Waldo Jeffers

That’s a real beaut’ Clark!

22 minutes ago, hammer said:

Washed the bike today with car wash soap. Went for a ride, hosed it down, and went to town. Rinse then a towel dry and it's all good. Ran the engine for about 5-10 mins and put her away....

 

Man! You fecked up doing that!

/s

This is one of my favorites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_96?wprov=sfti1

I used Evian bottled water. J/K, I sprayed it with water from the hose. I might add that we do have the best water in the world up here in the Pacific Northwest. 

Now I fear I’m gonna walk out to my garage and find a pile of dust where my bike used to be. 😀

Damn you for ruining my ignorant bliss!

Yes it does.
You basically spray the stuff all over the bike and then rinse it off. I did go heavy with the spray on the engine and lower road grime area. It could use a second spray and wash, but it literally got 80% of the grime off. Obviously, I didn’t shoot water in places it shouldn’t be, eg, switch gear, exhaust pipe, etc. 

I’m sure you all have heard of S100, but this is my first time using it and color me impressed!

I love the look of the ‘21 all around. I also think the exhaust porting underneath is a brilliant idea, aesthetically that is. Maybe functionally as a road de-icer too? 😀

52 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

I also use T6 5W-40 for all my vehicles.  My FJ shifts very well with it.  Minimizing clutch lever free play and optimizing shift lever height for your boot really helps.  Of course shifting technique and going to a 16 XSR slip-assist clutch could be a positive factor.

In my 98 VTR1000F (bought new), as soon as it hit 1,500 miles, I went with the old Mobil 1 for probably 50,000 miles before they changed the formulation.  I've been using T6 since with no issues and it now has over 111,000 miles!  Same thing with my 15 FJ, as soon as I hit 1,500 I went with the Yamaha blend, then their full synthetic because they had/have the 100,000 mile oil / filter warranty deal but it got too cumbersome to update my account.  So I went to the T6 and installed the modified threaded thing the filter screws onto so the new style concave hub filters don't leak.

That’s a cherry super hawk. 

29 minutes ago, Salish900 said:

This was my experience. Lots of T6 fans and rightly so. But my bikes got notchy really quick with it when shifting. The 900 with the slipper and assist clutch is so butter smooth, the T6 may work just fine. I'm most persuaded by the reality that when is the last time you heard of an engine failing from bad oil? All my years on forums with so many bikes, and never once can I recall a post on an engine blowing up, or pistons wearing out, or any mechanical damage from inside an engine from one brand of oil or another. Japanese bikes, like fiberglass boats, don't die, they have to be murdered! I'm a bit of a Francophile, so I justify the Motul, but don't push me hard because I can't go far in justifying it. 

I like Fabio Quartararo and since he’s French I will be going with Motul on my next oil change. Oh! And he rides a Yamaha. ✊😄

That’s who did the forks. I used to Race with Barry, the owner, years ago. I do want to get down to The Ridge to watch a race, especially MotoAmerica. 
 

Did you do a track day? Do they require a full or two piece leather suit? It’s been a looonnng time for me being on track. 

After I installed and went for a ride and realized that I didn’t clock the forks to make them right reading and symmetrical. Derp. 
 

I gotta say the bike is transformed as others have said. I still haven’t set the sag yet (I think it’s in the ballpark). I do have the forks higher in the triple tree by 2mm than they were stock, but need to go a skosh more. 

Once the sag is set, I’ll start the black art of adjusting the comp and rebound on the front and rebound on the back. 
 

Money well spent!

On 3/2/2021 at 7:59 PM, Waldo Jeffers said:

Shock install complete. Test ride tomorrow. 

Finally got my forks back with my new cartridges. Let the good times roll!

Have a great and safe ride bud. Jealous!

That stinks. Sorry to see. 

I’m also a suspension noob. The cartridges I received from K-Tech (Lenny Albin) came with 9.0 springs and a quart of oil (not sure the weight). I have faith that Lenny sent the correct shit and that KFG knows their shit when installing. 🤞🙏

When I get the forks back I’ll set the sag and then do the fine tuning of the damping. At least that’s the plan. 

I’m up near Everett. I dropped them off at KFG yesterday but they have a 5-7 day lead time. I went with KFG from your advice awhile back, plus there doesn’t seem to be any suspension shops up my way. 

Just returned from getting my ECU flashed at @2wheeldynoworks. Super nice folks. Unfortunately, I can’t try it until I get my forks back from the shop, but I’ll let you know when I do. Anticipation....

6 hours ago, lospsi said:

Nice!
Did the shock come correctly preloaded or you had to adjust it manually? I see you removed the tank too, you found it difficult to install it without removing it?

I have my suspension parts still in the box, I'm debating whether do it myself (shock only, forks will go to the shop either way) or have the local shop do the whole work for me.

The shock did seem to be in the ballpark. I will fine tune in it after my forks are upgraded. 
 

I decided to just go ahead and take the tank off to make getting to the top fasteners easier. I really don’t think I would have had the patience to get that top bolt out without destroying my garage. 
 

Overall the install was quite a breeze with all the info I had gathered on this site. Removing the tank is quite easy except for the fuel connector. 
 

I now have to remove the forks and drop them off at the shop for cartridge install. 5-7 day lead time. Grrrrr. 

What is a “registered clutch abuser”? And where do I get registered!?

Shock install complete. Test ride tomorrow. 

K-Tech Razor-R Lite shock

K-Tech 20IDS cartridges

I will be installing the shock in the next few days and will take the forks to the “local” shop for install of the cartridges. I don’t have the balls to attempt that. Great admiration for the folks on here that have. 

31 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

We've been having a warm snap, low 40s but mid 40s this weekend.  The snow and ice is slowly receding but there's still 1.5 feet in the yards; maybe a bit less.

I wish I still had my VF500F rat bike so I could ride but there's still a ton of salt on the roads which usually does not wash away until May... 😞 

Yeah there were some real dark clouds up near me too. Still lots of sand on the roads up here too.