Someone Else's Problem: Like RdKetchup but with moar FREEDOM: altoid's FJ-08.5

[altoid]

 

[altoid]

The craigslist ad is up!

 

[altoid]

The OfferUp ad is up as well!

 

[altoid]

Yamaha FJ-09: Truck of the Year:

History repeats itself…

 

[altoid]

Hello! A lot has happened since the last update, kinda sorta, so let’s catch up!

When I bought my old XSR back, I fully expected it to replace the FJ. I’d been wanting something smaller for city riding for a while anyway, it makes fun noises, and I know it rather well. But—and this is unrelated to the shitposting thread and unsuccessful sale attempts—over the last three months it turned out that absence made the heart grow fonder, and I’ve come to appreciate the comfort and juice of the FJ, so I’m keeping it instead, yay!

Plans for the future are many and shifting, as is always the case with me, but here are some notes on the major stuff anyway:

• Remove hand guards (and throttle lock) and replace them with bar ends. This should save me some 2" of width at the widest point, and let some of the lovely summer breeze get to my hands. Look at how clean the bike can look without them!
• Replace the giant windscreen with a tiny one. This one—which is effectively just a cover—is my current top choice.
• If I’m keeping the bike, it needs an exhaust + accompanying ECU tune.
• The mismatched turn signals—flush LEDs up front, stock pumpkins in the back—annoy me to no end and need to get replaced by a matching set of LED ones. Rizoma has a whole range I like.
• I might get an on-board camera since I don’t have one on my helmet any longer.

And now for some visuals!

As I mentioned in the XSR’s thread, I had to squeeze in both bikes and two cars, and I think I did OK:

Cleaning the dust off the FJ took way more effort, given that it sat untouched for longer and is gloss black for the most part:

After deciding on the above last night, I took the tall girl out for a beach stroll this morning, and neither she nor the atmosphere disappointed:

Life’s grand, friends.

 

[altoid]

I’ve started messing with the FJ for this next era in our partnership. I removed the hand guards and replaced them with bar ends, rode it to a cool new moto spot in LA, and got a lock. Pictures below!

These arrived a few days ago, and at first I was worried they wouldn’t fit, in spite of confirming that to the extent possible before ordering:

Stock hand guard + Grip Puppy comfort grips from the previous owner:

Look a the width savings, wow:

Decided to remove the foam comfort grips since they were in bad shape, and look at that sleekness:

Over on the other side I’ve added a CrampBuster and Kaoko throttle lock that needed to go:

As an aside, the throttle lock has had the worst ratio of how much I anticipated liking it to how much I used it, but I also didn’t take many trips after getting it:

Luckily I found the handlebar insert for the right side, which I removed for the throttle lock:

Amusingly, there’s a funky gap on the right side, but everything works fine:

The new/summer look is starting to come together:

Just gotta do something about the enormous windscreen, which blocks entirely too much precious air movement for summer city riding:

I then took the bike out to the newly opened Bike Shed:

Where’s Waldo:

And to cap things off, I ended up caving in and getting a lock, which will hopefully deter enough opportunistic thieves to be worth the hassle:

 

[Redliner]

MC COLORS?
I understand that means "Motorcycle Club Colors", but how do you enforce that?
"You can't park your here because that shade of pink is the color of the Rowdy Raspberries Gang"

 

[RdKetchup]

I think colors in this context is actual MC Club branding.

 

[altoid]

MC COLORS?
I understand that means "Motorcycle Club Colors", but how do you enforce that?
"You can't park your here because that shade of pink is the color of the Rowdy Raspberries Gang"

I think colors in this context is actual MC Club branding.

My guess is that “MC colors” indeed stands for “explicit MC markings”, like an actual “Rowdy Raspberries Gang” decal, etc.

Also, I’m now starting the Rowdy Raspberries Gang MC.

 

[DanRoM]

Sounds like they use Ubuntu.

 

[Redliner]

My guess is that “MC colors” indeed stands for “explicit MC markings”, like an actual “Rowdy Raspberries Gang” decal, etc.

Also, I’m now starting the Rowdy Raspberries Gang MC.

Ah, I see, not that literally "MC Colors".

Also, can I join?

 

[altoid]

Got the reminder cable for the lock and that’s probably about as much fuss as I’m willing to deal with:

 

[altoid]

Welp, the clutch cable snapped today.

While unfortunate, it happened some 600 ft from my garage, and I was lugging it in 2nd, so downshifting to N and pushing it back was (relatively) easy. The ramp up to my garage isn’t that steep…until you’re pushing a 500 lb motorcycle up it.

Now to order a replacement and in the installation process make sure there isn't another issue causing this one, since I last did this a year and nine months ago…

Edit: Replacement part ordered.

 

[altoid]

New clutch cable shipped! Hopefully arrives next week, and then I can try and find some time for the project…next weekend?

 

[altoid]

Hello, hello!

Since we last caught up, I installed the replacement clutch cable, went on a lovely ride with a friend, got to use my new tool storage for the first time, and started building a proper EDC tool kit.


The clutch cable snapped in a super inconvenient spot this time:

Fishing that out of the lever was annoying.

Stupid thing:

The easiest way to swap the cables is to zip tie the new cable to the old one, and then pull the old one out:

Liek dis:

After that was done, I went for a ride with a friend who has a Tracer 900:

Sorry about the open top case, but I couldn’t be bothered to retake it.

And now for the tools.

Many of you have witnessed significant complaining from me about how annoying it is to have to take tools to where I park only to forget one and have to go back, etc. I’ve certainly bitched and whined plenty about this problem, but recently I started trying to actually solve it.

Well, this weekend I did!

I got this Ridgid setup on recommendation of @Blind_Io and @Kiki:

I added the basket for the really big stuff and moved all my crap from three mismatched tool boxes, several cardboard boxes, and more than one fucking plastic bag:

But now that I’m done, it’s pretty great:

I need to clean up the closet so I can orient it better for use without removal, but even this is a huge improvement:

I got to try it out for the first time, to experience what it’s like not to have tools and projects separated by three stories and what feels like 400 kilometers of walking:

Look at how nice it looks before shenanigans:

And it’s a rather good setup during shenanigans, too:

Not a lot of work was done on this shop adventure, since I mostly went over the bike to see which tools would be most useful on the go.

But I did get to try out the world’s cheapest tool belt in the process, and it’s honestly a lot better than pockets:

Until next time!

 

[altoid]

The plate looks even better all lit up!

The vanity moto plate is back on the FJ. Too lazy to take new pics, but I added gold bolts as well, for the coolness.

 

[altoid]

Evening food run: smashing success.

 

[Redliner]

Are you selling artisan burger, craft beer or running a barber shop?

 

[altoid]

Are you selling artisan burger, craft beer or running a barber shop?

Thankfully no, but I desperately need to visit the latter.

 

[altoid]

Since the forums really failed me this past weekend, I’m trying out Notion for size as a modernized take on good ol’ CarDomain, so yesterday’s update can be found here.