Where I am at in my journey.

Making the FJR yours - what have you done, want to do, plan to do, and how?
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StreamRider
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Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

I purchased my 2003 1300R from about 6 hours away in the rural nether regions of PA on a trip that rained almost the entire time. I knew when I began the actual shopping phase of my FJR seeking I wanted the original US bike and I wanted around 40-50k on it. From everything I had read and learned in the months prior that was going to be my sweet spot for getting a near perfect engine and hopefully from someone that just saw the FJR as just another motorcycle. It took some time but I found exactly that and at a price I still have guilt disclosing considering what we all know about these marvels of Japanese engineering.

This was at the end of Nov. last year.

I checked some safety bits, replaced a horn relay, scrapped a faulty hand warmer wiring, changed some oil's, flushed some coolant and took her around 200 miles just around my home city of Albany, NY just to really put her through he paces and make sure I was confident she would run. Two days later I took her a little over a SS on the "Ride Around New York State" (which I botched) and I learned a ton of things about my new friend.

A: At 6'4" and with seriously bad knees I was either going to have to do serious yoga and hydrocortisone shots if I planned on riding this on 1000 mile days in the spring to come. The ergonomics are clearly more inclined to suit the ... "Japanese crowd"
B: The engine and power delivery was exactly what I had though it was and I loved the bike even if it made my body ache to get off it.
C: It desperately needed a car tire because it isn't a race bike or a supermoto and it weighs 650lbs. No brainer.

Most important thing first I threw a CT on the back and immediately felt 10 times better.

I learned about all the seats and the lowering pegs etc. etc. but I had already scraped the pegs on my "warm up" ride around town and I am a mildly aggressive rider so that went out the window quick. Nobody made a seat that was what I wanted and I am a cheap bastard and can't see forking out 1k for a totally custom seat so I looked into making my own.

So through trial and error I have remade the seat three times now and also learned how to build a mold and pour foam so that when I get my exact seat position and size I will create a full single piece with gel lined top. I already have gel pads and a more enduro style seat and I am gaining about 5" up from stock. I would love to insert pictures but this forum is a lot less modern than it's other counterpart and lacks the creature comforts of a simple "insert picture". (Yall should fix that btw, the UI reminds me of 1997) Do I really need to post the picture on a 3rd party site and then manually insert a hyperlink?!?!? If I am just missing it please let me know.

I then attacked the handlebars as I was not a fan of the look or the sweep angle of the stock bars. I prefer a more commanding feel and had to figure out a way to mount universal bar risers on the GEN 1 top clamp. I fabricated a base plate to fit in the bottom section of the clamp that spans across the entire platform out of 1/4" stainless and then using a template drilled holes where the OEM handlebar holes are and then shortened the bolts and smoothed them off reinserting them and affixing the plate from the underside. I then lined up and drilled out 2 holes on top of the clamp to fit the universal clamps and let the tightening nuts go against a washer and the stainless plate.

MX bars and grips on a FJR. #feelsgreatman
They sit about an inch back and an inch up but have a flatter fisted approach angle as you can imagine. I love it, you don't have to.

I also made a homemade aluminum/plastic top "case" (more like a little truck bed) that will hold the equivalent of three full paper grocery bags completely full of stuff. Aluminum bar stock and a black heavy duty plastic bin cut down as I ride the bike everyday for work as a courier for various things and it comes off easily in case I just want to take a long ride or have a guest pillion. Super simple yet super effective. Not the prettiest but it can hold a ton of stuff up to about 75lbs and all the weight is forward and directly on the main frame. I have had if loaded with 2x30 racks and a 18 pack of beer and no problems. Pretty handy but not pretty.

Next up I am going to be installing a custom heat shield under the tank as the GEN 1 only comes with a heat reflective tape on the underside of the fuel tank and not the sexy one most of y'all have.
I am also going to be getting rid of the 2 pumpkin signals and installing low-profile LED signals. I very very very rarely use my signals anyway unless it is night and I am approaching a stopped car so I am not worried about brightness or how visible they are. I just don't like the look of the big orange pumpkins hanging off the side lol.

After that I am not sure, I may beef up the front springs, I may do a engine guard I am not really sure. I MAY turn this thing into and ADV and mess with both suspensions and put knobbies on it I dunno.
If anyone want's to help with me getting some pics up I would love to show anyone interested.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by N4HHE »

3rd party hosting of your pictures relieves the website of significant storage and bandwidth requirements which have to be paid out of someone’s pocket.

Additionally when you host your own pictures you retain full control. The pictures do not become the property of the form host. You can change or delete at any time without the forum’s permission.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

N4HHE wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 10:28 pm 3rd party hosting of your pictures relieves the website of significant storage and bandwidth requirements which have to be paid out of someone’s pocket.

Additionally when you host your own pictures you retain full control. The pictures do not become the property of the form host. You can change or delete at any time without the forum’s permission.
I am not trying to argue in any way (y'all will get used to my NY way of talking) BUT, in 2022 pictures are hardly a burden to any webhost and are in any respect trivial amounts of data given the amount of users. They could easily do exactly what you describe in full with a simple 2 lines of code (in Java lol). In todays day in age you are far more susceptible to having your content used by a third party site hosting it then by any site allowing it. For instance if you use PhotoHub or Imagur they are scanning for facial recognition against FB along with location in the metadata and not telling you. Safer bet is to only share where you want to share and hope or pressure the site into allowing you to delete. There is no pressuring any site that allows you to use them as a storing house, they are doing it for a reason, they want your data and pictures to sell to Mark and FB.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by FJRoss »

Postimages.org is easy, free and no need to "sign up".
Won't guarantee that the pictures will be there forever but it seems reasonably stable.

Edit: I just reread the post above and see what you mean about privacy and people using your pictures without permission. Unfortunately, I think any expectation of privacy on an internet forum is a ship that sailed a long time ago.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

Image

Handlebar plate
Last edited by StreamRider on Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

Image

With Universal Mounted
Last edited by StreamRider on Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

FJRoss wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 9:12 am Postimages.org is easy, free and no need to "sign up".
Won't guarantee that the pictures will be there forever but it seems reasonably stable.

Edit: I just reread the post above and see what you mean about privacy and people using your pictures without permission. Unfortunately, I think any expectation of privacy on an internet forum is a ship that sailed a long time ago.
Any reason why this isn't working?
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by DesignFlaw06 »

StreamRider wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:16 am
N4HHE wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 10:28 pm 3rd party hosting of your pictures relieves the website of significant storage and bandwidth requirements which have to be paid out of someone’s pocket.

Additionally when you host your own pictures you retain full control. The pictures do not become the property of the form host. You can change or delete at any time without the forum’s permission.
I am not trying to argue in any way (y'all will get used to my NY way of talking) BUT, in 2022 pictures are hardly a burden to any webhost and are in any respect trivial amounts of data given the amount of users. They could easily do exactly what you describe in full with a simple 2 lines of code (in Java lol). In todays day in age you are far more susceptible to having your content used by a third party site hosting it then by any site allowing it. For instance if you use PhotoHub or Imagur they are scanning for facial recognition against FB along with location in the metadata and not telling you. Safer bet is to only share where you want to share and hope or pressure the site into allowing you to delete. There is no pressuring any site that allows you to use them as a storing house, they are doing it for a reason, they want your data and pictures to sell to Mark and FB.
Actually what it relieves the forum owner from enforcing terms of service for the host. Our host has requirements about what images can/cannot be hosted on their platform (i.e. no porn). There are also limitations on the number of files (not necessarily the size of the file) that can put us in a difficult position down the road. We don't want to police that.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by N4HHE »

StreamRider wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:16 pm Image
Now that you have fitted dirtbike handlebars to your FJR I'm a bit anxious to see how you retrofit that tractor battery! That is what the box over the back seat is for, right?
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

The irony of your joke is that I am converting one of the sidecases into a mobile video streaming unit to attempt to live-stream rides via Twitch and YT (Hence the name: StreamRider) and by some of my more intelligent friends calculations I will not have sufficient to power from a stator/rectifier for all of the tech needed to do that. So... I will need a large power bank to supply all of that for hours on end. (2 cameras, 2 mobile WiFi connections, a modem, stream encoder, HDTV PiP switch, an auxiliary screen and speakers for chat etc..) If I could use one of the many excavator batteries I probably would but in todays world you can get a rather lightweight power bank that hold tons of MAH.
Soooo.... A lot of the available space is taken up with all that and tools rain gear etc. I ride daily as a courier so I need to also be able to carry a decent block of space/weight so while it is ugly it functions perfectly for what I need it to do. It also comes off really simply with 3 bolts so it's easy to remove should I want to have a pillion or not look strange..
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by Steel_Gin »

It was great meeting you a couple weeks ago at Tech Day. That handlebar setup is pretty cool.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by Bounce »

StreamRider wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:16 am
N4HHE wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 10:28 pm 3rd party hosting of your pictures relieves the website of significant storage and bandwidth requirements which have to be paid out of someone’s pocket.

Additionally when you host your own pictures you retain full control. The pictures do not become the property of the form host. You can change or delete at any time without the forum’s permission.
I am not trying to argue in any way (y'all will get used to my NY way of talking) BUT, in 2022 pictures are hardly a burden to any webhost and are in any respect trivial amounts of data given the amount of users. They could easily do exactly what you describe in full with a simple 2 lines of code (in Java lol). In todays day in age you are far more susceptible to having your content used by a third party site hosting it then by any site allowing it. For instance if you use PhotoHub or Imagur they are scanning for facial recognition against FB along with location in the metadata and not telling you. Safer bet is to only share where you want to share and hope or pressure the site into allowing you to delete. There is no pressuring any site that allows you to use them as a storing house, they are doing it for a reason, they want your data and pictures to sell to Mark and FB.
I'm so happy that you stepped up and volunteers to funds the extra cost of storage for the forum in perpetuity. It shouldn't be more than $45 a month per gig.

Alternately, your support for custom coding and re-applications of that custom code when the makers do updates. Again in perpetuity. Talk about the luck! A rich programmer with an FJR and the desire to fill a niche.
StreamRider wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:16 pm Image
WTF? Wear a battery belt like all camera people do! ;)
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

Bounce wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 8:35 am
StreamRider wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:16 am
N4HHE wrote: Sat Jun 11, 2022 10:28 pm 3rd party hosting of your pictures relieves the website of significant storage and bandwidth requirements which have to be paid out of someone’s pocket.

Additionally when you host your own pictures you retain full control. The pictures do not become the property of the form host. You can change or delete at any time without the forum’s permission.
I am not trying to argue in any way (y'all will get used to my NY way of talking) BUT, in 2022 pictures are hardly a burden to any webhost and are in any respect trivial amounts of data given the amount of users. They could easily do exactly what you describe in full with a simple 2 lines of code (in Java lol). In todays day in age you are far more susceptible to having your content used by a third party site hosting it then by any site allowing it. For instance if you use PhotoHub or Imagur they are scanning for facial recognition against FB along with location in the metadata and not telling you. Safer bet is to only share where you want to share and hope or pressure the site into allowing you to delete. There is no pressuring any site that allows you to use them as a storing house, they are doing it for a reason, they want your data and pictures to sell to Mark and FB.
I'm so happy that you stepped up and volunteers to funds the extra cost of storage for the forum in perpetuity. It shouldn't be more than $45 a month per gig.

Alternately, your support for custom coding and re-applications of that custom code when the makers do updates. Again in perpetuity. Talk about the luck! A rich programmer with an FJR and the desire to fill a niche.
StreamRider wrote: Sun Jun 12, 2022 10:16 pm Image
WTF? Wear a battery belt like all camera people do! ;)
Woah woah!!! Hold the phone. Who said anything about "perpetuity"? I was looking more for residual royalties based on the Ad revenue. (forgot to mention the ads we will be adding with the new code.)

As for rich, hard no. If I was even well to do I don't think I would be working as a courier, I would just be riding all day and streaming it from my already bought and paid for streaming gear that I currently do not have, yet. I would still have a 2003 GEN 1 though. I know of a couple guys that put as many miles on them as it takes to get to the moon and back.

P.S. I think a battery belt might make me look fat in my Aerostitch.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by Bounce »

Understand the want, but the extra load on the bike would suck.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

Bounce wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:20 am Understand the want, but the extra load on the bike would suck.
Hence a large battery pack. I ride with extra weight all day and 20lbs is nothing compared to my usual. The electric system cant afford it though.
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Re: Where I am at in my journey.

Post by StreamRider »

Bounce wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:20 am Understand the want, but the extra load on the bike would suck.
Hence a large battery pack. I ride with extra weight all day and 20lbs is nothing compared to my usual. The electric system cant afford it though.
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