What did you do to your Yamaha FZ-07 today?

[njdevils1990]

Passed 25,000 miles (40,233 km).

[phanomenal07]

Was having to much fun to pull over but my little buddy made it. 20k in 23 months

[Bigturbomax]

This is awesome guys! I was excited for having almost 12,000 miles after 21 months lol. Alot of people around here ride like 1,000 miles a year. Which makes NO SENSE to me because we have a ridiculously long riding season in central Texas. I ride all year. Only thing keeps my off is if there deluge style rain when i get up for work in the morning. I dont mind riding home in the rain, but boy do hate heading to work in it lol

Edited July 28, 2019 by Bigturbomax

[phanomenal07]

2 hours ago, Bigturbomax said:

This is awesome guys! I was excited for having almost 12,000 miles after 21 months lol. Alot of people around here ride like 1,000 miles a year. Which makes NO SENSE to me because we have a ridiculously long riding season in central Texas. I ride all year. Only thing keeps my off is if there deluge style rain when i get up for work in the morning. I dont mind riding home in the rain, but boy do hate heading to work in it lol

I live in Philly. I try to ride as much as I can rain or shine. Only thing I put the bike away for is snow. Rode to work when it was 17 degrees out last winter. The little fz just keep on trucking

[mossrider]

On 7/23/2019 at 2:04 PM, WankyMcTugger said:

Dropped my bike off at the local suspension shop to get full ohlins put on. Front cartridge kit and rear shock. Picking it up later this week.

Way.

[Wintersdark]

On 7/28/2019 at 5:07 PM, Bigturbomax said:

This is awesome guys! I was excited for having almost 12,000 miles after 21 months lol. Alot of people around here ride like 1,000 miles a year. Which makes NO SENSE to me because we have a ridiculously long riding season in central Texas. I ride all year. Only thing keeps my off is if there deluge style rain when i get up for work in the morning. I dont mind riding home in the rain, but boy do hate heading to work in it lol

I hear ya.  It's fine on the way home, as you can just have a shower, get changed, and it's great.  But if you get to work soaked, you're prolly gonna be soaked all day.  Even good rain gear fails sometimes

I ride year round in Calgary, Alberta; including in the holy-f@#k-it's-cold winter, but I'll usually pass on riding to work in heavy rain.  Elsewhere is fine, but not to work.

 

And, yeah, I feel ya about the mileage.  My 2018 is up around 13k now; but the VAST majority of people I know who ride just do a couple thousand a year tops... often much less.  Seems like a waste to me personally - I spent a fair chunk of change on my bike, and it's tons of fun.  Why *not* ride it all the time?!

Edited July 30, 2019 by Wintersdark

[bornagainbiker]

Installed some Grab On grip covers.  I like the added cushioning and grip, however the added diameter is going to take some getting used to.  I really like that these can be ordered in two different lengths--saves having to cut them to fit--the 4.25in length fits the stock FZ grips perfectly.

Grab On Grips MC401 - Grip Cover, Fits From 1.25in. - 1.45in. OD - 4.25in.L | eBay

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[3crows]

Got these Tech Spec grips installed a little while back:

Very secure grip now to the tank, better control leverage. And these new titanium anodized adjustable shorty levers, I did both clutch and brake:

 

 

Edited August 4, 2019 by 3crows

[Wintersdark]

Got all set up for a big maintenance day today - the works, #3 formal service, also with new plugs and coolant because why not!  

Put my key into the lock to release the pillion seat, turned it, and the lock cylinder came out with the key - springs and tumblers everywhere - and the seat remained firmed locked.  Packed stuff up, took the kids out to a park instead. 

Once I got home, I tackled the issue.  Managed to get the seat released, pull the battery, and take a look.  Turns out the screws at the back of the lock cylinder had vibrated/pulled/whatever loose and fell off... one of them actually fell out of the drain hole in the battery box; I'm now short a screw.  Well, crap.  But at least I was finally able to open things up - can't remove the main seat without removing the pillion seat, and can't remove basically anything else without removing the main seat, so that was a serious block.  

Drained the coolant, then flushed with distilled water.   As I had 4 liters of the stuff, I ran a liter through the system, put the drain plug back in, filled the reservoir/rad and ran it till the fan cycled on for a while, drained it again, flushed with the remainder of the distilled water, and filled with the spiffy Engine Ice.  

Checked out my chain, cleaned and lubed.... and discovered three broken o-rings.  Looks like I'll be needing a new chain sooner rather than later.  Well, it's still in good adjustment, so there's that. 

Then, to spark plugs.   Some comments regarding spark plugs:

• Good lord, is it ever difficult to get ahold of the correct spark plugs around here, and basically over all of Canada apparently. 
• Pulling the coils is hard, and incredibly painful.  Mine's only a year old, but damn.  Those things are tight on there, and you've got to be super careful not to break them, and there's nasty screws and sharp metal things that protrude down into the top of your hand while your trying to work them out.  But with that said, I have huge meaty hands, so if I can do it, anyone can.  
• I didn't have a "proper" 14mm thin walled spark plug socket, but I DID have a deep, 14mm socket that was long and thin enough.  This seemed great....  Except that it lacked grabby bits or a magnet, so getting the loosened spark plugs out was EXTREMELY difficult.  See, the spark plugs sit very deep in those wells in the cylinder head, and there's not really a straight line into there (I needed a collection of elbows and extensions just to loosen mine!)   I've said this before, and I will do so again: Get, and use, the correct tools.  Don't just Make Do.  Because damn.  I couldn't seem to grab them with anything, but I could just touch the tip of the plug with a finger.  No room for two fingers to grab it though, but I could feel it!  So, the solution:Just taped a magnet to the tip of my finger  
• Seriously, get a proper socket.  Don't do what I did.  It sucked.

And with that, my hands bruised and bloody, I figured I'd cover stuff up and pack it in for the night.  My DNA air filter and cover should arrive early on, so tomorrow should see installation of my new replacement USB charger (old one corroded over the last winter), oil change, throttle body sync and cable lubing/check/adjustment.

[mossrider]

2 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Put my key into the lock to release the pillion seat, turned it, and the lock cylinder came out with the key - springs and tumblers everywhere - and the seat remained firmed locked.  Packed stuff up, took the kids out to a park instead. 

Hahaha, uncommon self control and good sense. I would have skipped right to smashed fingers and cut hands, then more broken stuff, then... lol. (cleaning nose coffee from my android)...

Thank you for a good Monday start. And good luck with the rest of yer project.

Dave

[Wintersdark]

3 hours ago, mossrider said:

Hahaha, uncommon self control and good sense. I would have skipped right to smashed fingers and cut hands, then more broken stuff, then... lol. (cleaning nose coffee from my android)...

Thank you for a good Monday start. And good luck with the rest of yer project.

Dave

Hah yeah, I have a habit of, when things get f@#ky like that, just breaking stuff further and "fixing" things in a hacky way. 

I really don't want to be "That Previous Owner" for some future owner of this bike, though. Every previous bike I've owned has been an 80's machine, and I've spent a ton of time cursing moronic PO's for the bullshit they've done.  

So, I find the best way is just to walk away for a few hours, give me some time to think stuff through and come up with a non-destructive and ideally less dumb way to fix things things.

 

Ideally, it also leads to less mangled hands, but I don't think that's possible with the spark plugs on this bike.  At least not when you've got big hands like mine.  

 

[fzar]

On 8/2/2019 at 11:49 PM, 3crows said:

Got these Tech Spec grips installed a little while back:

Very secure grip now to the tank, better control leverage. And these new titanium anodized adjustable shorty levers, I did both clutch and brake:

 

 

Is that a kreiga I see on the pillion? @3crows

[3crows]

7 hours ago, fzar said:

Is that a kreiga I see on the pillion? @3crows

Why yes indeed it is. I had just made a little day trip and packed a few things in there. I have started just leaving it on the MT. 

[fzar]

1 hour ago, 3crows said:

Why yes indeed it is. I had just made a little day trip and packed a few things in there. I have started just leaving it on the MT. 

What size and do you like it? I mean would you buy it again and would you go bigger? @3crows

[3crows]

1 hour ago, fzar said:

What size and do you like it? I mean would you buy it again and would you go bigger? @3crows

It is the US-20. I got the 20 so I could get two 10s to mount to the side of it for multi-day trips. It is very high quality as it should be given they are sort of expensive. Yes, I am pleased with it and would purchase it again. 

Between my rear case, the Kriega 20 plus two 10s and my Givi tank bag and maybe a backpack, I ought to be able to carry plenty, looking something like a two-wheeled bug out vehicle. 

[Wintersdark]

Finished up the big maintenance time with installation of a new DNA filter & lid.  Pretty dramatic size difference there!

 

Can't wait to give her a run, but sadly we're in the middle of a thunderstorm right now

[sorkyah]

26 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

Finished up the big maintenance time with installation of a new DNA filter & lid.  Pretty dramatic size difference there!

 

Can't wait to give her a run, but sadly we're in the middle of a thunderstorm right now

Thunderstorms are fun

[Geteup]

Got some new tires this past weekend! They are the new Pirelli Angel GT II's. I've only put about 15 miles onthem so far, so im not qualified yet to make an assessment lol. They certainly ride better than the Road 3's I had on there, mainly because they were @ 14,000 miles. I wore the sides out, mostly the left side, and the center past the wear bars. I have always run Michelins though so im anxious to run these out some and try to notice any differences.

[sorkyah]

Rode the bike to work, and parked her

She's due for some tune-ups as she hit 36k today

[noodles]

I adjusted my valves for the first time 2 days ago, it rained yesterday, and I rode to work today for the first time in 3 weeks 

[noodles]

On 8/4/2019 at 11:57 PM, Wintersdark said:

Just taped a magnet to the tip of my finger  

I just use a cheapo extend-o-magnet and fish out the plugs from the top. Of course, I move the gas tank when I pull the plugs. You've gotta man-handle the big fat wiring harness out of the way but otherwise it's an easy job to pull them out. Maybe give that a try next time rather than trying to fish em out with the tank in the way

[DewMan]

12 minutes ago, noodles said:

I just use a cheapo extend-o-magnet and fish out the plugs from the top. Of course, I move the gas tank when I pull the plugs. You've gotta man-handle the big fat wiring harness out of the way but otherwise it's an easy job to pull them out. Maybe give that a try next time rather than trying to fish em out with the tank in the way

Agreed. I found removing the tank was faster, and hella less stressful  than trying to work around it. There was no need to empty the tank or anything. when you disconnected the main hose only a few drops onto a rag was all there was.  And yeah, that harness bundle was annoying to work around. Other than that it went smoothly. 

[noodles]

1 hour ago, DewMan said:

There was no need to empty the tank or anything. when you disconnected the main hose only a few drops onto a rag was all there was. 

Truth be told I've never disconnected the fuel line before. I don't even know how, haha. I just rotate it one way, set it down where the drivers seat should be, then put it back when I'm done. 

Of course, it helps to let the tank go as empty as possible before you decide to work on the thing! 

[Wintersdark]

1 hour ago, noodles said:

I just use a cheapo extend-o-magnet and fish out the plugs from the top. Of course, I move the gas tank when I pull the plugs. You've gotta man-handle the big fat wiring harness out of the way but otherwise it's an easy job to pull them out. Maybe give that a try next time rather than trying to fish em out with the tank in the way

I did remove the tank - I disconnect everything but the fuel line and rotate it 180 degrees, sit it where the seat usually is.

 

But the ABS pump on the right and that Y branch in the fat harness made moving it far enough really difficult.  Also, I didn't have a magnet on a stick, hence the finger taping.

 

It was frustrating because even with the tank off, I needed a hugely elaborate set of extensions and U joints on my ratchet to get at the plugs.  No straight shot was possible.

[noodles]

4 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

But the ABS pump on the right and that Y branch in the fat harness made moving it far enough really difficult.  Also, I didn't have a magnet on a stick, hence the finger taping.

Oh I see. I don't have an ABS unit. I cut one of the wiring harness zip ties a long long time ago and never replaced it. So it's still rigid but can be moved. For the throttle side plug I can get to it with rigid extensions easily. The clutch side is a little harder, I use 1/4" drive rigid extensions with a wobble connection on the end and reach it easily