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

[maximo]

2 hours ago, betoney said:

Death Valley in August?... On purpose? 

Last Summer we rode back and forth across Sacramento Valley @ 110-113F and that was too hot for me.  Raising my face shield was like opening the oven door, the heat was almost suffocating.

I'm at the hot end of the Sacramento Valley and I commute 50 miles to work, often in the temp range you describe. I've found over time that I acclimate pretty easily and it's not a big deal to ride like that, even wearing my dress slacks, shirt, and tie under my riding gear.  

Last summer I rode to Yellowstone across the Nevada desert, and I happened to do it during a hot stretch. I left Chico at 4am, and by the time I hit Reno it was already in triple digits, and the rest of the trip until sundown it was no less than 110, at one point hitting 118. But I was geared properly for it, and guzzling gallon after gallon of water and gatorade. 

Death Valley, though, I'm not sure I can do extended riding near 120. That's just nuts. 

[koth442]

The one nice thing about Sacramento valley (at least near the delta) is it cools off at night. But otherwise, it's scorching! 

[joeszup]

On 1/20/2019 at 7:15 AM, tktplz said:

OK betoney, Went out this morning and set the grip warmers to 3, 5 and 7 from the stock settings of 1, 5 and 10. It's still 29 outside, not in the shed where the motorcycles are, 55 in there. Once it gets to 48 today I'll warm up the bike with the grip heaters on and see what I get. It's so easy to move around in the menu area, even for the 60-year-old inside me. Sometimes he comes out....."Git off my lawn," LOL! But most of the time my 25 to 35-year-old self is in charge. But yeah it is easy and intuitive. 

 

Went out, cranked up the bike. Ran the heated grips. Found 3 to be great for low, moved it to 6 for Med. Not enough difference between 3 and 5 so 3 then 6 then 8 for high.  Still only a high of 47 today, just don't have the will/urge to ride when it's much under 60 degress. 

LOL, it was 43F here this weekend and not raining so I washed and detailed the bike. 

[wordsmith]

Wheel-rim decals ordered (from Scotland) ten days ago arrived.  In the past I’ve satisfactorily applied them according to the vendor’s detailed instructions so I decided to do so again rather than following some tips here about using soapy water to position them, but the vendor did tell me that this method is OK for his product. 

I cleaned the wheels, first using a foam degreaser, then after washing-off and allowing them to dry overnight gave a careful detailing with alcohol (sob!) to ensure perfect adhesion.  

This is a pretty fiddly job, and care and patience and attention is needed.   As are concert-pianist’s or brain-surgeon’s fingers and a steady touch.   In particular the tiny spindly letters forming the word Yamaha, less than 1cm high, are tricky.   This is not a job to be started in a dark corner of the garage using a torch, and having the bike off the ground on a stand or hoist would definitely make application a lot easier.   

Two decals are applied to each side of each wheel, and I chose to place one immediately over the tyre-valve stem, shown in the bottom pic below by the spot of blue masking tape, to assist its quick location when needed.

I’m not super-satisfied with the results this time – I’ve done better before, and frankly doubt if I’d bother to do so again, despite the added ‘custom’ touch these decals give to the wheels.  

But at a cost of AUD$19 this is about the only bit of ‘bling’ on the bike, and just about completes my farkling list – for the time being!

Edited January 25, 2019 by wordsmith

[betoney]

47 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

 

I’m not super-satisfied with the results this time – I’ve done better before, and frankly doubt if I’d bother to do so again, despite the added ‘custom’ touch these decals give to the wheels.

 

 

At least from the picture it looks like you did a good job. Nothing I can see to complain about.

[wordsmith]

38 minutes ago, betoney said:

At least from the picture it looks like you did a good job. Nothing I can see to complain about.

You, sir, are all heart!   A quick walk around just now suggests that only I might be dissatisfied! 

[wordsmith]

Summary of farkles completed.

Today I completed the final (for now!) farkle on my new-to-me 2015 Lava Red Tracer.   One or two other minor things may suggest themselves as time goes on, but the list is pretty complete for now, although I do intend to re-do the rear flashing/ pulsing brake LEDs as they don’t work as well as others installed previously.   AUD$25 will cover that cost, and an hour’s work.    

I’ll probably also carry out a simple DIY tail-tidy operation, although that also requires some changes to the bike’s rear OE pumpkin indicators, as they will not work with panniers fitted if the rear support bracket is shortened, as I plan.    

The aftermarket farklings fall into one of two categories – added comfort/ convenience: and added safety.   There’s very little added ‘bling’.

Comfort/ convenience includes by-far the most expensive item, the BAGSTER seat, but that is really a must-have for me, and the decision to splash-out AUD$449 was made a lot easier by the fact that I’d had two of these seats before on other bikes.   With some distance touring in mind, and two planned there-and-back trips of about 4,500km each the OE torture device simply wouldn’t cut it.   In fact, it doesn’t even cut it on a simple local 100km ride!

Safety-oriented items included new hi-viz LEDs front and back and a more assertive horn.

Here’s the list (I’ve omitted individual costs as some items were bought in USD), and the total cost has been AUD$890, with the BAGSTER seat accounting for almost exactly half.

·        Grip Puppies                                                              

·        Headlight covers      

·        Bagster seat

·        Rear carry-rack

·        Double-bubble screen                                             

·        Mirror extenders/ risers                                              

·        Stebel Magnum horn                                               

·        Front FJR rubber-topped/ wider foot-pegs         

·        Red reflective self-stick strips for pannier lids                   

·        Positaps x 10                                                               

·        GS100A Modulator                                           

·        Relay        

·        Red reflective inserts in front of handguards                         

·        Red LED strips for flashing/ pulsing rear brake lights

·        Pair of front DRL LEDS         

·        TREKA 6L top-box (re-used from earlier bikes)

·        Wheel-rim decals

·        Red pinstripe tape on bodywork under tank

 

·        DIY display screen anti-glare hood  

·        DIY radiator guard.

That's all, folks!

 

 

 

[enx]

I installed new suspension. Wilbers fork springs with appropriate spring rate for my weight, and oil with higher viscosity.

And at the back Wilbers 640 shock with hydraulic preload adjuster.

[texscottyd]

@enx - Very nice!   Looking forward to your ride impressions with the new suspension...  It makes a huge difference on these bikes.  

[piotrek]

More of a make-work project than a necessity, but useful... rigged my garage door remote to work with 12V power. Already had the opener board embedded in a small project box, but made some space for a tiny 3.3V 300mA voltage regulator, purchased here. Added power supply wires to connect to a switched source (the thing has a 2mA no-load draw). The other set of wires go to a push button switch at side of the bike. The opener fits neatly into the space next to the seat lock assembly.

[dingophil]

2 hours ago, piotrek said:

More of a make-work project than a necessity, but useful... rigged my garage door opener to work with 12V power. Already had the opener board embedded in a small project box, but made some space for a tiny 3.3V 300mA voltage regulator, purchased here. Added power supply wires to connect to a switched source (the thing has a 2mA no-load draw). The other set of wires go to a push button switch at side of the bike. The opener fits neatly into the space next to the seat lock assembly.

Been looking for ways to add the garage opener to the bike. Not much of an electrician though. I'm considering mangling a regular car opener somehow, so I can just change the batteries every so often.

[dingophil]

Also, today I finished up with my DIY seat debacle. Write-up is in tech tips. Then I adjusted my front pre load to 6mm, and looking forward to my next ride!

[DavidS]

11 hours ago, dingophil said:

Been looking for ways to add the garage opener to the bike. Not much of an electrician though. I'm considering mangling a regular car opener somehow, so I can just change the batteries every so often.

I did just that! Went to Home Depot, bought another garage door opener, same brand as my garage door. synched it to my garage door and clipped it over the brake wires coming out of the right handlebar. (see picture below) Works great, and I can take it off when I need to for security or to take the dogs for a walk.....

[DavidS]

Did some maintenance on the bike yesterday, at 20K miles, adjusted the valves, they were tight. I'm glad I did them a little early. Changed the air filter and spark plugs, and did the carb synch. Bike runs noticeably smoother, but it was a pain to get access to all those areas, and do the work. Hopefully, this will be good for another 20K miles.

[coachluciano]

I'm not sure what  crack addiction feels like but I can attest to the addiction of removing stock parts from an FJ-09 and adding some bling.  Rizoma Circuit 959 Reflectors - if it wasn't 12 deg Fahrenheit, i'd give you a report on what the world looks like behind the bike.