Your dad only turns 80 once...

[Capn Ron]

Hi all...

I keep reading these great ride reports...and I've been enjoying going along for the virtual ride!  The "Alaska 2013" adventure has me starting to plan a ride to the 49th state...Maybe next summer.  The "Nova Scotia or Bust" crew had me reminiscing over my ride last year when I visited the Maritimes with such fond memories.  A couple of those guys encouraged me to share my ride report...and some pictures...of my adventure last year to visit my dad for his 80th birthday.  I hope you'll come along for the ride with me and get some enjoyment out of it.  You'll need a pair of Wickers and some Gold Bond...'cause it turned into quite a long ride!   

I figure I should start with a little background.  I've owned the '92 FJ1200 since 1997.  I rode her for a few years when I lived on the sailboat and the salt air really took its toll on the ol' girl.  It only had 20,000 miles on the clock when I bought a house and parked it...always with the intention of sprucing her back up.  Well, it sat in my dining room for about five years and then I finally started to dig in.  I'd take bits apart, tag and bag them and then shift off to some other time robbing hobby.  At some point, the garage was covered in ZipLock bags with motorcycle parts I had long since remembered which section of the bike they came from.



I kept finding other things to occupy my time and the FJ just stayed on the back burner for about three more years!  Well, that all changed when I realized that my dad was going to turn 80 in a few months!!!  I thought, "How great would it be to ride from Los Angeles to upstate New York and spend his 80th birthday with him?!!!"  That motivated me to get the FJ finished and get on the road!! 

This isn't meant to be a rebuild story, so I'll zip through this part pretty quickly.  Pulled the engine out:



Tore it down to its last nut and bolt and powder coated the frame:



Rebuilt the engine:



Put it all back together:



Took it for a quick test drive and packed for my trip!!



I think my FJ was as excited to get on the road as I was!!!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[FJmonkey]

Great post Ron, I hope to do the same to my 86' one day.

[Capn Ron]

The three months before I left Los Angeles were a bit crazy.  I had never done an over-night ride let alone a 3,000 mile trip cross country!  Add to that the rebuild of the motorcycle in time for my departure and I found myself in the garage every night until around 5:00 in the morning!

For the bike...Above and beyond just getting it running, I had to get Givi hard luggage mounted, had Racetech rebuild the forks, installed a Penske Sport rear shock, mounted up Pirelli Sport Demon tires, added an RPM fork brace, bought a Cortech tank bag, put together a tool kit with some spares, wired up two 12v sockets and a waterproof switch in the dash to charge my laptop and my razor, added relays to power the headlight directly from the battery, installed a Throttlemeister throttle lock for cruise control and RAM dash mounts for the radar detector and iPhone.

For me...I bought a new textile jacket with waterproof liner, some Firstgear overpants with waterproof liner and some waterproof gloves for the times when my "summer" gloves weren't appropriate.  

For camping...I bought a Redvers tent, a Northface down sleeping bag, an exped downmat and air pillow, a Soto stove, some GSI cookware, a Petzl head light, an Alite Monarch chair and about ten backpacker meals.  I also vacuum packed quite a bit of rice and pasta and threw in about ten bottles of water.

I had gear spread out all across the living room floor trying to organize my packing.  What would I need in a hurry?  What was heavy that I could pack down low on the bike?  Is the weight balanced between the left and right cases?  I rolled out of the driveway at just over 1000 pounds.  605 for the bike, 210 for me, 140 in Givi hard cases and camping gear, another 50 pounds in the tank bag and fuel.

Feeling quite well prepared, I set out for New York ten days before my dad's 80th birthday...

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Day 1:  Los Angeles to Kingman Arizona (334 miles)



Most days of the trip didn't include much route planning other than, "Head in a compass direction until I find a logical place to stop for the night."  Of course I had to keep progress towards New York...and I had to make some decent miles each day, but I had plenty of time to just "See where the day takes me."

I left the house at around 9:00am and worked my way through LA traffic.  It wasn't long before I was in the desert clicking off some miles.  All of my hard work on the FJ was paying off...she was running like a champ and I was grinning like a crazy person!  I hadn't ridden in nearly ten years and I was settling in.

I was anxious about fuel range...I had no idea what my MPG would be with the extra weight and wind drag of hard cases.  Given that, I had pre-planned a gas stop in the Mojave Desert at the 150 mile mark.

This was the first of 128 stops for fuel on the trip and I calculated 38MPG:



I ran interstate 40 for the next hour or so and started realizing that the interstate was a bit mind-numbing...and looked EXACTLY like the interstate near home so, I peeled off and ran some of the old Route 66.  I stopped at this place in Goffs, CA for some lunch...but it seems to be closed:



I headed on to Laughlin, NV...grabbed some lunch there, fueled up and got a hotel in Kingman, Arizona for the night.  The first day was a good one!  I had been in three states already...I was a bit hot in all my gear, but I was out on the road heading in the right direction!  

Cap'n Ron. . .

[AustinFJ]

Looks like a wonderful ride, Ron!   Balancing distance/time with lack of boredom is a tricky business.  Sounds like you are doing it right!!  If you need to 'get there' the FJ is good for 800-mile days. My Corbin saddle helped, (personal experience!) immensely!   Austin is a bit south of your most appropriate route (and I won't be home this weekend, but will tomorrow) and would happily host you on your journey, if possible .  If you head south on your way back, you have a host in Texas!
Please raise  one for me for your father's 80'th!!!   He did well, obviously!

[FJmonkey]

His trip was last year, he is finally getting to posting it up.

[Capn Ron]

His trip was last year, he is finally getting to posting it up.

True, but it sounds like AustinFJ has a beer waiting for me in Texas...Might just head out there again!   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Looks like a wonderful ride, Ron!   Balancing distance/time with lack of boredom is a tricky business.  Sounds like you are doing it right!!  If you need to 'get there' the FJ is good for 800-mile days. My Corbin saddle helped, (personal experience!) immensely!   Austin is a bit south of your most appropriate route (and I won't be home this weekend, but will tomorrow) and would happily host you on your journey, if possible .  If you head south on your way back, you have a host in Texas!
Please raise  one for me for your father's 80'th!!!   He did well, obviously!

Based on your "Visited States" sig, it looks like you've done your share of touring around!  This trip was last year and if you end up following the whole adventure along with me, you'll find I rarely took the "most appropriate route."    My dad is a good man and is well worth the long hours...even on a stock seat!

Thanks for the hospitality offer...I may take you up on that someday!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[paulfj03]

This isn't meant to be a rebuild story, so I'll zip through this part pretty quickly. 

Don't be holding out on us, Cap'n!!!. ...  Hahaha!

Great report!! Looking forward to more...

[CanDman]

His trip was last year, he is finally getting to posting it up.

Congrats Monkey man......the 4000 post mark.......Impressive......most impressive...

Vader - impressive

couldn't find one with the Red Power ranger...so you got Vader.......

Anyways............Sailors usually move with the wind......and sometimes the wind doesn't blow at all........ ....but I love the post...no matter how old it might be.....keep them coming Ron....

[Capn Ron]

Day 2:  Kingman, AZ to Payson, AZ (250 miles)

This was an easy day mileage wise...shortly outside of Kingman, AZ, I start to pull some altitude heading East on the I40.  This was a nice change of scenery and a welcome drop in temperature!  I definitely wanted to get off the interstate, so I headed South at Ash Fork...  My full day's ride looked like this:



It started to feel like an adventure...just pointing the bike down some road because it looked good on a map.  The big draw for me was the stretch heading up into Jerome, AZ...an old mining town with amazing roads for a motorcycle!  This is the stretch that got my attention!



It had some really tight hairpin turns, some big wide sweepers and when you got over the summit, you could see for miles down into the next valley!



I met some great folks at that stop...they were asking about the FJ and where I was from.  When I told them, they were both stunned..."You rode that all the way from Los Angeles?!!!!"  I told them I just left yesterday and would be in New York in about a week.  They thought I was a nut.   

Down through Camp Verde and along the 260 was another amazing stretch of road with mostly wide sweeper turns that could get you into a nice rhythm.  Pulled into Payson, AZ at about 4:00 in the afternoon for some fuel.

I started noticing that the bike wasn't idling well and would stall out at redlights.  I struggled pulling away from lights in traffic as it would sputter and stumble quite a bit.  I pulled off at a gas station and noticed fuel pouring out of my carb vent tubes!  That seemed to be a problem.  I had no idea even where to start.  I took a few minutes to let the thought of being broken down in a strange town subside and put my head back into it.  I called a Yamaha dealer in Phoenix and asked if they could get it on the bench in the morning.  he said he wouldn't have parts for those carbs if it needed anything, but would be happy to look at it.  Okay...there was one option.  I then called Wired George...He's the guy I had rebuild the carbs long before I knew about Randy.  George answered his cell phone at a restaurant where he was having dinner with his wife.  I told him the issue and he walked me through what could be causing the problem.  "Most likely sediment in the fuel tank got shook up on your first ride since the rebuild and overwhelmed the fuel filter."  Going on that, I decided to pull the carbs to have a look.

I went to an auto parts store in Payson...bought some carb cleaner, a filter, a roll of shop towels, a long screwdriver and some nitrile gloves.  The guy behind the counter was asking me where I was staying and started to rattle off the hotels in town.  I interrupted him and said, "If YOU were going to rebuild a set of carburetors in a hotel bathroom, where would YOU stay?"  He immediately understood and said, "Ohhh, the Best Western!"   

I went about removing the stock airbox and carburetors just outside my hotel room well into the night...Two girls staying at the hotel lent me a flashlight and another roll of paper towels.  That sort of road hospitality lifted my spirits and I had the carbs out in no time!  I pulled them apart to take a look:



Sure enough...the seats were being held open by some residual tank grit.  Cleaned it all out, changed the filter and put it all back together by about 1:00am.  Got on the road at about 9:00am the next day and the bike ran great!

Even with the carb rebuild, it was another excellent day!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[movenon]

Great post Ron ! I miss those roads in Arizona.  Next year perhaps....

I spent the day cleaning my new tank and can relate to the crap after a rebuild getting in the carbs. My new tank is "pristine' on the outside, no so pristine inside  . Thinking about a double fuel filter for a while after I get her back up and running at least for a few tank fulls.

Hope you are healing up. Hows the bike coming along ?
George

[Capn Ron]

Great post Ron ! I miss those roads in Arizona.  Next year perhaps....

I spent the day cleaning my new tank and can relate to the crap after a rebuild getting in the carbs. My new tank is "pristine' on the outside, no so pristine inside  . Thinking about a double fuel filter for a while after I get her back up and running at least for a few tank fulls.

Hope you are healing up. Hows the bike coming along ?
George

Northern Arizona is completely different from the Phoenix area...Very beautiful, great roads and a LOT cooler!

I had cleaned out the tank during the rebuild, but there's just some you can't get out apparently.  It was a new fuel filter as well, but it could only handle so much crud I guess.  I think riding for a few tankfulls down some bumpy roads would get some of it flowing into the filters...change them and do it again.  Lather, rinse, repeat two or three times and you should be good!

The bike is near 100%...just waiting on a shipment of CBR mirrors.  I'm in good shape...almost ready to get out and ride!!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[movenon]

Great post Ron ! I miss those roads in Arizona.  Next year perhaps....

I spent the day cleaning my new tank and can relate to the crap after a rebuild getting in the carbs. My new tank is "pristine' on the outside, no so pristine inside  . Thinking about a double fuel filter for a while after I get her back up and running at least for a few tank fulls.

Hope you are healing up. Hows the bike coming along ?
George

Northern Arizona is completely different from the Phoenix area...Very beautiful, great roads and a LOT cooler!

I had cleaned out the tank during the rebuild, but there's just some you can't get out apparently.  It was a new fuel filter as well, but it could only handle so much crud I guess.  I think riding for a few tankfulls down some bumpy roads would get some of it flowing into the filters...change them and do it again.  Lather, rinse, repeat two or three times and you should be good!

The bike is near 100%...just waiting on a shipment of CBR mirrors.  I'm in good shape...almost ready to get out and ride!!

Cap'n Ron. . .

That's great news Ron. I am jealous of your extended riding season.

The tank is difficult to clean. The bottom of the tank cleaned up well, the top side is the hardest. No matter what,   it's going to have some crap come out of it for a while. Glad its a fuel pump , filter model.. I would have to coat it for sure if it was a gravity feed. Right now it's out in the shop loaded with a mild acid cooking on the inside 

George

[The General]

  Ha Ha ...I love that 'Best Western" Pic....