Monthly Archives: October 2009
October 12, 2009
V-1 re-install
On the road, I rely on my Valentine V-1 radar detector to keep me out of (too much) trouble. In the past, I've tried various mounting solutions for the V-1, but they all had problems of some kind, and I wasn't satisfied with any of them.
One of the most popular mounting setups is a plate mounted to the top of one of the reservoirs. Skyway, another (former?) member of the Forum, sells one that you see on a lot of bikes at rallies. In the past I bought a bunch of stuff from Skyway, including a CCS control bracket, a GXM-30 mounting plate, some windshield extenders, and his famous hydration kit.
Unfortunately a couple of years ago Skyway went goofy, and screwed a bunch of people on the forum out of $500 to $700 each on an auxiliary tank mount. He took their money, and never delivered. He is persona-non-grata on the Forum, for good reason.
Over the years I've purchased many items from garauld, a metal fabrication specialist who is well known on the FJR Forum for the quality of his work. I've got his hand-guard extenders, a auxiliary light mounting kit (which I have yet to actually install), and he powder-coated my Skyway CCS control bracket. His metal-work is always top notch, and the quality of his finishing work is second to none.
A few weeks ago I contacted garauld to see if he'd consider building a reservoir radar detector mount. He agreed, and we exchanged ideas on the basic design. The unit he fabricated exceeded all of my expectations, both in form and function. I installed it just before my trip to Hetch-Hetchy at the end of September, and the bracket worked great. I even piggy-backed my SPOT on top of the V-1. However, the V-1 audio adapter had to hang off the side, and I knew I had to come up with a better idea.
I wanted a setup that would make the V-1 install clean, secure, and easy to remove. The only way to do that was to mount the audio adapter under the seat. This gets the adapter out of the weather, and also removes some stress on the audio connection, which should help clean up the audio feed somewhat.
The coiled power/data cord that runs from the dash to the brake reservoir needed replacing too - there was too much corrosion on the contacts, and the clip didn't seat firmly.
On Sunday, I pulled the bike apart, and re-ran everything for the V-1.
- I removed all the dash panels, the seats, and lifted the gas tank.
- I clipped off the cable ties holding the V-1 cables, and pulled the audio cable back to under the seat.
- I removed the old coiled cord, and ran a new one to the power connector under the dash.
- I ran a new 8' phone cord from the second port on the power connector back under the tank to the under-seat area.
- I removed the thermometer.
- I tested everything.
- I wrapped the new coiled cord around the power cable for the Zumo, to help manage the slack needed for turning the handlebars lock-to-lock.
- I put on new cable ties to hold everything in place.
- I reinstalled the dash panels, which are still a pain, and bolted the gas tank down.
- I got everything setup under the seat, and adjusted the volume on the audio unit.
Everything is much cleaner now, and the audio adapter and it's connections are now out of the weather. The main V-1 unit looks good on garauld's reservoir bracket, and it's both very secure and easy to remove when necessary. I still have to finalize where the SPOT will go, but for now it works fine piggy-backed on top of the V-1.
The bare bracket:
The bracket with the V-1 and SPOT in place:
October 1, 2009
Dam Tour 2009
As part of Dam Tour 2009, I visited 20 dams in Oregon, Washington, California, and Montana. Eight dam visits were made during my ride to and from CFR; eleven more were made ruing the ride to and from WFO-8. The last one was a special trip to Yosemite National Park.
- CFR 2009 - Day 3 - Flint Creek Dam west of Butte, MT
- CFR 2009 - Day 4 - Rainbow Falls Dam in Great Falls, MT
- CFR 2009 - Day 8 - Dry Falls Dam near Coulee City, WA, and a near miss on the North Scootenay Dike Dam in south-central WA
- CFR 2009 - Day 9 - McKay Dam south of Pendleton, OR
- CFR 2009 - Day 10 - Toketee Dam and Hyatt Dam in Oregon, and Keswick Dam in Redding, CA
- WFO-8 Day 2 - Thompson Reservoir Dam in south central Oregon
- WFO-8 Day 3 - Rock Creek Dam and Fishhawk Lake Dam in Oregon, and Deschutes Dam in Olympia, WA
- WFO-8 Day 4 - Mud Mountain Dam, Rock Island Dam, Wapato Dam, and a return visit to the North Scootenay Dike Dam
- WFO-8 Day 6 - Upriver Dam and Little Falls Dam in eastern Washington
- WFO-8 Day 8 - Oxbow Dam in Hell's Canyon, and Owyhee Dam in south eastern Oregon
- Yosemite National Park - O’Shaughnessy Dam at Hetch-Hetchy Reservoir