What did you do to your FJR today?

[bill lumberg]

You know, I lust for a redverz atacama tent. Look it up. I did distance hiking and minimalist camping for so long, I now consider a hotel faster and overall cheaper. But I still long for the concept.

Alan - I'll nominate you for the 2018/2019 PMS award. I can truly sense your frustration.

Changed the oil on my red honey yesterday, and took 'er out for a short 50 mile stint in the morning. Getting kind of itchy to dome some camping.

dome camping

[Spininprop]

A day late but Road to work last two days. 27 degrees both days in the morning. First time out since November 2018. I picked up a heated jacket liner from HotWired which worked fantastic. Med setting was plenty.

Have a conference for work in orlando fl starting march 31. Will take the bike on the auto train, finish the conf then ride back to PA starting the following Friday. Heated liner may come in handy. Looking forward to the warm weather.

[Uncle Hud]

You know, I lust for a redverz atacama tent. Look it up. I did distance hiking and minimalist camping for so long, I now consider a hotel faster and overall cheaper. But I still long for the concept.

That Atacama looks great in the marketing photos. "Packs to 21" x 10" and Weighs 14 pounds." That's a pretty big package, and it doesn't list the third dimension.

I still have a super lightweight one-person Hubba freestanding tent, but for LD moto-trips I prefer the cheap motels, too. After 10-plus hours in the saddle, it's worth $40 to just haul my shit indoors and flop onto a mattress.

[El Toro Joe]

Bob "intech" has one of them fancy ass tents...it is nice to have a covered front porch to sit in, when it starts raining.

[bungie4]

You know, I lust for a redverz atacama tent. Look it up. I did distance hiking and minimalist camping for so long, I now consider a hotel faster and overall cheaper. But I still long for the concept.

That Atacama looks great in the marketing photos. "Packs to 21" x 10" and Weighs 14 pounds." That's a pretty big package, and it doesn't list the third dimension.

I still have a super lightweight one-person Hubba freestanding tent, but for LD moto-trips I prefer the cheap motels, too. After 10-plus hours in the saddle, it's worth $40 to just haul my shit indoors and flop onto a mattress.

The value proposition between camping and hotels was once clear. But now, at least in Canada, you can expect $40/ni in a provincial park. $25/ni easy in a private campground. Spending $70 for a real bed, a hot shower and NOT have to setup and tear down and the proposition is far less clear. It really sucks balls trying pack up, and tear down, soaked gear. A long trip, and camping becomes viable, but a weekend trip, ya, I'm real good with spending the extra.

[bill lumberg]

Yep. I don’t find traveling light and being comfortable to be as synonymous as I did years ago. I garner enough hotel points from work that, even when I have to pay for a room outright, it doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice. As for my FJR today, I learned that the upper 50’s aren’t an appropriate time to wear just the mesh portion of my new Olympia airglide 5 jacket. I struggled to resist ordering a new tankloc ring for the 2018 FJR. I want to try a TOH/SS1K without a tank bag, but I’ve always done my distance stuff with a bag. Old ring stayed with the ‘14 when I traded it.

[gixxerjasen]

As for my FJR today, I learned that the upper 50’s aren’t an appropriate time to wear just the mesh portion of my new Olympia airglide 5 jacket.

I have all the temperature ranges mapped out in my head for what gear and what layers I need. Even in the 60's I'll wear my quilted liners inside my airglides. Maybe not upper 60's if the sun is shining. However, I do have the debate with myself often of "It feels fine though, but once riding it won't feel fine, alright, I'll put them on." I'm always glad I put them on.

[rbentnail]

That Atacama looks great in the marketing photos. "Packs to 21" x 10" and Weighs 14 pounds." That's a pretty big package, and it doesn't list the third dimension.

I still have a super lightweight one-person Hubba freestanding tent, but for LD moto-trips I prefer the cheap motels, too. After 10-plus hours in the saddle, it's worth $40 to just haul my shit indoors and flop onto a mattress.

You should consider taking a shower once in a while. We'd appreciate it.

[Uncle Hud]

"It feels fine though, but once riding it won't feel fine, alright, I'll put them on." I'm always glad I put them on.

Yeah, gotta figure in that 80 mph wind chill. I've never regretted adding a layer.

[CollingsBob]

I chiselled a 30’ long, foot wide path through the 4” ice layer in the back alley..and went for a ride...+5c.... A bit dicey getting to the side street with both feet on ice..but worth every damn minute of the hour it took my son and I to do it.

[John d]

Lubed up the zerk fitted relay arm. Checked the arbor washer shim at the relay arm for the Penske shock - all good there.

Then went for a ride along Lake Erie. A full size turkey flew up from the left side of the road and nearly hit my head. Good thing I can duck fast. Looks like I survived my 65th birthday so far.

[DesignFlaw06]

Nice sunny day so i FINALLY pulled the FJR out of the garage. Wiped it down, checked the tire pressure, and looked it over. I turned the key and.....nothing. Deader than dead.

Bumped the switch on the battery tender to 6V instead of 12V.. Son of a bitch!

We'll see if it starts tomorrow, but I'm guessing a new battery is in my future.

[rbentnail]

Saturday: Been sunny and breezy here so I'm thinking maybe the swamp yard has dried out some..... to get the bike out I have to get through it to my driveway. The hip feels good and I'm feeling froggy and I'm not drunk yet so I figure WTH. No problem, a little squirrelly is a couple spots but the bike is out of hibernation! Think I'll give it a go Sunday, short rides around the neighborhood to check on comfort, hip flex etc. Wish me luck!

[raYzerman]

Nice sunny day so i FINALLY pulled the FJR out of the garage. Wiped it down, checked the tire pressure, and looked it over. I turned the key and.....nothing. Deader than dead.

Bumped the switch on the battery tender to 6V instead of 12V.. Son of a bitch!

We'll see if it starts tomorrow, but I'm guessing a new battery is in my future.

Tim, don't know that 6V would have hurt it much, just not full charge. I'll bring a load tester to tech day if you like..... but if it's 5 years old, probably time for a new one.

[ionbeam]

...I turned the key and.....nothing. Deader than dead...Bumped the switch on the battery tender to 6V instead of 12V....

If the battery tender has any 'intelligence' at all, it would simply shut down the output. When 6V is selected but connected to a 12 volt battery the tender should sense an over-voltage condition. If this happened then the net effect would be the same as if the tender was never connected. The battery being deader than dead my not be the fault of the charger and may be an indication that the battery died a natural death. Is there a chance that the battery froze? An under charged battery can freeze, a fully charged battery will not freeze.

And, speaking of such -- I just hooked up my battery to my smart charger. Anxiously waiting to see the orange light turn green. My motorcycle has had PMS since the beginning of November so I did a quick check and found my battery reads 12.1 volts before I hooked it up to the charger. It is a blistering 53° today so the charging should go well.

The glacier outside my garage door has been retreating all week so it is optimistic that I could get my bike out to the driveway soon

Edit to add: In less than 30 minutes the battery tender went from orange to green = let's go for a ride.

[El Toro Joe]

Took it out for a little ride, to get bagels this morning.

[bungie4]

Nope. Not even after losing over 18" of snow cover..

[John d]

Rode for the second time this year. Season on! Just have to dodge the sand traps and potholes.

[El Toro Joe]

Rode it to work, again...

[BkerChuck]

Saturday I had to visit the area Harley Davidson dealership to check in and have them read my odometer for the final day of their Polar Bear Winter Riding Contest. Took a longer than needed route to get there, stopped for fuel and ended my contest with exactly 2800 miles since December 1. Next Saturday is the big party with the awards presentation. I'll find out then how I finished in my fight against piracy.

Sunday I decided to take a quick ride on my Team Strange States of Confusion Tour and visited the small town of Washingtonville, PA for a photo of the post office.



Needless to say this is a very small town! Post office looked like it may not even be in use anymore. Nice enough day for a ride though.

Today, rode it to work.