FJRiders.com

My former Root Beer paid me a visit today to swap out shift indicator switch, and rebuild the forks. The fork job went very well, all came apart easier than expected.... tested my home-made fork press to push the seals out. Worked like a charm. Interestingly, I had earlier replaced the bushings and seals, and springs with a Traxxion upgrade kit and had purposely not installed the middle bushings. That helped getting it apart easier, AND there was only a hint of wear on the lower bushings at ~25k miles. Normally they are done around 30-35k, so I was expecting worse.

Why less wear, well just my spin, perhaps the upgraded springs keeps the forks from travelling up and down so far as proper springs hold you up better.... and certainly no detrimental effect from having no middle bushings.

Rebuilt front forks with new bushings, seals and a set of Hyperpro fork springs. Had a lot of help from a local friend/FJR owner. Got a ride in his new to him Aston Martin V-8 Vantage. All in all a pretty good day.

BkerChuck wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:08 pm Rebuilt front forks with new bushings, seals and a set of Hyperpro fork springs. Had a lot of help from a local friend/FJR owner. Got a ride in his new to him Aston Martin V-8 Vantage. All in all a pretty good day.

Did you replace all three bushings in each fork or did you leave out the middle one?

I rode it with Wayne half the day, trying to slow him down all day as he headed northward on some FLAT, straight, boring roads. The other half of the 440 miles, Duane rode with me. Same route up to VA that we did last summer.

BTW, never make a mistake when Wayne is around. He records it for posterity.

FJRoss wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:23 pm

BkerChuck wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:08 pm Rebuilt front forks with new bushings, seals and a set of Hyperpro fork springs. Had a lot of help from a local friend/FJR owner. Got a ride in his new to him Aston Martin V-8 Vantage. All in all a pretty good day.

Did you replace all three bushings in each fork or did you leave out the middle one?

Deleted middle bushing. When I had my 2007 we deleted that one after buggering up the first one so we just left both out, Figured going in we were just going to do the same on my 2014.

Rode it 508 miles today. The first 2/3's was spent trying to pass Wheaton. When I finally got around him, he launched his attack SUV at me.

Roan Mountain



VA16 -for Bungie.

I rode my FJR for 15 days in a row. It’s the first time, for me, because of retirement.

Slayed The Dragon.

Wayne, your route suggestion was perfect.


One thing I noticed near the end of the ride was how much more sore my right arm was. Apparently if you do not balance the side case weight per side, it can lead to extra effort initiating and holding a turn.

After adjusting some ballast, the rest of the ride was symmetrical.

You need to get a set of SM wheels and bring the 450 to the dragon.

LKLD wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:22 pm I rode my FJR for 15 days in a row. It’s the first time, for me, because of retirement.

You only need 665 more to catch my personal record from a few years ago.......

Cav47 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:40 pm One thing I noticed near the end of the ride was how much more sore my right arm was. Apparently if you do not balance the side case weight per side, it can lead to extra effort initiating and holding a turn.

After adjusting some ballast, the rest of the ride was symmetrical.

I've heard that that's a thing.

That's great - but the credit for 178 > 215 > BRP goest to Wheaton - that's his personal tire break in out and back I think. The long sweepers on the upper end of 215 remind me of the Cherohala

Cav47 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:40 pm
Wayne, your route suggestion was perfect.

extrememarine wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 4:35 pm That's great - but the credit for 178 > 215 > BRP goest to Duane Wheaton - that's his personal tire break in out and back I think. The long sweepers on the upper end of 215 remind me of the Cherohala

Cav47 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:40 pm
Wayne, your route suggestion was perfect.

fixed.

Edit: Actually, I like a nice cool rainy morning to clear the mold forming oil off my tires in a group ride setting.

Wheaton changes his tires? I thought he was still nursing every last mile out of the stock set.

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 6:03 pm Wheaton changes his tires? I thought he was still nursing every last mile out of the stock set.

Those are on the takeoffs rack, just in case you need one.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 8:20 pm

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 6:03 pm Wheaton changes his tires? I thought he was still nursing every last mile out of the stock set.

Those are on the takeoffs rack, just in case you need one.

What's the center look like?

I didn’t put the amount of miles in that Wayne did, but my tires have no flat spots in them.

Nothing fancy, rode a few miles to a followup cardiologist appt from a procedure last year. All is good, ain't stroked out yet! Need a new front tire tho. I'm well past tread, gotta be near cords by now.

Rode it to work, finally. I've been busy every nice day so far this spring and decided i need to ride to work since that doesnt happen much since going remote over 3 yrs ago. Despite 34 degrees...

New front tire today, Pirelli Angel GT. Shopping for a new rear, I'll need it before autumn.