San Diego Tech Day (April 2011)

[Havok]

I Will have to hit up a shop after we get there so if we need anything i can go and grab it when i go. i will also want to find a coin operated car wash as i want to spray the hell out of the Fazer then detail it up and lube as needed. Ill stop by lows tomorrow and get a couple of cans of Teflon sprayto bring with me for anyone who wants to do the chain.

[TeamGreen]

The closest coin operated washers aren't real close but I know of a couple.

[Kevin2109]

Do you guys need me to bring anything? I have my oil filter, crush washer and will get my oil when I get down there. I really really want to do the shimming, so if no one has found the washers ill bust a mission tomorrow and find some for everyone, cant be too hard to find.

And for Jeff, where would you like too meet up? I pm'ed you a shell gas station thats off the 5, still want to meet there?

[Havok]

Originally Posted by Kevin2109

Do you guys need me to bring anything? I have my oil filter, crush washer and will get my oil when I get down there. I really really want to do the shimming, so if no one has found the washers ill bust a mission tomorrow and find some for everyone, cant be too hard to find.

And for Jeff, where would you like too meet up? I pm'ed you a shell gas station thats off the 5, still want to meet there?

Sorry thought I responded, yea that is fine, I will leave Torrance around 7 am not sure how long the ride will be though if you want to mapquest it and get a time frame to be there.

[CZroe]

Even though I'm not going, if anyone need these things, you're welcome to stop by in Mira Mesa on the way down to pick them up:
Motorcycle tire bead breaker
Mini pencil torch
Tire irons
Rim protectors
Heat gun
Turn signal bulbs
etc

[phr3ek]

Originally Posted by Kevin2109

Do you guys need me to bring anything? I have my oil filter, crush washer and will get my oil when I get down there. I really really want to do the shimming, so if no one has found the washers ill bust a mission tomorrow and find some for everyone, cant be too hard to find.

And for Jeff, where would you like too meet up? I pm'ed you a shell gas station thats off the 5, still want to meet there?

why are you shimming?
its a stock bike.....

shimming only benefits it if you change the exhaust and take out the snorkel

[Cuongism]

Rejoice guys! I found the washers at both places so got 20 of them. Figured that should be more than enough for 3 of you guys. Also, shimming definitely should help a stock bike. The bike comes lean from the factory to improve mpg, but makes the low end choppy. Shimming should help with that.



Also Dustin, I am still taking you up on your offer to clean my shock. It'll just be a different shock . For what it's worth, it's cleaner than my current shock.

[Kevin2109]

Originally Posted by Cuongism

Rejoice guys! I found the washers at both places so got 20 of them. Figured that should be more than enough for 3 of you guys. Also, shimming definitely should help a stock bike. The bike comes lean from the factory to improve mpg, but makes the low end choppy. Shimming should help with that.

lol I went this morning too XD Looks like we now have 40 washers, that should be enough, right?

[alex.s]

LOL!

p.s. nice shock :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by Cuongism

Also Dustin, I am still taking you up on your offer to clean my shock.

[sixer]

hey ALEX.S rearset and rear breaks are fine... thanks again for showing up today and the sale...

pease.

[alex.s]

Cuong, just remember to bring straps or something... we need to be able to lift the bike so the swing arm doesn't have weight on it... a car jack should suffice if we're careful enough... frontend can stay on the ground. maybe teamgreen has one already?
it's easier to work on with the rear tire out of the way so you may want to bring a new cotter pin if your old one is getting past it's prime (they're like crush washers... best to change them every time, but if it isn't brand new it might not kill you)

[TeamGreen]

Originally Posted by alex.s

Cuong, just remember to bring straps or something... we need to be able to lift the bike so the swing arm doesn't have weight on it... a car jack should suffice if we're careful enough... frontend can stay on the ground. maybe teamgreen has one already?
it's easier to work on with the rear tire out of the way so you may want to bring a new cotter pin if your old one is getting past it's prime (they're like crush washers... best to change them every time, but if it isn't brand new it might not kill you)

I have cotter pins. I also have a car engine picker (crane) type jack so i'm sure we can rig something with that or the rafters of the garage with some straps.

[alex.s]

perfect keven. also i just checked some local hardware stores and it doesn't look like they'll have what we need in terms of metric bushings... do you have something like a wheel grinder? or a bandsaw we can cut metal with, keven? we'll need to trim down the gsxr bushings or expand the mount point on the frame a little bit... either way not a big deal... worst case we go get a metal file and do it by hand.

[TeamGreen]

Originally Posted by alex.s

perfect keven. also i just checked some local hardware stores and it doesn't look like they'll have what we need in terms of metric bushings... do you have something like a wheel grinder? or a bandsaw we can cut metal with, keven? we'll need to trim down the gsxr bushings or expand the mount point on the frame a little bit... either way not a big deal... worst case we go get a metal file and do it by hand.

Metal cutting might be rough. I have air grinders and a big ass electric grinder. No bandsaw. jigsaw with a metal cutting blade is my bandsaw(not sure what thickness of metal we're talking about). Are we just enlarging holes or are we fabricating parts? I'm sure i'll have something that will work or if not I love to buy new tools so we'll take care of it.

[alex.s]

haha, you're my kind of person, keven. we're just shortening a bushing about 1/8th it looks like... i haven't seen the gsxr shock in person so this is just based on photos and measurements from the interweb which everyone knows are always inaccurate. I'm sure we'll be fine.

[TeamGreen]

Originally Posted by alex.s

haha, you're my kind of person, keven. we're just shortening a bushing about 1/8th it looks like... i haven't seen the gsxr shock in person so this is just based on photos and measurements from the interweb which everyone knows are always inaccurate. I'm sure we'll be fine.

Gotcha yeah that should be no problem. Are they picking you up in the convoy or are you riding down solo?

[Kevin2109]

Jeff, what time do you think you will be around my area?

[alex.s]

i'll be at dennys.

[Cuongism]

Awesome sauce. Can't wait to feel this gsxr shock. I was on the 8 today and it was all bumpy. Pretty excited for tomorrow! Trying to make sure I dont forget to bring anything, but I am only half an hour away.

Btw Keven, I assume you have a drill? If Dustin hadn't drilled his bars yet, he will need to. It would be a 7/32 drill bit. Let me know if I need to bring that as well.

[TeamGreen]

I have a drill but bring that bit just in case

[Havok]

Originally Posted by Kevin2109

Jeff, what time do you think you will be around my area?

About 7:45 or so. I am leaving Torrance now have to get gas on the way out but shoul she about 45 mins to an hour the gps says.

562-857/6875 is my number.

[Cuongism]

Kind of late notice, but Keven, do you have brake cleaner? My backpack is getting heavy...

[TeamGreen]

Originally Posted by Cuongism

Kind of late notice, but Keven, do you have brake cleaner? My backpack is getting heavy...

Yeah pretty sure i do, if not i'll grab some. dont weigh yourself down too much.

[Cuongism]

Hey Keven, I somehow never got your number. The ride took me half the time google said, so I'm actually outside your place

[CZroe]

I have brake cleaner in Mira Mesa if anyone wants to pick it up on the way down for Cuong. I think it was $3 at Harbor Freight. Didn't do much for my calipers though. How do others keep their so clean? I can't even get the pistons clean.

[sixer]

so what happend? pics!

[alex.s]

Awesome day. Must do it again. Thanks again for hosting, keven.

Will post pics when I get home... Day didn't end until just a little bit ago.

P.s. To the people who said the gsxr shock is easier to install than the r1 shock, you're just plain wrong. :-)

[CZroe]

Did everything go well? Any work left un-done? How many showed up?

[Kevin2109]

Oh man, finally home! Today was awesome guys, thank you for all the help!

[AMMOCAN]

Good deal guys! Wish I lived closer to have participated. Can't wait to hear all the stories and to see all the pics.

[Cazper]

What a great day!!! I'm so tired though... a ton of stuff got done... I for one got an oil change, shimmed, de-snorkel, clip-ons installed and rear hugger installed... I didn't take any pics, but I know there were pictures taken of a lot of the stuff. I'll eventually get to clean my bike and take pictures...

Thanks to everyone for the help and to Keven for hosting... we definitely need to do this again!!!

[sixer]

when's the next ride ill def hit you guys up if i dont have drill that weekend for sure!

[TeamGreen]

Good times for sure. I'm happy to host any time glad everyone came down. Can't wait to check out some pictures.

[Cuongism]

Definitely a good time and time flew because next thing you knew, it was dark out. I passed out when I got home so just waking up so here are some pics! Not as many pics as I wanted, but we did accomplish quite a bit. Thank you everyone who showed up and hopefully everyone got something out of it. BTW, 5 ninjas and a Fazer showed up.







Day started with some guys who needed supplies so why'll they caged it (shame shame), we did Dustin's oil change first. After that, we shimmed his bike and Kevin did his. Gotta say that Kevin is a champ for really digging into his bike for just owning a bike for a couple of weeks. Look at him go!





While he was in there, we got rid of some of his dead weight. Anyone want a Kleen Air system?



Keven and Dustin also removed their snorkel while they were at it and you can definitely hear it on Keven's bike. Hopefully he likes the results =)

Next up was my GSXR shock BTW, a huge thanks to Alex for leading the way on it. It was definitely not the simple plug and play as was thought originally. Some before pics of shocks (I still don't understand how Dustin keeps his so shiny...my solution, just change the shock).





Alex's R1 shock



As promised, Dustin went all out and cleaned my shock for me.



The GSXR shock had to be grounded down in order to fit and the bike was strapped up to Keven's thingamajig (that guy has everything in his garage!)





Got the old one knocked out.



With a stock undertail, we had to pretty much remove the whole back end. Also, the undertail had to be cut a bit in order to fit the new shock. Washers and a longer bolt are needed, but not too many places sell metric. We went to Lowe's a few times and still didn't get what we were looking for (12mm x 130mm). For now, I currently had a 7/16in by 6in (for some reason they didn't have 5 in like they do in every other size). We'll swap it out when I can find the correct sizes, but the bike still felt pretty damn good.



BTW, who needs the "Ticket to Ride" event?? We whored our bikes to each other and apparently they all feel very different.

I personally was pretty exhausted after we had some pizza, so didn't really take too many pics afterwards. Keven's cltuch was feeling stiff so we lubed and adjusted his clutch.



He also changed his grips (no pics) and added some rim stripes.



Dustin got his hugger, swingarm cover, and clipons installed (sorry, no pics). Keven and Jeff changed their oils and Jeff added an outlet to his FZR. His bike was also pretty shiny...hint hint, I might be looking for a detailer.

So in all, quite a lot was accomplished and it was great company. Alex wasn't able to get his pods in time so that still needs to get done. I also still have my SS lines so depending on when the next Tech Day is, I'll probably install it this week. I'm still playing around with my jetting, but now I also get to dial in my new shock. Can't wait to get it all dialed in and take the bike back to the mountains I wanted to remove someone's carbs, but everyone has airboxes hint hint, get your pods soon Alex.

Thanks again to Keven, you have quite the nice garage setup. All you need in it is a painting booth...

[AMMOCAN]

Now that sounds and looks to be a fun and productive time! Good work guys.

[Cuongism]

FYI, the GSXR shock has three different settings to play with. Spring preload, rebound dampening, and compression dampening (just like my CBR ). It's missing the same suspension settings for the front though

[Havok]

Thank you keven for hosting and letting us use your house and tools, thanks to cuong for getting it all set and all the guys for pitching in. It was great having everyone pitching in to help everyone. So much got accomplished on all the bikes. I know I got a lot done to the fazer, all the cables cleaned and lubed, oil changed, power outlet installed and a full detail on the bike though I have to fix that headlight mod as it was randomly going on and off on the way home lol. I dent get home till like 10 but it was worth every min I was ther and the long ride.


It was cool picking up Kevin then Alex and dustin and all 4 of us rolling in together. I have some pics I took that I will post up when I get home today.


Thanks again to everyone as no matter what you needed help with there was an extra pair of hands ready to help ya with what you need.

Cuong if I get grips and bar ends for the 250 for next time I'll detail your bike if you help put them on lol.

[Kevin2109]

Yes thank you keven for hosting. Thank you Coung and Alex for all the help, was very nice to have knowledgeable people helping

Thank you Jeff, Dustin, and Alex for riding down with me!

Your guy's bikes make me want to do so much more to mine

All in all an awesome day

[TeamGreen]

Couple more thanks from me. Thanks kevin for the washers, Jeff thanks for grabbing the pizza tab. Maybe we can do this again in a couple months (or sooner if needed). Also, tech day or not my garage is open to any of you guys if you need a spot to do some work.

Also, after cleaning up a bit last night I seem to have lost an 8mm socket and ended up with an extra 10mm. I'll double check next time i'm over there. Anybody missing a 10 and have my 8?