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

[texscottyd]

In a fit of absolute pandemic boredom, I put the stock seat and windscreen back on my FJ and took it for a quick ride.   I had the random thought that “maybe they aren’t actually as bad as I remember...”

Nope.  They still suck.    

[betoney]

6 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

In a fit of absolute pandemic boredom, I put the stock seat and windscreen back on my FJ

Was that pandemic boredom or virus fever and delirium?  😄

[texscottyd]

1 hour ago, betoney said:

Was that pandemic boredom or virus fever and delirium?  😄

Yes   

[3sum]

What did I do? I went riding! Picture taken from the porch of TWoS. 
 

Perfect temperature today - I just hope the rain holds off. 

[Michiel900GT]

I had the Hyperpro front and rear springs installed. On the way back I got caught in a rain storm so I had to clean the bike when I got home.

While the bike got new springs, I tested a 2020 Africa Twin Adventure with DCT. Nice bike, but I didn't like the DCT that much. I do believe my next bike might be a Africa Twin or a Super Tenere. I like riding my bike in low revs with lots of torque, AT or S10 look like they were made to do so.

And I tested a Bagster Ready seat for my Tracer. I must say that I was disappointed. The seat was definitely not better (worse actually) than my adjusted stock seat. And I was really disappointed by the fit of the base. I had to slap in in place, it was still a bit wobbly and the onboard tools can not be attached. I think that's a lot of disappointment for 490 euro.

Maybe it will be better when you send in your own seat base to Bagster though.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Michiel900GT
Typo

[betoney]

14 minutes ago, Michiel900GT said:

I had the Hyperpro front and rear springs installed.

What are your thoughts on the Hyperpro springs?  Any significant pro's or con's?

[piotrek]

Performed a throttle body sync. #1 misbehaved just a bit.

[betoney]

7 minutes ago, piotrek said:

Performed a throttle body sync. #1 misbehaved just a bit.

Was there a noticeable difference once all were sync'd??

[piotrek]

Adapted my old Ermax Sport windscreen for use with the Madstad bracket. The shape of the Ermax screen happens to be nearly perfect for the bracket, so I just drilled holes in the right locations. Had this screen kicking around in the garage for years, so I thought I'd try giving it another chance. Will have to play with positioning (bracket is great for that).

[piotrek]

49 minutes ago, betoney said:

Was there a noticeable difference once all were sync'd??

The bike felt just a bit rough at/near idle. Doesn't look like a lot on the manometer, but enough to be noticeable. Last one was some 15K km ago.

Edited August 22, 2020 by piotrek

[Wintersdark]

Followed Dave Moss' advice with regards to front tire and front brake caliper alignment:

 

So, to be honest, in 25+ years of motorcycle maintenance, I've never done this.  Literally never.  Put calipers in place, tighten them up.  Put axle in, tighten pinch bolts.  I've never done the bouncy thing to let the free leg center, nor spun the tire and held the brakes to get the calipers centered.  

What he says makes so much sense, and for sure, when my calipers are even half a turn loosened I can wiggle them around quite a bit.  

It's always interesting to learn The Right Way to do a simple task you've done wrong for ages, without ever even knowing what you didn't know.  

Incidentally, this moved my free leg with the pinch bolt pretty substantially from where it was, it's about 2mm more out.  Gotta impact fork friction, as well as alignment. 

[Michiel900GT]

2 hours ago, betoney said:

What are your thoughts on the Hyperpro springs?  Any significant pro's or con's?

I'll continue my story in this thread:

[betoney]

40 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

Followed Dave Moss' advice with regards to front tire and front brake caliper alignment:

Incidentally, this moved my free leg with the pinch bolt pretty substantially from where it was, it's about 2mm more out.  Gotta impact fork friction, as well as alignment. 

I have done that for years and it definitely makes a difference. 👍

Thanks for sharing that, Dave's videos are great!

[trevinator]

added some new lights to my bike tonight. still have to wire up the halos to the running lights so they come on with the key (anyone happen to know where i could tap into for that??

[Manxkiwi]

4 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Followed Dave Moss' advice with regards to front tire and front brake caliper alignment:

 

So, to be honest, in 25+ years of motorcycle maintenance, I've never done this.  Literally never.  Put calipers in place, tighten them up.  Put axle in, tighten pinch bolts.  I've never done the bouncy thing to let the free leg center, nor spun the tire and held the brakes to get the calipers centered.  

What he says makes so much sense, and for sure, when my calipers are even half a turn loosened I can wiggle them around quite a bit.  

It's always interesting to learn The Right Way to do a simple task you've done wrong for ages, without ever even knowing what you didn't know.  

Incidentally, this moved my free leg with the pinch bolt pretty substantially from where it was, it's about 2mm more out.  Gotta impact fork friction, as well as alignment. 

I've been doing the bounce thing for years now. But I do that before putting the calipers on (suspended to to the sides on bungees). Though if the pistons are back a bit that wouldn't be an issue. I'd be concerned to see a 2mm difference pre and post bounce. If I Push and pull my fork legs apart with the wheel out they barely flex at all. 2mm sounds an awful lot to me, if it can move 2mm sideways, it can move 2mm back and forth, I think you'd notice that?

Also clamping the calipers on may not be bad with with new pads. But if your pads are worn unevenly and you align to that, the caliper and pistons will not be square to the disc face = not good. Anyway the Tracer calipers (and many other modern radial calipered bikes) have a boss that fits into a recess in the fork carrier that has the tiniest ammount of play in it, so it's basically moot.

Just saying..