What is it with Texans, the NW and the mighty FJ...?

[racerrad8]

What is it with Texans, the NW and the mighty FJ...?

So, the story begins like this...

Wednesday 11/20 mid afternoon;

The phone rings and the voice on the other end asks...
Caller: "do you have engine bars for an 84 FJ1100?"
         Reply; Yes I do.
Caller: "Do you install them too?"
         Reply; Sure, I can do that.
Caller: "How about that spin-on oil filter conversion, do you have those too?"
         Reply; Yes, I have plenty of those, no problem.
Caller: "Can you install that too?"
         Reply; I can do anything to your bike you need done.
Caller: Okay, I am coming from Washington and I'll be there on Friday, thank you.

He hangs up and I think coming from Washington for me to work on his bike. Man this guy is crazier than Ramos to ride all that way for me to work on the bike.

Well, Friday comes & goes, Saturday and Sunday as well. I do not hear from the caller again...

Until Monday mid-morning that is...

Caller: Is this RPM?
         Reply; Yes
Caller: What is your address, I can't remember?
         Reply; 410 South 5th Av, Oakdale.
Caller: Okay, I'll see in a little while.

So, around 4:00pm I am completing the shipments for the day and I hear a vehicle pull up out front by the brake squeak. I walk out the front door and there is a clean red/silver 84' FJ1100 with a guy wearing heavy duty cold weather gear climbing off.

We greet each other and he tells me, "My name is Dave and I am the one who called you last week about these engine bars." He then goes on to tell me the story and I will let him fill in the details of his trip, but to sum it up it goes like this.

Dave wanted an FJ and he come across this 84 FJ1100 on eBay with a starting bid of $1.00 with a buy it know of a decent price.  After some online research, he paid the buy it know price and started making arrangements to fly out and pick this bike up and ride it back to Texas. Part of his research was finding the FJowners forum and that is how he found me, information about the bike and all of the options available to make the bike better than it was now, sitting in front of the RPM shop.

So, after he takes a break from the ride from Washington state to Oakdale, Ca, which included storms with snow & icy roads, a stay in a few motels, a new chip in the gas tank to name a few things, we get the bike in the shop and get her up on the lift. The 84 is really clean, garage kept and has less than 20k on the clock. It definitely was a properly kept bike based on the condition compared to the miles. Heck there were things on that bike I was unaware the factory had done based on the proper maintenance and not having been hacked up.

It did have some minor issue like a leaking fork seal, stuck chain, work out brake pads, but for the most part was a pristine bike.

So, we worked on that bike and got it all dialed in for the remainder of his trip which including a trek down to the Los Angels area to see family before heading back to the east and Texas. Dave left on Thursday morning and when I spoke with him that evening he was in Conlon country, Indio. I got a quick call today just before lunch from Dave that he had made it home. I am sure the bike now has just over 20k on it know.

When I first started hearing Dave's story I immediately compared it to Fintip's very similar trip from the NW portion of the country to pick his FJ after flying in and having basically the same route home.

Dave said he would be along on the forum soon and the FJ bug has obviously bitten him too.

I just want to say, Thank you Dave, it was an enjoyable week and be glad you left when you did...

The low tonight is suppose to be 30* and the remainder of the week is all listed to drop down into the mid-high 20's with the highs supposed to get to the low-mid 50's.

What is it with Texans, the NW and the mighty FJ...?

Randy - RPM

[JMR]

Nothing personal but the guy sounds like a bit of a chooch. Nice you have the patience for that.....I don't.

[racerrad8]

No, he is a good guy, the biggest issue he was having was the weather and that screwed up the travel time frame. I was glad to be here and help him when he got arrived.

It takes a lot of courage, moxy, persistence to buy a bike sight unseen, fly in, hop on it and ride it home. I don't think I could do it.

Randy - RPM

[JMR]

So you know what a chooch is? Good for you ....normally that is a northeast Italian thing. So....maybe I can get some good Braciole down there?

[movenon]

Well my hat's of to him ! He's a rider. Yes it did sound like fintip's trip. Its hard to tell someone down South how cold it an get up here for freeway running. High of 27 and low of 12 here mid week and that's warm compared to some of our FJ brethren. I am glad he made a good decision and stopped by your place Randy.

Hope he shows up on the forum with a report on his trip.
George

[airheadPete]

Dunno, we bought serious bikes up here to do real riding? Or is the average FJ owner now mid 40ish, remembering the great bikes from our twenties and getting them because flash doesn't do it anymore and we're sober now? (And we're apparently bloody single-minded and goal-oriented.
(What could go wrong? Huh, what?))

[fintip]

It is a great regret of mine that I did not stop to see Randy. However, my money was so tight, that I missed many things on my trip.

Funny that another Texan did a trip like this. Uncanny.

Texas. 

[racerrad8]

So you know what a chooch is? Good for you ....normally that is a northeast Italian thing. So....maybe I can get some good Braciole down there?

You never know, those Italians are everywhere so there might one or two in Texas.

Randy - RPM

[HARTLESS]

 that sounds like an interesting trip. its always been a dream of mine to do a long trip like that, but when I dream about it, its always warm and sunny! haha. its crazy, the fj is worth it and people that have never ridden one would never understand. I miss my fj 

Dunno, we bought serious bikes up here to do real riding? Or is the average FJ owner now mid 40ish, remembering the great bikes from our twenties and getting them because flash doesn't do it anymore and we're sober now? (And we're apparently bloody single-minded and goal-oriented.
(What could go wrong? Huh, what?))

im only 23, but I live in Portland too! I think that you are kind of forced to be a hardcore rider in the nw, that is if you want to put more than 500 miles on your bike a year.

[~JM~]

Usually "The Trip" is done in the other direction. The clean, rust free, bike, car, truck, hot-rod, etc, is located in the Southwest & is brought up North. There are some clean, garage/shop kept machines up here in the Pacific Northwest, but they weren't used much, or at all, during the winter. Unfortunately the Portland area has the most inflated prices that I've seen for bikes. Every great once in a while a clean one that has been sitting inside for many years pops up for a reasonable price. Like my FJ.

The cool thing about this area... Is that people have lived here for a long time. Property with barns have been owned by the same family for over a hundred years or so. There are rare "Barn Finds" out here all the time. You just have to be the lucky guy that was in the right place at the right time, etc. Makes you want to go check out every out-building/shack that you see.

If you live in the Southwest... It's hard to understand or grasp the weather situation up here. Most folks down South (like me prior to '01) know what rain is, but they are under the assumption that eventually it will stop & the sun will come back out. This is true for the most part, but you have to wait until sometime after the 4th of July.

~JM~

[pdxfj]

Yup.. Starts raining here late October/early November and doesn't stop until July.. or some years it rains most of the summer as well.  It is a warmer rain up in the Seattle and Puget Sound area, but becomes a lot colder the further south you travel.  I think what catches most people off guard is just how quickly the weather can change up here.

If you've got a dream to do a long ride, go out and do it.  Hell you're only 23.. The two long rides I've done have not been without their fair share of bad weather.  Haven't hit snow yet, but just about everything else.  Funny thing is on both those trips the weather going to my destination sucked.  Coming back was perfect.

I generally don't mind riding in the rain.. usually have to for the ride down to the WCR.. I'm not the type of person to look outside and say "Hey, it's pissing down rain and 40 degrees.. think I'll go for a ride!".

The time will come when I can relocate to a warmer environment where the weather is nice for more than 3 months of the year..

Thumbs up for the person in question to do such a ride.. especially this time of the year..

[FeralRdr]

Yup.. Starts raining here late October/early November and doesn't stop until July.. or some years it rains most of the summer as well.  It is a warmer rain up in the Seattle and Puget Sound area, but becomes a lot colder the further south you travel.  I think what catches most people off guard is just how quickly the weather can change up here.

If you've got a dream to do a long ride, go out and do it.  Hell you're only 23.. The two long rides I've done have not been without their fair share of bad weather.  Haven't hit snow yet, but just about everything else.  Funny thing is on both those trips the weather going to my destination sucked.  Coming back was perfect.

I generally don't mind riding in the rain.. usually have to for the ride down to the WCR.. I'm not the type of person to look outside and say "Hey, it's pissing down rain and 40 degrees.. think I'll go for a ride!".

The time will come when I can relocate to a warmer environment where the weather is nice for more than 3 months of the year..

Thumbs up for the person in question to do such a ride.. especially this time of the year..

Now Garth, lets not exaggerate things; it's beautifully sunny outside ride now.

Of course, it's colder than a witches tit in a brass bra in December, but hey... at least it's not raining. 

[Joe Sull]

Is this inappropriate?


No, He knows exactly what he's doing.

[pdxfj]

Now Garth, lets not exaggerate things; it's beautifully sunny outside ride now.

Of course, it's colder than a witches tit in a brass bra in December, but hey... at least it's not raining. 

True.. the weather lately has been a bit out of the norm (not raining)..but as you say we're paying a different price for the sunny weather.  Personally I wouldn't mind another snow storm like the one we had back in 2008.   

[FeralRdr]

Now Garth, lets not exaggerate things; it's beautifully sunny outside ride now.

Of course, it's colder than a witches tit in a brass bra in December, but hey... at least it's not raining. 

True.. the weather lately has been a bit out of the norm (not raining)..but as you say we're paying a different price for the sunny weather.  Personally I wouldn't mind another snow storm like the one we had back in 2008.   

Your not thinking about rocket powered inner-tubing are you.