Springtime Makeover Thread

Wow! To change their tune and flip the coin on you? Crappy place and noted that no one should give them business! Sorry Billy! I think your idea to go get the HF changer is excellent! And it will save you money in the end just this one time. :tup:

And, congrats to Richie! That is AWESOME! Well done young man! :d
 
FZ1inNH said:
Wow! To change their tune and flip the coin on you? Crappy place and noted that no one should give them business! Sorry Billy! I think your idea to go get the HF changer is excellent! And it will save you money in the end just this one time. :tup:

And, congrats to Richie! That is AWESOME! Well done young man! :d
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Thanks Eric. I'm not too worried about it. I actually called Harbor Freight yesterday to find out that they no longer sell the "tire changer" or the "motorcycle attachment". WTH!!! Just my luck! I noticed that I couldn't find it on the website so called to find out why. Thats why I should have gotten it last year instead of procrastinating.

The good news is that yesterday a guy who I did the March of Dimes ride with the last two years gave me a number of a little shop in Portchester. I called yesterday and used his name and the guy is doing them Saturday morning for $50 bucks! Thats $50 bucks TOTAL!! So I'm back baby!
 
Okay, I just got the call from Rich. Here's the shot of the lowers that I finished yesterday night.
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I just got the word yesterday from Partshark that my order will be to me on March 1st. After that this thread should start rolling quickly with updates. I have the drive to get this bike on the road, especially seeing the price of a gallon of gas this morning.
 
Good to hear you'll be back on the road soon. I can't wait for the weather to finally get better so I can finish up my FZ1 (wiring stuff...).
 
FZ1riderNY said:
Thanks Eric. I'm not too worried about it. I actually called Harbor Freight yesterday to find out that they no longer sell the "tire changer" or the "motorcycle attachment". WTH!!! Just my luck! I noticed that I couldn't find it on the website so called to find out why. Thats why I should have gotten it last year instead of procrastinating.

The good news is that yesterday a guy who I did the March of Dimes ride with the last two years gave me a number of a little shop in Portchester. I called yesterday and used his name and the guy is doing them Saturday morning for $50 bucks! Thats $50 bucks TOTAL!! So I'm back baby!
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I checked the Motorcycle Superstore website and clicked on the FIND AN INSTALLER link and found a guy in my ZIP code that is only about 5 miles away to do my install. He has a fantastic shop right in his garage with a mounting machine and computer spin balancer, and he only charges $25 per tire.
 
This is no fair... you guys are having too much fun... my list is like:
  • replace battery
  • clean carbs
  • drain gas that's been sitting in tank since August
  • remove months of dust, dirt, and grime from all body panels and paint
  • try to save chain in a solution of blood, sweat and kerosene
  • remove mouse nest from airbox
  • ride easy on 2 tires that were freshly installed, then sat for 6 months
  • hope that seals on forks aren't flat-spotted and that rear shock isn't leaking.
 
for all of you folks changing tires and whatnot... I'll make you a deal on a Snap-On Hydraulic motorcycle lift.... local pickup in Fort Defiance VA.... $5,000 lift... I'll let it go for $1500 OBO...
 
Nice set of decals Billy! Great placement and those lowers look awesome! Cannot wait to see the whole package come together... all new paint, new donuts and new parts! Sweet!!!
 
va_rider said:
for all of you folks changing tires and whatnot... I'll make you a deal on a Snap-On Hydraulic motorcycle lift.... local pickup in Fort Defiance VA.... $5,000 lift... I'll let it go for $1500 OBO...
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Believe me when I say that If I had my own garage and wasn't renting one, I would probably go for that $1500. I would just do tires for friends until it paid for itself!
 
Alright! Productive Saturday was had. I was up at the MC Shop by 8:30am with Richie this morning for my 9am appointment. We grabbed some breakfast at Mickey D's until they opened. This was a small shop that only does custom motorcycles. The owner George was a great guy to say the least. He has been in the business for over 16 years and sells his custom made parts in a bunch of countries. Anyway, after some great conversation and a tour of his shop, the tires were done, paid him the $50 bucks (no hidden charges), dropped him $10 bucks for lunch and for being an honest businessman, and were on our way back home. I went straight from the car to the garage to get started removing the upper fairing. Although it was only a few screws, it took me a while because I didn't realize that when I did the Pod Light Mod, I spliced into the wires ahead of the turn signal connectors instead of behind. This meant that instead of just unplugging the terminal connectors, I had to disconnect everything from the Pod Lights in order for the fairing to be able to remove from the bike.

Here she sits without the upper fairing.
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I forgot to mention that until I can make up an adapter for the beautiful jack that I got from Dave(Earlzach), I am using two small jackstands under each side of the frame which works perfectly.
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Here is the new Bridgestones mounted and almost ready to go. I still have to pull the valve stems to relieve any moisture from the mounting process in order to insert the Dynabead Kit.
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I also disconnected the instrument cluster and the horn to get ready for the new Hel Lines to be installed. I wound up plugging in the cluster connector after removal because I was nervous about losing any saved data like mileage. I'm not sure how it works but didn't want to take a chance. If anyone knows if it's okay to leave it disconnected please let me know.
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So I'm gonna spend some down time with Richie here upstairs today so I'm leaving the brake mod for tomorrow. I have a PC to fix at 8am and then I'm free after that. Stay tuned for more pictures. Thanks!
 
Awesome stuff Billy! I am jealous! Yesterday, we got hammered with snow and I spent the whole day (was a vacation day that was SUPPOSED to be dedicated to her bike) moving snow up until 10:30pm last night.

Glad to see you making progress on the bike. :D I believe that the ODO info is stored on NVRAM thus does not erase no matter what. Plugging it in isn't a bad plan though! ;) The new sneakers look great!!
 
I'm sitting here watching the Supercross Races on Speed and realized that I never made the holes for the Pod Lights in the new headlight enclosure. I ran downstairs to get my step drill bit and with Richie manning the vacuum, I quickly knocked out two 3/4" holes.

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While I was downstairs I looked into my closet where I keep my helmets and found my FZ1-Forum decals and brought them up as well. I'll now be representing my favorite forum proudly this season and hopefully many seasons to come!

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So I installed my Driven D3 grips and bar ends, they look awesome! But now I think my DB levers are not bright enough...so I'm just LOOKING at different levers. Lol...
 
Glad to hear you got the tires mounted (finally). They look great! All this talk about tires has me thinking that I will spring for new tires this season. My original Pilot Road's are five years old now so it might not be a bad idea to replace them even though they still have plenty of tread.
 
Just got up in time to see the Superbike races after spending some time in the garage. Today wasn't as productive as I would have liked it to be. I went down to remove the stock brake lines and install the HEL Lines. I first put the front wheel back on and mounted the brake calipers.
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I started by unbolting the brake line distribution block on the lower triple.
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I then got out the HF Brake bleeder that I used last year to evacuate the system. Thats when the problems started. Of course as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for", held true when the vacuum pump crapped out on me! I got out the mighty vac and rigged up a smaller diameter hose to fit the bleeder screw. I was able to then remove all the fluid from the lines. I'll have to pick up the better model from someone reputable this week. I removed the stock lines from the master cylinder and the calipers and got ready to install the HEL's.
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I took it slow installing the new lines making sure that everything was inline and not kinked. The stainless fittings look awesome. Once I had everything correct, I tightened everything down to 14ft lbs. as per the directions.
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Don't worry about the fluid showing in the photos. It wasn't a leak and was wiped off promptly after I took these shots.

While I sat looking at the front end, I figured it would be a good time to mock up the PIAA Horns on the now bear lower triple. This was just a mock up and I'll bring home some nice spacers and washers from work tomorrow. I still may have to make some adjustments once the upper fairing is back on for clearance issues.
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Now for my dilemma. I couldn't for the life of me get a hard lever when putting the new fluid in. Being that I'm using the Mighty Vac instead of the bleeding tool, I couldn't get a smooth flow of fluid through the system. I filled the master cylinder, tied the brake lever to the "in" position, and pumped up the mighty vac. I then released the clip and unscrewed the bleeder screw. The fluid in the cylinder started it's way down and just about halfway, I closed the bleeder and refilled. I did this about 6 times and still could not get a steady flow. I moved to the brake side caliper and did the same about 5 or 6 times with the same results! I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Is there a trick to doing this when the lines both meet at the master cylinder? If so please let me know. It was getting late so I filled the cylinder once more and buttoned everything up for today. I'll try again this Wednesday. Maybe between now and then, someone will give me some input. Thanks for reading!
 
Billy those red lines look great and man with those horn now the "cagers" are sure to hear you. I need to pick up a set of those for my bike.

As for your "soft" brake issue I'll tell you what it is. There's still air trapped in the master cylinder. Bleed the master cylinder at the top where the two lines connect and you should be able to get a nice firm lever. I had the same issue when replacing the brake lines on my YZF1000.

Pump brake lever, hold in and loosen master cylinder banjo bolt. Tighten bolt, release and pump lever. Repeat until you feel the lever getting firm. You may also have to bleed the system at the calipers again. Helps to put a small towel under master cylinder to catch the fluid.
 
NJFZ1 said:
Billy those red lines look great and man with those horn now the "cagers" are sure to hear you. I need to pick up a set of those for my bike.

As for your "soft" brake issue I'll tell you what it is. There's still air trapped in the master cylinder. Bleed the master cylinder at the top where the two lines connect and you should be able to get a nice firm lever. I had the same issue when replacing the brake lines on my YZF1000.

Pump brake lever, hold in and loosen master cylinder banjo bolt. Tighten bolt, release and pump lever. Repeat until you feel the lever getting firm. You may also have to bleed the system at the calipers again. Helps to put a small towel under master cylinder to catch the fluid.
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Thanks Tony. It was driving me nuts as to what was happening. I think that some master cylinders and a bleed screw and since I didn't see one, I figured it couldn't do it from there. You mean even when the fluid drops from a "full" master cylinder as you are bleeding, there may still be air trapped inside?
 
FZ1riderNY said:
Thanks Tony. It was driving me nuts as to what was happening. I think that some master cylinders and a bleed screw and since I didn't see one, I figured it couldn't do it from there. You mean even when the fluid drops from a "full" master cylinder as you are bleeding, there may still be air trapped inside?
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Yea, even though the fluid drops there is still some air in there believe it or not. I had to bleed the master cylinder on both of my bikes when I replaced the brake lines. Should only take 2-3 tries to get all the air out. This is sort of like "bench bleeding" a new automobile master cylinder.
 
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