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


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9 hours ago, piotrek said:

The landscape photos are just awes fantastic. 😎

Don't be scared or daunted by what others may think, it really is OK to say the 'A' word when it's appropriate to say so. 😉

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20 hours ago, piotrek said:

Sounds like a great ride. The landscape photos are just awes fantastic. 😎

Are you using a filter, or are the colours and shades just like that?

Just using a good camera (Sony A7RIII) and some very nice GM glass.    But the images which are all RAW are run through Lightroom which does punch up some of the colors.   But Truly, the colors in the Canyonlands pics are nothing even close to as impressive as the real life view!

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I finished the ride yesterday, took a round about way from Steamboat to Denver.   Went down 125 out of Walden through the East Troublesome burn scar which was pretty impressive.    Total mileage was 1/2 what I planned to do on the WA trip, only about 1350miles over 4.5 days.  It was a good trip!  But I really want to go to some new places coming up :)

 

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17 hours ago, OZVFR said:

Ah, yes... Cosmo. Bought a couple of things from the guy some years back... decent quality.

Thanks!

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Cleaned the rain, mud, desert dust off my bike, and did a once over - found one of the clips that attaches the body work to the radiator (a little Philips head twist locking clip) broke, so I replaced it.   Other than that the bike and the chain are in fine shape for 12,000mi. 

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On 9/14/2022 at 8:25 AM, OZVFR said:

Installed the Healtech Quick Shifter. 
now need to go ride to set it up properly 

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I also have one installed on my FJ. It works nice and smooth. I only use it with the up shift, but it also should works when shifting down. Didn't try it yet.

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57 minutes ago, RonZuidhoek said:

I also have one installed on my FJ. It works nice and smooth. I only use it with the up shift, but it also should works when shifting down. Didn't try it yet.

I disabled that feature as I didn’t like it cutting power when rev matching. 

It also took me a few tries to get it how I liked it, eventually removing bot washers and getting tension right. 

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I used zip tie method to mount Michelin Road 5 tires.

This was my first time using zip ties to mount tires & I am a convert.  Front & back tires slipped on without using any tools!  So easy! 

First thing I did was heat up the tires by putting them in the sauna for about 10 minutes.  I think heating the rubber helps a lot, they definitely felt more supple.  Once heated I put 8 zip ties around the tires, just tight enough to squeeze the beads together.  The tires looked like donuts & were not distorted.  I used tire mounting lube that I got at Princess Auto; it' a gel consistency & very slippery.  With a foam brush I applied the lube to the rim edge & the tire bead.  I had my rims mounted on a BikeMaster tire change stand.  Then to put the tire on the rim, simply hold one side in the rim's valley then work the other side with both hands; both tires slipped on with very minimal force.  Amazing!

I also discovered that medium sized zip ties are good enough, just put 2 together to get the length.  Once the tire is on, cut 1 zip & reuse the other.  I had started with the jumbo sized zips, but ran out after cutting them when I did tire removal.

And on tire removal, the best way for me was to put 2-3 zips fairly close together on one side.  That held the bead in the valley & made it much easier to pop out the first bead with spoons.  Then I cut the zips & got the first bead off, then just spooned off the second bead.  I used tire lube & Windex to help the bead slip over the rim.

I balanced them on a stand as best I could using stick-on weights.

I'm going from Dunlop Roadsport II to Michelin Road 5.  The Roadsport's were a big improvement over the stock D222's and I'm hoping the Road 5's are even better.

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Despite some rather stressful times lately, I had one of those Zen Rides this evening, under the most unexpected of circumstances.  

My mother-in-law has been in the hospital for over a month, and I’ve sort of become her advocate & primary supporter.   It’s beautiful in Houston right now, so I rode the FJ to the hospital to see her this afternoon.   It‘s typically a simple & boring trip, so I decided to try something different and just freestyle a random route home through suburbia.   

I queued-up Elvis Costello’s ‘This Years Model’ to play straight through on the Sena, snuck around the exit gate of the hospital parking garage (hey, 15 bucks is 15 bucks…), and started exploring.   I seemed to catch every light green, avoided almost all crazy Houston traffic, and found some entertaining little city neighborhood routes… a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing ride.   

I pulled into my driveway just as a beautiful sunset was on the western sky, and the last few bars of ‘Radio, Radio’ were finishing playing.   Sometimes it’s the simplest things that bring us comfort… 

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I hope your MIL Eventually improve improves and gets out.

I know it's stressful I went with it with my MIL.

  The sun finally came out and it warmed up to 60゚ sosixty degrees so I headed out to the usual stopping grounds. Not real exciting but I whipped it up today So that's something

Any ride is a good ride, usually.

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31 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

Indeed.   Just being able to log a few miles here & there has done a lot to keep me sane… 

Agreed.  I have fortunately been able to ride a LOT this season but as the year comes to an end and the days get shorter and the weather quickly gets nasty as it does here in the Pacific Northwest, there will be times when I will be lucky to get out for a ride once a week or every other week for an hour.  Sometimes that hour of riding is my bright spot that gets me through week after week until Spring arrives.

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***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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Here, since I no longer have a Rat Bike, I mothball my bikes for the winter. It's just not worth demothballing one for a few hour ride maybe if the ice melts and it gets into the high 30s or even mid 40s a couple 3 times a winter.  Because then you somehow must wash the salt off and mothball again.

If I put off my next 2 surgeries, now that my youngest is staying in San Diego (my hometown), I'll go stay with her and the grandcats and rent a bike for a week a couple 3 times a winter, etc.

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On 9/28/2022 at 8:16 AM, Satsteve said:

I used zip tie method to mount Michelin Road 5 tires.

This was my first time using zip ties to mount tires & I am a convert.  Front & back tires slipped on without using any tools!  So easy! 

First thing I did was heat up the tires by putting them in the sauna for about 10 minutes.  I think heating the rubber helps a lot, they definitely felt more supple.  Once heated I put 8 zip ties around the tires, just tight enough to squeeze the beads together.  The tires looked like donuts & were not distorted.  I used tire mounting lube that I got at Princess Auto; it' a gel consistency & very slippery.  With a foam brush I applied the lube to the rim edge & the tire bead.  I had my rims mounted on a BikeMaster tire change stand.  Then to put the tire on the rim, simply hold one side in the rim's valley then work the other side with both hands; both tires slipped on with very minimal force.  Amazing!

I also discovered that medium sized zip ties are good enough, just put 2 together to get the length.  Once the tire is on, cut 1 zip & reuse the other.  I had started with the jumbo sized zips, but ran out after cutting them when I did tire removal.

And on tire removal, the best way for me was to put 2-3 zips fairly close together on one side.  That held the bead in the valley & made it much easier to pop out the first bead with spoons.  Then I cut the zips & got the first bead off, then just spooned off the second bead.  I used tire lube & Windex to help the bead slip over the rim.

I balanced them on a stand as best I could using stick-on weights.

I'm going from Dunlop Roadsport II to Michelin Road 5.  The Roadsport's were a big improvement over the stock D222's and I'm hoping the Road 5's are even better.

So this is something I want to get into... I do all my own work on everything on the bike (everything that I've had dealer(s) do, including mounting tires, has been done wrong in some way...)  Been eyeing up a tire mounting station.     You mentioned you used stick on weights, you thought about beads?  I had them on a tire change from a local guy  (who closed up shop or I'd be going to him still) and I have to say they worked great. 

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