Date: 28-03-24  Time: 13:43 pm

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Topics - MightyClown

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1



Apologies fro the cross post.


http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,13302.0.html


I'll bung it on FleaBay if there are no takers.


Thank you.

2
A genuine Yamaha luggage rack for a Fazer 1000 (FZS1000).  These are fairly rare items as not many seemed to have been sold.  It's in excellent condition and come with the fitting brackets,  just reuse the bolts that hold the pillion grab rails on,  and you'll have this fitted in 5 minutes.


£40 + £10 postage. 


Most racks for sale are the Renntec luggage rack but the official yamaha one is much nicer looking.  I recently sold my Fazer 1000 and am now selling off a few of the accessories i had fitted.
 
If you require more information please get in touch.  Postage is £10 as this is the fee from Royal Mail's website for a 2kg medium parcel to be sent 1st class.


3


Here's the preload adjusters wound out to maximum on my bike,  the right hand side is identical to the left hand side (photo is of left hand side).
Looking at the manual i was expecting to see 8 rings of adjuster lines as it states the preload goes from 1 to 8 with 4 being the default.   I've got a range of 3.5 "segments".

As i didn't buy the bike from new,  have i got the original preload adjuster (2003 model bike) ?  If it did have a range of 8 i can't see how you'd use the full range as the adjuster would hit the handlebar.

I've changed the fork oil in the past and i think i have the original springs as they are dual rate spring (you can clearly see the different windings on the spring).

Another questions is static sag.  With the preload on mimimum (fully wound out) i get 19mm of static sag and with me sitting on the bike i get 27mm of sag.  I would have expected some more sag with minimum preload.

This makes me think either the preload unwinds more, or i have non-standard springs / preload adjuster items.
Does anyone have their own suspension measurements they can share ?





4
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Forks - K-Tech or R1
« on: 06 April 2013, 08:08:01 am »

Hello Everyone,

I've got he chance to spend some money on the suspension, which is the one area of the bike that does annoy me.  I'm fed up with the hard front suspension "kicking" off small bumps and ripples.   It makes the bike tiring on a long journey and now it annoys me i find myself focussing on the front suspension aspect and probably being overly critical of it.

I've even thought about selling the bike but as many others find, it's difficult to find something else that offers such a versatile replacement.   However I am attracted back to V-Twins.

Anyway,   a K-Tech fork upgrade is £500 and has got very favourable comments from fellow forumites like Pitternator but many have fitted R1 forks also.    I'm not swayed by the look of the USD forks but am seeking the best improvement to the ride quality,  can i canvas opinion for those who've gone down the R1 fork route for the improvement in ride quality.  Ideally someone whose had both options fitted in the past,  i think Mike G may have been down that route.


I'm happy to spend the £500 on the fork upgrade, but wouldn't want to if the R1 forks are getting great thumbs up as i think it is a cheaper route.

what would you do ?

thanks.

5
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Refitting Exhaust - advice
« on: 25 March 2013, 08:58:01 pm »



I've had to remove the exhaust to drill and tap some broken exup cover bolts (i think many of us have been there with that issue) and looking at refitting the exhaust i want to know what i need to order.


I see from the parts fiche below i need:


http://www.ronayers.com/Fiche/TypeID/26/Type/FUEL_TANK/MakeID/4/Make/Yamaha/YearID/43/Year/2002/ModelID/5954/Model/FZS1000_FZ1/GroupID/241201/Group/EXHAUST


4 x 4FM-14613-00-00 Exhaust Gasket
8 x 90179-08655-00 Nut
8 x 95617-08625-00 Studs


But ... i think i want to order some new clamps that are on the exhasut pipe as the old one are fairly corroded but they aren't listed as a seperate part.   I'm also not sure if they can even be removed from the headers unless i can "tap" off the top of the header.  The parts aren't shown as possible to disasemble,  but it doesn't seem right refitting the headers with the old "rings" .


Are they removable ? (and so could be replaced)








6
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Toolkit ?
« on: 05 January 2013, 09:14:17 pm »

 
Toolkit - the standard one is a joke.  What do you really need in case of a problem ???
[size=78%] [/size]
With a little bit of touring undertaken this year it got me thinking about what tools I should carry on the bike.   I've googled the subject and a lot of the reading was for the adventure bike heroes on their BMW GS going round the world.  With some people recommending taking my own lathe to allow me to fabricate a new bike I thought I could come up with my own list.
[size=78%] [/size]
Getting a little more scientific on this …looking at the RAC website, the top two reasons they get called out are for a flat battery and a flat tyre.  Out of interest here's the top reasons (for cars):
[size=78%] [/size]
 Fault                                                        No of breakdowns
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Punctured tyre                                            194,549
 Jumpstart (flat battery)                                177,916
 Dead battery (replacement required)           130,575
 Road Traffic Accident                                 90,263
 Engine fault                                                 67,881
 No fault found (driver error)                        64,773
 Alternator fault                                             58,887
 Starter Motor fault                                       57,380
 Clutch – Assembly                                       51,969
 Interior lights left on (flat battery)                   48,681
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Total        942,874

 The other big reason for a breakdown was also running our of fuel, also putting diesel in a petrol car.   I'd hope us bikers don;t suffer from the latter but the former is very applicable as we have relatively small tank ranges, so running out of fuel would likely be a key reason for a breakdown.
[size=78%] [/size]
 Put this into perspective: puncture, flat battery and dead battery take up 53% of the breakdowns.  (503,040 / 942,874 = 53%) I'm going to be cynical here and assume that RAC swap “dead” batteries when really they just need a charge,  beside were looking at getting home here – not basic servicing of the bike. 
[size=78%] [/size]
I thought about this and how to be realistic about repairing things on the road, and at what stage are you just carrying stuff for the sake of it and the chances of using the spare is so small it's not worth taking the items.
 
I looked at the types of jobs I’d realistically need to do and also what kind of pickle I could get myself out of, for example some of the adventure guys talked about taking locking pliers as they could be used as an emergency brake/clutch lever replacement.  But even to travel 1 mile down a road I wouldn't be happy using a set of locking pliers holding onto the stub of a broken lever.  Once you start thinking about repairing broken radiators, straightening forks and other major items I really thought these adventure bike lists were beyond the needs of a road rider.
 
My toolkit is in the photo below
 
<< insert photo of tools on workbench >>

All of this fits *easily* in the under seat area and makes a nice setup.  I'll take a photo of how it's stored tomorrow so people can see how it all fits together.


To save space you want to use screwdriver bits and hex bits.  That way you can have a good set of bits that take up a small amount of space.  Remember a bit holder though !   I went over the bike and looked at amny of the bolts / nuts to see what sizes I needed to be able to adjust many items on the bike.  i.e. How would you lift the tank, how would you remove the battery, how would you access the lights, how would you adjust the chain …
 
You'll find that a range of scewdriver bits and some sockets gets you a long way... I've listed below the main items I have but a few call out items are:
 
Long zip ties – around 30 / 40cm long. These slip down the side of the rear fairing and would come in v. useful to attach something to the bike, like a broken side panel should you have dropped the bike.
 
Another point is – when looking at puncture repair kits, make sure you pliers to pull out the nail /item that casued the puncture.  Some repair kits don't come with these.
 
Anyway, have a look through the list – it might be a useful starting point for those going on a big trip in the future.
 
Motorcycle Toolkit – my original thoughts, then the reality / cost kicked in.
 
========================================
The purpose is to have enough to "get me home" should an problem happen.  A roadside get me home, not a full repair.  Want to use quality items as they would also be used for general servicing of the bike. 
  • Wera Zyklop ratchet (or similar - has large head, may not be great as screwdriver),
    • ** Zyklop is expensive and a simple 1/4” or 3/8” ratchet would do.
       
1.  Fuses - check range used - are they all small blade items.
   Fuzeblock
      Heater Grips - 5A
      Heated Jacket - 7.5A
      Fuze block - 20A
      LED Handguard - 2 A
      Spare 1
      Spare 2
      Spare 3
   
   Fuse Box
      Turn - 10A
      Backup - 10A
      SIGNAL - 20A
      Ignition - 20A
      Fan - 10A
      Head - 20A
      Spare 1 - 10A
      Spare 2 - 20A
   
   Master - 2 x 30A
   Horn - 20A (standard sized blade fuse)
   Alarm - 15A (mini blade)
2.  hex bolt adaptors
   3, 4, 5, 6mm hex sockets
4.  sockets - (all 1/4")
   6, 8, 10, 12mm sockets
   Bit holder
   50mm extension bar
   75 mm extension bar
5.  range of flat, cross screwdriver tips
   posi drive
   flat
   phillips
7.  2 x set of rubber mechanic gloves – stop your hands getting too filthy.
8.  Zip Ties (assorted)
9.  Puncture  Repair Kit tiptop tyre repair £19.99 nippy norman, Ride recommend Stop & Go Pocket Tyre Plugger £24.99 from mandp
11. adjuster spanner – Bahco 150mm adjustable
12. swisstool -
   needle pliers,
   wire cutter
   knife
13. tyre pressure stick
14. electrical tape - small roll
15. Spanners
   12mm, 13mm - need two to adjust chain as i need to hold for locknut
   13mm needed as i broke chain adjust - can i make both sides 13mm ?
16. Bike jump start cables - some 10 AWG cable can be made up with clips each side.
17. micro usb charger - to charge phone and either get me out of a lost location /issue
18. Head Torch  - how would I do something g without daylight ?
21. plastic bags - they can keep some small parts in, also i can use as a fluid funnel with cable ties to allow me to connect to pipe etc
22. Rokstrap / bungee cord - allows me to strap something to bike
23. C Spanner for rear shock preload
24. Extender bar to allow me to get more leverage on the sockets - i.e. rear wheel removal
   get metal tube from B&Q - copper pipe - anything, i can cut to size and bend ends if needed.

Ride Magazine had a list and they mentioned, seems quite sensible.  If you are going to do big miles over a few days then the visor cleaner is a really good idea.
 
26:  Cash - £40 would give me a tank of petrol, but everyone takes a VISA ?
27:  Visor Cleaner - perhaps some simple wipes to let me clean the visor (Muc-Off Optix Kit £9.99, Oxford Visor Mate £7.50, V2 Sponge £6.64
28:  Visor Rain Treatment - beads off water from visor.  Raincoat Treatment £7.15, Nikwax Visor Proof £5
29:  Spare Earplugs (in a case)
30:  Air pump - either to run off battery,  or a simple hand pump to inflate the tyre.  Slow but less space than C02 cartridges, so may save space.
31:  Ibuprofen / Paracetemol - would be useful for headaches etc.
32:  Torch - the old headtorch would be ideal to help with a repair in the dark, or just to see in bike nooks and corners
33:  Latex gloves - allow me to repair a tyre or other items and not get covered in dirt
34:  Cable ties - range of sizes - very useful to allow some bodge of a repair
35:  Tape - either Electrical tape,  Speed tape - pressure sensitive aluminium tape, Gaffer tape
36:  Baby wipes or hand wipes - handy for cleaning up
37:  Disc Lock - allow bike to be locked in some manner
38:  Photocopy of documents - can be attached to underseat
39:  Laminate the type pressures or other important info about the bike
40:  Sidestand puck - to allow bike to be parked on a soft surface or tarmac on a hot day
41:  Bungee, straps, cargo net -
42:  Mobile phone charger - Something that gives me a USB socket output and i can then carry the USB to micro USB cable.  Perhaps wire something in permanently via the FuzeBlock.  PistonHeads listed a simple cigarette socket USB adaptor - that would also be useful for the car as well. It was only £10 or so.
43:  Mini socket set (1/4 inch drive), Teng Tools make a good one.  But why could i not use my Teng Tools item ? With a small pipe extender bar it would be very useful for most jobs.   My 3/8 inch drive will allow sockets and also allen keys and screwdriver heads to be used
 

7
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Topbox Lights
« on: 30 September 2012, 04:36:42 pm »



Topbox lights


I fitted a Givi E370 (39 litre) topbox a while back and fitted some RED LED lights to it.  Here's the rack + topbox fitted to a renntec rack.


http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,1880.msg14108.html#msg14108


The Fazer 1000 rack appears stronger than other renntec racks as it is held on by 4 bolts from the grab rails,  the ones that seem to fail quickly are those that connect to the two bolt grab rail setups, time will tell in my case though.


So - i wanted to have some LEDs installed in the reflectors and using the topbox as extra brake lights seemed a straight forward idea.  Luckily this chap on YouTube gave me the ideas:


Givi E370 LED mod test run - rear view



The flexible strip LEDs work well for this application.


<< See photos of the LED strips, how they can be cut to length and soldered >>


The top box reflector panels can be removed by undoing the internal screws.  This gives you a nice surface to stick on the LED strips,  they come with a sticky tape backing so all you have to do is unpeel the back and position where you want.   I did 3 rows of LEDs but i could of gone for 4 or 5 rows.  The LEDs use such a small current draw you don't need to be concerned with stressing any electric circuit.  See the image where i layed out the stips on the topbox.  As you can only cut the LED strips at the cut points (about every 5 cm or so) you do have a lot of flexibility with the mounting.   I decided to keep the white plastic inserts as i thought it helped reflect the light better, but they can be removed should you wish.


<< see photo of the topbox with the reflector panels removed >>


On each LED strip solder on a length of wire (make it 1m long to give you flexibility) and you'll need to drill some small holes to allow the wires from the strips to be routed into the inside of the topbox lid. 


Once the wires are inside you can join them together so that you have a common (single wire) -ve wire and i had two +ve wires as one was for the strips that come on with ignition and the other wire will go to the break light circuit so those LEDs come on with the brake lights. 


<< see photo of the topbox with LEDs layed out >>


I drilled a hole in the bottom corner of the box as this is where my 3 wires exited  I then used some bullet connectors to let me connect to the wiring on the bike, and allow the topbox to be removed.  I wired up the common -ve and ignition +ve to my fuseblock so that circuit goes on with the lights/ignition.  I did have to tap a wire into the rear connector for the brake lights, so i had a wire that went +12V when the brake lights came on,  this will power my brake lights on the topbox.   If you see the photo of the rear of the bike with the panels removed you'll see the connector i went to,  just use a multimeter to test each wire from battery -ve to see which goes +12v when you activate the brake lights, then you can tap into that circuit. 


<< see the photo of the inside of the topbox lid with the wiring inside, and photo of wiring exiting in the bottom corner >>


I made the hole in the bottom of the box waterproof with a dab of silicon sealant and that's about it.  If i was being fancy i would have ran in power for an accessory socket in the topbox, then i could charge the phone on a USB connector or something.  I maybe could have also wired up a white LED strip inside the topbox so i can see what's in there when i open the box, this would just be a small strip that comes on with ignition.  In the darkness being able to see stuff in the box would be useful.


I've not had any problems with the wires catching etc inside the box,  i could have made it neater by using thinner wiring (LEDs drw next to no current so use thin wiring) and heat shrinked all of the wiring to tidy it up more.   I did leave a little bit of slack where the wiring goes past the hinge,  you'll need some flexibility to allow the lid to open/close. I taped up the wires to protect them more when they move. 


I also put some LEDs in the central reflector.  I wired mine up so that 2 rows on each side come on with the ignition and one row (each side) and the central reflector come on with the brake light.  You could have these wired up to indicators etc etc.


<< see photo of rear of bike,  with ignition on, then with the brake lights on >>



I hope this give you some ideas as to what you can do with these little LED strips,   i commute all year round on the bike so with the dark evenings coming soon this is a good safety mod in my eyes. 

8
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Voltage drop correction mod
« on: 30 September 2012, 02:22:23 pm »

Voltage Drop Correction


As the winter season approaches there will be a flurry of posts about weak batteries and starting trouble.   I've been through measuring the voltage at the battery when the bike charges and wasn't really impressed with the results.  Here's what i got on my bike:


Voltage at rest 12.56V
Ignition turned on: 12.17V
Ignition on + heated grips full:  11.95V
Bike running @ idle (grips off): 13.0V (rose from 12.3 up to 13 after a minute)
Bike @ 4k RPM:  13.3V
Bike @ 4k RPM + heated grips on full: 12.97V


My voltage should be up to 14V and in the winter i wouldn't really be charging the battery when using the bike.  The manual states i should get 14.1V to 14.9V out of the Regulator/Rectifier (with no load on the bike, i.e. lights off etc)


I went through the diagnostics and measured the magneto wire resistance, then the resistance to earth then finally measured the voltage into the RR, i got 11.4VAC on all three lines.  This is within spec.   I also measured the resistance of the pickup coils and they were within spec as well.   So why did i have a low voltage coming from the RR to the battery ?


I then measured the voltage drop from the output of the RR to the battery, we'd be hoping for less than 0.2V ... but i measured 0.8V drop from the +ve output of the RR to the +ve battery terminal.  mmm, not ideal. I measured a 0.1V difference on the -ve circuit.  A drop on the -ve circuit would suggest a bad earth point on the bike.   


This voltage drop is due to the long wire run from the RR back to the battery and the cost cutting on wire thickness by manufactures.  A common mod is to run a dedicated wire back to the +ve battery terminal, basically this lets the power out of the RR to get to hte battery without losses in the wiring loom.  After i fitted this wire i then remeasured the voltages at the battery and got this:


Voltage @ idle:  13.5V
Bike @ idle, grips on full:  13.8V
Bike @ 4k RPM:  13.9V  ** Good - this is with lights on **
Bike @ 4k RPM, grips on full: 13.6V ** Good - with lights and heated grips  **


Although i'm not quite getting > 14V out of the RR i am seeing a much small voltage drop when there is load on the system and this should help the battery in the coming cold months as more charge will get to the battery.


I've been running this since May 2012 and all has been well with the better charging voltages ! Let's see how winter goes on the battery.


Note: I also pulled the fuse for the headlights (to take almost all load off the system - i've an 03 Fazer and don't have a headlight switch) and the measured voltage out of the RR was 14.1V,  which is just within specification, and the RR is stated as 14.1V to 14.9V with NO LOAD.


Googling around on this shows other owners forums (triumph was one that had lengthy discussion on this).  Also the very clever chap that produces the MultiGauge for the fazer discusses fitting a better RR and the voltage drops due to the wiring on the bike.  We should upgrade to a more modern MOSFET RR , such as the one fitted to the 2007 R1.  Models like the FH012, FH011, FH010 are common.


This is a simple Mod that may help people who have re-occuring battery / charging issues.


<< click on images to view at full resolution, then you can read the notes i added >>


The white plug will have 3 white wires (they carry the AC voltage from the generator) and a Red and Black wires which are the +ve / -ve for the battery.  The RR is the black finned item under the left hand side fairing panel.  If you kneel down next to the bike, you'll see it by looking up under the fairing infill panel.  Warning be careful touching it as it gets hot,  don't burn yourself.


By running a new wire from the RED (+ve) output of the RR we get the power back to the battery rather than losing it on it's journey through the default route.   Remember to solder any joints, use heate shrink and use a ring connector for the connection to the battery.

9
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Accessory (Fuzeblock) Wiring / Install
« on: 30 September 2012, 02:07:56 pm »

Accessory wiring / Fuzeblock install

http://www.fuzeblocks.com/

What is a fuzeblock ?   If you've got a number of accessories on your bike like heated grips, heated jacket,  USB power for phones/sat nav, and any auxillary lights or even wiring in a optimate charge lead something like a fuzeblock.  You could make one yourself but for a neat simple device that you can take from bike to bike then this is a straightforward bit of kit that has served me well.   As each circuit is individually fused i can have one of my accessories fail / go kaput and only that circuit will go rather than everything. 

A handy wee feature of the device is the option ot have an always on or switched circuit - and by just changing the fuse position for that circuit you can flip between only on when ignition on, to on all the time.  This could be handy if you are charging a phone from the USB socket or something and want it to be on while you are away from the bike.

Nippy Norman in the UK is selling them but they are available from other places as well.  There are other similare devices on the market,  search around in case you have some specific functionality requirement.

http://www.nippynormans.com/products/f650stcsgsdakar/item/fuzeblock-switchable-fuse-panel-fuz-fz1

I have installed on the bike:

1.  Oxford HotGrips - (they are ok, but the rubber grip wears quickly)
2.  Heated jacket - (a godsend, can't recommend a heated vests enough)
3.  optimate charger lead - (so i can charge the bike by connecting to an external plug and don't need to removed seat)
4.  LED lights on hand guard - (a natty little mod, added strip LEDs to the Acerbis Dual Road handguards -http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,1879.msg39316/topicseen.html#msg39316 )
5.  USB plugs - (small car USB adapter connected giving me two USB ports.  This allows a phone / satnav to be connected / charged)


Without the fuzeblock i'd have several connectors on the battery terminals , so this tidies everything up a little.

I also have a Stebel Nautulus horn, but as that draws ~18 amps i wired it direct to battery as it's too much current to put through the fuseblock.

The fuse block needs 3 input connections.  A positive , negative and a switched live.   The positive and negative are direct to the battery,  you should put a fused connection in the positive wire. 

The trickiest part of this is the switched live.  After searching on the forum there is a neat solution as detailed by "nastyandy" in his photos.  In the main fusebox by the battery a number of the circuits are switched on when the ignition goes on.  We can't directly power anything from these circuits (or rather we shouldn't, as we don't want to add extra current to them) but they allow us to use them as a switched live feed for the fuzeblock as a feed will activate the relay and turn on the positive feed from the battery in the fuzeblock.  I don't know the current needed to power and activate a relay but it is in the order of a few milliamps - basically a negigible amount and it won't cause side effects or other problems with the electrical circuits on the bike.

If you look at the thread below see the photos from nastyandy as he shows you how to wire in a switched live wire.  This will be the wire that connects to the switched live of your fuzeblock.

http://fazerowners.yuku.com/topic/5650/t/HOWTO-Fit-your-heated-grips.html#.UGc6hphJOAg

*** If you aren't comfortable soldering or doing electrics, this is quite straight forward work.  But please do go to a shop like Maplin (Halfords are v. expensive) or go online and buy a selection of wire, connectors, crimps, heat shrink tube, and a solder iron and solder - also a simple multimeter to measure voltage.  It might seem expensive but getting more comfortable with electrics is a good skill to build on.  Then don't do anything on the bike just sit in your shed/garage/kitchen and practive stripping a wire, soldering wires and soldering connectors and crimping them.   It's well worthwhile trying everything out to get the "knack" of using the tools.  There are countless videos / guides on YouTube etc showing you how to use the tools and perform wiring tasks ***

You can take a switched live from a variety of places on the bike, but as i mounted the fuzeblock on top of the CDI unit the wire run is small and convenient.  The fuzeblock mounts with some sticky pads, i used some that were for sticking on a car numberplate, and it has enough room for the seat to go on. 

When running the wiring to the fuzeblock you'll want some wiring suitable for 20A @ 12v , this may seem excessive but if you run a number of accessories off the device you don't want any voltage drop.  Some 10 or 12 AWG wire would be very suitable. 

You are now ready to do that heated grip install, install those extra lights etc.  I wired up LED lights to handguards and converted my Oxford heated grips to run off fuseblock rather than straight off battery. Althoguht the grips claim to turn off when the voltage drops i forgot to turn them off a few times and whilst they did turn off, there wasn't enough oomph in the battery for the bike to start after.  So to save being stranded the grips now turn off with the ignition. 

Here's some photos of my install.


<< click on photo's to zoom in , the text i added is a little smalll unless you view at full resolution >>

10
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Meta 357 Alarm Removal
« on: 28 September 2012, 09:10:34 pm »



Hello Everyone,


I've just had a problem with my Meta 357T alarm on the bike.   Googling seems to suggest it's a common issue as the fob won't arm/disarm the  alarm any more.  I can use the PIN overide to disarm the bike, and the bike will start.   The LED is flashing correctly and i've charged the battery but this hasn't brought the alarm back to life.


So,  reading on i saw that many owners remove the alarm unit and join two sets of pins to restore the two circuits the alarm has spliced to prevent starting.   This is simpler (?) than restore the splices in the main wiring loom.   


Has anyone done this,   how did you remove the plug from the alarm body ? It's attached with some small security bolts.  Also i think i have the correct bypass pin numbers, but if someone has the pin numbers to short then passing them on would be appreciated.  They used to be available online but have been removed at the request from Meta as the alarms are Thatcham approved and i guess having details on how to bypass the immobiliser isn't ideal from their view.


Thanks.


11
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Exup Cable Repair (failed after 11 months)
« on: 05 June 2012, 03:17:41 pm »



I posted last year (in the old forum so can't find that post) and mentioned how i had Venhill repair the exup cables by replacing the inner cable.  Others cautioned that the repair wouldn't last as the "lugs" dont last due to the heat at the exup pulley. 


Well, i got 11 months or so out of them, and then one of the lugs failed and the wire came out of the screw insert in the lug.   So, while the guys at venhill can refurbish the cables at a fraction of the cost they don't seem to last.


Looks like i'm going to have to spend £130 on the yamaha items ....

12
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / Top Box (Givi E370)
« on: 26 February 2012, 11:02:53 pm »



It's been a busy week (i've also repositioned the scotoiler but that's another post).


I've been thinking about a topbox for a while.  I would like to be able to carry a bag of shopping home and keep the helmet and gloves in when i leave the bike.  After a few googles i decided on the givi e370 (39 litre monolock).


Despite the topbox being for "scooters" it's very well made, double walled and as it weighs 4kg is a sturdy item.   I think it's one of the few monolock (cheaper than monokey models) items that is double walled.  The locking mechanism seems very sturdy and reminds me of my Samsonite suitcase with a very positive locking mechanism.


I have a Renntec sports rack and have seen numerous people fitting top boxes to them.  Now i know Renntec state something like a 5kg limit on their racks but looking at the rack design for the Fazer it has a double screw fixing attachment.  Many bikes have a single bolt either side.  I reckon the Fazer rack can take a lot more load than the 5kg quoted by Renntec.


So,  trying to fit and with the grabrail in place you can see the box is hanging off the back of the bike.  This seemed to place more strain on the rack and didn't seem very satisfactory.   15 mins later with a junior hacksaw and problem solved.  The box is mounted centre on the rack and i'm quite pleased with the result. 


I'll report back in 6 months to see how it all holds up.   I'll also fit some Red LEDs to the topbox to give me some bigger rear lights and bright brake lights.  Again i'll post back in a few weeks to see how that one goes.


(just been reading through the fork mod threads and i really should get that sorted at some point).




13
Fazer 1000/FZ1 corner / LED handguard lights
« on: 26 February 2012, 10:45:32 pm »
Hello Everyone,


Here are the Acerbis Dual Road hand guards, i've had them for around 18 months now.  They do make a small difference to the wind blast and let you keep using your summer gloves slightly longer.   One advantage is that they do keep some of the rain off when riding (> 30 mph) and that is useful.


Anyway,   Acerbis sell LED lights for them but looking on eBay these LED strips are popular ([size=78%]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-UNDER-CAR-MOTORCYCLE-VAN-SMD-Led-Light-Strip-RED-UK-/220704792554?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item336307dfea[/size]) If you search for LED SMD you'll see loads of adverts for these 5m spools of LED strips.  They run on 12V so are fine to wire into the bike. 


I had to slightly mod the Acerbis clear plastic strip with the dremel but the LED strip fits a treat.  It's nice and bright and gives the bike a wider look.  You can see from the 4th photo i put some heatshrink on the wires and they provide a neat installation.   


The clear plastic on the handguards has a slight blue tint, very slight.  If it was completely clear the lights would be as bright as those LEDs fitted to new cars as daylight running lights.


I have a Fuze Block (www.fuzeblocks.com) fitted (great device, would highly recommend) and as this is a switched live i have the LEDs some on with the ignition.  The LEDs draw milliamps so no power issues occur,  i've also taken out my sidelights (5w each, 10w total) as they were a little redundant with the LEDs in the handguard.


I hope the post is useful to others thinking about this type of thing, or just to highlight these LED strisp which do allow some innovative mods to occur.


 


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