what did you do to your vfr today?

Mounted some beetle bags on the 96 so the garage is a bit of a tight fit now... Still trying to source a tool kit and some passenger grab handles for it, oh and the front brake switch just went out so i need to order one of those. Thinking about tossing some LED bulbs in the back, red paint with light up red tails does not seem so bright if the sun is coming from the back of the bike.



Still plugging away on the 86, figured out i can use 7/16" steel rod through some unused engine block holes and support it with some jack stands to keep things nice and solid in the air while i mess around with the forks. Way more secure than ratchet straps from the ceiling.

 

Nothing too exciting. Cleaned and lubed the chain before a ride tomorrow.

 

I went for a 300km ride enjoying my last free summer holiday day. Everything was great except I noticed the voltage reading was down to 13.3 at times, where it normally sits around 13.7-13.9. Went through all the connectors and the alternator plug is not looking too flash with more discolouration than I'd like (but no melting). After the clean-up its back to 13.9 during garage testing.

 

Decided to take an "exploratory" ride today and go see some LA landmarks and check out the Hollywood Hills. I went through Griffith Park over to Travel Town and then over to the Observatory. Also went by the original Hollywoodland gate, then up and aound the hills to the other side where the actual sign is, then I rode around Lake Hollywood. Although it was nice diversion from the usual canyon carving, it wasn't without its pit falls...lot's of slow drivers, but it was a Sunday and everyone wanted to be out in the nice weather. Freeways were surprisingly empty on the way to an from!

Here are some pics I took. I also have some video but it'll take me some time to edit it down.

 

OOTV, I did a site search for "member videos".. scratch.

Maybe start a thread? Would be cool to have one just for member's vids

Nice pics, 'specially the smog lol

 

Thanks for the pictures bub, especially the Camp Hollywood Land sign, never seen it before

 

I went for a 180 mile ride today with the Ventura County Ducati Owners Club. We rode up to Cold Springs Tavern. It's over 100 years old and it was a stage stop. Sort of a slow ride, as there was still dirt on the roads from the recent heavy rain and flash floods.













I'll correct the image orientation tomorrow. I'm actually surprised at how well most of these came out, considering my phone is an old Samsung Galaxy S2

 

Thanks for sharing your today ride pics guys. It was a nice day for a ride in SoCal today. I rode the Palomar Ramona area loop, sadly no pics though. I know, "slacker".

 

Lint, is that Tavern in Santa Barbara or in Ojai? That bridge view and seating area look very familiar. The place I went to many years ago was up in SB. Can't remember exactly how I got there but I remember going through SB. I think it was route 52, the road that takes you to Lake Cachuma and Solvang.

 

Today, I undid what Jasonsmith and I did several years ago to my bike. Well. Actually Jasonsmith did most of it while I watched. I pulled out all the HID lights and replaced them with H4 and H7 Piaa Night Tech bulbs. They appear to be as bright but the light is not the blueish that the HID have. At least the ones I bought are. They are the same hue as regular lights. This is what I put in:

http://www.piaa.com/store/pg/44-night-tech-halogen-bulb.aspx

Looking forward to some better weather to take a night time spin on the highway to see how well they light up the road.

 

Followup pic to post other day replacing rear brake pads. Think I have Randy's tire showing threads beat! lol

 

You may be happy to hear that I am reformed that way. Just changed my rear tire again Saturday and there was still a couple hundred miles worth of tread on the one I removed.

 

It's near Santa Barbara, but up in the hills. https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...79,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x6337ee3d5400abbd

 

Yup - I'm definitely reformed!!
Last Sept the wife's car needed AC; daughter needed tires ...stretched out the expense for motorcycle tires ;-( Did 120 mile spirited ride hitting 80mph on some twisties. Parked the bike but the threads were not facing the rear to see them. Couple days later, luckily got to the meetup early for the next ride up a mountain - came out of McD's and sat at a bench with my coffee ...what's that stripe on my tire??? DAMN !! Limped it home cautiously and ordered my new tires right away. Saved the tire and cut it into 3 sections to make 3 of these plaques. One will hang in my office and next weekend 2 get delivered to local MSF mc training sites to educate others. Rubber was down to .065" (1.65mm) !! This time went with the Michelin Pilot Power 3 to help extend center wear.

 

Yep, that's the place. It's off of 154 not 52. Not sure where that number came from! Stagecoach Road is what I remember riding on. Thanks!

 

Well you definitely got your money's worth out of those!

 

Pulled the engine out of the VF1000FE parts bike.
Then stripped the engine completely. Amazing how much damage that a broken rod can do to the inside of a motor.
Could find no trace of the bearing shells for that rod. The crank journal is worn almost 2mm deep. I wonder if the clown who rebuilt it forgot them or simply didn't have them.
There is no sign of them having been there at all, not strips, flakes or bearing scrap in the sump either.
Ive entered the engine building twilight zone.

 

And people thought mine was bad. Well it was. But I only wore through the first layer of rubber. You have worn through the outer layer of rubber, the chord and were on your way through the inner rubber as well. Once the tires get thin, it doesn't take long for them to wear through the chords. Shows how important regular tire checks are, especially when the centre is wearing close to the centre's wear bars.

On my recent rear tire change, there was maybe 1/64th or so of thread depth at the wear bars at the centre of the tire. Almost smooth at the wear bar. Close enough. I changed it out.

 

Man O man....dont cha do a walk around before every ride....and check air pressure. ...just sayin unless I'm missing something here

 

With me, I knew the tire was getting thin. I was on my way home from Winnipeg and Atascadero. Stopped in Merrit and checked the tires and felt comfortable I could get home the 175 km to Chilliwack (about 110 miles). Stopped in Hope (120km, the land of First Blood filming) and topped up but didn't do a walk around. Arrived hope and had a shit kiniption.