Monthly Archives: May 2009
May 31, 2009
FJR maintenance 101
I've always taken my FJR to the shop for routine maintenance - all but once to Pasadena Yamaha, who have always done a good, professional job. (See this post for that one other time...) But I came to the inescapable conclusion that I just couldn't continue to ride 10,000 miles a year unless I started doing most of my own maintenance work. My last 4,000 mile service at the shop was over $400, and only $40 or so was parts and fluid.
My friend Doug just bought a pre-owned Gen II that had been very well maintained by the original owner. I sent him an e-mail a few weeks back asking if he was going to be doing his own work, and saying I was interested in learning how to do some more of my own work. We chatted a little, and he called up our friend Hal, who graciously invited us to come down to his house in Orange for a mini tech day.
I felt comfortable doing an oil change and a rear-end oil change, but was particularly interested in seeing a throttle-body sync. A couple of weeks beforehand, I chatted with Hal about his recommendation for a sync tool. He highly recommended the Carbtune, so I ordered one from the vendor in the U.K. and hoped it would arrive in time. Luckily, it came last Thursday, via Royal Post no less.
When I got to Hal's house, he and Doug were doing a TBS on Doug's bike using Hal's Carbtune unit. For the next three hours, Doug and I moved from his bike to mine, soaking in all the wisdom Hal could give us - and let me tell you, there's a lot of wisdom going on there. To top it all off, Hal has a fantastic array of tools, organized like a professional. Great stuff.
After Doug's TBS, Hal helped me do the initial setup of my Carbtune, and then helped me with my TBS. Even though the shop did a TBS (or at least they charged me for one) about 600 miles ago, a couple of intakes were off by a bunch. Hal showed me how to use the Carbtune to balance them out at 240 millibars each.
Doug had a few other jobs in line for Hal - running power to his Escort radar detector, and an oil change. Hal's tips on ways to make the oil change clean and efficient were fantastic.
Our whole tech day was just a great experience for me, and I now feel much more confident on doing more of my own maintenance. I really appreciate the time and effort Hal put into teaching us, and Doug for arranging everything.
May 18, 2009
New rear tire
I had a new rear tire put on, to replace the one with the double puncture from the shortened trip to Arkansas. I called around to all the usual local shops — Bert's, CalCoast, Chaparral, but my local shop Pasadena Yamaha gave me the best out-the-door price, and I didn't have to schlep out to Ventura or San Bernadino, which made the deal even better. Mileage is 44738.
May 9, 2009
Motofizz camping seat bag - small
My sister-in-law wanted to get me something for helping her on some tax matters. Her suggested price range was just about the same as the cost of a small Motofizz seat bag, and her generous offer was very timely since I was looking for something smaller than my large Motofizz bag for my trip to Arkansas. I needed more than just the side bags, but less (much less) than the large Motofizz, which can hold all my camping gear.
Aerostich has a tough time keeping these bags in stock, but the small is the least popular size, and it was delivered on time. It's a nice addition.
May 7, 2009
Seat dimensions
Here are the basic dimensions of my Bill Mayer seat:
It's 14" from the front of the tank to the back of the seat.
At the very front of the tank, the seat is 5.75" wide. 1" from the front of the tank, the seat is 7.125" wide. At the widest point, the seat is 15" wide, and at the back of the seat, it's 12" wide.