goption Brian's blog

The FJR is back!

In early November of last year, I talked to my friend Hal about doing some maintenance work on my FJR.  He's a great motorcycle mechanic, and has been working on Doug's FJR for a while, prepping it for last year's Iron Butt Rally.  I've been doing my own basic maintenance for while now - oil and filter changes, removing the wheels to have new tires mounted - but don't have the time, experience, or tooling to do more advanced maintenance work.  The FJR was ready for it's 75,000 valve check, and needed a lot of other things looked at.  I knew if I was going to keep the bike going as a reliable long-distance machine, it needed a good going over.  Hal agreed to take on the job.

We arranged for me to ride it down on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but I was really feeling poorly that day, and did not think it would be best to ride.  We came up with an alternate plan - Justin rode it down to Hal, followed by Carole in her car, and they drove back together.

In mid-December I came down with pneumonia, so I told Hal there was no big hurry on my end - he could take more time if he wanted.  Which turned out to be good - he found a few problems that took time to resolve, including a leaking rear shock that needed to be sent home to GP Suspensions in Portland, OR for a rebuild.

I finally got well enough to ride, and Hal finished his work, and it happily matched up with a separate need for me to drive down his way.  Carole was rear-ended in her 'Vette at a stop sign by the house.  There didn't appear to be any damage, but with a classic vehicle you don't take it to just anybody, so she arranged for a visit with West Coast Corvette's in Orange County - which is literally 2 miles from Hal's house.  We drove down in separate cars this morning, dropped of the 'Vette for an inspection and a few days of maintenance work.  We then drove together in my car down to Hal's, and then I followed Carole back home on my bike.  (Carole wanted to make sure I was really healthy enough to ride.)

It was great to be back on the bike, which is running quite nicely.  The right front brake caliper had been leaking, but the fade was so gradual that I didn't really notice it - but when Justin rode it down to Hal he mentioned how mushy the front brakes felt to him.  Hal did his thing, and now everything is in good shape.

I hope to start riding to work very soon - we're packing the miles onto the Edge at an alarming rate, and it needs some driveway time to get back on pace to meet the lease's mileage limits.  Plus, the weather is nice, and I have a BBG scheduled for mid-May that I need to train for.

Thanks, Hal!