Motorcycles BS Thread 2.0

It’s all set up. I will be picking it up at noon tomorrow.

Did an insurance quote and for full coverage $500 deductibles it’s $89 per year.

 

Wife had a friend come over to watch the taylor switch concert movie which meant that I got a solid afternoon in the garage and got my new harbor freight 27" chest and top moved in to. Also had to go to work for a bit so snuck in a grom ride. 5 drawer cart is almost fully empty now, and I still have two empty drawers on the chest. Call me crazy but I like the side/corner latches on the series two better than the full length on the series 3.

While I was cleaning up I found my cheap-o aftermarket exhaust I used to have on the F800 and I might try to throw it on the Grom to quiet it down a little. I figure if it's got enough throughput for an 800CC engine it should be quiet a 125cc down a fair amount while still flowing enough. Fingers crossed tomorrow I can replace my BMW's rear rotor and brake pads and do a short video on it. My BMW how-tos are some of my best performing ones over the long-term.

 

Always nice to get time in the garage. It’s like the best therapy.

 

Got home last evening from the FJR tech day in VA. Some of the most brutal traffic I think I've ever dealt with in my life. There was an accident on 695 near the exit to 83 North where I needed to go. 3 of 4 lanes were blocked and traffic backed up almost 4 miles before I even got there. That sucked.

On the bright side I had a great time with some of my FJR friends. My bike had a valve check and adjustment, coolant change, spark plugs, and a throttle body sync done by some of our best FJR gurus. 2 exhaust valves were getting tight and a few intakes were getting close. These guys pulled both cams, checked all the installed shims, then reset every valve to about 70% of max clearance and made them all the same. A spreadsheet is kept listing exact shim sizes and locations. I'm told at this point I won't even need to check them again for at least 120k miles which will put me to almost 190k on the bike and chances are they will still be within tolerance then.

We had one other valve check done and his bike needed most of the intakes reshimmed and 2 were below the min clearance when checked. 2 bikes got fork rebuilds. One had a set of Clearwater lights installed. A Super Tenere had a brake and clutch fluid flush. 2 bikes got coolant changes.

 

Man, that all sounds so awesome! Well, except the traffic. Eff that.

The valve checks are the only thing that throw me on the Super Ten, but from what I've read they are almost always in spec. Yamaha makes some solid engines from everything I've read on them.

 

Valve check is actually not too bad. It'seems the adjustment that you really need to be careful with. I really picked up a lot of information yesterday and tricks I hadn't seen before. Nice knowing I really wouldn't even need to check them again

 

Yeah, I guess I should have said adjustments. I don't feel comfortable tearing the bike down and popping the engine apart. Oil, air filter, and shaft oil I can definitely handle. Spark plugs I think I can, but I know that is tearing a lot off of the Super Tenere.

 

It's only intimidating the first time. Really the only engine tear down is pulling the valve cover. We just put the bike in 5th gear and rotate the rear tire to rotate the engine to check valve clearances. We didn't pull the timing covers until we knew adjustments would be made. That's when you need to zip tie the cam chain at the sprocket and zip tie each cam sprocket to rhetoric cam chain so nothing can move. We lined up all timing marks before doing this so it was easy to verify nothing slipped.

 

Yeah, more than I'm doing in my dirt/mud driveway with wind and dust in the air. LOL

 

Coworker had a Honda element burn a valve this week due to lack of adjustments, so I'll be checking clearances during off season this year.

My yamaha is 24,000km (16,000 miles?) so its pretty decent.

This would be a big pain on any V engine I imagine.

 

Hope all is well with you guys. Been popping in here and there to see what’s shaking.
Y’all take it easy and be safe.. Brappp

 

Hey, buddy!

Hope you're still kickin' ass and having a blast!

 

That is awesome!!! Sounds like a great bunch of guys!! I used to belong to a dodge diesel group when I had a 99 4x4. We used to meet up at a guys house that had a shop and lift. We would all help work on each others vehicles!!! That was a great time. I miss that kind of community..

 

It is a great group. I'm blessed to have this group of people in my life. We lost a forum member in '22 in a tragic accident in GA. Another rider in my area and I rode 750 miles in 12 hours to attend his services. We had 2 people fly in from CA, 3 came from LA, 5 from OH, 3 from VA and others I can't even recall. His widow really wanted to attend our large Eastern Owners Meet later that year but was concerned her attending might be awkward. I was only one of a group to reach out to her insisting she had to attend and that I was taking care of her banquet ticket. Others used their own hotel rewards points to cover her 3 nights of lodging.

I see a lot of similarities in this thread on this forum.

 

Sunday weight loss/ strength training update. Did my first full week of weight training. I do chest and arms on Monday w/35min cardio. Tuesday is shoulders w/35min cardio. Wed off w/ 40min sauna Thursday is back day w/35min cardio Friday is leg day w/35min cardio. Saturday and Sunday I don’t train and just do sauna sessions both days.
My weight is still 190lbs but that isn’t a good indicator because my body fat is dropping. I am starting to feel much better and can’t wait for a couple months of working out to go by.
As far as food (which is really the most important part) I have athletic greens, protein shakes, hamburger meat, ground turkey and eggs. I did start eating a small amount of oatmeal to get a little carbs. I snack on sunflower seeds.
I eat everything plain so it would be a hamburger patty cooked in my air fryer then I cook two eggs over easy and put them on top of the hamburger or turkey patty. I eat about three to four meals a day so far with about 120gram of protein. Lots of water

 

Nice! Keep at it man. You already know how much better you'll feel as you progress. Proud of you getting yourself back on track.

 

I envy your ability and willingness to maintain such a strict diet! I'm down about 20 pounds in a little over 1 year. I'm 5'9" and just under 190 pounds now. Clothes fit better, more energy, better attitude. I want to drop another 10-15 pounds but at this point in life am less willing to restrict my diet like I know I should. I've cut back quite a bit but ice cream is a must have for me.

 

NO!!!!! Not the Ice Cream!

 

Here is a little pro tip for you guys who are working out. Forget reps, instead set a timer for 2mins for each drill.

At first it will seem completely impossible, you will most certainly reach a point of exhaustion with each exercise. It’s not a 2min race but more of a marathon.

I used to play college ball, and the biggest change I made to see results in strength training was this mentality.

Give it a try for a few weeks and you will see exactly what I am talking about.

At first you may only be able to do pushups or crunches for 20secs. But eventually you will be able to get thru the 2 mins…and you will be as strong as a bull!

 

Well for me maybe a calf!! Lol