Help me with my L/D winter FJR project

[not2shabby]

FZ1 mirrors! I feel much more confident about what's behind/around me in traffic. More relaxed=more saddle time. I put the little blind spot mirrors on too, and can see cars now that 'weren't there' before. If you plan on lane splitting they'll let you know if the bike will fit, they stick out a little wider than the bags.

 

[TriggerT]

I have thought about adding the mirrors. If there is money left over I will make the change, but they are not super high on the list. Kind of a nice to have, but not necessary thing for me. Thanks for the suggestion though. That is exactly what I was hoping for; people to put on the things they think are important, and then I can decide for myself, and it gives other people ideas.

 

[Brodie]

Make sure your bike has seen all the recalls.

One thing I found is good cheap insurance is a Fender Extender to help protect your radiator. The stones kicked up by your front wheel won't go higher than the chin dam.

Just a thought.

Brodie

 

[Khunajawdge]

Well? I don't have a "great" suggestion(?), but I have found this item to be a handy addition to the platform; Reptile Thermometer

I have had one of these on my bike for the past three years. In multiple crossings of Sierra Passes at ALL times of the year, it has never let me down however, I DO carry a spare battery.

Caviat = I have seldom (if ever?) let it gotten wet.

cheers,

 

[RenoJohn]

Please give me some ideas of what you would put on a stock gen 2 FJR to make it the ultimate Iron Butt motorcycle.

Jeeze what faggy advice you're getting.
?First thing to put on the bike?

How about a For Sale sign,

see if you can get enough coin to make a down payment on a superior Gen1.

 

[user 213]

I'm fan of Paul's incremental process. That said, some things are universal, others a matter of taste or preference.

FZ1 mirrors have been mentioned. I was somewhat blase' about these and didn't bother until I crashed and had to replace the mirrors. Worth it. totally.

Handguards - Either the Gen I Suzuki if you use the bar end throttle lock or Gen II if you use a VistaCruise/NEP or full CC unit. Keeps your hands drier in rain and you can use lighter gloves and still stay warm/dry. Especially in conjunction with heated grips. Consider a Heat-Troller with the grips and it's mandatory with the heated gear, regardless of what brand you buy, use an original Heat-Troller. MUCH better quality and control.

Cramp Buster or similar device.

Sliders!!!

Fender Extender - the cheapie or the Carbon Fiber one.

A metal radiator guard. Make your own or beef up the oem one with some hardware store screen, but do something to avoid rock damage.

HID lighting - Decide on what you want and believe you will use. I went with just headlight upgrades because I so seldom get to use aux lights or high beams. That said, I'm adding a dedicated low beam HID aux light this winter.

Replacing those PHids? Gen4, Micro DE, China knock offs of the Solteks, Solteks, dualing HID/Halogen? Lots of options. Remember that HIDs don't re-light instantly, so depending on what you do with the headlights, you may need to convert to an always on low beam or one high, one low set up.

Heated gear/grips. Rallies take you to all kinds of places. High altitudes get cold at night, even in the summer.

Dash shelf? Depends on how much stuff ya got to mount. GPS? Radar Det.? Sat radio ant? Other crap? I mounted the EZ Pass to the wind screen, but some do it to the shelf.

Fuel/Water - fuel cell is highly optional, but water is not. You must hydrate on the bike if you are going to be affective. For some this is as simple as a couple of water bottles w/in reach. For many it's a 1/2 gal or 1 gal jug with a hydration tube and bite valve. Easy to roll your own, just have to find a spot to mount it. Put thought into where it goes, how easy it will be to fill it with ice and water, and where you are going to route the drinking tube and retain it. Consider something like this. (note the length) or find a key chain retractor that's at least 36".

Then it gets expensive.... Linda T.

She makes rockin' fuel cell covers too.

Pin-Lock visor for those rain rides. Works fantastically well. They sell one for the Multi-tech.

Got flashlights? Three of them? A small one to clip to something you need to light up at night? A big one to flood with? A back up?

How are you going to secure the rally flag to the bike for pictures? Figuring that out now saves a bunch of time later.

 

[TriggerT]

I want to thank RenoJohn for answering the question I had when I first started this thread. Before I even started to write the post, I was wondering how long it would take some Gen 1 A-Hole (a term I say with nothing but affection) to chime in on the fact that my bike is a Gen 2.

Keep in mind that ALL of the farkles I was able to salvage from the previous bike are for a Gen 2. That is several thousand dollars worth of items that would not fit one of the nut roasting Gen 1 bikes.

Now back to some useful comments. Yes, a fender extender is a must. I might also look for a stator cover, since the stator on the new bike has some scratches, and the added armour wouldn't be a bad idea.

I have thought about adding a metal radiator guard for some time, so that will probably be on the list.

 

[Drew]

What is the mount (where did you get it?) you used for the cruise control panel?

Thanks.

 

[Harald]

Well? I don't have a "great" suggestion(?), but I have found this item to be a handy addition to the platform; Reptile Thermometer

Trigger has one of the Vastly Superior GEN II motorcycles that comes stock with a temp gauge! :clapping: But I know you cavemen that ride Gen I FJR's like to have temp gauges so that you know how hot your nuts are getting.

 

[user 213]

I might also look for a stator cover, since the stator on the new bike has some scratches, and the added armour wouldn't be a bad idea.

I have the carbon fiber stator armor cover. It bonds on with some semi-hardening marine type RTV adhesive. It did the job when I low sided at ~35 mph, but also ground all the way thru. W/o it, I would have had a very expensive U-Haul experience. That said, they are stupidly expensive right now.

I sent emails to several companies that make engine armor out of aluminum for various bikes, asking about a piece for the FJR. Most simply said no, they don't make one and have no plans to do so. Part of the problem is the very deep cover, relative to the average sport bike cover. The other part is naturally, sales volume. They would need to sell at least 100 in the initial order to consider doing a run.

One company, Woodcraft Technologies Inc. has had several discussions with me about a cover machined from billet with a stainless steel, bolt on insert at the main impact point. I sent them several pictures and a Gen I cover with damage to inspect/measure. The Gen II cover is even deeper, fwiw. At this point it would cost even more for the aluminum full cover than it would for the carbon fiber one, so that's a wash.

I have been sent some drawings for a over cover design, but I'm not sure how well that will suit our needs due to items like foot guards and highway pegs that bolt over or to the stator cover. I need to start a new thread on this and post those drawings to see if there is serious interest and get feedback from the forum members.

 

[Khunajawdge]

Well? I don't have a "great" suggestion(?), but I have found this item to be a handy addition to the platform; Reptile Thermometer

Trigger has one of the Vastly Superior GEN II motorcycles that comes stock with a temp gauge! :clapping: But I know you cavemen that ride Gen I FJR's like to have temp gauges so that you know how hot your nuts are getting.

Ha, reptiles are normally cold blooded, meaning they don't regulate their body temperatures automatically like mammals do. When things get Hot, they get Hot. When they get hot they move much faster.

This is why when you see the tail end of the Gen I "nut roaster" in front of you disappearing into the horizon, you realize how SLOW those Gen II mammals you are riding actually are.

Besides, I probably paid at least $1500 less than you did for my bike when it was new!

 

[TriggerT]

Made my first very small purchase today. I got a replacement Pazzo clutch lever blade. The one I had was the short version, and it sucked if I got stuck in heavy traffic. The longer blade should be a big improvement. Hey, baby steps, right?

 

[TriggerT]

In the last two weeks I have managed to get a little, not much, but a little done on the bike. Mostly, I have been taking things off of the bike, so I can add farkles.

Once some of the items were out of the way, the first thing I did was to get rid of the PAIR system. I was able to get the needed hardware off of the old bike before i turned it in, and I really like the way this cleans up the engine compartment. It makes doing a TBS a hell of a lot easier.

I am also hoping the extra space will make adding the needed lines for a fuel cell at some point in the future a little easier.

Next I removed the handles bars, triple tree, front tire, and forks.

I did this to change the front tire, add 90 degree valve stems, put on a super brace, install risers, and add the stem mount for my ZUMO gps.

The other advantage of taking all these things off is that it makes getting at the head lights a lot easier, and installing the HID's is the first thing I will do before putting things back together.

One thing I have learned from working on the bike many times now, is that since I almost never get to work on it for more than an hour or two at a time, keeping things in order is critical. One thing I do is to take any fasteners for a panel or part and put them in a zip-lock bag. I them tape the bag onto the part. The more I label things, the easier it is to get things back together, sometimes several weeks after I have taken them apart.

I should receive my rebuilt Penske rear shock on Monday. When I go to install it, I am going to take the rear tire off and also grease the splines on the drive shaft. I am then going to be doing the needed modifications to go over to the dark side, and run a car tire.

I hope to get to work on the bike again tomorrow, or maybe next weekend, but with two little kids, and Christmas just around the corner, free time is hard to come by.

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

Tim,

While you have the year wheel assembly and shock out, this would be a great time to mount an Audiovox Cruise Control using the V65 method <Link>.

-Joe

 

[TriggerT]

I have the Audiovox cruise control form the first bike, but since everything on it is cut to length per the install Smitty did, I was going to install it on this bike in the same way. One problem I have to figue out is how to attach it to the throttle body, since I couldn't get the link off of the old bike. Also, the tag I put on the wires that tie in at the main area on the left side of the bike under the seat fell off, so I need to figure out which wires tie into what.

The CC is the only farkles on the bike I didn't install originally, so it is going to take a little figuring out.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Looks good...good organization. Good idea on the ziplock bags...thanks.

Nice to have a nice heated garage to do your work in...I'm gonna freeze my butt off near spring and replace my tires and do the rest of the chassis maintenance that I have no desire to freeze my butt off to do now.

I'd love to have my stuff sent out for suspension rebuilds...but that will have to wait till some other year. I need to flush and refill my forks...but have not ever done that. May have someone walk me through it the first time.

Sorry to go off topic, but it is good to see someone who has their act together and getting stuff done during this midwest winter downtime.

 

[TriggerT]

As long as you don't try to fill the forks the way I did the first time, it isn't that bad. If you wanted to make the drive out to my place, I would loan you the smaller of my salamander heaters. My large one would melt your garage.

I owe you a stock shock, and the one that is on my bike only has 8K miles on it. I am not sure how a Gen @ shock would work on a Gen 1 though.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Your large heater wouldn't fit in my garage either. If I recall, it was fairly impressive with construction site heating capacity if I recall.

You don't owe me anything but a good beer after our first ride out of state ride in the spring...

 

[TriggerT]

I got up at 4:15 this morning to try and have a few hours to work on the bike without interruption.

If there is a HELL, I am positive that working on the headlights of a Gen 2 FJR will be one of the worst things souls will have to do there. It took a while, but I was able to get the HID conversion set installed. The number of wires you have to deal with, and try to hide is....challenging. I think the way I have things zip-tied will work.

By the time I was done with the fooking head lights, I wasn't in the mood to deal with anything too involved. So I slide the forks back on for a minute to help align the triple tree, and then installed it with the risers.

I wanted the get the handle bars out of the way, and this work was pretty easy. I then finished putting on the BMW grips, the heavy bar ends, my Pazzo levers with the new long clutch lever installed, and I decided to give the hand guards I have another try.

It looks like it will be at least a week until I get another chance to work on the bike. By then I know the rebuild Penske will be ready to install, and I am hoping the Clearwater lights I bought will be here as well.

 

[TriggerT]

I forgot to mention that I also added the Vista Cruise, which I use as a back up for the Audiovox CC, and when I just need to free up my right hand for a few seconds.