What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Today I have to find out why no3 isn't firing... Time for some new plugs anyway

 

Rode the FJR out to the swamp and went for an airboat ride.
Ate ribs and 'Gator tail, got too much sun, fun times !!

http://www.theblackhammock.com/

 

LOTS but you can hardly tell unless you are me (or you read my list)

Over the last 2 day and as of this posting:

* Removed OEM rear tail lights I reinstalled earlier this week
* Swapped passenger pegs from parts bike to my bike
* Swapped rear shock nuts from parts to mine
* Reinstalled LEFT side cover with socket head screw & lockwasher (harder for others to remove 8) ). Cover insert was repainted semi-professionally. I refinished the aluminum part to match the grab rails. Right side cover still need to be refinished and insert reinstalled.
* Finished refinishing aluminum and painting in black strip on both rear alum grab rails (came from parts bike)
* Installed center grab bar "handle" from parts to mine - Now it has decent chrome YAMAHA on the rear of the grab. (Mine was plain and removed last year for a different project).
* Finished painting 1" Square tubing "offset-spacer" needed for my replacement saddlebags brackets
* Finished painting and touch up painting of saddlebag brackets
* Replaced a few bolts on my luggage rack/backrest assembly. Other bolts are going to need an easy-out set which I forgot to buy this weekend.
* Installed 3pc grab bar set, 2 saddle bag brackets + spacer and luggage/backrest - The 3 sets of pieces share several bolts on the frame.
* Made two identical 1" square tubing spacers to go between my luggage rack and Vetter Hard Plastic trunk - 2 thru holes and 2 more holes to slip over exisiting bolts
* After measuring a few times, I modified the same tubing to drill 2 more thru holes on each tube to actually mount the trunk to the spacer.
* Started priming and painting those trunk spacers
* Had wife sit on bike with trunk loosely installed and with and without the backrest that attaches to the luggage rack. I'll probably removed the trunk's back pad and just let her use the adjustable HIGH backrest.
* After a failed attempt using a CHEAP eBay LED flasher relay, I tested and loosely installed a store bought 2pin electronic flasher. (For now I'll have to keep my incandescent front blinkers (inside fairing lens) and my new DOT Amber turn signals for the rear. (Not yet installed).

Other than the adjustable backrest, the casual viewer probably wouldn't even notice the changes made vs. 2 weeks ago. All of the bracket/spacer work needed to be done to use my new-to-me luggage rack/backrest and the 2nd (straighter but not identical) set of saddle bag brackets.

Improvements:
Now my saddlebags are straighter and more even looking. My trunk will rest a little bit higher (as originally designed to). I'll have my LED rear blinkers installed tomorrow. With the backrest and trunk moved, my wife can probably sit back further 1-2" (good for me).

I still have more to work on and hopefully finish tomorrow...

 

After tearing carbs apart for the second time and replacing throttle shaft seals and pilot mixture o-rings, I had a much better running bike that would actually idle. But I had 3 cylinders running slightly lean. After reading about pilot mixture screw adjustments I adjusted all three out to no change.
After thinking about it awhile last night (I really did not want to pull carbs off again) I decided I wanted to check that the pilot screw o-rings were seated properly under the tiny washers since this could be done while carbs were still on. BAD IDEA
After succesfully checking carb 1 & 4 I managed to drop #3 o-ring down behind the engine. Dangit. 20 minutes later, concluded I was never going to find that o-ring with carbs on, so I commenced pulling them off again.
O-ring was nowhere to be found, thinking it may have rolled under starter, pulled starter. No sign of it. Decided it must have fallen to floor or is hiding down in the cooling fins and is lost 4ever.
Since I already had carbs off figured I might as well tear into them again and heed Iwingameovers advice and check for clogged emulsion tubes, which I believe was the problem. Put carbs back together, and before putting them on I did one last search for offending O-ring and found it on the floor.
Thought for sure I was going to have to order another one from Chacal!
Going for short test ride today hopefully I fixed the problem.

 

When very small parts fall off a bike I usually start looking by the outside walls and slowly work my way back into the bike. It's amazing the distance some of those little buggers can go!!!!!

 

After spending over an hour cleaning and polishing an already clean bike yesterday, in readiness to attend a Classic car and bike show at an airfield about 30 miles away today (which also included an air display and some vintage aircraft), I kept my XJ in the garage and stayed at home.

The reason; the usual British Bank Holiday Weather!!! (SH**E)

 

Today I did more to put all my accessories/luggage back on the way I want them. It was 90F + with a decent heat index (AKA high humidity).

* Reduced the amount of "birds nest" of wiring I added last year. The use of soldered joints, Posi-Taps and tubing the extra wires I added made the area under the seat much cleaner. Not perfect yet but I'll do the rest later when it's cooler.
* Finally installed my K & S LED DOT turn signals #25-9900D. At dusk/night they are BLINDINGLY bright even at about 2 car lengths. During the day they are visible and should be great.
* Made and painted another 1" square tubing spacer to further connect my saddle bag brackets to my luggage rack. The added piece also has red side reflectors as a bonus.
* Found out when all put back together my hardwired-with-a-relay cigarette and usb plug isn't working now. :evil: Hopefully I have time to figure it out before Thursday night. Honestly I'm not sure it was still working before I undid the bird's nest today.

I took several breaks, store visits and tried to hydrate but I'm still drained. I have several wires to solder inside, but I don't know if I'm awake enough or energized enough to do them...

 

My battery keeps dying overnight, so I ripped out the wiring harness. Need to check all the connectors and clean it up a bit.

 

Not as much as planned but life happens.

* Installed final 1" spacer that was painted the night before
* Removed old 3pin face plate from Vetter trunk and replaced with 9pin face plate from a Vetter Windjammer (after painting the 2nd faceplate). [3pin lit up my trunks LED tail lights and 2 side marker lights. The 9pin will be 4x speaker wires, turn signals for my saddle bags (green & brown), brake light, running light and a single ground for all the lights.]
* Painted plastic connectors for the 9pin setup black
* Made half of 2 quick-connect wiring harnesses for my saddlebags (turn signals and speakers) using Posi-Plugs
* Made half of 9pin connector wiring harness which included making 9 solder butt joints and testing all of the joints and retesting with both plug halves together.

I'll finish the other 1/2 of the 9pin connector harness and the other 2 halves of the quick-connects tomorrow. If I'm lucky I'll find the time to carve out a 4" hole into each of the saddle bags for my speakers, before going to sleep Thursday... Then its off for a 3Day weekend Biker/Ride event!!!

 

Yesterday: Bypassed the headlight relay. Kept blowing fuses and if the Maxim doesn't need the relay, then the Seca certainly doesn't need it. Installed my square headlight bucket. The repair the seller did from eBay broke so now the bucket has tape all around it like a person would have a bandage around their head because of a toothache.

Oh well, I have lights and it works. Waiting on another pay check to get a round headlight. Or anniversary present.

 

Helped my son traide his CB450SC for an XS1100SH ( I think he got the better end of the deal) He only had to come up with a $100.

 

What a steal!

 

Ugghh...

* More wiring, mini harness making, tube stuffing, connector assembling and wire routing.
* Grommets meant for material about a 1/3 as thick as my saddlebags don't work so great. A sized hole without the grommet would have been better.
* Ran to 2 stores to get an 11/16 drill bit for said grommets. Found a good & cheap one but how annoying that I didn't have that size.
* Held my breath while drilling a 4" hole into each of my 30 year old plastic saddlebags for speakers. Hole saw always seem to wobble but the holes are clean.
* Found out one of my speaker's center "tweeter" cone is over sized and the grille doesn't fit on it flush (or even close). I guess I will mount the speakers inside the bag and the grilles on the outside. (Thru holes with nuts and bolts NOT wood style screws).
* Checked wire continuity on my 9pin setup and all the various connectors so many times I don't even want to try counting.

 

dropped it in the driveway

started it up to warm up while i put on leather jacket and helmet - it vibrated forward on the stand and down she went. busted mirrors/levers and a few gouges in the metal side covers. shit hey!

 

* Finally finished wiring up my luggage and new speakers. Had to use a few wire nuts instead of better connections, but I ran out of time/patience.

* Started cursing when new rear speakers are barely audible compared to the fronts. Opened a post to get more tips.

* Charged battery all day to be ready for my weekend event.

* Fixed my 12v aux plug / relay setup (lost a ground connection when I cleaned up wires recently. DOH!

 

took my pupper to the lake .. she is really taking to the bike this summer.. been trying to ride 100miles a day to warm up for a longer trip

http://youtu.be/xp4spycRT7k

the wide gas tank is a blessing.. dont think she could balance on a virago

 

Here is an example of something I've read here earlier, its the beginning of an alteration to make an electronic tacho.
Only problem being that I've not been able to get it to work, something wrong with the triggering electronics, works on the bench with A/C to some degree, but still looks nice, so I've put a clock in instead that illuminates with the light switch.

 

Nice idea with the oil cooler, now how about hooking up a cooling fan from a computer? Draws next to nothing and could provide that little extra cooling on demand when in heavy traffic. Just a thought.

 

Put on a new back tire and drove on the back roads of Ohio. had a great time even though it was 94 degrees.

 

Had thought about a fan with the old oil cooler. But the new cooler has 4x more or greater the surface area so it should be pretty good till at least next summer (down under) for better testing.