whistler

Received my Sargent seat today and wanted to post a couple of pics.  Been following the seat threads for the GT and wasn't feeling too warm and fuzzy about the Sargent's arrival, but now that it's installed, it just might be okay.  Will ride it tomorrow and post up my seat-of-the-pants comments afterward.

First and foremost, I don't believe the Sargent was designed for installing in the OEM Low position.  Have no idea why this is, but that's just my opinion. There's excessive gap at the nose of the seat, as if the pan's length is just too short - period.  The fit is definitely not up to the standards that I've experienced with all my previous Sargents on previous bikes.  Again, just my opinion.  The below 2 pics are of the rider seat in the Low position.

Then, I moved the adjustment bracket to the High position, and the result was a much better fit i.e., no gap between seat nose and tank.

Then I installed the pillion seat, the fit of which is VERY snug.  It took some mild profanities to get it done, but it did finally fit.   Just like the rider's seat, the pillion is a bit wider and slightly flatter than the OEM's contour.  Seems like the bearing surface is better configured.  Here's a pic... 

Took 2 pics from the side to hopefully show how the nose of the Sargent is not swept up like the OEM seat, and also to show how the seat has been flattened, or dished out a bit, at its rear.  This is a noticeable difference from the OEM's contour, which inclines upward at the rear of the seat.  Definitely explains why I and many others constantly feel a forward decline into the upswept nose of the OEM seat, which crunches the jewels just a bit too much.  You can see how the Sargent's nose is fairly level at the nose and slightly dished at the rear from the below pics.

Bottom line . . . this seat, at least on my GT, and in my opinion only, is made for the High position.  The nose is also tapered on the sides, allowing my feet to easily touch the ground, even though the seat's in the High setting.  Will see how it all feels on the road tomorrow and report back.  We shall see...

Welcome to the family, Donk!  We all drank the KoolAid and are now totally hooked on our FJs and GTs!

Wow!  You can see into the future with those babies!   😎

2 hours ago, jrubicon said:

so in the normal setting, only one side of the headlights run normally?  i thought both ran all the time??

 

i disasembled a ton of stuff to try to replace the bulb when i gave up.

Your GT is normal, JRubicon.  Lo beam is on the left; Hi beam is on the right.

Walkin' on the wild side, eh?  😎

6 hours ago, texscottyd said:

True.  But with the careless use of a heat gun, you can absolutely Ctrl+Z a hard copy manual.  Don’t ask me how I know this... 

LOL!! 

Oops . . . sorry, Scotty.  Lost myself there; gotta Ctrl+Y and Re-Do.

On 8/24/2019 at 8:19 AM, jdavis said:

All sorted now thanks @TorqWrench. I also pointed them down a bit.

+1.  I've had fork-mounted LEDs on my last several bikes for tens of thousands of miles.  Aimed them all 3 degrees down from horizontal; have never had an issue with useful coverage nor blinding oncoming traffic.  They work.

I gotta be doing something wrong.  My mpg is still really good after 7,800 miles or so.  My last tank gave me 53.9 mpg; >258 miles per tank.  I usually average around 51-52 mpg.  My commuting speeds are all over the map; the commute in this morning averaged 80 mph in the fast lane.  Weird...

I still fill up around 200 miles on Trip 1, though.  I like having that buffer.  

I think you'll like it, Runnerhiker.  To echo Larz...it takes the turbulence right out of the wind.  Nice and clean and bobble-free.

On 7/16/2019 at 2:40 AM, kmev said:

It will carry 3 dozen ears of corn, though. 

Aw, Man...that smokes my Givi V46!

6 hours ago, betoney said:

Regardless of how well it covers mileage, if it lacks character then its merely a tool to get you from point A to B...the CP3 definitely "stirs the soul" as they say.

To my simple mind, that is definitely spot on, Betoney.

22 hours ago, Coop said:

Holey Cow!!  I just bought a big can of Plexus.  Can I write it off of my income tax?

Lemon Pledge, Coop.  It just works.  Use one microfiber cloth for cleaning, another one for buffing.  Plastics, paint, windscreens, face shields, cold chrome...it works (and you don't have to take out a loan equal to the Gross Domestic Product of a small country to finance the purchase of a can - not even a big one).

12 hours ago, motopumps said:

I use soft ties looped around the lower triples and fork tubes.  Careful up higher on soft or bendable parts.

I have secured the bike this way for about 5k miles so far with no issues. 

The front wheel is secured in a Condor chock.

Rob

+1.  Used this exact method, materials and tiedown points when I picked mine up in Romney, WV and hauled it home to Southern MD in July 2018.  Curvy roads, lots of bumps, occasional braking for stupid people, etc.  Trailered just fine.

That.  Is.  Cool.

1 hour ago, dbeau said:

I didn't measure how much but I noticed early on that the chain tightens considerably after torquing the axle nut. So yes, I agree with you 

Don't know if others do this, but after adjusting the slack and before I tighten the axle nut, I jam a rolled up old t-shirt or a couple of cloth shop rags between the bottom chain and the sprocket, then tighten the axle nut.  Don't know how it works, only that it works.  The sprocket will move a tiny bit into the rolled t-shirt and then stop.  Doesn't hurt the chain or sprocket and still maintains the slack that I've adjusted.  Been doing this for all my past and current chain-driven bikes.  Works very well for me.

Nice job, Larz!  So . . . how many coats are necessary to achieve that "bounce factor" you mentioned in an earlier post?  Just curious... 😁

On 7/6/2019 at 10:53 PM, texscottyd said:

Too funny!  I was seriously thinking about breaking out the Photoshop... 

Narrow Winding Highway 

Attack With Great Enthusiasm 

Do it, Tex! 

What about "Narrow Winding Highway -  Grip It and Rip It"?

Congats on the new ride, Nevada, and welcome to the forum!  The folks in this forum are aces and are always there to provide solid tech support, sound advice, and maybe one or two bad jokes/snarky comebacks/hilarious observations as well.  You'll have a blast on the bike and on this forum!  

Enjoy your new wheels!  👍

19 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

LAAWs are ancient tech.  There are F&F* rockets the size of road flares that'll stop an APV if not a "tank".  Eazi-peezi to rig up a dozen...

*Fire & Forget

I'm stuck in old-school on some things, 2&3.  A pleasant carry-over from when I carried a service rifle and other interesting kit...

5 hours ago, betoney said:

Mountain twisties = fuel economy be damned!   The right wrist has a mind of its own. 👍

Spoken like a true prophet, Dude.  😉

I save myself the headache and just use Trip 1 as a tank mileage meter and fill up around 200 miles or so.  So far, I'm getting 52 mpg per tank for my commuting mileage.  That gives me about 240+ total miles per tank, give or take a few.  The 40-mile buffer helps with finding a gas station without much worry.

I use Trip 2 as a chain lube meter and do that gig every 300-400 miles or so.

Now, if I could hardwire a LAAW rocket platform to the GT for the idiot cagers on the road in my area, I'd be golden . . . 

15 minutes ago, vincep said:

The cheapest weight saving I could make on my GT would be to stop drinking beer.

Nope, I'm not about to do that . . . 

41 minutes ago, Coop said:

We have a Dragon in west Texas that most people have never heard about.  Here is a picture I took just before heading into the first curve.  I think it is a decreasing radius curve.  

Holy crap, Coop!!  Hang on tight . . . !!

9 hours ago, chitown said:

And lemony Pledge tire lube for the win!  It's got 1001 motorcycling uses: tire install lube, plastic polish, shield cleaner, all around leading edge friction reducer...

Love that stuff!  The downside...got strafed by some bees while cleaning bug splat off the GT one sunny morning (guess they liked the lemon freshness, too).  Ah well . . . 

The short version...got rear-ended on my little V-Strom at a stoplight on May 29.  Inattentive old man in a mini-van.  Smacked me hard.  Jeep Cherokee in front of me (also a rider) pulled ahead at the last nanosecond and prevented me from getting pinned between him and the old man behind me.  

Don't remember the impact, just the immediate seconds after impact.  ATGATT saved me again.  Left shoulder muscles are almost 100% after being strained during impact.  No broken bones, one bruise on back of right hand, sore left shin and left knee.  Currently all healed except for the last bit of shoulder muscle.  

Left for Kosovo on June 3 on Uncle Sam's behalf.  Returned yesterday.  First few days there were a little tender on the shoulder.  Much, much better now.  Back in the saddle for the commute tomorrow.

Little V-Strom's in the shop getting repaired.  Glad I also have the GT in the stable.

Seems like we do all we can to protect ourselves and our bikes, but the wild card is always some other human being.  

Be safe out there.