID have a new XSR900 on the floor. I resisted the urge to throw a leg over that, but DAMN! Not a huge fan of the Transformer looks of the FJ and the XSR is just plain SEXY! I may wind up giving in to my urge to take the hand guards off...

I'm not really a fan of wheelies just for the sake of wheelies. Hard on the equipment if nothing else. I turned TC off and grabbed a handful on the FJ just to see what would happen, did a wheelie, said "kewl" and turned TC back on. I'm good. Back in the early 80's I had a Honda XL500 that was a major wheelie monster and I DID love to loft the front wheel on that thing. I was stationed in Pensacola, lived aboard NAS and worked at Corry Station. About a 5 mile ride back and forth to work via Navy Boulevard. The intersection with Lillian Highway was raised above Navy Blvd. just enough that a good handful of throttle would pick 'er up and carry it all the way across the intersection. Got the stink-eye from the Escambia County Sheriff's Deputy more than once... 8D

Nah that won't work, the old 650's had the good vibesTrue...

B!tch, b!tch, b!tch...you want vibrations, I'll let you ride my old 650 vertical twin! 8D

I stood in the garage, stared at the bike and pouted. It is 52° and bright sunshine at the moment. I am SOOOOOO tempted to haul the FJ out of hibernation. But, the driveway is 6" of slush over 6" of mud and the roads are covered with sand, mud, half-melted ice and running water. Even assuming I didn't meet an untimely end on the road, the week it'd take me to clean the bike (and the thought of all that salt and sand in every tiny crevice of My Baby) gives me the strength to put my feet up and watch videos. I wish I'd have been born rich instead of so damn good looking, I'd spend my winters in Key West.

Wait...what? They DID? Who knew? P-)

Nice! And timely too, I just got a deal on a set of soft bags and need to do pretty much the same thing. I'll be stealing some of your idea...

Downeast Maine, just across Frenchman Bay from Bah Hahbah.

Graham Lake is a long, narrow lake situated between Ellsworth and Bangor, Maine. At a rough guess the straight line distance from the Southern-most end to the Northern-most is something more than 10 miles. It lies in a Southwest to Northeast orientation. The Northern end touches the beginning of the central Maine highlands. Maine Route 180 goes up the West side of the lake, Route 179 goes up the East side. Route 180 and 179 both begin in Ellsworth and terminate about 10 miles apart on US Route 9, known locally as "The Airline". The Airline unofficially marks the border where "Northern Maine" begins. Both 179 and 180 are in very good condition, lightly traveled and for the most part lightly populated. Lots of curves, mostly sweepers with a few tight ones, lots of hills and many magnificent views. Getting there from where I live is a tad boring and at the moment a bit of a pain in the butt due to tourist traffic and road construction. But once you get on 180, it is just glorious. Today was absolutely perfect for the ride, mid-70's, wall-to-wall sunshine and a nice breeze. The sort of Maine Summer day the tourist bureau would like you to believe happens every day. Most of the route is posted at 45mph, and I actually DID 45 in a couple of spots where there were some houses clustered together. The rest of the time was 60-70 which was a very comfortable cruise, just fast enough to make the curves fun, slow enough to allow for those "shit!" moments. Very little traffic, I saw less than a dozen cars the whole route (not counting Route 9 which is a major East-West artery). The FJ performed flawlessly. The seat was noticeably more comfy since I raised it to the high slot (tho still far from perfect). I'm torn about the windshield. There is some buffeting (I'm 5-11) but at the speeds I ride, it's really not objectionable. I do think a full-face helmet is in my near future, the 3/4 is just too noisy even with ear plugs. Only other note: I caught my shoelace in that silly peg feeler on the left side again. They'll be coming off right after supper...

Rodan, I'll be VERY interested in your report on the bead seat. My butt and the stock seat are not compatible, but my budget and the aftermarket seats are even less compatible!