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

[Clegg78]

1 hour ago, 2linby said:

Just added new foot pegs to my highway bars. The Denali S4's are relatively new and the 10watt DRL's have been on the bike since 2018. The pegs are from Amazon, $32.00 cheapies.

Have a link?  I've tried a few others and was never happy with how they looked, but those are legit awesome for teh Givi bars!   Link would be awesome  

[Clegg78]

3 minutes ago, Clegg78 said:

Have a link?  I've tried a few others and was never happy with how they looked, but those are legit awesome for teh Givi bars!   Link would be awesome  

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JB1YXBX?psc=1&smid=AWW5S50OW6LNE&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp  These may be them?

[gerrychuck]

On 8/5/2021 at 10:33 AM, Wintersdark said:

Went for a great ride.  Was supposed to be 5 of us, but three cancelled, so just two.  Mid way, we stopped and he was asking some questions about the Tracer, and I offered to swap bikes for a while so he could check it out first hand.  I'm pretty free with this as a rule of thumb, I got past the "it's my bike!" thing early in my riding years.  

He was riding a mid-late model Suzuki Boulevard, a 109 something-or-other.  We were on a big straight stretch, initially (like, a 10 kilometer long straight stretch) which was convenient to really get on the bikes and feel out how much power they have.  The Suzi was... well, I've actually never ridden a *big* cruiser, only smaller cruisers like my old sportster.  This thing... It had roughly the same HP as the Sporty, but weighed almost twice as much.  Took a bit to get used to it, and forward floorboards (accidentally downshifted trying to put my feet on the floorboards but not moving them forward far enough, so I stepped on the back shifter pedal) are really weird after decades of bikes with mid pegs or rearsets.  Got used to it though, and the straight ended in a stop sign, where we were turning left.  Up to this point, I'd not turned on the bike at all.  We'd turn left, and then on to a twisty section.  

I get going through the intersection, try to turn, and nothing happens.  Still going straight.  Try again, and get a bit of lean, but still not enough.  Finally two-hand the thing, pushing AND pulling, finally get through the intersection and managing the turn, though ending up on the shoulder a bit because I went so wide.  Run up the road a bit, pull over.   Nope.  I'm not trying that in twisties.  I'd always kind of wondered why he slowed so much before tight corners, but now I know.  Holy hell.  Turning on the Tracer, even full lean hard cornering, requires just a *tiny* bit of effort; you can literally do it with a single finger.  I needed to get my back into it to turn that thing through an intersection.  And with my feet forward, I couldn't really move my body either (which admittedly wouldn't make much of a difference being so low and light compared to the bike itself)

I do *not* understand the appeal.  Not even a little bit.  Sure, it was a lot more comfortable on a long straight stretch, but... Good lord, it was terrifying trying to get it to turn. 

I owned a Harley FXST Softail custom for about 3 weeks a few years back.  Took it on trade on a Corvette Z06, but that's a WHOLE other story...Anyway, thought I'd give the cruiser thing a try, despite all the bad things I had said about Harleys and their riders over the years.  Bike was gorgeous, and sounded great.  Had drag bars on it, and sitting on it in the driveway the riding position felt pretty good.  But then I actually got it in motion, and my feet started flailing around trying to find those damnable forward mounted pegs, and when I did get my feet on them, all of a sudden that riding position that felt good with my feet underneath me (on the ground) had turned into a back-destroying C-curve.  Torque was great on the Big Twin, but I could not get used to, much less enjoy, the ludicrous riding position.  The bike would turn, but it took, um...commitment...as the long wheelbase required a lot of lean angle to change direction.  Decided after about 3 rides that it was not for me, and put it up for sale. Ended up being offered another Harley, an XR1200, on trade, and happily took it.  Turned out to be a great bike that I enjoyed for 6 years.  But I now know that all my original reservations about cruisers were well-founded, and I will stick to more capable and comfortable motorcycles forever.

[Wintersdark]

9 hours ago, Clegg78 said:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JB1YXBX?psc=1&smid=AWW5S50OW6LNE&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp  These may be them?

Wanna see something horrible?  amazon.ca has them too: https://www.amazon.ca/Motorcycle-Highway-Footpegs-2013-2017-Explorer/dp/B07JB1YXBX/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=motorcycle+Engine+Guard+Highway+Footpegs+25mm+%2F+1"+Crash+Bars&qid=1628481187&sr=8-2

 

For $100.

[Wintersdark]

5 hours ago, gerrychuck said:

I owned a Harley FXST Softail custom for about 3 weeks a few years back.  Took it on trade on a Corvette Z06, but that's a WHOLE other story...Anyway, thought I'd give the cruiser thing a try, despite all the bad things I had said about Harleys and their riders over the years.  Bike was gorgeous, and sounded great.  Had drag bars on it, and sitting on it in the driveway the riding position felt pretty good.  But then I actually got it in motion, and my feet started flailing around trying to find those damnable forward mounted pegs, and when I did get my feet on them, all of a sudden that riding position that felt good with my feet underneath me (on the ground) had turned into a back-destroying C-curve.  Torque was great on the Big Twin, but I could not get used to, much less enjoy, the ludicrous riding position.  The bike would turn, but it took, um...commitment...as the long wheelbase required a lot of lean angle to change direction.  Decided after about 3 rides that it was not for me, and put it up for sale. Ended up being offered another Harley, an XR1200, on trade, and happily took it.  Turned out to be a great bike that I enjoyed for 6 years.  But I now know that all my original reservations about cruisers were well-founded, and I will stick to more capable and comfortable motorcycles forever.

Yeah.  I really liked my old Ironhead Sportster, but it had mid controls and was more reasonably shaped.  The big cruiser, though...  god damn.  Forward controls are just not for me.  Accelerate hard, and its kind of hard to keep your feet stable unless you've got a backrest to push against.  And yeah, that C curve going on?  it puts all your weight on your butt, with no way to really adjust, or even stand up.  I can't imagine a long ride where I don't stand up and stretch.  

It occurs to me that I was so utterly poleaxed about how horrific it was to ride that I didn't even ask what he thought of the Tracer.  

[Yamajank]

I know you all think I'm crazy for putting vent holes in my puig screen. I'm basing that on zero response good or bad to my previous posts on it. However I think I've improved the performance and have cleaner air. I'll just point out that the versys 1000 is doing it on the stock screen and so is Ducati on the new multi. Because of the shape of the puig I had to make two vertical vents at the top corners. That's what ended up making the most difference for me. 

[cbr600]

On 7/27/2021 at 7:36 AM, peteinpa said:

Just a reminder for everyone, there are no Phillips screws on your bike or anything not made here. 

They are JIS screws. You must get a JIS driver for them.

 

Finally! I get to know what the freaking dots on what I thought were Philips screws means. I did wonder why I could not seem to find the perfect grip on some. Even with the many size screw drivers I own. I just ordered another tool. 😏

 

Thanks for sharing.   

[Clegg78]

On 7/19/2021 at 9:11 AM, Yamajank said:

 

 

Let the experimenting begin. No discernable difference at 70-80 which is where I think the improvement could be. I tried to model my cut after what appears to be on the new v4 multistrada.  The little bit of air that  passes through seemed to go pretty much down. Any engineers out there have any ideas?

So replying to this post in also reply to your last one.     So I looked at the multistrada windshield in detail, its not just a cut, its a scoop.  Its angled on the front and back to direct air up, the front profile is made to shoot air in a certain direction, not just a slot. 

With a small bit of 3D printing  you could essentially make a scoop and direct the air front and back, but it would be more visible than just a cut in the screen.  Also know that the entire wind screen needs to work with this.   

I have the same screen you do and have felt around for the various wind/turbulence around it as I ride, and in general, I am not sure a small cut is going to do much with any scoop.   Also there is a large air gap at the bottom that does let air come up from the underside to fill a lot of the turbulence causing vacuum there already. 

It would be fun to throw accurate front end models of the Tracer with various screens in CFD modeling to see the actual flow properties.   Sadly, I am all out big computers, and have zero idea how to do CFD modeling  

Edited August 10, 2021 by Clegg78

[1moreroad]

1 hour ago, Clegg78 said:

Sadly, I am all out big computers, and have zero idea how to do CFD modeling

But do you have any bubblegum?

[Yamajank]

2 hours ago, Clegg78 said:

So replying to this post in also reply to your last one.     So I looked at the multistrada windshield in detail, its not just a cut, its a scoop.  Its angled on the front and back to direct air up, the front profile is made to shoot air in a certain direction, not just a slot. 

With a small bit of 3D printing  you could essentially make a scoop and direct the air front and back, but it would be more visible than just a cut in the screen.  Also know that the entire wind screen needs to work with this.   

I have the same screen you do and have felt around for the various wind/turbulence around it as I ride, and in general, I am not sure a small cut is going to do much with any scoop.   Also there is a large air gap at the bottom that does let air come up from the underside to fill a lot of the turbulence causing vacuum there already. 

It would be fun to throw accurate front end models of the Tracer with various screens in CFD modeling to see the actual flow properties.   Sadly, I am all out big computers, and have zero idea how to do CFD modeling  

I realize it's far from scientific but the vertical slots at the top corners have taken away the slight buffeting I was getting at the sides of my helmet. Aerodynamics are complicated but very cool. 

And I did notice the shapes of the other vents were more than holes. But like you I'm  working with what I have. 

[Clegg78]

14 minutes ago, Yamajank said:

I realize it's far from scientific but the vertical slots at the top corners have taken away the slight buffeting I was getting at the sides of my helmet. Aerodynamics are complicated but very cool. 

And I did notice the shapes of the other vents were more than holes. But like you I'm  working with what I have. 

I couldnt even see the slots you made in the top corners!  I was looking for them but just kinda see them now out barely.  Have other pics?   the side to side buffeting on the highway at high speed is one of the things I am struggling with  

[Yamajank]

2 hours ago, Clegg78 said:

I couldnt even see the slots you made in the top corners!  I was looking for them but just kinda see them now out barely.  Have other pics?   the side to side buffeting on the highway at high speed is one of the things I am struggling with  

Needed a proper cleaning anyway and heat index over 100 so needs to come off.

[dazzler24]

Doing some maintenance on my beast today and noticed something odd at the top end of my K-Tech Razor-R shock.

It appears as though the dust seals are trying to escape at the bush union.

 

I decided to pull the shock as I'm wanting to wind some length out of it anyway (to lower the back end very slightly).  Hopefully, I'll be able to get the seals replaced or, if not, just find something that will do the job.  They appear to be a neoprene type soft seal.

Looking at both ends of the shock it looks like the connections to the frame were not lined up exactly with each other when locked down and hence a slight twist between the two ends contributed to the reason that the seals were 'worked' out of their respective sides.  I'm only assuming here.

Anyone else had this issue?

[2and3cylinders]

Clean everything, grease sparingly, then RTV silicone them back in place?

Now I have to check mine.

Thanks.

[dazzler24]

21 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Clean everything, grease sparingly, then RTV silicone them back in place?

Now I have to check mine.

Thanks.

I've decided to replace them with a couple of appropriately sized 'O' rings and a little grease. It's just  to keep the dust out after all.  Cheers.

Should add that I called the distributor here in Australia for some advice and had what I can only descibe as a great customer experience. 'Geoff' sent me an exploded diagram pdf of my shock while on the phone and couldn't do enough for me with advice.  Also put me onto a local rep with phone numbers and names.  Excellent!