Jolene, Jolene, Jolene...

[Festus]

Never underestimate a man determined to get to a woman. My plan was to get the engine in this weekend, mainly Saturday morning. Viper Dad had a manicure schedule for 9 am, so from 9-11, he was tied up. I had another buddy ask if I wanted help Saturday morning and I told him "probably". I got off work and headed straight for her. No one was home at the house it's at, and with all the wind, their power was out and their automatic generator was running. All by myself with her. I'd been giving it some serious thought over the last 24 hours and I figured I could use physics to get the engine in with little effort on my part. Viper Dad called me stubborn and told me to wait when I even mentioned it.

I got there around 6, looked it over, slid the engine next to the frame. Hummm....it slips right up under there. Well shit, it's under the bike, in the right place, all I need to do is lift it. I throw a ratchet strap around the engine, one around a rafter, and start ratcheting. The engine comes off the ground pretty easily. I might be on to something....











And....at 6:35, the engine was in!





HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!! Jolene's got her heart back!!!!!! Actually a really easy job, even with one person Or one person and Viper Dad. Same thing. Now tomorrow can be focused on getting everything routed and hooked back up. Final drive in, rear wheel on. Got to get some fluids in the morning to fill her up.

Anything critical I need to know? Like just bumping the engine a number of times to get some oil flowing? Just don't want to do any damage on that first crank or two.

[wheatonFJR]

Yeah!!

[escapefjrtist]

Congrats Festus!

Definitely get Jolene full of fluids and spin the engine a bit before starting. You want to make sure the oil pump is primed, filter is full and you get immediate oil pressure on start-up. Even though the FJR is pretty forgiving, take your time filling the coolant and let the air migrate out.

Good luck with the reassembly!!

--G

[raYzerman]

If you get it all hooked up, either leave the tank off or the coolant sensor unplugged... it will crank but no-start. That will fill the oil passages. However, modern oil has properties to keep it clinging to cylinder walls, etc. so have no fear.

[LKLD]

Awesome, Steve! Can't wait for the start-up video!

[Festus]

Thanks guys! Just for clarity, I used the ratchet straps to get it off the floor and then put a floor jack under the oil pan, as well as a scissor jack up under it so I could tweak it around. The straps were then just there in case I did something stupid and knocked it off the jack.

[Festus]

This is a bitch.

Not gonna lie, taking shit apart is a lot easier than putting it back together. If I didn’t have another ‘13 within eye sight, it might never go back together.

Shout out to Viper Dad. He showed up with his buttery soft hands and really helped. Wouldn’t be near as far if he hadn’t showed up. He did have to leave. I think he had a meeting at the fruit smoothie place to discuss kale recipes with some girlfriends.

[raYzerman]

Priorities don't ya know. One always has to keep the women in one's life happy.

[Festus]

And.........




She’s running!

Started fine. Left the tank off and cranked it until the oil level dropped in the sight glass. I figured if it dropped there then it was pumping it through the system. Plugged the tank in and once the gas got to it, it immediately started. Sounds great.

Didn’t check the transmission. I screwed up in disassembly and broke the clutch hydraulic fitting loose and got air into the system. So I’ve got no clutch pull. I’ll bleed that tomorrow and that should solve that. I couldn’t take any more today. My back is pretty pissed off at me right now and I couldn’t do much more.

But she’s running! Test ride tomorrow!

[wheatonFJR]

YES!
EDIT: Videos of the space monkey?

[Hppants]

Well - this is awesome!!!

Throw up a short cell phone YouTube. Well done, man. Very well done indeed.

[Festus]

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Iw3FjQva7q8[/youtube]

Don’t know why it shows the YouTube code.

[Viper_Dad]

Despite the allegations of manicures and kale smoothies, I wholeheartedly agree that Festus could not have gotten this far without me. Just ask him about matching electrical connectors and attaching throttle linkages. A fresh set of (young) eyes has served him well!

The guy has a difficult time asking for help. Out of respect for my elders I have taken to calling him “determined” rather than stubborn.

[escapefjrtist]

Nice work, that's awesome!

--G

[NTXFJR]

Well now, she sounds awesome!

[Festus]

The guy has a difficult time asking for help. Out of respect for my elders I have taken to calling him “determined” rather than stubborn.

You must be older than me. I texted you last night and asked if you could help. Clearly you have you facts mixed up. I understand that happens a lot to old people.

NXT, yes, tomorrow test ride!

[LKLD]

Friggin' awesome! Now, for the ride along video with 2nd gear...can't wait!


Fyi, after creating the YouTube brackets, with the button, paste the link. Then take out everything before the unique code, including that forward slash, to see the video itself in your post.

[raYzerman]

Of course it runs! I wasn't expecting any different!!
congrats.... yeah it's a good feeling.

[Festus]

Houston, we have clutch! Bled the clutch from my stupid move of taking the clutch hose loose. We have clutch. Shifted into first on the center stand, then into second. Then a horrible noise. Killed the engine and realized the noise was still there. Apparently the exhaust was blowing on the propane heater and caused it to have some sort of issue . Restarted that and back to bolting bits and pieces on. Brought my crash helmet and walking boots. Hopefully neither will be needed.

[wheatonFJR]

Well...you had me going there for a minute. . Hope everything is back with a good transmission!

Man...two 13s. How'd someone get so lucky?