end of season

[graybird78]

Hello to all.
As another season is almost over for some of us, some of us not you LUCKY DOGS. I for myself had a very good riding season. I hope everyone else did to. To those that did not my very heart felt wishes to you. this year was good to the bike. only problem was a charging issue due to melted wires. Was a easy fix. do have some work to do over the winter cold, nothing major tho. Which brings me to a close. after 5yrs of ownership I finally have a name for the bike. I will call it (old faithfull). has never let me down yet.never complains,always starts and gets me where I want to go and back home again.

[chevy45412001]

congrats

good deal same sentiment here,though i am still riding..have to as long as possible.this gas price crap realy got me down.38 degrees tonight.Thats a record for me

[xj11john]

I'm in pretty much in the same shape as you Chevy, except my reason for riding the beast is that the struts are worn out in the saturn ('92 SL2) and the drivers tire also needs replacing.

But tonight when I went to crank it up (for 3rd shift) there was so much frost on the bike, I was afraid that the roads would be slick so drove the Saturn anyway (gets pretty close to same MPG).

I have a '91 Jeep cherokee that I could drive but the alternator is out on that on, We're feeling the money crunch right now

[Jerry]

Interesting...I also have a '92 Saturn SL2, whuich gets about the same mileage as my XJ....

The Saturn needs a new pasenger side axle boot and a new ABS cable, but has 175K+ miles and still running well.

I put the lowers on the XJ and have been riding on weekends, but the frosty mornings - below freezing - makes the roads a bit dicey so the Saturn has been my commuting vehicle.

When I look up to higher elevations I see fresh snow. Bright side is that snowmobiling season will start soon, and I have the V-Max 540L snowmobile just about ready to go.

[Street_Rat78]

Snowmobile...

That's the only upgrade I'm looking for beyond my XS11. Maybe when I get up into my older years, I might pick up a fully loaded cruiser, who knows. But for know, all I want is my XS11, SWMBO, and a full tank of gas.

[mro]

I feel for you guys..

Live in SF Bay Area


won't ride in the rain, but temp. seldom goes below 50 during the day and uassally gets into 60's and some into the 70's.


mro

[Parr8hed]

So we had frost here last night. Got down to 34 35 something like that. It is 37 right now at 0821 in the am. The only thing that I need to do is add stay-bill to the gas. Can I still ride it reguarly with staybill in the tank? I plan on riding year round this year, but it may sit for a week or 2 at a time with it being this chilly? Would you bother with stay-bill?

Thanks

[John]

The fuel will be fine for a few weeks without Stabil, if you plan on riding through the winter. It takes months for the fuel to break down, and I believe the cold weather slows the evaporative process. It is ok to run fuel with Stabil in it, as long as it's been mixed properly.

[Poprock]

Try some Sea Foam instead of Stabil. It stabilizes fuel better than Stabil and it cleans your carbs and tank while it's in there. Also makes the bike run better.

[xs650mike]

Not so sunny California

Here in NorCal since I'm below the snowline (mostly) at 2300 ft. altitude gas never stays in my tanks long enough to need stabilizing. (Sorry, can't help but rub it in.) Downside is that maintenance and repairs don't get done, ride until the wheels fall off. Winterizing consists of replacing summer's bald tires in preparation for the dreaded California rains. Below is a shot of my old friend Britbike Jim who couldn't stand watching me struggle levering off a bald Metzler, "Let me do that or we'll be here all day!"

And presto, it's off!


We struggled with putting the wheel back on for quite awhile what with floating calipers, brake pads that fell out, rotating fork legs and flopping trees. Made jokes about Yamaha special tool, Part #39-00056345 "Four Handed Mechanic". Finally success. We'll know next time. Used to do my XJ750RH single handedly, don't remember it being that difficult but no floating (rotating) calipers. Let the rains come!

Here's a shot I took today at the end of my street showing Clear Lake and Mount Konocti (koh-knock-tie in the Pomo dialect).


Here's old Rusty...


Warmed up and ready to ride.

[Pain]

I do ride year round here, got the full-dress H last march for this year, but had the SG out every month last winter. Was planning on parking the SG this year and just using the H, but will have to see how long it takes for the engine swap.

[xsivebiker]

Beautiful pics, Mike. Very senic!
There's no year-round riding here in West Virginia, although usually we have some decent weather in January. I've even taken the bike out on New Years Day, but it doesn't happen very often.
We've had two wet snows and THEN had our first frost! The leaves in my area [Elev. 2200ft.] are at or just past 'peak'. I suppose the reason that they are so late is due to the dry summer.
As mentioned in another thread, I'm planning on a fall foilage ride today, temps are suppose to be near 71 deg. F.
Like others, I've been riding the bike to work also [3rd shift] until the "hard frosts" started. From mid July through October I've averaged 1000 miles per month on the bike. Not to bad considering I probably average 50+ hrs per week at work too!
Well, gotta run, it's already warmed up to 52 deg. and it's time to get the bike out and enjoy the pretty fall colors and some rare warm temps. I hope they forecasted today's high of 71 deg. F. correctly!
Ride safe,
Greg C. in WV
'80 XS1100-G [Fully Dressed] "Christine"
'87 GL1200-I "The Queen"
'93 KLX650-C1 "The Back Road Beast"

[DeanR]

xs650mike, Question about your saddlebags. Was it a problem running the mounting straps under the seat. When I was looking at some it seemed that I wasn't able to get the seat mounting nuts to catch due to the thickness of the strap material. Couldn't get the seat to mount. Thanks

[Parr8hed]

I have some very similar that I run at times. I just used some tin snips to do some "clearancing" and they fit just fine. Still have to be a little tricky when tightening the seat bolts though. A socket with a long extension helps.

[xs650mike]

Originally posted by laxdad
xs650mike, Question about your saddlebags. Was it a problem running the mounting straps under the seat. When I was looking at some it seemed that I wasn't able to get the seat mounting nuts to catch due to the thickness of the strap material. Couldn't get the seat to mount. Thanks

I did the same as Travis, a little cutting around the existing diamond shaped holes that were already on the cross over straps. A little adjusting of the width was necessary too. The bags work with no cutting on my xs650s and a small slot was necessary on my XS400. Of course I relocated the turn sigs to the license bracket as can be seen in the following photo. One could also drill holes into the sides of the tail light mount which would be a little cleaner installation.

Even with the cutting it is difficult to get those silly seat mounting clips and nuts engaged. I wound up lifting up each bag to tighten the nuts. It was necessary to use small bungees between the bag buckles and the licence bracket to make the bags hang straight down but only for a couple of days until the leather took the right set. Now they hang fine on their own. The rear shocks keep the bags from hitting the rear wheel or brake. Clearance above the mufflers is about 1/4" on all my bikes but it has been no problem. I've been running this same pair of bags on all my Yammie Specials for at least 4 or 5 years.