fjr – Page 3 – Dishers.com

March 26, 2007March 26, 2007

A good way to start the season.

Yesterday I took off early to meet some folks from the FJR Forum.

I got up at 0 dark-thirty and took off to meet up with Nate and Mike. Nate was riding in from West of Indianapolis, and Mike from Louisville. Our meeting point was exit 112 on I-70. I got there promptly at 9am, which was a task given all the fog.

The three of us then rolled on over to exit 202 I think, to meet the rest of the gang at a little po-dunk gas station.

We rolled away from there around 10am, and ran route 800, 255 (which was horrible from a gravel stand point), 26, and a few other numbers.

We stopped and took a little break then picked up a tag-a-long VStrom which made us a pack of 8.

The roads were all good except for the one that was 25 miles of gravel, sand and cinders. It was pretty amazing that no-one went down considering the conditions.

We rode a good few hours and ended up in Marietta for lunch at a Ryan’s steak house. It wasn’t my pick, and surprisingly everything was pretty good. Good time, good riding, good company. That’s what it’s all about.

After lunch we headed back to where we started. Another good hour and a half of riding through more twisties up 26. We stopped that the gas station, and said our goodbyes.

Mike, Nate and I headed back towards home. We arrived together, we might as well leave together since we’re all headed the same direction. Things were fine until we started to get on I-70. The entrance ramp there is a bit funky. You cross over the highway, turn left on a side street, then an immediate left onto the ramp. Mike almost over shot the ramp, turned left quickly and then *boom* down he went. The exit ramp was covered with gravel and sand.

He went down hard and fast, then slid a good 25~30 feet off the side of the road into a ditch.

Nate and I stopped and helped him pick up the bike. Mike was fine because he was AGAT (All the Gear All the Time). His jacket and pants saved him from any road rash and his helmet kept him from busting his head wide open. He went down pretty hard and bounced right back up none the worse for wear.

His bike though didn’t do so well.

Damage included pretty much everything on the left side, upper and lower fairings, his highway peg was trashed, as were his aux lighting on the left as well. Left side exhaust was scraped up, and he even got the left side of the top case.

Again, Mike was fine, because he was covered. His bike mechanically was Ok too. He rode it home to Louisville. Nate and I followed him to make sure he and the bike were OK.

Outside of Mike’s episode, it was a great day. I put down almost 700 miles and Mike and Nate did almost a 1000.

March 11, 2007March 11, 2007

Tire Changing, what fun

OK so yesterday I pulled the wheels from the FJR and tossed them in the back of the Excursion.

Today we broke in the new No-Mar Tire changer.

Dad had already unpacked it an put it together by the time I go there. We have it temporarily mounted to a 3/4 sheet of plywood and that worked out pretty well.

If we ever figure out a permanent home for it we’ll permanently mount it 😉

We started with the rear tire and took our time. I brought my laptop so we could watch the DVD as many times as needed.

And we needed too…

This tire changing thing is an art, that’s for sure, there are tricks and stuff to getting it just right.

We struggled quite a bit with the rear. Mostly because (a) we didn’t use enough lube, and (b) the FJR’s rear rim is very shallow. But none the less we did get it off without breaking any knuckles nor a single cuss word was uttered. That’s a good thing.

The front came off and went on very very easily.

So far this no-mar thing is a good thing, today I saved between $50 and $100 by mounting my own tires. It won’t take too many times to cover this cost of the machine 🙂

March 10, 2007March 11, 2007

Time for tires…

I ordered up a set of Avon Storms to replace the original Metzler Z6’s about a month ago, but the weather has been too poopy to get out there and get anything done.

I did get the bike out Friday and commuted to work, made a lunch run, and made it home.

I got 7857 miles out of these original tires, although you can certainly say I pushed that rear a little far. It wasn’t showing treads when I left work Friday and I almost went for a ride today. Good thing I didn’t.

Dad purchased a no-mar tire change for us since we tend to go through some tires and paying someone else to change them is getting old.

First order of business, remove the wheels from the bike. I put the FJR on the center stand then with the help of my daughter Maggie, I ‘rocked’ the center stand up on two 2×4’s to get more clearance.

I then removed the rear tire first. Paying special attention to the ABS sensor. I found an old sock in the tool shed and put it in that to keep it covered and off of any other metal parts.

After removing the rear tire I pushed down on the bike and had her stick a 2×4 on top of the two stacked 4×4’s under the header to get the front off the ground.

I needed to put the front ABS sensor in something and couldn’t find another sock so I used a plastic bag that I had laying around. That should work just as well.

Here are the stock Metz’s after 7857 miles.

There’s still some life in the front, but I’m going to replace them both.

The back is SHOT… Ack!

More fun tomorrow with the No-Mar as we figure out how to get that thing mounted to something… Dad was right we should have just bought the hitch mount thing and I may order that in the future.

January 1, 2007January 1, 2007

2007 Polar Bear Ride

Gar started this mess two years ago and it was supposed to be an annual thing.

I don’t know what happened last year. The first year there was snow on the ground but it wasn’t as cold as today.

When I lift the house this morning it was a tepid 42 degrees. It had to warm up right? Yesterday the weatherman (first mistake was believing them) was that it would be a high of 50.

It just got colder as the day wore on.

We hooked up at the gas station in front of the drawbridge inn around 10am. Pat then took us on a quick ~30 mile ride around the Rabbit Hash area. We stopped at the country store (same as last time) and warmed up by the stove.

Then off to the Hofbrau House for some good eats. My hands nearly froze on the ride to the Hash, but then I wised up and put on my heated gloves. Once they were in place all was well. I think everyone had electrics so no one froze to death.

We left the hash and headed straight towards the Hofbrau for some good eats. Good ride, good time, good company, and good food. Can’t ask for any better than that.
For the ride home it was a balmy 36 degrees and the wind was brutal, but I was as toasty as could be.

Thank you Mr. Gerbings 😉

October 8, 2006April 22, 2007

Indiana Ride

Saturday C and I took our first all day ride on the FJR. A little late in the season but there was an organized ride over in Indiana to “Beat the Gawkers” on a great route through Brown County. The plan was to enjoy the day riding and check out the beautiful scenery before the leaves turned fully and the roads were clogged up with old folks gawking at the trees.

The biggest issue was the temperature. It was a lovely 37 degrees when we left at 6 am. The day before I tried to prepare Claudine for just how cold that was going to be and gave her an out but she wouldn’t take it. It was supposed to be a couple’s ride, but a number of the wives opted out because of the temperatures. The cold doesn’t bother me because I have heated gear.

She said she would just layer up. OK.

I lost count of how many shirts and layers she put on but she did have two jackets. One of the biggest issues was gloves. But we worked it out.

The other excitement was installing a new intercom on the motorcycle which would allow us to be able to have conversations as well as allow us to listen to music. This didn’t work out as well as planned as we didn’t have enough time for testing and tuning.

We met a friend at 6:30am about 10 minutes down the road at McDonalds. At that point Claudine said it’s not that cold. I told her you haven’t spend 15 minutes at 65 or 70 miles an hour yet, hang tight.

We left there to meet up with other folks in Columbus Indiana. It took us about an hour and a half to get there. We hit some fog, which only made it chillier. But it was pretty sweet riding through the sunrise with a full moon in sight.

We hooked up at the Columbus, IN Denny’s and had to thaw out. Neither Claudine nor Kyle had heated gear and with a low of 37 on the way, perhaps lower at times, that’s down right cold.

At Denny’s we met up with others from the FJR Forum including the ride organizers and had breakfast.

From there we took some pretty tasty roads around Brown County and ended up in Nashville, Indiana where we had Pizza and some stuffed breadsticks at a pretty decent Italian restaurant.

After lunch we all split up and wandered our way home. 12 hours and 350 miles later we were whipped. 350 miles isn’t very many for only 12 hours but we ran a nice pace and enjoyed the surroundings. It was a long day but well worth it.