What did you do to your Yamaha FZ-07 today?

[so1102]

Took off the shift boot. It felt weird. Just gonna raw dog it. I only use motorcycle specific boots when I ride now anyway... 

You could always just dip the end into that rubber stuff meant for tool handles http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip   Could even just paint it on the underside to help protect your boot but still have a nice feel for downshifts. 

That rubber stuff is also known as FlexSeal and you can get it by the spraycan at Wal-Mart.  I think you can also pick up a 3M version of similar stuff at any home depot

[motomeek]

I cleaned it! The wife hasn't done a thing since she's had it... She was under the assumption that I'd still do it all....  B-|

LOL wives are funny that way

TOO FUNNY. She's had a bike before... you'd think she'd still do the maintenance. Sheesh.  
ANYWAY - I took it to work today. so HA. 

[sorkyah]

LOL wives are funny that way

TOO FUNNY. She's had a bike before... you'd think she'd still do the maintenance. Sheesh.  
ANYWAY - I took it to work today. so HA. 

You left her alone with the duc?
 
Also... you're a wife too... so...

[motomeek]

You left her alone with the duc? 
Also... you're a wife too... so...

1. The duc is fine. She drove to work today.  2. Touché... forgot about that hahahaha

[jerryv]

women ... sheesh
 
 

I cleaned it! The wife hasn't done a thing since she's had it... She was under the assumption that I'd still do it all....  B-|

 

[12ival]

Had a nice visit and shopping trip to this place!
 

[go4geoff]

Installed OES front/rear axle spool sliders that I picked up from @skooter65. Took all of 10min to do. Damn near perfect condition when I received them. I can feel the confidence with them on now lol

[jeffkisthename]

Hit the 24K miles today... almost valve adjustment time...
 

 
 

[designslucid]

Put on new clutch and brake levers. How is clutch free play measured? Is it without any pressure on the clutch, leaving a gap between the lever and the perch or is it with some pressure on the clutch lever?
 
Want to be sure I don't burn up the clutch. I've heard a nickel of free play, so I literally used a nickel to measure the gap between level and perch, am I super wrong?
 
Note: New to doing my own bike work.
 

[12ival]

Put on new clutch and brake levers. How is clutch free play measured? Is it without any pressure on the clutch, leaving a gap between the lever and the perch or is it with some pressure on the clutch lever?  
Want to be sure I don't burn up the clutch. I've heard a nickel of free play, so I literally used a nickel to measure the gap between level and perch, am I super wrong?
 
Note: New to doing my own bike work.
 

slight pressure. i used the middle part of the back of the key to measure.

[rowdy]

Put on new clutch and brake levers. How is clutch free play measured? Is it without any pressure on the clutch, leaving a gap between the lever and the perch or is it with some pressure on the clutch lever?  
Want to be sure I don't burn up the clutch. I've heard a nickel of free play, so I literally used a nickel to measure the gap between level and perch, am I super wrong?
 
Note: New to doing my own bike work.
 

On mine, I adjusted it so the with the clutch in I have to release about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way out before I feel any engagement. I think (and I'm no expert), that you want to make sure the clutch is fully disengaged when in, and fully engaged when out.
Within those constraints, i think there is some room for personal preference.
 
 

[caliesv]

Put on new clutch and brake levers. How is clutch free play measured? Is it without any pressure on the clutch, leaving a gap between the lever and the perch or is it with some pressure on the clutch lever?  
Want to be sure I don't burn up the clutch. I've heard a nickel of free play, so I literally used a nickel to measure the gap between level and perch, am I super wrong?
 
Note: New to doing my own bike work.
 

You might wanna leave some play. If I remember correctly when I did my r1 levers, there is supposed to be about 1/4, maybe 1/2 inch of play before it engages. If I'm understanding your question correctly too.

[caliesv]

Put on new clutch and brake levers. How is clutch free play measured? Is it without any pressure on the clutch, leaving a gap between the lever and the perch or is it with some pressure on the clutch lever?  
Want to be sure I don't burn up the clutch. I've heard a nickel of free play, so I literally used a nickel to measure the gap between level and perch, am I super wrong?
 
Note: New to doing my own bike work.
 

On mine, I adjusted it so the with the clutch in I have to release about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way out before I feel any engagement. I think (and I'm no expert), that you want to make sure the clutch is fully disengaged when in, and fully engaged when out.
Within those constraints, i think there is some room for personal preference.
 

We posted at the exact same time lol, but you just confirmed my memory.

[designslucid]

Put on new clutch and brake levers. How is clutch free play measured? Is it without any pressure on the clutch, leaving a gap between the lever and the perch or is it with some pressure on the clutch lever?  
Want to be sure I don't burn up the clutch. I've heard a nickel of free play, so I literally used a nickel to measure the gap between level and perch, am I super wrong?
 
Note: New to doing my own bike work.
 

You might wanna leave some play. If I remember correctly when I did my r1 levers, there is supposed to be about 1/4, maybe 1/2 inch of play before it engages. If I'm understanding your question correctly too.

You understood the question correctly. Appreciate the replies from all of you! I love this forum.

[rick]

make sure that gap remains with the bars at full lock - either direction.
 
That free play will be measured in mm. Can't remember where it's measured - it's in the owner's manual . Obviously, if it's between the lever and where it hits the bracket (where your nickel is) , that number will be far lower than if measured out at the lever's end. If you change the length of the lever and it's measured there, that number will change.
 
Gonna guess that nickel is a good start, but not enough - thinking it's closer to 4mm (1/4" is basically 6mm). 1/2" there is way too much and might not leave you with enough pull to operate the clutch..
 
If you were to adjust all of the free play out of the cable, the clutch will likely slip.

[caliesv]

make sure that gap remains with the bars at full lock - either direction.  
That free play will be measured in mm. Can't remember where it's measured - it's in the owner's manual . Obviously, if it's between the lever and where it hits the bracket (where your nickel is) , that number will be far lower than if measured out at the lever's end. If you change the length of the lever and it's measured there, that number will change.
 
Gonna guess that nickel is a good start, but not enough - thinking it's closer to 4mm (1/4" is basically 6mm). 1/2" there is way too much and might not leave you with enough pull to operate the clutch..
 
If you were to adjust all of the free play out of the cable, the clutch will likely slip.

That's what it was, mm. Lol that's for correcting me.

[12ival]

Gave her a new key chain!

[designslucid]

make sure that gap remains with the bars at full lock - either direction.  
That free play will be measured in mm. Can't remember where it's measured - it's in the owner's manual . Obviously, if it's between the lever and where it hits the bracket (where your nickel is) , that number will be far lower than if measured out at the lever's end. If you change the length of the lever and it's measured there, that number will change.
 
Gonna guess that nickel is a good start, but not enough - thinking it's closer to 4mm (1/4" is basically 6mm). 1/2" there is way too much and might not leave you with enough pull to operate the clutch..
 
If you were to adjust all of the free play out of the cable, the clutch will likely slip.

Appreciate the heads up. Thankfully today was first service and they set it for me at the dealership and also loosened up the throttle, bike is dead smooth now, no more jerkiness.
 
Also, best part? Free!!! It was suppose to be $164ish, but I had already negotiated that with the deal

[motomeek]

women ... sheesh  
 

I cleaned it! The wife hasn't done a thing since she's had it... She was under the assumption that I'd still do it all....  B-|

PSST.... I'm a woman too...  8-)

[designslucid]

Bathed her. Don't mind the water spots on the swingarm and forks. They're gone now.
 
I'll never forget to silicone spray the wheels again. That was a task after riding on wet roads!!
 

[rowdy]

make sure that gap remains with the bars at full lock - either direction.  
That free play will be measured in mm. Can't remember where it's measured - it's in the owner's manual . Obviously, if it's between the lever and where it hits the bracket (where your nickel is) , that number will be far lower than if measured out at the lever's end. If you change the length of the lever and it's measured there, that number will change.
 
Gonna guess that nickel is a good start, but not enough - thinking it's closer to 4mm (1/4" is basically 6mm). 1/2" there is way too much and might not leave you with enough pull to operate the clutch..
 
If you were to adjust all of the free play out of the cable, the clutch will likely slip.

Okay, let's define free play, because I'm not that smart. Are you talking about mm of travel before cable has tension, or mm of travel before clutch starts to engage. I would not be able to adjust my levers for the prior without using my finger tips to clutch (and I wear an XL glove).  I have mine adjusted so the cable actually has a minuscule amount of tension in it, but still plenty of lever movement before there is any declarable engagement.  That's the way I've always done my bikes and I've never burned out a clutch, but I'm open to ideas about my idiocy.  

[rick]

make sure that gap remains with the bars at full lock - either direction.  
That free play will be measured in mm. Can't remember where it's measured - it's in the owner's manual . Obviously, if it's between the lever and where it hits the bracket (where your nickel is) , that number will be far lower than if measured out at the lever's end. If you change the length of the lever and it's measured there, that number will change.
 
Gonna guess that nickel is a good start, but not enough - thinking it's closer to 4mm (1/4" is basically 6mm). 1/2" there is way too much and might not leave you with enough pull to operate the clutch..
 
If you were to adjust all of the free play out of the cable, the clutch will likely slip.

Okay, let's define free play, because I'm not that smart. Are you talking about mm of travel before cable has tension, or mm of travel before clutch starts to engage. I would not be able to adjust my levers for the prior without using my finger tips to clutch (and I wear an XL glove).  I have mine adjusted so the cable actually has a minuscule amount of tension in it, but still plenty of lever movement before there is any declarable engagement.  That's the way I've always done my bikes and I've never burned out a clutch, but I'm open to ideas about my idiocy.

Keeping in mind that there is a return spring that applies a bit of tension to the cable all the time, there does need to be a distance that the clutch lever will travel w/o the throwout mechanism pushing on the big springs inside the clutch holding the plate pack tightly together.  
Just checked the owner's manual P7-19). That distance is 5-10mm out at the ball of the OE lever. Obviously, if you've installed levers that are shorter, that distance will also be shorter
 
There's a bearing (routinely called a throwout or release bearing) that sees load when you pull the clutch lever - the clutch is spinning, the mechanism does not - the bearing sits between. If there's a load on that bearing all the time from having too little slack in the cable - it's possible that bearing will wear out prematurely. A lot of that depends on how well it sees oil. For some reason, those bearings seem to be fragile in Rotax motors, which otherwise seem pretty much bullet proof. .  

[rowdy]

Okay, let's define free play, because I'm not that smart. Are you talking about mm of travel before cable has tension, or mm of travel before clutch starts to engage. I would not be able to adjust my levers for the prior without using my finger tips to clutch (and I wear an XL glove).  I have mine adjusted so the cable actually has a minuscule amount of tension in it, but still plenty of lever movement before there is any declarable engagement.  That's the way I've always done my bikes and I've never burned out a clutch, but I'm open to ideas about my idiocy.

Keeping in mind that there is a return spring that applies a bit of tension to the cable all the time, there does need to be a distance that the clutch lever will travel w/o the throwout mechanism pushing on the big springs inside the clutch holding the plate pack tightly together.  
Just checked the owner's manual P7-19). That distance is 5-10mm out at the ball of the OE lever. Obviously, if you've installed levers that are shorter, that distance will also be shorter
 
There's a bearing (routinely called a throwout or release bearing) that sees load when you pull the clutch lever - the clutch is spinning, the mechanism does not - the bearing sits between. If there's a load on that bearing all the time from having too little slack in the cable - it's possible that bearing will wear out prematurely. A lot of that depends on how well it sees oil. For some reason, those bearings seem to be fragile in Rotax motors, which otherwise seem pretty much bullet proof. .  

Thanks rick... I think I know what you mean... "Keeping in mind that there is a return spring that applies a bit of tension to the cable all the time", so there is no need for Xmm of complete slack in the clutch lever cable, but there needs to be play before the throwout bearing sees any force.  I think that's the way I have it, but I would not be able to make it work reasonably with 5-10mm of free play in the cable itself.
I'm not trying to argue (I'm too stupid for that), but just trying to clarify for myself and possibly other readers.
 

[i28]

Actually rode the FZ (like what normal motorcycle owners do).
Got a chance to go with a buddy who helped guide me quite a bit.

[jerryv]

Well aware of that, was hoping it made it more amusing  (rofl)
 
 

women ... sheesh  
 

PSST.... I'm a woman too...  8-)