A new direction

I began to write this two weeks ago. My, where has the time gone?

With all this time I supposedly will have on my hands now (part of Sunday and Monday) - I'm starting to enjoy entire weekends, now. - I had to choose a path for the FJR. Would I sell it and reinvest the proceeds into another bike? Or would I "farkle" it until I can ride it no longer?

I decided to keep it. That was the original plan. Might as well stick with it. Cheaper and somewhat more rewarding in the end.

First step: acquire new body parts to replaced the many damaged ones on the bike. Easiest to accomplish: exhaust. A member of the FJR forum will send me a set.

Update: I did get a set of exhaust for the bike from an FJR forum member shipped to me from Seattle. I need to make a separate post about what I discovered about him and his connection to the motorcycle industry.

I've not installed the exhaust yet. I pulled the headlight and front bodywork off last weekend to inspect the damage from the deer incident. The headlight was trashed with only two tabs remaining that hadn't been cracked or broken off. I'm sure it didn't help that I had been riding like that after the impact.

The new headlight has arrived, but I'm also awaiting parts to convert the lower fairings into the newer style with the integrated turn signals.

You can see five tabs are missing from the
headlight in front. One of those remaining
is cracked and another has no structural
significance - it merely attaches to a piece
of plastic.

In the meantime, I'm working on a wiring harness to install some accessory LED lights into the headlight. I've also ordered some driving light mounts from a forum member that will mount underneath the mirrors. I've been trying to figure out how to get that to work well. I have places to mount relays for these things except the relay sockets are not readily available at the handful of stores (from electronic to automotive) that I visited. I did finally find a place online that might be able to help (Eastern Beaver Company) but I will have to wait for shipping.

A Rough Week

I haven't felt well all week. I disassembled the major parts of the front of the FJR last weekend to inspect the damage from the deer and haven't been able to ride - which turns out to be a good thing. I've had a nasty sore throat, earache and headache all week that is only exacerbated by a cold draft from the service window at work.

This is the first day all week I've managed to get up around a normal time in the morning, so I must be feeling better.

As for the FJR: most of the mounting tabs were either broken off or cracked on the headlight; the replacement arrived yesterday. I have other little hardware arriving next week, so I'm looking forward to putting the bike back together then.

In the meantime, I've managed to scavenge a few things off the FJR forum: some clean but used mufflers and a fuel tank insulation kit. So, this has been sort of an opportunity to collect my thoughts on the future of this bike - and get my lists going.

Crazy Neighbors Shooting Stuff?

I don't know if I'm going crazy and hearing things, but it sounded like I just heard someone unload a clip from a firearm systematically right in my backyard. I didn't see any movement from my window, but I did hear around half a dozen loud bangs that didn't sound like the typical "explosion" you'd get from a firework. I went outside to look, but I didn't see anything (like a murdered ex-girlfriend in the middle of the street) but what could I expect really? I didn't hear any other noises like screaming people or animals. The "firing" was rythmic with the exception of two or three "shots" in the middle. It wasn't the sound of a clanging dumpster. I didn't hear anything shatter, either. I honestly don't know what it was or if I should call the police.

It all happened at about ten till 2 AM.

And the wife woke just long enough to not hear anything and wonder why I was looking out the window. She was back asleep before I could ask her if she heard anything. Sheesh! (She's the light sleeper!)

I've gotta ask the neighbors if they heard anything. I'm telling you, this neighborhood is starting to really creep me out.

After-work ride

The weather over the past few days has included plenty of rain, but I've ridden to work anyways. (It hasn't really rained on me to or from work, so I count myself fortunate). However, the rain really brought the temperatures down, making the ride home from work last night feel soooo good. I knew I would only spend a few minutes at home to eat and to get into some warmer (and waterproof - just in case) riding gear and I would head out to the hill country.

I was gone for hours and did about 200 miles. The going was slower since I rode in twilight and deer were out in force. However, the clouds broke right after sunset and I stopped a couple times to just stare at the thousands of stars in a nearly-black sky. A little glow from the East (was it San Antonio or Bandera?) and a crescent moon in the west lit up two corners of the sky, but right above me the stars shimmered like glitter. I've probably not seen that many stars since I rode the XT home - or longer. (A full moon during the Grand Canyon trip didn't help in my case). On the way back, clouds filled the sky and only a slight haze where the moon was setting remained.

I can tell I'm out of riding shape. My arms are a little sore this morning and I had to stop a couple times yesterday to rest/regather my wits. (I was also tired from a long day). I'm also panning about the airflow over my helmet and thinking how the VStrom 1000 was much more protected and the seating was more neutral with less pressure on my back and wrists. And yes, that's with handlebar risers. I guess I'm just getting old, too.

Now I gotta get cleaned up and ride to work. I'm not taking the truck since I have to park it in the muddy parking lot. (I don't want to track mud into my "office.") How's that for motivation to ride?

Electric Blue+

This is another one of those posts I started a couple weeks ago and finally got around to finishing...

Okay, so this isn't a post about the new color of my FJR... exactly. It's Galaxy Blue, though only in part. The bodywork part of this project will involve parts from a 2005 Galaxy Blue FJR: the lower fairings with integrated turn signals and the upper left fairing which houses the glove box. The lower fairings turn signals require a wiring harness adapter which is on its way. I will splice it into the existing wiring to correctly make the transition. Once I'm satisfied that works well, I'll begin to order parts for the glove box and add that to the bike as well.


My 2003 FJR in Liquid Silver trim. Posing in nature, ha ha! Notice the stalked front turn signals, the ridges on the lower, front fairing and the smooth surface on top of the upper left fairing (no glovebox).

This is what a 2005 US model FJR looks like. Notice the front integrated turn signals, the deep blue color and if you look carefully, you can see the outline of the glove box on the upper fairing.

This is just a random picture I found off Google. I like the two tone scheme, though I like some of the other Yamaha blues better. This is either a 2003 US FJR with custom paint or an international 2001-2003 FJR.

This is a dark picture and you can't really appreciate the color of this bike in my opinion. The European FJR apparently has the two tone color scheme as an option (I'm not entirely certain if it's standard). I think it looks awesome. You can tell the 2006+ FJR (second generation) from the earlier models by the front fairing: earlier models have two (or three - depending how you look at it) ridges coming across the gap between the front part of the lower fairing to the back. The second generation models also have a mounting tab visible in the same space. (This was done in part so owners wouldn't have to cut up their expensive plastic to install sliders).

Musings from the Toy Store (Part B)

Well, the big bang is over. This past weekend (and the one before that) we celebrated our grand opening. Even though I was there for every glorious minute, I missed just about every glorious minute.

I won't mind sharing what I know happened, however:

• Thousands of hot dogs and drinks
• Thousands of people consuming said hot dogs and drinks
• Three different music stations (and even more advertising)
• A couple rock bands
• The Toyota Yamahauler (a tricked-out 4 wheel drive Tacoma)
• Red Bull, Monster and No Fear energy drinks
• Hundreds of giveaway tee shirts and helmets
• The "sphere" - where three bikers on minis rode round and round and upside down...
• The same minis were doing jumps on a ramp in the parking lot
• Rudy's barbeque
• Lots and lots of noise from lots and lots of people
  
• Loki (yes, that's my coworker's name) taking lots of pictures in-between selling accessories
• The occasional system crash
• Actually finding parts that the aforementioned system said we had
• Discovering parts we had checked in a month ago had completely disappeared from the system (and re-entering them)
  
• The rewording of a popular song to say, "Lightspeed is broken, broken..."
• Long days, late nights and the hope that Saturday would bring a two day weekend.

So, will normalcy arrive Tuesday? Hm. I don't know about "normalcy," but I imagine that things will be shaping up nicely in the weeks to come. My parts room is finally becoming organized, we're overcoming the technical difficulties. Even service is getting the parts they need to function (which is a pretty big deal with the $30 oil change special... but that's a topic for another day). My hours will soon return to "normal" which means smaller pay checks, but time to mow the yard and work on household chores. Everyone rejoices!

Musings from the Toy Store (Part 1)

We had our first successful day of business Saturday, but we closed for Monday and Tuesday to work on inventory.

Why, you ask, would we do such a thing? I cannot share such a thing publicly, except to say that I've been having to work very hard, very well, and largely without much assistance until recently. I've done my job well and as specified, but some things are just out of my domain of influence, no matter how well (or poorly) I do them. It seems that my job should have only one result; it's only a question of how long it takes. I've done my part right, but there are other technical issues which continue to haunt us.

Now, my poor managers (I'm breaking out the violin) have been incredibly stressed out. I was stressed out until I realized that I wasn't a manager. I'll do as much as I can in my role - and I'm fulfilling my responsibility. But I can't help anyone beyond that role - and my help isn't desired. So, contrary to my instinctual desire to contribute to a working solution, I've detached myself from trying to solve the problems (though there's nothing I can do about it now except what I've been doing all along) and let those responsible for them deal with it. That makes all the overtime and just plain old work so much easier! I can't say that the attitude is right, per se, but it helps me cope.

I've finally brought the FJR to the shop twice since I started working at the new place. I park it outside the window right in front of a brand new 2007 silver FJR AE. She doesn't like it and is upset that I'm taunting her with the possibility of trading her in for a younger model. (First the XT, then the FJR, right? The garage has gotten a lot more empty lately...) Regardless, it's just plain good to ride to work again. I've had to dodge a lot of rain lately, but that's okay, too.

Now if I could just get the grass mowed...