nevada72

Well I fixed it. I would delete the thread but maybe it will help someone in the future. It came down to polarity. LEDs are polarity specific. For whatever reason the pigtails that plug into the Yamaha blinker connectors are polarity reversed where Blk is pos and Red is neg. The blinkers, I assume, are polarity correct with red = positive. I assume this because this is the second brand of LEDs I have purchased wired like this. I forgot that I had this same confusion when I initially installed the first set. So now I have black to red, and red to black and everything works peachy. 

....and I have no idea why. It started with the left blinker, and now the right one as well. The fronts work just fine. 

Backing up a bit - I installed the TST led blinkers and flasher with built in load ballast for the LEDs. All of it has been working perfectly for over a year. Just the other day the left stopped working. I swapped leads and the left switch worked, but flashed the right blinker, so I was pretty sure it was a bad LED blinker. Got the replacement today and now neither work. I've carefully inspected the wiring, connections, fuses. The only thing I haven't done was confirm that the new ones work by connecting directly to the battery. I will go do that shortly. 

But the question - is there a common issue with losing the rear blinkers on these bikes?

16 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Still frozen? Brrrr

May get out tomorrow,  meet up in Burlington or East Troy for lunch?

Possibly. I asked Cheryl if she wanted to get out tomorrow so I'll need to see what she wants to do first seeing as I asked her. I should know by day's end. 

10 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

What bay is that Bob?

That is the east end of Pewaukee Lake. Very close to my home. 

Got out for another short jaunt. Not bad at 65 degrees. Even stopped for an ice cream cone!

All the pics look like sunny, warm areas. I'm jealous! I did get out for a short rip today. Ran up to the "real gas" station about 20 miles from me. Looped back and got the bike washed. Busy day at the wash bays. Two other bikes pulled up - a R6 and a Panigale.  Temps were between 55-60, so a nice day for March in Wisconsin, that's for sure.

Glam-shot by the ski hill situated behind our sub-division 

21 hours ago, fr8dog said:

I'm a transplant here. A coworker says there was a lot of mining in the area back in the day. Idaho City still looks like an old western town. Dirt streets, wooden sidewalks and old western style storefronts. Also, a lot of people are packing. 

On the google map attachment you can see a popular ride here called "the loop". Keep heading north to Lowman, head over to Garden Valley and back down to Boise or wherever you started from. No loop yesterday. Elevation climbs to 6k on the way to Lowman. Roads are icy in places and sketchy. Rode it last year when we first moved here. Puckered me up a bit.

 

You live in a great area for riding. Highways 20&26 are great. I particularly like the stretch over to John Day. I've looked at the route to Idaho City, but never got a chance to ride it. Looks great!

Here we've had a mild warm up. I got the FJ09 out for about 100 miles the other day to pick up some carbs for my BMW project. Figured why not ride? 

Seeing as it's a pic thread - one carb mounted - 

46 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Social distancing of course 

When did you put a can on?

Or I forgot 

Pre-COVID pic. No can - stock.

10 hours ago, peteinpa said:

Why was that the FIRST thing he did, kill the pipeline???  Must be putting $$$$$ in his pockets through the Saudi's.

As much as I would like to blame Biden, I know there's another reason gas prices went up. Yup.....I sold my hybrid and bought a pickup truck. Sure enough, within a month prices started to climb. You all have my apologies.

Oh, and a pic. From a group ride I did with the local sport bike crew. It was a memorial ride for a fallen member. 

9 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

How's your knee?

Road salt?!

 

 

Knee felt good yesterday. No issues. I was super comfortable on the bike. Felt like I could have gone all day.

We had a big thaw which had the roads covered in melted snow for a few days. Really sloppy driving but it diluted the salt somewhat. Then it snowed just a bit the night before and then quickly melted and the roads, more or less, dried up. So there were no piles of salt at the stop signs but I'm sure there's still some residual salt left. There were also puddles from continued melting so the bike needs a bath. As does the back of my jacket. I guess they have those ugly license plate holders on there for a reason. 🤪

Happy to say I was able to get out for a ride. 48 degrees and Sunny with moderate wind. It felt fantastic to be in the wind again.

4 minutes ago, fr8dog said:

That's brutal. My better half loves the snow. Me, I have no need for it. 

I am so done. It kind of came out of the blue. I was in a super bad mood for an extended period of time. Riding withdrawals. My boss and I were talking about how we need to find a guy in the SE to manage the territory. It dawned on me - why not me? I asked. He agreed. It's a done deal far as I'm concerned. 

Meanwhile in Wisconsin.......

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Mrs72 has agreed to moving to North Carolina. We're outta here!

1 minute ago, betoney said:

 

 

I bundled up and braved the elements for a bit over 3 hours today, I rode some deserted twisty rural farm-land roads in the middle of nowhere.  Out in the sunshine it was wonderful, in the wooded areas though the temps dropped quickly.

Wow! You have some miles on that bike! Bravo!

And nice work on the brisk ride. I've been blessed to be able to get out at least once each month of the year as long as I can remember. I have no doubt there's a few 30 degree rides in my future coming up in January. Fingers crossed.

Oh, and I'll add that a nice, new pair of Gerbings G4s have replaced my old G3s. Quite a difference!

I got about 100 miles in yesterday - 55 degrees. Today it's 15 degrees. I think I'll leave the bike parked today.

Remove rear first, then I use a ratchet strap from the handlebars to a beam in my garage and simply ratchet the front end up off the floor a bit - then remove. 

PS -  remove both calipers to avoid a rim scratch. Don't ask how I learned this.

1 hour ago, Ride On said:

Thanks Nevada!

No worries about the aluminum brackets.  Fatuige life is a function of the extent of the flexing, times the number of cycles.  I'd expect these brackets to outlast several motorcycles.  (The two aluminum bars holding the wings on my airplane are made from 1" wide by 1/8" thick 6061T6 aluminum and are under significantly more stress!)

Well considering the relative importance of each application, I guess I'm going to not worry about a bag falling off versus a wing falling off.

I went with the SW Motech rack. Very sturdy and versatile. Not terribly expensive either.

I cut some rectangles out of a black Rubbermaid container lid to use as extenders. I used Scotch fasteners to secure them, so I can just rip them off in Spring. Very Bohemian, but functional.

5 hours ago, Ride On said:

Nevada72 had a great idea here and I decided to build my own set of panniers following his lead.  You can too.  Nothing here is particularly difficult and the end result seems to be extremely durable. 

 

I've been using Yamaha's 39L top case and a 40L dry bag strapped to the passenger seat.  That works fine, but the dry bag isn't an option when riding with a passenger. 

 

The number of times I'd actually need panniers is close to zero, so spending $900 on a factory bags wasn't likely to happen.  With the cost dropping to $130 though, that equation changes. 

 

These bags add 29L of storage capacity per side and appear to be completely water and dust proof.  I've sealed the screws that penetrate the bags with Yamahabond to keep them both air and water tight. 

 

I also cut down the bags exterior webbing flush with the rest of the bag where the mounting brackets attach (using a wood chisel).  This provides a flat surface for the brackets to be bolted to. 

 

Rather than use JB Weld to make the tapered wedges that fit into the stock luggage bracket I used West System epoxy mixed with strands of carbon fiber I had lying around.  The aluminum angle it's cured to was drilled to allow the mix to harden through and around the aluminum angle.  It's bulletproof.  If I'd do it again through I'd use  epoxy putty that's kneeded together to mix and cure. This would be less messy and easier to form.  Saran Wrap allows mixture to both form to, and harden, in the luggage bracket and allow it's removal when cured.

 

So for about 8 hours of my time and $130 I've now got another option to haul luggage around should the need arise.  With snow on the roads, I just need to wait until spring to try them out. 

 

Excellent work! I also drilled the angle bracket (giving the JB weld something to grab on to) and used Saran Wrap to form the JB Weld inserts. If there is one thing I would like to change, it's that. But honestly, it's held up well and once inserted, you don't see it. 

The other thing I would consider is using steel for those same brackets vs aluminum, which could conceivably fatigue. But in quite a few miles everything looks pretty much the same as the day I put it all together. 

On 11/17/2020 at 5:16 PM, Heli ATP said:

Hey Nevada72, nice work. Should you decide to make some more brackets I am interested. I have FJR bags on the stock holders but would like the option to mount the  Moose Racing Adventure Panniers I picked up on closeout, for those longer adventures.

I appreciate the compliment. I don't have any plans to make more, but I would be happy to walk you through it. It's really pretty simple.

On 11/15/2020 at 3:01 PM, Ride On said:

Nevada72, do you have a long term update for us?  This looks like a great solution for Yamaha's overpriced, leaky bags. 

Still going strong! I've used them quite a bit and on some less than stellar roads here in the Midwest. They have been rock solid with no issues whatsoever. I figured by now I would need to tweak something, but I guess I got it right the first time.

I've also received some nice compliments on the luggage from people who like to tinker on their bikes. 

1 minute ago, betoney said:

@nevada72 - That is a pretty cool app for sharing a route, any hidden fees associated with owning or using it?

Nope - pretty much free. You can upgrade to one that you can edit. I would have snipped out the duplicate pics on the route I posted for example. But I don't really use it all that much. Just kind of a fun toy.

Made a run out to the Mississippi River the other day. It was unseasonably warm, mid-70s, and it was fantastic to get in a good ride. 

Captured the rout on Relive - 

Relive 'River Run November 2020'

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View my ride: River Run November 2020

14 hours ago, Wingnut said:

I'm curious to know if anyone has tried using one of the kazillion aluminum brazing rods brands to repair their sump. A replacement pan dented (oh, a pun) my milk money fund a bit, but I've already ordered it so I'm sitting in the garage thinkin' "ya know ....".  

Clearly, if the damage is a shattered pan I wouldn't even try ... well, maybe I would but anyway, in my case the crack is within a dime-sized dent caused by a chucked rock, right in front. Looks like I could easily either leave it and fill it with braze or knock it back out a bit and fill it. Either way $20 worth of rod against the cost of a new pan and the wait for delivery might be an inviting concept.

I've brazed steel and copper before so I have the basic torch chops. Remove (have to do anyway), clean and prep, braze, sand flat and then repaint and brag to friends. No worries about thermal dislocation from goop fixes, solid. There're a bunch of YouTube how-to's for aluminum brazing.

(Or, I could go all Mad Max on it and layer on more aluminum plate ..... guns,...spikes , mmmmaybe not.)

AND I've received an SRC skid pan to ward off future assaults.

Just like the look of it for myself, not minimalist but doesn't look like a Mad Max vehicle prop either. Could not coax my wallet out of a locked closet for an Higdonion set-up. The SRC is thick welded aluminum, beefy struts ... I could probably lift the bike with it.

Anybody try a repair?

I like the look of that. The Higdonion not so much. 

14 hours ago, Wingnut said: