1moreroad

Next round of type 1 kits arrived in the US about a week ago. Mine will be fixed at the dealer tomorrow. The kit was ordered around late October.

Funny that our experiences are so different. I've ridden Metzeler, Bridgestone, and Dunlop. Michelins are more expensive than the other brands, which are all otherwise similar in price. Bridgestones were the worst in feel and actual handling - I would slide on the same roads in similar conditions compared to the other 2. The only Bridgestones I liked for grip were BT-010s that lasted about 2000 miles on a lightweight supermoto. Metz compared to Dunlop might have had slightly better grip, no better "feel" and much worse life. Dunlops have lasted longer, had good feel, were usually slightly less expensive, and were easier to get from local shops.

Thanks for sharing

Me, too. For my own comfort, I put a short 2x4 on a jack under the headers, too, just in case the milk crate failed.

I'd recommend that TST industries relay for flash rate. https://tstindustries.com/LED-Flasher-Relay-Gen2.html It's literally a drop in replacement. Many of them have connectors with tails. This relay actually has an internal dial that you can control the flash rate with.

Good news/bad news. The bike is done, for now. After owning the FJ for about a month, I made a running list of modifications. I've now owned it for 16 months, 9000 miles, and 11 states. With the exception of suspension work - which I plan to do after ~ 20,000 miles when the stock suspension is more worn out - I've made all the modifications I want to make on the bike. It really is mine how I like it. I've been short on rider training (parking lot instruction and track time), and that's what I need to spend my money on next year. I haven't done a track day since 2008 and haven't done formal instruction (not counting laps with control riders) since 2005 or 2006. That's too long. Sum of the parts: service manual, hard bags with reflective tape, heated grips, Laminar Lip, O2 controller mod, GPS mount, frame sliders, engine covers, all LED lights, and tail tidy. Except for the LED license plate light, all mods are OE or plug and play and reversible. Thought a lot about driving lights, but I just don't ride far at night and when I do it's in town under street lights. This morning I installed the GB Racing lower engine covers. Easy to follow written instructions were included for each cover and for those who want more how to there is a video here: I was able to install all the covers in < 30 minutes. The fit is good. I did not order the water pump cover since I have the Shogun frame sliders that should protect the same area. I had good experiences with frame sliders protecting my Ninja's fairings, and I had always planned to add those. Looking at damage to a local FZ and looking at what stuck out from the engine, I decided to add the covers, too. Thumbs up to Revzilla for good customer service. I ordered a gallon of oil for my next oil change. A small amount spilled, but they resolved the situation. Here are the covers installed. I tried to take the picture to show you how they protect the engine. The slider and covers now stick out beyond the engine or frame. Right side of the bike: 20161010_110502 Left side of the bike: 20161010_111126 Now the bad news. I think I stripped threading in two holes. Well, I wonder if Yamaha stripped them, and I'm just finding it. When unscrewing the bolts, on all but 2 bolts, I used a socket wrench with a 5 mm Allen head about 1/4-1/2 turn to break the bolt free then hand unscrewed them the rest of the way. Those two bolts were "sticky" and required a socket wrench to loosen almost all the way out. When tightening, I tightened the bolts hand tight then finished them with a torque wrench. Those same two bolts got hard to turn by hand very quickly. The rest spun in by hand until in contact with the engine cover. On all but those two bolts, everything was fine and the torque wrench clicked. On those 2 bolts, the bolts are more than finger tight but never tightened up to the torque spec. I even backed off the torque wrench setting, but still couldn't set torque. I eventually just stopped turning. 20161010_111523 20161010_111451 So... do I leave the 2 bolts as is? Blue loctite them and call it a day? Take it to a shop and have them rethread the hole? The bike is going to the dealer for the CCT recall in about 2 weeks, so I could easily have them look at it. Thoughts?

Set them lower than you think. I think my low-med-high settings are 2-4-7, and I can't hold on to 7 for too long even in near freezing temperatures.

Can you keep the hand guards?

Shogun frame sliders. 10 minute install. GB Racing case savers ordered. In a week it should look like @britelitebob 's bike.

I ordered from Creese1 on ebay. I think this is the link, but I'm on my phone and he had many variations of turn signal. http://m.ebay.com/itm/2-Turn-Signals-Super-LEDs-with-built-in-Daytime-Running-Lights-/331586518553?nav=SEARCH His tail tidy is good, but I did have to expand the holes a little. His bullet to Yamaha connectors are good (so the signals are plug and play). The lights are OK. They're very bright at about 15 - 30 degrees off center, but straight ahead they're not very bright. They have a narrow viewing angle, which is a common problem with inexpensive, bright LEDs. The turn signal function is just 4 or 5 white LEDs close to the bike. I might change them out in the future.

Didn't crank the motor.

Finished installing LED front signals, O2 controller, and new GPS harness. Replaced front tire with another Roadsmart. 20160916_102007, on Flickr 20160919_125828, on Flickr

Looks good, but I think the bike looks aesthetically cleaner without. I think they could get rid of the plastic honeycomb, too.

Creese1 eBay tail tidy and Custom LED Blaster integrated taillight. Next up Creese1 front signals. 20160912_190546 by gcsurb, on Flickr

Spent a bunch of money. New front tire Custom LED blaster tail light Creese1 DRL front turn signals with wire harness, mounting plates, and TST relay Creese1 fender eliminator New Zumo 660LM GPS to replace my dying Nuvi Coming up in less than a month GB Racing engine covers and Shogun frame sliders <-- saw @britelitebob 's bike and they looked good.

With 3000+ miles on it, a few criticisms. At certain sun angles (sun just above my line of sight) there is terrible glare across the visor. The inner sun visor has a scratch. Not sure how. Still happy with the fit, ventilation, and lack of fogging.

I don't wear glasses when riding, but I can slide my reading glasses in with the helmet on no problem and no discomfort. Can't say what it's like to ride with them.

Good resource: http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/motorcycle-helmet-weights.htm Some of the helmets are older models.

Note that sometimes the same basic helmet - even with the same name - may be slightly different in the EU/UK and the US. One helmet may not be DOT/ECE/Snell certified. There may be small differences. IIRC, in the mid-2000s, the Shoei X-11/X-Spirit were basically the same helmet BUT the EU version was slightly softer than the US version so that the US version could pass the Snell standard of the time. Other helmets sold in the US are labeled as DOT/ECE certified. Those are probably the same in both countries, er, continents.

A couple of us ride in this helmet, and it has received mixed reviews on this website. It was almost impossible to find any other reviews of this helmet online before I purchased it last month. I've ridden with the helmet for about 1300 miles with a mix of city, backroads, and highway. TLDR: it's a good helmet, I recommend it, for the price anyone should seriously consider it if it fits them. I'm going to try to review this in the same manner as http://www.webbikeworld.com/ since I think they do very good helmet reviews, although I won't be as thorough. For your information, my previous helmet experience includes an HJC CL and two Shoei X-11s. I've never hit my helmet/head in a crash. I replace helmets about every 5 years. The EXO-T1200 is Scorpion's top of the line non-racing non-modular helmet introduced in late 2014 as a 2015 model. Graphics are mostly low key, but I bought silver anyway. Pricing seems to be $300-$320 almost anywhere (online and brick and mortar). Scorpion uses a lot of fancy marketing, but in short, it has adjustable venting, a sun visor (shield? shade?), and some interesting cheek pads. The cheek pads have air bladders like the old Reebok pumps to get a tighter fit around your jaw. They have a vent for the air and they have two pull tabs for 1st Responders to get the helmet off quickly. It is DOT certified only, because Snell won't certify a helmet with a sun shield. Paint, Graphics, Quality - Where the Shoeis were excellent, this is good. Nothing feels quite as solid or as stiff as my X-11s. My decision came down to a Shoei Qwest and this helmet. The Qwest cost the same, but the fit and finish were better. The Scorpion plastics feel flimsier. One edge of one rear vent is a little rough. There are tiny gaps on the Scorpion where there weren't on the Qwest. It's not bad - more expensive Icon helmets were much worse - but it's not as good as Shoei or Arai. The paint is even. Fit, Shape, and Liner - This helmet fits, plain and simple. Better than my last X-11 and I thought that fit well. It is more on the long, narrow end of the spectrum and less round. It is more long, narrow than the X-11s. The padding is very comfortable. It has a smooth face to your head which is better than the Shoei's textured padding. The air pump works well giving a tighter fit around the cheeks without any pain or hot spots. The technology seems to work. The helmet fits with no air but better with air. Face Shield, Eye Port, Visibility - Average. I don't have any problems, but I have read that there are helmet companies that are trying to make very large face shields with no safety compromise. No distortion from the shield or sun visor, but I did need to clean a film off with Windex right after I bought it (I had halos around lights). The shield locking mechanism is easy to use as is the sun shield lever. The shield has 6 positions, plus the ability to crack it open with the lever. I've ridden in moderate rain for a few minutes with no leaks. Can't comment on long term leakage. The X-11 would leak in frog chokers or sustained many-hours-long rain. Now one area where the T1200 is MUCH better than my old Shoeis - fogging. My last X-11 would fog EVERY morning for at least a few minutes when I left for work. My first X-11 could even fog a pinlock insert eventually (damp and cold conditions). Now if all vents are closed and I breathe heavily and I have the sun shield down, the T1200 fogs slightly. But even that is immediately cleared up by cracking the shield. Two big thumbs up for the lack of fogging. I liked the sun shade. It is so convenient to ride with it down until mid-morning, then flip it up all day, then down again at dusk for an hour or so. I rarely wear sunglasses while driving, so I don't want or need the tinting all day long. It's so much better than trying to time a stop at dusk between the sun blinding you just above the horizon with a clear shield and too dark to see with a tinted face shield. It has good coverage, stopping just above but not touching my nose. Again, two thumbs up. Ventilation - Very good. The chin ventilation is excellent. The head ventilation is noticeable. Not quite as good as the X-11 (which when it came out was considered one of the best venting helmets ever), but still very good. Sound levels - Quieter than the X-11. I'll call it average since the X-11 is considered a noisy helmet. Weight - 3lbs 9oz for my size medium. That's right about average according to Webbikeworld's helmet weight page and about the same weight as the Qwest at the same price point (Qwest doesn't have a sun shade). Overall I'm happy with my purchase. Weight is reasonable. Ventilation is good up top and excellent at the chin. The sun shade works. And it addresses the two shortcomings of my previous helmet - it's quieter and it doesn't fog. My one area of concern is durability. The plastics seem thinner and more flexible than Shoeis even at the same price point (the Qwest).

HJC changed their head shape ~ 10 years ago and they don't fit me.

Just replaced a 5 or 6 year old Shoei X11 with the Scorpion 1200. Just have one round trip to work (6 miles), but so far so good. Good fit (wore it at the shop for 30 minutes before buying) No fogging with the tinted visor up/shield down. A little quieter at city speeds. I'll bet the upper vents don't work as well but the chin vent is much better. EDITED TO ADD: Came down to Scorpion and Shoei Qwest. Scorpion has a few more features (flip down visor and tighter fit on cheek pads) and slightly better reviews on line. Both fit very similarly

(Finally) installed heated grips and wiring for my heated jacket. Have the grip levels at 3, 6, and 9, but I think I'll need to bump those down to 2, 5, and 8. Weird weather -- it was in the teens on Monday and over 60 degrees today. Moved handlebars 10 mm forward. Raised the forks from 1.6 mm (from the dealer) to 4.8 mm (close to 5 mm without going past). The bike might turn in a little faster, but it may be wishful thinking. Trying my second attempt to install my Laminar Lip. The Lip is held by adhesives to the stock screen. The first time I installed it, it did great under 55 mph, but worked loose after about an hour at interstate speeds. This time I'm using some C-clamps and spring clamps to hold the lip to the windscreen for 24 hours to see if the adhesive "sets" better like the instructions say. Riding around with no screen right now. Surprising how much smoother the air is under ~ 50 mph. Starts to get back (but never quite gets) to stock screen noise levels above 55 mph.

Thank you

@beberie: Thanks for the photos.