What did you do to your FJR today?

[gixxerjasen]

Rode about 250 miles to LA.

Must be Louisiana, because California is a LOT more miles than that!

[danh600]

Rode about 250 miles to LA.

Must be Louisiana, because California is a LOT more miles than that!

Even closer. Lower Alabama.

[dankly1]

Got my ECU back from Ivan's and installed it. Ne road test yet because it's 28 f and dark. Hopefully soon...

[BkerChuck]

Just got the phone call from Penske that my shock is on the bench being rebuilt and should be on it's way home to me this afternoon. Looks like rear suspension service and shock swap might be this weekend.

[danh600]

Burned past the wear bars yesterday coming home. On the PR4GTs

New set of R6GTs waiting to install next week.

Paid too much.

But the R5s on the MT09 give me confidence in the wet. And I do live in the tropics at least till August.

[bill lumberg]

I pulled off the big screen and put on the Aeroflow extra tall, for more airflow. Even switched to the rev’it jacket for a couple of days.

After a lot of gear intensive and cold weather work the last couple of weeks, I condensed down to an Oakley sling pack and rode without a topcase for a day. As a novelty. Cleaned the rear brake and peg/board pivots last week. It’s nagging at me that I haven’t done the levers in a while.

[N4HHE]

Burned past the wear bars yesterday coming home. On the PR4GTs

OK, so they are just now broken-in!

A friend has been having trouble holding air in the tires of his FJR. Has been blaming the right-angle valve stems I installed 6 years ago. Could be, they can be rotated by hand. I used blue Locktite so I haven't been tightening the nut with new tires as I'd have to break the Locktite loose.

Also had had leaks from his $50 whole-thing Amazon-China TPMS sensors. His vent air when being screwed on. My outrageously expensive Garmin sensors puff a little air when removed but not when installed.

So today his rear PR4 was flat again. Inflated, no bubbles at all from the TPMS sensor or valve stem. Only place he could find bubbles was from a tiny finishing nail in the tread. You wouldn't think a small nail would let very much air out, but it does!

In any case, next time I mount tires for him I have a new tube of Permatex automotive silicone sealer. Will glue the valve stems. I think the old vinyl/rubber seals have shrunk and no longer fit as tight. Considered replacing with an O-ring but that too would shrink. Thinking the old seals having shrunk may have shrunk as much as they will the next 10 years so gluing the surfaces could be a permanent fix.

[tominca]

The right angle valves have an o-ring that eventually needs replaced. These valve stems are not expensive, and I think a 5-year replacement interval is probably about right for deterioration of the 0-ring. It doesn't matter how tight the retaining nut is because it is the 0-ring hat deteriorates.

[Red]

The right angle valves have an o-ring that eventually needs replaced. These valve stems are not expensive, and I think a 5-year replacement interval is probably about right for deterioration of the 0-ring. It doesn't matter how tight the retaining nut is because it is the 0-ring hat deteriorates.

Tominca,

Coming from the aircraft side of maintenance, we used this stuff on all rubber seals (specifically O-rings), often in some very demanding environments. The O-rings always looked new, even after years in service. Check the labeling.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Super-Lube- ... /304709587

[tominca]

Good stuff, and I use it on pool equipment. The valves can probably be pulled and if the o-rings are in visually good condition, the lube would probably allow a seal. The problem comes when 0-rings get dirty and dry. I'll be sure to check mine at the next tire change. I had not thought of this since my valves were installed by FJRay at the first Rueben Run. You can save a few bucks at Harbor Freight https://www.harborfreight.com/85-gram-s ... c88a9ca557

[Red]

Good stuff, and I use it on pool equipment. The valves can probably be pulled and if the o-rings are in visually good condition, the lube would probably allow a seal. The problem comes when 0-rings get dirty and dry. I'll be sure to check mine at the next tire change. I had not thought of this since my valves were installed by FJRay at the first Rueben Run. You can save a few bucks at Harbor Freight https://www.harborfreight.com/85-gram-s ... c88a9ca557

Tominca,

You can save a few bucks anywhere, but that ain't the right stuff. Different Part Number; you want #93003 Check the labels.

[FJRoss]

Good stuff, and I use it on pool equipment. The valves can probably be pulled and if the o-rings are in visually good condition, the lube would probably allow a seal. The problem comes when 0-rings get dirty and dry. I'll be sure to check mine at the next tire change. I had not thought of this since my valves were installed by FJRay at the first Rueben Run. You can save a few bucks at Harbor Freight https://www.harborfreight.com/85-gram-s ... c88a9ca557

Tominca,

You can save a few bucks anywhere, but that ain't the right stuff. Different Part Number; you want #93003 Check the labels.

First one is a silicone grease (and Kosher certified)
The other is "synthetic" but presumably hydrocarbon-based.
I have used other silicone grease products (i.e. dielectric grease) on o-rings, headlight boots and sparkplug boots with good success. Seems to prevent hardening/oxidation and does not cause deterioration of the rubber. Rubber doesn't stick to the metal either.

[Powerman]

I put Loctite products on everything, all I carry in my tool bag. Red and blue thread locker, flange sealant 515, and thread sealant with PTFE 567.

I put my tire valves on with 515.

I finally threw away my big tube of Dow Corning o-ring grease sealant. It's metal tube cracked/split in too many place, in two plastic bags. At least 40 + yrs old ?

[Powerman]

Kosher certified reminded me of the Hummus factory. The boiler could satisfy it's pressure, shut off and cycle. I turned it off for a couple minutes to fix a leaking fitting, probably with some 567 sealant. This triggered an alarm and the Rabbi had to come bless it.

[gixxerjasen]

I'll say this, someone at the loctite company needs to be beaten severely. I'm talking about the guy who decided to start putting the blue loctite in the red bottles.

[raYzerman]

I'll say this, someone at the loctite company needs to be beaten severely. I'm talking about the guy who decided to start putting the blue loctite in the red bottles.

IN! WTF ?

[FJRoss]

I'll say this, someone at the loctite company needs to be beaten severely. I'm talking about the guy who decided to start putting the blue loctite in the red bottles.

IN! WTF ?

I like the Permatex Blue Gel

[BkerChuck]

Spent most of yesterday installing my freshly rebuilt eBay purchase Penske rear shock and servicing the relay arm. Took most of the day due to bad choices and operator error. I knew going in that I would be cutting off 2 of the center stand bolts and had new ones in hand so that part was okay. Ran into the issue when it came time to cut off the bolt heads. I have a cordless Sawzall and made sure to charge both of my batteries in advance. Issue was the blades I have for it. It's not a tool I use much so the only blades I had for it was an assortment pack I grabbed one time at Harbor Freight just so I'd have blades. Do NOT buy blades at Harbor Freight. Please, I beg you do NOT do this! I had 5 metal cutting blades and destroyed the first 4 on the first bolt! Frustration set in as I only had one more blade and still had another bolt head to cut off. The second one did not go any better. I had no easy way to hold the end of the bolt and all the remaining blade did was spin the bolt really fast as it bounced around on the exposed portion of bolt just under the head. Within minutes there was so little left of the teeth of my last blade I don't think it would have cut me if I grabbed it.

Enough of this crap I'm going to the hardware store. A 5 pack of Lenox metal cutting blades for almost $15 and I head home to try again. Fresh blade installed I get back under the bike to see how well this will do. Literally 20 seconds later the bolt head is off. You've gotta be kidding me! I wasted probably 60-90 minutes fighting this crap because I was too cheap to go buy decent blades? All right lesson learned let's get the relay arm out and repack the bearing so I can get this shock installed. Bearings don't look too bad for 32k miles. I bought the bike with under 8k and right after purchase I had checked and packed the accessible ones for the rear shock and the dog bones but hadn't done that upper most difficult one. All the spacers are like new, bearings are in good shape, oil seals look decent so this should be too bad. Relay arm all done and bolted back up I finish removing the rear shock and slide the Penske up into position. Bolt the center stand back on and pivot the relay arm back to attach the bottom of the shock.

Now I have a problem. The bolt for the shock bottom won't fit through the spacer. WTF? Looking at the spacer I note the wall thickness is pretty thick. Now when I got the used Penske it had top and bottom mounting hardware and spacers with it. Somehow, I've managed to mix up parts and realize I very likely have the wrong spacer installed in the other end of the now installed relay arm. To make matters worse if you recall I've already reinstalled the center stand and tightened everything up! Take the center stand back off and loosen the relay arm again and I can tell right away it has the incorrect thin-walled spacer on that end as there is a ton of free play. Remove the relay arm and swap out the spacer then begin putting it back together for the second time. From here on most things go pretty smoothly. Only issue is I have a Powerlet port installed where Penske wants the remote reservoir to go on the passenger footrest/exhaust mount hardware and they won't play nicely together. Had to lose the Powerlet for the time being but finish reassembly with no further issues. Total time spent in the garage was close to 7 hours, but I figure about 3 hours were lost time with cutting off the hardware and mixing up the spacers. No test ride last night as by the time I got done I was whipped.

Today it's almost 50 degrees and I need to see how this new to me shock feels. I notice right away how little it sags under my weight. I didn't take any measurements and will be checking this later. Notice just getting out of my development that some rough areas that are kind of washboard like didn't feel bad at all. Put a few miles on letting tires warm up before I headed for some twistier roads. We've all noticed how nice freshly mounted new tires feel and my tires are at 5k now so about halfway done. This shock has the bike feeling like I put new tires on. There are a few roads near me that while not Tail of the Dragon caliber are still fun to ride and it's really easy to push the speed limits on them. Glance at the speedo reveals I'm not pushing them I'm suddenly beating them into submission! Bike is holding its line far better and more confidence inspiring than the stock shock ever felt. Small frost heaves in the PA roads are not jarring like before. All of this and I haven't touched any adjustments yet. Anxious for warmer weather and more time to play with this and tune it in!

[N4HHE]

Never removed centerstand when installing my Penske.

Did have to remove the hard/soft selector switch used by the OE shock. Thought about cutting the studs off but decided to cut 3/16" vinyl tubing to slide over the threads and reinstall the locknuts so as to have if I ever put it back to stock. One of the studs was handy to tie the Penske hose. Didn't want it rubbing against threads on the studs.

Did have a problem forcing the upper shock spacers between the cast aluminum frame ears. If I had to do it again would shave 0.005" off the OD of one spacer so it fit in the hole on the right (it doesn't belong in the hole) while the shock spacers and bolt were assembled. There is an OE spacer one re-uses which does fit in the hole. I suspect it expands to form a press fit when compressed.

[N4HHE]

Speaking of Penske, mine came with a card listing recommended starting clicker settings. Have lost that card and don't think I've been any good at finding optimal. Guessing the nominal settings are nearly the same for all. Suggestions?