06 FJRAVL

20060413 T-1 days. Bike was ready for pickup when I stopped by except for the frickin' saddle bag locks.

Chameleon

I went for a ride under overcast skies in Pennsylvania today. You've seen all the pictures of FJRs under the strong Kali sunshine. Here's an example of how the paint can look almost black under darker lighting.

Here's the same bike, one day later, in some nascent Springtime sun.

Throttle Body Synch

Steps

Start the bike and let it warm to 3 bars.

Remove passenger seat.

Remove pilot seat.

Remove two allen screws at top of tank, near steering head.

Remove two plastic pop rivets through grey plastic facia at rear of tank. (Blue arrows below)

Remove king pin at rear of tank. (Yellow arrows below)

Gently lift tank and slide rearward about two inches.

Obtain a wooden prop about 12 inches long. (I used a length of hockey stick)

Prop the front of the tank and place the prop between the frame and the front of the tank.

Remove the three bolts retaining the T-Bar (yellow arrows).

Remove the T-Bar.

Disconnect the white and green connectors for the gas tank electronics.(See below)

Remove the plastic pop rivet at rear of heat shield. (Yellow arrow below)

Remove heat shield or "Jiffy Pop". (Blue arrows)

Reattach the white and green connectors for the gas tank electronics

Remove the 4 rubber nipples over the throttle body breathers. (Yellow arrows show #3 and #4. Blue arrow shows pop rivet location)

Attach throttle body gauge. I use the Motion Pro Economy model (~$35).

Start the bike, being careful not to give it too much throttle, causing the mercury to be sucked into the intakes.

Turn the adjusting screws to get all four intakes to the same 250mm pressure. Take care to lightly blip the throttle a few times after each adjustment. I had to set all of mine to 240 mm, because the #1 was turned all the way in to achieve this and would not go higher.

Turn off the bike and reassemble in the reverse order. Make sure to thread the two allen bolts of the tank before installing the kingping.

Pics of Givi Monokey Maxia E52 Top Case

20060703 - Ride to Centralia Pennsylvania - Site of one of the largest underground fires.

I'm not going to write anything about what Centralia is, there are better sources for that. I first heard about Centralia reading a book by Bill Bryson. Here's a Wikipedia Article on Centralia.


Here are some pictures leading into Centralia, PA. The sign sure seems ominous, but it could be the bike. The second shot above is the other side of the dirt mound visible in the first picture. It's the old highway 61 heading into town.

There was plenty of smoke to be found where the town residents used to live. I think I smelled some hydrogen sulphide, too. It didn't take too long walking around before my throat began to hurt.

Someone seems to be doing maintenance at the site of the fire. There's evidence of freshly moved earth. There are also still a few residents hanging around, just off to camera right. The 3rd shot above overlooks a driveway and foundation where one Centralia resident no longer lives..