What did you do to your FJ-tracer-gt today?

[JJM]

Kydex?

I used a piece of ABS plastic. A heat gun helped to shape it. I'm not sure what Kydex is.

 
It's a plastic that is easy to mold with a little heat. Usually used to make holsters for guns and knives.

[BBB]

I cleaned the exhaust for the first time.
 

[JJM]

I cleaned the exhaust for the first time.

 
Look nice. How'd you do it?

[BBB]

Autosol paste and a cloth. Lightly with a scotchpad on really dark areas. And lots of elbow grease. Took about an hour all in

[bttrthnwrk]

Replaced my old chain and both sprockets. The chain had a single hellacious tight spot that was at about 1/2" play or less, and the rest of the chain was really loose at almost 1.5"+. The rear sprocket was starting to show some wear at the bottoms of the slots. Without looking specifically at it, I figured the front was the same. Replacement was done at 22700 miles and this replaced the original chain and sprockets. Replacements were stockers.
 
With the new chain and sprockets, the bike rides like it was new!

[redfjniner]

Put on my 6th rear tire today. It was sad to remove a T30Evo with only 4910 miles on it with 3mm of rubber to the wear bars for a 5,200 mile ride coming up this weekend. Appears the mileage will be around 10,000 for the T30Evo as compared to two Dunlop Roadsmarts that got around 8K each. The one Michelin PR-4 rear I had on the bike is still on the used shelf with 8,000 and yet 1.5mm of rubber good for 3000 more miles(=11,000).
 
 

[redfjniner]

Also the bike got a detailed wash and wax as well as cleaning and lubricating the chain. 1200 miles now! With the way I have been putting miles on I feel like the chain cleaning and lubrication is going to become annoying...

HUGE pain in the ass.  Bikes with chains are dirty bikes.  I spend 1/4 the time on cleaning the FJR.  But that is what you have to put up with to ride this triple.  It seams to be worth it in the long run, I think, but then I only have 34K on it.

[bobdog]

Dropped mine off last night for the 4K Service and CCT recall. Should be done by this afternoon. Estimate only about 1500 miles left on rear tire. Enough for a few long day rides.
 
redfjniner, how did you find the time to put 34K on your bike? Envious.

[fanowater]

Put on my 6th rear tire today. It was sad to remove a T30Evo with only 4910 miles on it with 3mm of rubber to the wear bars for a 5,200 mile ride coming up this weekend. Appears the mileage will be around 10,000 for the T30Evo as compared to two Dunlop Roadsmarts that got around 8K each. The one Michelin PR-4 rear I had on the bike is still on the used shelf with 8,000 and yet 1.5mm of rubber good for 3000 more miles(=11,000). 

You should consider the Metzeler Roadtec 01's.  I have them on my bike and think they are brilliant.  It performs amazingly well in wet and dry conditions.I could not be happier.  I have about 4100 miles so far and the front looks great and the rear still seems to have life in it.  How much?  not sure. Enjoy your ride! 
 

[redfjniner]

Dropped mine off last night for the 4K Service and CCT recall. Should be done by this afternoon. Estimate only about 1500 miles left on rear tire. Enough for a few long day rides.  
redfjniner, how did you find the time to put 34K on your bike? Envious.

I do like to tour, so doing 3 and 4K rides is often and then I throw in a 5K to top it off.  That 34K was done in 19 months, so not really that great.  Oh ya, being retired helps. 
 

[crazyivan]

Anyway, I built a water cooling vest and installed and used it on my bike.
Here is the album showing the cooling vest setup: https://goo.gl/photos/TWYqPaYtrJQn12HEA
 
 
Here in Minnesota (USA) it's been very hot and humid lately. In the mid to high 90s°F (34°c) with a high dew point, making the 'feels like temp in the 100s-110s).
 
I prefer to do the ATGATT thing, including overpants, and I knew it'd be unbearable for me.
 
I tried it out this week for my commute to work. While I'll admit I don't have a very long commute I could probably just endure it. But I wanted to see if it would work.    
 
To try to see how well it worked, when I left work one of the days I put in a fresh chunk of ice, and rode for 45 minutes in stop and go traffic wearing my full gear including a textile jacket (not the mesh jacket) with all the zippers closed up for no air flow, and the vest on underneath.    My arms were burning a bit in the sun, and I certainly had to crack my visor open on my helmet, but my body was cool, and it was not uncomfortable at all.   I did get a bit soaked however, since the tubes were well below the dew point and there was a significant amount of condensation.  After I got home, I checked the reservoir and the ice was all melted, the temperature sensor was reading 60°F, which was probably from the peltier element.  
 
Construction:
As you can see the vest is made from a hi-vis safety vest (I purchased from Harbor Freight), that I've sewn in vertical channels using a cut up old t-shirt.  Through the channels I've run 5/16" ID vinyl tubing.  
 
Home depot was selling it in 20' lengths, I discovered I needed more than 20' of tubing, so I ended up with 40' and trimmed it to length. I used a brass 5/16" ID barb fitting to barb fitting splice to join the two segments together.
 
The reservoir I bought from Target online, it's a "Wagan 6 Liter Cooler/Warmer" for about 30 US$, it has a small peltier unit, powered from a cigarette lighter connection.  The manual says it can do 40°F below ambient temperature, or heat up to 140°F.
 
I ended up with two submersible 12vdc brushless pumps (rated for 250 L/h), one I purchased from ebay (china) and one from Amazon. (the ebay was I thought was 'lost in transit' so I ordered 2nd from amazon, then the ebay one arrived later).  I only used 1, I tested that it worked with a 9 volt battery, and had enough strength to pump through the entire length of tubing.  I soldered the pump wires directly to the circuit board connection in the cooler for the 12v cigarette lighter, so the pump runs as long as it is plugged in.
 
The brass lead free fittings I purchased from either Home Depot, Lowes or Amazon.  They are 5/16" ID barb fittings to 1/4" NPT, then a male to male 1/4" NPT short tube to go through the side of the reservoir, some lock 1/4" NPT lock nuts, and a 1/2" ID silicone o-rings.  The threads are wrapped with teflon thread sealing tape.  
 
I am still waiting on some 'no spill' quick disconnects" to arrive, they appear to be backordered till early August.  I found some for 'low pressure' applications, that aren't too expensive, compared to high pressure hydraulic 'no spill' quick disconnects.  But these quick disconnects were still the most expensive set of parts in the build (~50US$ for 2 sets of disconnects.).
 
The reservoir unfortunately, was not water tight (which I discovered only after reading the owner's manual after it arrived).  I tried to cover all the gaps inside (there are screw holes for where the peltier is mounted, and the top and inner liner aren't sealed together) with underwater tape.  I still have a few gaps in places so if I fill it too full it does leak out the front. 
 
I installed a cigarette lighter power receptacle attached to the cargo rack bar, which is directly fused and hooked direct to the battery at the moment.  Allows me to plug it in to turn on the pump without turning the bike on.
 
Anyway, I put a bit of water in the reservoir, and a block of ice I freeze in a food storage container overnight at home and again once I get to work.  Just pump out a bit of water, so it isn't overfull, and drop in the block of ice.   Put the vest and jacket on.  Hop on the bike and ride. 
 
edit: fixed description of receptacle mounting location.
one more edit:   I should note I did observe the peltier unit doesn't have enough oomph to cool on its own, it can't keep up with body heat and outside air temp.  I'm not sure how well it can 'heat' if you wanted to use it as a warming vest.  I'd probably try a better water tight container for the reservoir if I were to try it again.
 
 
 
 

[britelitebob]

Here in Minnesota (USA) it's been very hot and humid lately. In the mid to high 90s°F (34°c) with a high dew point, making the 'feels like temp in the 100s-110s).
 

I've almost got my wife talked into moving from Florida to a cooler part of the country but it looks like I'm running out of options.

[crazyivan]

Here in Minnesota (USA) it's been very hot and humid lately. In the mid to high 90s°F (34°c) with a high dew point, making the 'feels like temp in the 100s-110s).  

I've almost got my wife talked into moving from Florida to a cooler part of the country but it looks like I'm running out of options.

I shamelessly stole this from someone on facebook:  Sure Summer can get hot,

But see, it get's cooler.  

 

[martyl]

Installed a side kick stand bigger foot print plate. Got it on E-Bay for $10.00 and change U.S. holds in place with three Allen head screws.
 
 

[clint]

Installed a side kick stand bigger foot print plate. Got it on E-Bay for $10.00 and change U.S. holds in place with three Allen head screws.

Installed the same on my bike. Solid billet product!