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

[wordsmith]

What a bunch of crocks we are - well, some of us!   😬

[wordsmith]

On 8/26/2022 at 5:33 PM, dazzler24 said:

Do you have any leads, ideas or solutions to complete this 'humpectomy' yet or has the quest for this only just begun?

The answer to the ‘hump’ was to remove it, not by taking a chain-saw to the hump itself but by replacing the entire pillion-seat with a flat cover locked on top of the underside of the seat – the tool tray, etc.  Nothing new in this: I had a BMW OE pillion seat replacement cover – BMW called it a ‘Luggage Grid’ – on a late GS of mine many years ago (see pic below).   This was obviously much more professional – and at an eye-watering cost – and it gave additional carrying space on the GS, which I used on a 14,700km solo circuit of Oz too many years ago.

For the DIY solution on the GT I cut a flat plate to size out of thin aluminium sheet; made a bracket which was pop-rivetted on the underside to secure it at the front to the original key-operate seat-lock; and secured it at the back with the two plastic push-pin rivets that luckily just happened to be there in the right spot (arrowed in pic below).  

I covered the new piece with an offcut of more-or-less matching vinyl, free from the local car and boat upholstery shop.   I used a spray-on contact glue to get an even coverage, and made lots of short cuts about a quarter of an inch apart around the cover so that I could fold short tabs of vinyl underneath the edges for a neat finish.  I've had enough for today, so all that remains now is to fit a matching strip to the rear of the new seat cover to hide the gap there, and lo! – job done.

It’s not at all like me to say “near enough is good enough”, but in this case that about summed it up, and the finished ‘look’ – which in truth is not too bad - was far less important that the outcome.

I often say here that any particular job I do has been tricky/ fiddly rather than difficult – this job was all three! 

“Does it work?” – with that significant 3" height reduction it certainly does, and with an in-garage trial I found much less difficulty, and with more graceful gyrations, when getting on and off.   

If Shakespeare had owned an MT-09 – which I doubt – he may have written:

To hump or not to hump? – that is the question.

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind

to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous mounting

or by de-humping – end it. 

Happy days!

   

Edited August 29, 2022 by wordsmith

[dazzler24]

26 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

The answer to the ‘hump’ was to remove it, not by taking a chain-saw to the hump itself but by replacing the entire pillion-seat with a flat cover locked on top of the underside of the seat – the tool tray, etc.  Nothing new in this: I had a BMW OE pillion seat replacement cover – BMW called it a ‘Luggage Grid’ – on a late GS of mine many years ago (see pic below).   This was obviously much more professional – and at an eye-watering cost – and it gave additional carrying space on the GS, which I used on a 14,700km solo circuit of Oz too many years ago.

For the DIY solution on the GT I cut a flat plate to size out of thin aluminium sheet; made a bracket which was pop-rivetted on the underside to secure it at the front to the original key-operate seat-lock; and secured it at the back with the two plastic push-pin rivets that luckily just happened to be there in the right spot (arrowed in pic below).  

I covered the new piece with an offcut of more-or-less matching vinyl, free from the local car and boat upholstery shop.   I used a spray-on contact glue to get an even coverage, and made lots of short cuts about a quarter of an inch apart around the cover so that I could fold short tabs of vinyl underneath the edges for a neat finish.  I've had enough for today, so all that remains now is to fit a matching strip to the rear of the new seat cover to hide the gap there, and lo! – job done.

It’s not at all like me to say “near enough is good enough”, but in this case that about summed it up, and the finished ‘look’ – which in truth is not too bad - was far less important that the outcome.

I often say here that any particular job I do has been tricky/ fiddly rather than difficult – this job was all three! 

“Does it work?” – with that significant 3" height reduction it certainly does, and with an in-garage trial I found much less difficulty, and with more graceful gyrations, when getting on and off.   

If Shakespeare had owned an MT-09 – which I doubt – he may have written:

To hump or not to hump? – that is the question.

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind

to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous mounting

or by de-humping – end it. 

Happy days!

   

Looking good!  Hopefully it achieves the desired outcome in the long run and importantly, the outside world.

Now, get out there and test away. 🙂

 

[2and3cylinders]

Nice looking result.

My expression for an adequate job I learned as a lad working at an aerospace company where minute precision was mandatory and adherence to specifications inspected at each and every step.

However, there were cases occasionally that such zealous adherence to such quality was unnecessary for prototype static displays or demonstration of principle. 

Whereas the usual "Close enough for government work." could have been applied, and I believe I have used this adage before on this forum, the expression stems from the heavy reliance on human female workers in the war industry during WW2 due to so many men be off in the Pacific and European/African theaters.

Yes it's chauvinist and certainly not PC but I still use it.

In similar cases as Wordys, I'm fond of saying  "Close enough for the girls we go out with! ".

Another adage that was later adapted in the late 60s and early 70s by custom van enthusiasts is also attributed to Convair from its WW2 aircraft production, where over 75,000 worker bees in sunny, warm San Diego worked 3 shifts 7/24 cranking out Catalina flying boats and B-24 heavy bombers, stemmed from signs hung adjacent a hatch on a fusalage on the assembly line when a young couple was having a lunch break dalliance.  The signs read "When the plane is arockin don't come aknockin!".

A weld and rivet inspector accused of sleeping on the job at National Ship Building in San Diego during WW2 is credited with creating the "Kilroy Was Here" adage and accompaning cartoon that he crayoned throughout nooks and crannies of Liberty cargo ships to prove he inspected them from stem to stern.  This saying and image was observed by hundreds of thousands of GIs who were crammed like sardines in the bowels of the ships while being  transported sometimes for a couple, three weeks to both theaters of war.  They then proceeded to scrawl the cute image and ditty thoughout the farthest reaches of the world on the walls of bombed out buildings and whatever. 

And as they say, the rest...

Peace out!

[Bill H]

On 8/5/2022 at 7:05 AM, skipperT said:

I’m late to reply here, and the other guys chimed in already with good advice -  Here’s my $0.02…

Nothing really wrong but bear in mind a torque wrench is really only accurate in the middle 80% or so of it’s range. So if the scale of your 3/8 is 5-100 ft Lbs for example, it’s not going to be very accurate at 5-10 or 90-100 foot lbs (rough numbers). If you tighten the fastener slowly you can get by, but it’s best to use a wrench where the torque value you are trying to achieve falls more in the middle of its range. 

my digital SnapOn torque wrenches are a bit more forgiving because they are more accurate than the more common mechanical style ones. However I still use a 1/2” drive wrench for axle torque (67-110ft) or a 1/4” drive wrench for a smaller fastener that requires 6, 7, 8 and 10 ft lb (for example)

(this is probably a bad analogy but it would be like using a framing hammer to install shingles on a roof?)

on a side note, that Abba lift stand in your pictures is wicked!

-skip
 

 

Over thinking!!

[Bill H]

On 8/5/2022 at 7:37 AM, betoney said:

 

I agree with @texscottyd  I just had my tank removed yesterday to clean my air filter. 

On the front, you can pull the sides out a few millimeters to clear the mount points, on the rear you have to make sure that the plumbing and electrical on the rear of the tank are tucked in correctly out of the way and it will drop into place.  If you have to use ANY pressure to get it to fit, then something isn't correct

You cleaned the air filter ? is it OEM ?,,I just did mine ,,some soap and water and air but when I thought it was all good until  I  peered between the folds ,,all kind of nasty stuff lurking in there,,I was concerned about using compressed air but that material is pretty stout . looks good but I hate myself for being cheap ,,I may just hit the dealer for a new one  

[2and3cylinders]

I've carefully brushed and lightly blown out then washed and blown again, dried and finely oiled OEM pink paper air filters for decades; sometimes twice.  On one bike, knock on plastic, the original untouched engine has over 110,000 miles.

Now I don't do it every change but maybe every other, cleaning the element in between at my leisure.

Of course, unfortunately, I'm the child of Great Depression parents who to call them frugal is being very very kind.  My father, now 100 years old, still with all his wits and accumulated wealth, is a cheap bastard.  Definitely the adage "the good die young " applies to him and my mother who only kicked last December.  Such frugality is often a curse and thankfully has only been partially passed on with reason and limits  to my kids.

[betoney]

13 hours ago, Bill H said:

You cleaned the air filter ? is it OEM ?,,I just did mine ,,some soap and water and air but when I thought it was all good until  I  peered between the folds ,,all kind of nasty stuff lurking in there,,I was concerned about using compressed air but that material is pretty stout . looks good but I hate myself for being cheap ,,I may just hit the dealer for a new one  

Not OEM, I have used K&N reusable filters in all of my vehicles for many years, not for any performance but for convenience.  I’m a stickler for a clean air filter so I wash them several times a year. 

[Bill H]

7 hours ago, betoney said:

Not OEM, I have used K&N reusable filters in all of my vehicles for many years, not for any performance but for convenience.  I’m a stickler for a clean air filter so I wash them several times a year. 

Yeah thats the way to go,,dealer wanted $40 bucks but was out so I just cleaned up the stock one ,didn't look to bad from the top side but down in the crevasse it was loaded with crap,,for giggles I checked the owners manual ,,replace at 24 K ,,thats insane

[betoney]

1 hour ago, Bill H said:

I checked the owners manual ,,replace at 24 K ,,thats insane

I agree, that interval is far too long.  Like I said earlier, I clean mine several times a year, usually around every 4,000 miles and they are ALWAYS filled with bugs and crap.

[kilo3]

8 hours ago, betoney said:

I agree, that interval is far too long.  Like I said earlier, I clean mine several times a year, usually around every 4,000 miles and they are ALWAYS filled with bugs and crap.

🤷‍♂️ 16k on mine, looks brand new.  I bought one to swap out last winter but couldn't tell the difference between the two.

[betoney]

36 minutes ago, kilo3 said:

🤷‍♂️ 16k on mine, looks brand new.  I bought one to swap out last winter but couldn't tell the difference between the two.

That's awesome, one less maintenance item to worry about. 👍

[sirepair]

Last week I installed a MCCruise on my 2015.  While doing that, pulled the airbox to simplify installation.  Noted that some meeces (I hate meeces ta pieces!) had left some dog food in the air box.  So after cleaning that out and replacing the air filter, I installed some expanded aluminum mesh (gutter guard) over the air intake using some hot glue.  That'll keep the lil' bastards out!

Then over the weekend, attended the MSTA's "Mail Pouch Fly By" in Marietta, OH.  Had a blast carving up some of the best roads around!  Even took the Sisterville Ferry across the Ohio River.  And turned over 25,000 miles on the way home.

Good times!

[peteinpa]

Did the same when I got mine.  Last bike they not only brought food they ate the air filter.

I have about the same thing, 1/4 inch mesh blocking the opening.

[2and3cylinders]

I'd of used pop rivets to retain the screen.  Hot glue my let go and ooze due to the heat under the tank.  The foam on the underside of the tank is to not only deaden noise but also insulate the fuel...