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

[Firehawk068]

Enjoy Mike!
You deserve some relaxation time. 

[yamaha fj rider]

Well done getting the FJ back together. See you at the rally.

Kurt

[skymasteres]

Well Catalina Island was AMAZING! I had a blast hiking all over, meeting interesting people, and camping on the beach.

This was the little tent village that was over the ridge from where I was. I was a nifty, almost oasis kind of place.



The view from the ridge behind the harbor was amazing.




And hiking around to the other side of it was beautiful as well.



The one thing that is really difficult to capture via a camera is the severity of a drop off. Let's just say, that's a long way down.



And the sunset from my campsite was epic.





But, now it's time to get back to the bike. Funny thing is, before I left to go camping, before I even got ten miles on the bike, I got pulled over on it. I no kidding had a cop pull a u-turn and follow me for five minutes, as I worked the engine though the gears back and forth, before he hit the lights and pulled me over.  I couldn't believe it. I wasn't speeding, like I would with a cop right on my tail, though I was slowing down to 35 before blasting up to 55 chopping the throttle and doing it again.  Two cops come up and ask for my license, didn't ask for my registration.  Then they tell me that they pulled me over because my taillight was out, and that they thought I was shooting at them. (The bike backfires whenever I roll off of the throttle)


I'm telling you, I got both of the mirrors prepped to go on and discovered that the "repair" I made at last year's rally was a little more "permanent" than I thought. I started trying to get the broken mirror stalk out of the mount, then decided that if the JB weld was going to be that much of a pain to remove, I might was well leave it be.




Of course then there are the gotcha's like finding that you have a sheared fuel tank mounting bolt.




I am soooo glad I picked up a couple different types of bolt extractors along the years when they were on sail. Generally they sit in the tool box, rarely used. But when you need them, they are a lifesaver.





Here is what she looked like packed to go camping. :-) (That and I am playing around with my modified duffle bag for luggage.)



So, I have 200 miles on the engine now and I'm going to do the first oil change. I think I FINALLY licked my oil leak issue. Tightening the filter case helped, but didn't cure it. I was looking really closely, and it turns out, my alternator was leaking. The seal inside the dang thing had given up and oil was puking out of the alternator case. I swapped alternators and this seems to have solved the problem.




Still have to:

Change the rear tire
Swap the carbs
Replace the throttle cables
PACK for the rally

I think I'm going to make it.

[yamaha fj rider]

Stop with the cop magnet thing.

Kurt

[FJmonkey]

What an ANIMAL!!! That goes for you and the bike...

And then you show up at the WCR like this...

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[Firehawk068]

That's one way to keep your head warm on cold mornings. 

How's the wind noise at speed with that?   

[skymasteres]

That's one way to keep your head warm on cold mornings. 

How's the wind noise at speed with that?   

It actually makes the helmet a little quieter. The only problem is, at high cruise, it feels like there's someone behind you hanging off of your head.

[Firehawk068]

It actually makes the helmet a little quieter. The only problem is, at high cruise, it feels like there's someone behind you hanging off of your head.

I bet!

It looks absolutely ridiculous.............I love it! 

[skymasteres]

Well here's a thread back from the dead. The beast is finally getting a new mill for the west coast rally. The last one went together in a hurry with some parts that weren't quite right and that ended up in a lot of oil consumption and some fouled plugs. This year is going to be different...

[yamaha fj rider]

Good news. I am looking forward to seeing you at the rallies.

Kurt

[aviationfred]

It will be great to see you in Colorado. 3 1/2 weeks will go by quick.


Fred

[skymasteres]

You are definitely not kidding about 3 1/2 weeks going by quickly.  There is so much stuff to do it's insane.

I suppose if I had to break it down the project list it would go as follows:

Strip the engine of the frame.
Pull the fairing often repair it.
Repair the windscreen.
Clean up the frame.
Pull the cover off of the seat, build it up, and recover it.
Get the crank from APE racing and the Cylinders, Head, and upper engine case from Hank Scott.
Balance the connecting rods.
Rebuild the 1346 engine
Plug the engine back in....

I don't know about this one...

[Firehawk068]

Mike,
Are you trying to get all this done before the WCR and Colorado Rallies? 

[racerrad8]

You are definitely not kidding about 3 1/2 weeks going by quickly.  There is so much stuff to do it's insane.

Get the crank from APE racing and the Cylinders, Head, and upper engine case from Hank Scott.
Balance the connecting rods.
Rebuild the 1346 engine

I don't know about this one...

Mike, I recall this statement...

Okay, I guess I am going to have to cave to the crowd and say that I am thoroughly unimpressed with APE racing as a shop.
I mean, this is the second job that they have done for me that they have failed to complete to even, in my opinion, the most
basic level of satisfaction. The first one being the crankshaft balancing that they removed the crankshaft numbers without
writing them down. (This came up in the argument that I had with them and they said "that never happens. We ALWAYS write
those numbers down on the balance sheet)

What a bunch of douchbags... (It's funny that the only work that's been done right with those guys is the work that was sent out...)

Are you really getting another crank from them?

Also, I see you are looking for an "upper case". The cases are a machined set and cannot be interchanged. If you need an upper case, you will need another case.

Randy - RPM

P.S - The box is ready ship once Robert know what year mounting kit. Let him know tomorrow and the box will be ready to head your way.

[skymasteres]

Mike,
Are you trying to get all this done before the WCR and Colorado Rallies? 

Nope, not at all. Totally not getting it all done. Specifically since, once again APE dropped the ball. And yeah Randy. They're kind of the only game in town with respect to that. And aside from the number SNAFU they did a good job on the last crank. My issue with the for the transmission was that they wouldn't put it back together for me.   Hell Randy, you know haw that stuff goes. My first interaction with you was a little strained because of some miscommunication, but we got past that.

The upper case that Hank has is the upper case of a upper and lower set. I bought it on ebay after  one of the member sent me the link. It was a real score actually:-) (Sorry I can't remember who sent me the link. I tried searching for it, but couldn't find it.)


Firehawk, that was the plan initially. But APE strikes again. They didn't get the crank done anywhere even close to when they said they would. So much for my two months of lead time. But in a sense it's a good thing. I wasn't looking forward to doing another crash engine build.

As it stands I'm going to take Beauty for this one and leave Beast gutted awaiting the new engine parts. It also means that he's going to get that rear swingarm upgrade sooner than I intended.

The new list of to things to get done is:

Valve adjustment on Beauty
Swap the rear suspension and wheel from Beast
Rebuild the seat
Replace the chain and sprockets
Rebuild the transmission
Build a luggage support

Pretty much a lot more manageable...

So, here is Beauty and Beast awaiting the mayhem...