FJ1346 from ashes to... Well, we'll see...

[skymasteres]

Well, I have tried it but it still doesn't seem to work for me. 

Bouquet Canyon, hurrying back to check on stragglers.

[Bones]

Video works fine my end. Just need to lose that zip tie floating around on your left fork.

[Klavdy]

Well, I have tried it but it still doesn't seem to work for me. 

Bouquet Canyon, hurrying back to check on stragglers.

I can see the video you posted.
It's a setting on your end.
Maybe you're missing a codec?

[skymasteres]

I think it was flash for ny browser that wasn't working. Thanks klav. Update comming soon. :-)

[skymasteres]

You know guys, I think I might have moditetus.  I need help. I am spending entirely too much time on my bike.... I mean, I'm starting down the road of "If it ain't broke, fix it till it is". Can't seem to go a few days, let alone a week without modifying something...

Case in point, I put a Thunderace swingarm on my bike. I did it because I wanted to shorten up the wheelbase a little and stiffen things up in the rear. Well, since I'd already modified my stock swingarm to let me move the wheel ALL the way forward on the adjusters, I had already achieved the same effective wheelbase as the Ace arm. (Well, chain length at least. Since I raised the rear at the same time the wheelbase is actually shorter)

Just shortening the wheelbase with the stock arm had a slight impact on handling. Made the bike feel like it hunkered down a little more with heavy throttle application in corners. Other than that I can't really say if there was a direct impact.
The F4i shock made a HUGE difference in the handling on the bike. The rear was a lot softer, but it follows the road amazingly well. Even when riding as aggressively as I can the rear was tracking well. Part of this perceived improvement was due to the fact that I was replacing a stock shock with 120k miles on it.

The comment in the RPM shock thread about "The best suspension you know is the best you've ridden" was made abundantly clear to me when I put the Thunderace arm on the bike.  I did not realize just how flexible the stock swingarm was until I got on the bike with the Ace arm installed. Holy crap that made a HUGE difference. That stock swingwarm is just wandering all around in comparison. The difference is so pronounced that when I had Lilly on the back her first reaction when we stopped was "What have you done to the bike?" I hadn't told her that I had put the Thunderace arm in and asked her what she meant. She said it felt more stable, like it was planted and not dancing around when I'm pushing it. I figure she feels it more than I do being further out on the subframe that I am.  But the difference is definitely noticeable.
Then there are modds that have not performance impact whatsoever. I FINALLY installed the RPM spin on oil filter adapter that I bought almost two years ago. I didn't really have a problem with the stock filter arrangement. I just figured that, since the filter magnet I bought from Randy finally fell apart, I'd install it.


                           
Although, on a side note. If all you have big socket wise are impact sockets, you'll need to thin the tip of it down slightly on the grinder to make it fit the recess around the retention bolt.
I am happy to say that I have finally replaced my fuel pump with a Facet Model 40171 fuel pump from Aircraft spruce. They come in at $48.50 + shipping and flow 15GPH with a built in check valve. (They also come highly recommended by other members here.)



Nice thing is there are no contacts to wear out. Although my pump had 128k miles on it before it died, so I'd say that the contacts are pretty long lasting for the stock design. 
That and package wise it's pretty close to the same size instillation wise as the stock fuel pump.



An important note about these pumps, you need to run a fuel filter between the tank and the fuel pump. I used a Briggs & Stratton 691035 40 Micron Fuel Filter. They're designed for fuel pump equipped engines and available for $5.79 on amazon.  Well worth it to ensure that the pump doesn't get all jammed up with crap from the tank.



It's actually a lot smaller than the stock filter that tucked up under the tank, but it is still retained by the stock bracket.



I had a couple rubber grommets on hand that happened to be the prefect size for the stock mounting holes on the Facet pump. A little piece of scrap aluminum, some pop rivets, some monkeying around and presto. The pump is mounted on the stock bracket.



Here is where I learned that the pump won't run unless the main fairing connector is hooked up.  (Where on my gravity feed setup I could start the engine with the fairing removed. ) Although it's a worthwhile trade off. With the gravity feed setup the bike would conk out at about 180 miles with 1.2 gallons still in the tank. No way to get at it because it just wouldn't feed. Now I can pretty consistently get 225 miles with 0.2 gallons left in the tank when I fill up. (Putting 5.6 gallons in on fill up) I figure this is about as close to conking out as I want to get, so I start looking for fuel at the 180 mile mark. (I really don't want to run this bike out of fuel. It's heavy enough it'd be a bugger to push) 

I've been having a blast riding the heck out of it too. In fact, last weekend I met up with Mark and the "Angeles Crest Riders" to ride, you guessed it, the Angeles Crest highway on Saturday. That was a great ride up to Newcomb's Ranch where the crest riders called it quits.  These guys certainly started out running hot through the crest but backed off after a little bit. Not quite sure why but it was still a good run.




We met a couple riders that were interested in heading down to Duke's in Malibu for lunch so off we went.  Ended up passing by "The Rock Store" and actually got caught on film this time. (Well of the four bikes in our group, mine was the only one that got photographed)



It never seems like I can get through there when it's not all jammed up with something going on. This time it was some sort of bicycle hill climb race, so we had to be careful to give them their room. (rant) I have a great deal of respect for the physical conditioning required to do that kind of bicycle riding. But come on guys, do you have to do it on the one section that's perfect for cornering? There are plenty of other hills... (/end rant) 

Another thing that comes to mind is how, sometimes accidents just happen. One of our newfound riding partners came to a stop and had got their bike just over the wrong way.

Raging through the crest.

Nooooo...



Fortunately the rest of the ride was uneventful and lunch at Dukes was great. Even watched the wildlife a little.



All in all a good day.

[Dan Filetti]

Nooooo...

I had a similar thing happen to me on the way down to the ECFR, I thought the stand was all the way down....  Damn.

Dan

[Pat Conlon]

Yep......happened to me at a gas stop. Luckily the pumps were on the right side and the bike fell to the left....no harm, no foul. Embarrassing as hell..
I was dog tired. Road stoned. Too long of a day. I thought I put my side stand down, but noooooo

Now I exclusively turn my motor off using the side stand switch....assuring that the side stand is down.

Although now I have been known to walk away from my bike leaving the key on...sigh.

[fintip]

I *almost* had that happen once on my first street bike at a gas station. Barely caught it. Good thing I'm a strong young guy with a good back, it was right at the edge of what I could recover. Was talking to a guy when it happened, embarrassing as all get out. At least I saved it.

[FJmonkey]

Nooooo...

Just great..... A woman falls off her Ducati next to me and I look like I am humping her bike... Thanks Mike.... Long live the Red Power Ranger.....

[fj1289]

Nooooo...

Just great..... A woman falls off her Ducati next to me and I look like I am humping her bike... Thanks Mike.... Long live the Red Power Ranger.....

Were you making your avitar face?!       

[FJmonkey]

Just great..... A woman falls off her Ducati next to me and I look like I am humping her bike... Thanks Mike.... Long live the Red Power Ranger.....

Were you making your avitar face?!       
[/quote]

Not at the time, but when a fellow rider drops, all hands on deck to rescue said rider... She rides really well on her Duc and follows at a good pace... She gets Kudos from me as a rider...

[ribbert]

Now I exclusively turn my motor off using the side stand switch....assuring that the side stand is down.

Although now I have been known to walk away from my bike leaving the key on...sigh.

I also turn the bike off with the side stand, give it a kick forward to make sure, pull back on the bike slightly while weighting it up and leave it in gear. What could go wrong?

I never remove my keys at meal or coffee stops. So, I pull up, go through the above procedure, go and enjoy a well earned lunch, come back to the bike a while later, turn off the key to salvage the remaining half volt left in the battery, ask myself repeatedly what sort of moron would continue to get caught out at this after the first time then start asking around for jumper leads or a push.
I then assure myself I will never do this again, not until the next time anyway.

Many of you will remember the bikes that had stands that would only stay down with the weight of the bike on them, the instant you stood it upright the stand would flick up. No need give any examples of what use to happen there.

Noel

[skymasteres]

Well, I have been known to leave the ignition on so consistently that my riding partners just say "Ignition" when I get off the bike. (In a tired quasi exasperated tone.)

Okay, so not every day ends as well as the last one. I definitely do ride a lot more conservatively two up than I do on my own, that's for sure.  It's interesting how you are at more risk when you're messing around than when you are in the groove and pushing things hard.  I decided to join Mark, Capn Ron, and San Dimas Mike on a little ride to the rock store and some of the surrounding roads.
Started out okay, checked the oil and tire pressure, then headed down to Mark's .  (No cops to follow this time to it took 30 minutes longer than normal to get there) From there it was down to Ron's place where we chatted about where to ride and looked at Ron's nice new tire changing setup. (It's pretty slick)



After some raging though the twisties, and having built up quite the appetite we stopped at  "The Sea Casa" It's a nice little Mexican place that has a great selection.



The ride was pretty sweet heading to Mulholland where we got stuck behind some slow moving traffic.   I have been working on getting more and more of my bike's performance envelope in my pocket so I took the opportunity to focus on "reverse apexing"  where I take a longer way around the curve to make it more challenging. (It's still something I'm working on) The mistake I made was, in trying this out of boredom, I failed to treat it like the training tool that it was. I wasn't as methodical with it was I could have been and this happened.




What just happened?

Interestingly, because this is the first time I've been down this way I didn't really understand what happened right away. I mean, I got up, picked up the bike, and then started checking out my gear.  My helmet was first as the sucker was BRAND NEW.

Side note, Bell is an AWESOME company. I have had this RS-1 for three years and I noticed that the eyeport seal was leaking. (When I went down to FJMonkey's place to change tires in the rain) I called Bell and they said to send it in. I did, and a week later a FedEx box showed up on my doorstep with a brand new helmet. Freaking awesome.
But I digress.  It was just a complete surprise. I mean one moment I'm leaning into the turn, the next I'm sitting on the pavement watching my bike sliding away from me backwards up the hill. I got up, picket it up, then tore my helmet off to check it. After that it was trying to figure out what happened. I mean, the bike was there one second and gone the next.
My left hand glove had a very slight scuff on palm slider and my riding jeans were torn slightly at the knee and the material at the left shin was abraded.


Interestingly, the jeans are just jeans in the shin area. The "sliding zones" are in the tights and buttocks area.  Here's a slightly better picture showing how the material held up. (Built Iron Worker riding pants from cycle gear. About $70)


I had a very tiny spot on my shin that was skinned. But other than that no issues. No marks on my helmet or jacket so that was good. After watching the video it was plain to see why.  

After careful review, I hit grit in the road.


Engine guards to save the day again. It's amazing to see that even though the bike only slid about 15 feet, how much material was removed from this bar.



Sucker got so hot that it took the temper out of the metal where it almost ground through.   If I hadn't had these things on here I would not have been able to ride this one home. (Hint hint, get Randy's engine guards on your bike....)

It's pretty cool how the exhaust cans work in conjunction with the engine guards to keep the important bits from getting killed.



The interesting thing is that the tire went all the way over to the edge when it washed out. But you can also see how far over I was before it washed out.

Although the passenger peg and shifter did take a hit. The main fairing was damaged but, if you look at the video, you'll see that it was only sliding along the pavement after the bike transitioned to sliding upside down up the hill as it pitched over on the fairing. The fairing probably slid all of 5-8 feet.



And of course the uninteresting photos of the skid marks on the road...



And a view of the turn showing how it's really not much of a curve.  



So, after reviewing the slow motion about one hundred times I really don't feel too bad about this one. Yeah, I was closer to the edge than I should have been. But I hadn't swung over the white line, and I didn't do anything overtly stupid. The rear simply got on some grip and washed out from under me.

As for the visual of the damage, here you go.  The coolest bit is just how tough those air scoop protectors are. A little heat from the heat gun and I was able to straighten it back out and pop it in. Funny thing is the CBR600 mirror that I just put on actually survived. It flopped forward as the bike slid backwards, so I get to keep it.

Looking over the damage.

All because I cut my lucky zip ties off of the forks. 

[movenon]

 WOW Mike ! I cringe at seeing that stuff.  Nice video record of the front wheel.  Surprised to see how much the front rotor flexed. You have used the shit out of the engine guards  . Glad you were not hurt and walked away. The bike is fixable.
George

[ribbert]

That's most unfortunate Mike. There is a bright side though, the bike's rideable, with only superficial damage, you are uninjured and you got a great video of it.
I too do the multi apex thing when I'm a bit bored to practice swerving and tightening up corners.

The irony is, practice is meant to stop you falling off.

Might be my eyes, but I reckon the front wheel starts to wash out first then the back hits the same stuff and lets go.

It's good to see the recurring theme through your posts in recent times of how much you are enjoying riding and improving your skills. It's a lot more fun than protracted engine builds (ha ha)

"Yer 'ain't rode til ya been throwed".  Plato?, Pyrro?,  Buffalo Bill? ..........

Noel