nhchris

You'll love them.  I do.

And no vibration at 70 mph.  Who could have guessed??

NOTE: I set my mirrors very wide to display the bikes L and R blind spots. As a car in the adjacent lane overtakes me it passes out of my mirrors and immediately shows up in my peripheral vision.  No surprises.

Whatever works!

Also a good idea to supplement your approach with extreme defensive driving techniques.

At every intersection... "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!"

On a recent tire change I reinstalled the rear wheel and tightened the nut using my 3/4 breaker bar till it felt "properly" tight.

I doubt I hit 111 foot pounds (which I think is excessive, especially for a dual-sided swing arm.)

The wrench in the link above is 1/2 drive. A bit small for 100 lb plus torquing?

Makes sense but...

The moment arm of the loading will be straight up on the rear mounting  point. This will pull directly against any fasteners used to bolt the rack to the bike.  Can the bike's mounting points take that kind of constant load over time?

Worse still in your example is the unloading of the front wheel with a 120 lb  momentary load from the rack.  Given a bike with an already light front end, is this addl load sufficient to fly the front wheel enough to significantly reduce contact?

I'd rent a bicycle when I got there rather than use this rack on my FJ!

RE top photo...    That's WILD!!

Whatever FJ bits that rack mounts too will get a BIG torsional load from that setup.  If the bicycle center of gravity is around its bottom bracket, that places it about a TWO feet behind the FJ's rear tire and mounting point.

That gives a 30 pound bike a lot of lever to work with, especially on a bumpy road. And in addition there is loading from leaning in corners.

I'd need to talk with someone who has ridden a motorcycle with this rack in real world condx before buying one. That's for sure!

The first right-had turn when the bicycle forks drag will be an adventure!!

I'd think long and hard before attempting this setup.

I'm trying to figure out how to carry my 10' surfboard on the FJ.

I don't notice much tire noise with my new 5s, despite the deep tread pattern.

I'm surprise at how chewed up that sidewall is.  Looks like a race tire. 

Must be pretty soft rubber in those sidewalls.

1 hour ago, chitown said:

Not too fixated on the manual's numbers nor the marks next to the sight glass. For all my Yamahas I usually dump in 20% less than what manual calls for, filling till the sight glass is about 75%. Bring it up to temp, shut off, wait for settle, top off till there's just a sliver in the sight glass. It's kept anything from coming out the breather and kept the level light happy. 

What's strange is I filled it to just below the top of the glass, ran it, and then it was over the top of the glass.

The opposite should have happened as the new oil filter drew some oil out of the crankcase.

Whatever, it runs like a basstaaaad and is not breathing oil or blowing smoke!

2 hours ago, betoney said:

My bike is off as well except mine requires more oil. If I put 2.8 qts in it only goes half way up the sight glass, for the past several oil changes I have been using 3 full quarts to get it to the top portion of the sight glass. 

@betoney do you have the old or new oil (side drain) pan?

BTW: My Miata drain plug looked pristine after a year in the hole.

So I just did my 8k mile oil and filter change and here's what I'm seeing...

I dumped 2 quarts (32oz) of Spectro full synth 10-40 into the little hole and then added an additional 24 oz from the third quart.  To me that represents 2.75 U.S. quarts.

The online manual PDF claims a capacity of 2.85 U.S. quarts with a filter change.

But, at 2.75 Qs the sight glass is full to overflowing!  I ran the bike for about 10 miles  post-change and sight glass is still full. (And yes I let old oil drain for an hour before replugging the drain hole.)  Bike has old style oil pan w drain on bottom.

Any ideas on why this discrepancy between my world and the Yami manual?

No worries Wordy.  At 72 I've got more hair than money.  Which is OK by me.

These young pups need to know how we suffered to ride in the OLD DAYs.

Speaking of kick start, I've not-so-good memories of running my pal's BSA 500 single through many times before it stared.  You just prayed to the gods it did't kick back!

Possibly.  My FJ usually starts quickly, but occasionally will require cranking for a few extra seconds.  No biggie.

And is good we don't have to tickle carbs and get fuel on our fingers every time we start.  (You younger members can look that procedure up in Wikipedia or ask @wordsmith about it.)

Intereting @norcal616.   

I wonder if using the red button for shut off will keep the fuel system energized until the key shuts it down. This might improve fueling for the next start cycle over the short term.

Just a theory...

I just rolled past 8,000 miles and am checking the maintenance table in the manual.

What's strange to me is that my FJ manual gives the same replacement interval for spark plugs and oil filter:  8k miles.

That's awfully short for NGK plugs and seems really long for oil. I mean, who goes 8k before an oil change? And who changes the oil without changing the filter?

Is it me or them that's a bit batty?

No one has mentioned front wheel balance.  Do you know for a fact that the wheel--tire combo is in good balance?  

With the FJ's light steering it doesn't take much imbalance to induce shake.

Will everyone who has bent the ignition key by bumping into it while it is in the seat lock please raise their hand.

On 7/27/2019 at 3:51 AM, BBB said:

It's for security, even I, with big hands can unlatch the front seat without unlocking the rear if the plug is out. Quite what a thief would do once the seat is off, I don't know, but perhaps undo the battery to disable a wired alarm?

I put a small plastic screw in the top, from a license plate, that sticks up enough to easily grip and remove the rubber. 

Genius!!  I just did the same here.  Now a thief will have to pick the entire bike up and put in his pickup truck to steal it.  HA!

For you unlucky owners whose bike did not come equipped with the state-of-the-art feature, it looks like this....... 

Anyone know the purpose of the horizontal line markings on my new Road 5s?

I wonder if they provide an objective measure of chicken strips and provide a goal for us all to strive for.

"Hey dude I hit the middle line today!!!"

See the section on taller gearing in the CycleWorld Tracer 900 article.

Thanks guys.  It definitely is a deterrent to releasing the seat.

It takes me 5 minutes to pull it free after I use the key!!

The tack idea is cool! 

Hey gang,

You know that black rubber plug under the seat? The one that's a pain in the ass to remove so you can release the front seat?

Does it serve a real purpose or can I toss it in the bin?  (It does not appear to support the seat in any meaningful way.)

FYI for next time...

The tires have an arrow indicating direction of rotation on the sidewall.  I referred to it A LOT when remounting my Road 5s. 

And I still held my breath until the ABS light went off.

PS: There are some very good YouTube vids on removing and installing FJ wheels.

Great.  Glad your situation is improved.

I was considering trying undamped when I replace the chain in a few thou.  You've convinced me otherwise!

The FJ is a rowdy little ride with plenty of noise, vibes, thrills and chills for everyone.  Sedate it is NOT.

What a great idea... I will try changing settings on the fly next ride.  Thanks for the tip.

In general, I'd like the bike to be more composed over the bumpy roads we have here in New England.

I am happy with the way it turns in, the lightness of the counter steer inputs required and the overall ride.  I am not too sophisticated a racer, but will push it.

I am running the rear shock pretty hard (5 out of 7?) and fooling with damping to smooth out the ride. Up front I set 40mm of sag on the shock tubes and again am twisting the damping to see how it feels.

At 210 lbs I know I am at the high end of the "average" rider the suspension was designed for.  (I am also trying to lose some weight but it ain't easy!)

On a recent ride I accelerated out of a toll both full wide open to110 mph in 5th. The front end felt VERY light the entire time and I wondered if the front wheel was even planted (TC was on but did not activate). It was a bit unnerving and did NOT inspire my confidence in the bike. 

But again, coming off an ST 1300, maybe this lightness of being is something I need to embrace!

At this point I don't want to sink $2,000 into suspension mods. I think I'd rather try a Versys 1000 or find a used R1200RT with low mileage.  Then wifey could occasionally ride along too.