She Deserved a New Outfit

Last October my gal & I went out dancing with the other couples down in MO. We learned we should never try tap dancing on sand, er, gravel. She slipped and we both went BOOM!



Griff's cargo netting to help keep the side case closed. Turns out it wasn't necessary, it took two screwdrivers and a whack with a hammer to get 'er opened up at home. But it was worth the peace of mind on the ride home. Thanks Griff!



If you noticed in the first pic, my ride back home was now lacking mirrors and the right side foot peg. But no fear, Zzzzzip to the rescue! I swung by his place on my ride home, he surveyed the situation I was in and came up with this solution for the footrest. Pretty slick if you ask me. A spare bracket for the railing the garage door rollers ride up in, a little foam padding and a Zzzzip tie. Made my ride home oh sooo much better. Thanks Zzzzip!



So it was my winter project to put my gal back together again. And yet 3 weeks ago it still looked like this. Can you say "procrastination"? Actually some of it was warranted as I took the opportunity to do some other "in depth" maintenance items. Steering head bearings, swing arm and relay arm bearings (new and relubing), flushed coolant, and maybe a couple of other things that escape me right now. Hey give me a break, there's a lot of stuff that can be forgotten over 5 months. Just ask Gramps.

Anyways, needless to say I had a lot of anxiety on whether or not I could remember get her back together again in one piece. Big Kudos go out to this forum though and it's members who prided themselves on providing detail info & pics on how to do DIY projects. I referred back to their pages often. Thanks FJRforum! & in particular to Bounce. His tech pages on the swing arm and relay arm were most helpful.



And here's my Lady today. All dressed in her new gown and ready to hit the town and cut a rug!







Now match that color scheme with the Hi Viz yellow roadcrafter and white NeoTec, and all I can say is....

CAN YOU SEE ME NOW??!!

Good recovery, it kind of reminds me of the FZ1 Bee which is also a sharp looking bike.

I LIKE IT ! I LIKE IT ! I LIKE IT !

Now take that and $5 and get a cup of coffee nearly anywhere.....

Nice work Mike.. The yellow really pops.

I like it too!

I guess even Minnesota has "HAWKEYE" Fans !!!

Wow! Looks great. I seen the picture of it sitting on the lumber on the picture posting page and thought you started tech day a little early.

101stpathfinder said:

I like it too!I guess even Minnesota has "HAWKEYE" Fans !!!

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Oh crap! I never even thought of that. Well there's goes one week during the Fall when I won't dare ride around here. Maybe two weeks depending on how the Gophers do.

Might be a good week to ride through Iowa though.

Abercrombie FJR said:

Wow! Looks great. I seen the picture of it sitting on the lumber on the picture posting page and thought you started tech day a little early.

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I had Tech Season this year. But I'll still have a few cosmetic things to tend to on the 27th.

And in case anyone was wondering.....I didn't do the painting. I can't even begin to imagine the new levels of procrastination I woulda gone through then.

NICE!

Looks good.

Congrats on getting her back together to ride another day!

--G

Congrats on

escapefjrtist said:

Looks good.

Congrats on getting her back together to ride another day!

--G

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+1,

Looks great Mike.

NICE! I love the yellow color! If I've ever had any complaints with the FJRs it would have to be the limited color options. I can't believe the don't offer more than 1 color each year.

Arkansas is in for some trouble this year! Nice job.

Ooo! Nice mirrors, Mike!

I like the black accents, very good.

As a fan of the yellow and black motorcycles, you have done a very good job there sir. I still am not sold on the color scheme on FJR's but I applaud you for putting more of it on the road and it looks like a very nice job done there.

Looks great! I've put more in my Gen 1 than it's worth, also including a complete repaint - original color though - and consider it money well spent.

That sand will surely get out of your way next time. That's a pretty good looking bike, really stands out.

Thanks for all the great reviews guys, means a lot. I had gone back an forth between yellow/black and red/black. So I printed out some black and white photos and went back to basics.....used crayons to color in different schemes. It works. As Bust said, it "pops". Almost too much though. Think I might use the collective thought at Tech Day and consider some thin white pinstriping. Actually thinking about some white reflective patterns.

NightShine said:

Ooo! Nice mirrors, Mike!

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"Nice"??!! Oh man, when I unwrapped those mirrors I got from you, I thought they were brand new. Looked much cleaner than the my old mirrors pre-mishap.

Was great to get so much help from my fellow forum members to get replacement parts.