Who Rode Today?

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Silly me, I forgot about earlier FJ's . Nice ride!

I was thinking about the FJ09.
 
6'3" 170 pounds and 62 years old. Never could get comfortable, was up to two sets of bar risers a saddleman seat with a sheepskin and a drivers backrest, after a painful 250 miles a couple weeks ago I realized this just wasn't going to be my bike, IMHO even though lighter than the Royal Star, still too heavy for a solo rider. Old age setting in.......
 
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Ah, yes, I understand.
My doc recently told me that I had shrunk from 6'1" to 6"0", so the 1.25" risers work fairly good for me, and a Corbin seat has further lowered the seating and is pretty comfy. Thats unfortunate that it didn't work out for you. Great bike.

170? I would trade one of my XS's for that weight. :laugh2:
 
It's a good thing the alternative blows so bad because Old Age sucks bigtime.

Just turned 67. Shrunk from 6' even to 5-10 and change, major struggle to keep my weight around 205.

Went through a few evolutions getting the FJ comfortable. Dang thing was designed for a 5-8 120 pound midget.

Two biggest changes were the Corbin seat and the up-and-back bar risers. Grip Puppies to keep my hands from cramping and mirror extenders so I can actually see behind myself instead of checking for dandruff on my shoulders. (I hear you have to have hair to have dandruff...) Really should spend some more money on upgrading the suspension. The rear shock is probably adjustable enough but the forks need stiffer springs for my fat ass.

Did a crapload of research on windshields and hand guards. Stock windshield is noisy as hell and the buffeting jerked my helmet around no matter where I adjusted it. Stock handguards put the oooo in oogly.

Wound up just taking 'shield and guards off and stashing them in my basement. Much quieter, smoother air.

4-5 hours with breaks is about as long as I spend in the saddle any more, and 2 hours is more likely.
 
It's a good thing the alternative blows so bad because Old Age sucks bigtime.

Just turned 67. Shrunk from 6' even to 5-10 and change, major struggle to keep my weight around 205.

Went through a few evolutions getting the FJ comfortable. Dang thing was designed for a 5-8 120 pound midget.

Two biggest changes were the Corbin seat and the up-and-back bar risers. Grip Puppies to keep my hands from cramping and mirror extenders so I can actually see behind myself instead of checking for dandruff on my shoulders. (I hear you have to have hair to have dandruff...) Really should spend some more money on upgrading the suspension. The rear shock is probably adjustable enough but the forks need stiffer springs for my fat ass.

Did a crapload of research on windshields and hand guards. Stock windshield is noisy as hell and the buffeting jerked my helmet around no matter where I adjusted it. Stock handguards put the oooo in oogly.

Wound up just taking 'shield and guards off and stashing them in my basement. Much quieter, smoother air.

4-5 hours with breaks is about as long as I spend in the saddle any more, and 2 hours is more likely.
Sounds like an XS650 would be the perfect bike for you. :poke:

Winter hit here; highs in lower forties with off and on showers this week. Did quick clean up, set the valves, and put Period Piece in the shed under a sheet. Allison put 600 miles on it since the wake up this spring, a couple valves had got a bit loose, nice and quiet now. Doing a go around on Restomod. Went to ride it for a fall color shot or 3 last week and something handling-wise was wrong, swapped to the 79 survivor for that ride. Just snugged the tapered steering bearings, got rid of a slight front end movement, don't think that's the issue, will look at swing arm and rear wheel next.
 
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Sounds like an XS650 would be the perfect bike for you. :poke:

Actually there was an overlap of several months between the time I bought the FJ and sold the XS. One of the things I loved about the FJ was the riding position. With the stock seat, the grips fell right to hand and the seat-to-pegs distance was nearly perfect.

Problem is, the stock seat was designed by the Marquis de Sade. My GAWD that thing was horrible. The Corbin fixed the discomfort in my Dairy Air, made the seat-to-peg distance perfect, but made the reach to the grips too long. Some up-and-back adapters fixed that.

Anyway, I'd hop off the FJ and climb on the XS and I felt like a damn circus bear riding a tricycle. Never really realized what a tiny bike the XS is compared to today's stuff. Felt like I had my knees tucked in my ears.
 
November 6, 41.5 degrees North latitude, we've had one heavy frost, no snow. The grass is still green, people are bundling up to mow their lawn just like they would to shovel snow. I'm still riding to the diner for breakfast every morning and McDonalds for cookies almost every night. People have long past gotten over the shock of seeing me show up on my bike. This Sunday's forecast shows snow, MAYBE NOT. Sunday could be the end of this riding season, I won't ride on salted roads till after the spring rains.

Scott
 
Lucille is still down with pissing float bowls so I rode my 2007 Honda ST1300 to work today - chilly but fun!

The heat just pours off the matter-antimatter reactor that powers the ST1300. He!! - with the electric windscreen and the heated grips, I'll bet I could ride that darned thing on a freeway in a blizzard (with studded tires of course).

If I went fast enough, I'd get there before I crashed it.

Pete
 
Lucille is still down with pissing float bowls so I rode my 2007 Honda ST1300 to work today - chilly but fun!

The heat just pours off the matter-antimatter reactor that powers the ST1300. He!! - with the electric windscreen and the heated grips, I'll bet I could ride that darned thing on a freeway in a blizzard (with studded tires of course).

If I went fast enough, I'd get there before I crashed it.

Pete

Toasty, Pete. My old GL1200 can put out so much heat in the summertime that it can grill your balls. Occasionally I stand up on the pegs for relief. Dressing is no problem, I've worked outside in the elements through decades of winters. Nowadays, I can even do it without a thyroid.

Scott
 
Yup - after a lifetime of oil fields, factories and frozen university parking lots at 4:15 AM, my grizzled old equipment simply warms itself up and if that isn’t enough, the ST1300 ball-cooker does the trick.

Pete
 
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