Truth be told, the factory/stock headlights on the Yamaha FJR1300 are pretty darn good.  I did replace the factory bulbs with some ‘better’ brighter halogen bulbs when it was new.

I also added lower fork mounted lights.  Initially MotoLights[TM], but in 2009 I won a set of Glenda Clearwater lights at the Eastern Owners meet.   These lights (as well as the moto lights), while they do illuminate things up close, and fill in the void near the bike, they really don’t throw any appreciable light down the road.   The are mostly ‘see me’ lights.  Lights there for the benefits of others so they can see me.   The lower mounted lights help break up the ‘single’ light that makes distance harder to judge and make me stand out more.  They help, a lot, but people will still pull out in front of me, even with my high viz jacket.

Anyway, on to today’s project.   While riding rallies that require us to ride 24 hours a day we ride at night a lot.   Often on twisty mountain roads.   It’s often darker than dark.  While the stock headlights are good, it’s still pretty easy to out ride your lights.

With the upcoming Void Rally and others on tap, specifically the 2012 MD2020 which will be almost ALL mountain roads I decided it was time to add some Auxiliary Lighting.

The number 1 self contained HID for this type of application is the Soltek Fuego’s.  While they have gotten cheaper (now $320 each instead of $500 each), a pair is still north of $600 plus hardware.

The next best thing, is the Chinese Knock Off’s.   They can be had via Amazon for $120 each or there about.  Hella also offers these same lights with their name on them.

So $240 sounds a whole lot better to me that $600.   Allegedly they put out about 90% of the light of the Soltek’s at less than 1/3rd the price. 

I lucked into a deal and got a pair used from an FJR forum member.  

The next puzzle is where to mount them on the FJR.  The FJR doesn’t really lend itself to lots of mounting spaces, and these lights are LARGE.

The standard approach is using a set of brackets that mount the lights under the mirrors, using the mirror mounts.   That works well for some of the smaller lights but doesn’t work real well for these larger lights or the Solteks.   The other problem with that location is that a simple parking lot tip over (and I’ve had a few in the years that I’ve owned the FJR) will likely break or smash one of your $300+ lights.

I was struggling to find a solution, then ran into Alex’s Brackets.  These brackets were made specifically for these lights or Solteks.  Mounting them above the mirrors instead.  This is good for both tip over protection and getting the lights as high as possible.

I received my brackets, and a spare set of left hand controls off a wreck on ebay for cheap to mount the switch (in case I messed it up), and fabricated a wiring harness.

Since I do have the Twisted Throttle Mirror Extensions, I did have to ‘tweak’ the brackets a bit.   Nothing a little bench grinder can’t take care of.  Repainted them and viola Done.

Mounted them up today and now I can’t wait until it gets dark

Had to increase the relief for the windshield.

Had to grind a little relief for the mirror extensions.

Had to come up with about a 3/8 inch spacer, ended up using 5 fender washers.

Touch up paint on the brackets and washers once finished.

Added this toggle switch to the back of my left hand controls.  This On-Off-On switch, turns the lights (On when the bike has power – Off – On with the High Beams).

More photos available on PicasaWeb.

Claudine originally planned to buy me a nice used Kimber Ultra Carry II.  We went and looked at it Wednesday afternoon, but it was a little too used to suit me.  The Barrel showed a lot of wear and it had a few scratches on the trigger guard that I just wasn’t excited about.  It just didn’t say buy me, you’ll love me.

So…

Plan B was this Sig P238 SAS that I’d had my eye on.

Yeah, it shoots as good as it looks for a small gun. It’s got night sights, and had been ‘radically dehorned’, meaning all the rough edges have been smoothed for snag free carry.  It needs a little attention.  I already polished the feed ramp, but I think it needs a heavier recoil spring, and maybe a magazine swap from Sig.

So yeah, my wife bought me a gun for my birthday, how cool is that?  I know you’re jealous.  (Actually it turns out she might have bought herself a gun for my birthday, she likes it that much).

Most are here, along with other misc photos.

Here are the highlights.

Matthew, always a HAM, I’m fairly certain he didn’t realize he was playing with the “spoon of Justice”.

The Easter Bunny brought him a red Cowboy hat:

and we did some posing in his new outfit:

You talkin to me?

And the Easter egg hunt is on!

Molly and Robin, nope, no resemblance what-so-ever

Maria

Mother and Daughter

It actually stopped raining long enough to have an egg hunt

Evaluating the score:

So last week I took him up on the offer.   He told me to order up the Ghost 3.5lb connector, and not to order any springs because he had them.

The only previous modifications made to this Glock were:  The front high-viz site, and the extended magazine release.   Other than that all internals were bone stock.  This particular Glock has about 3500-4000 rounds through it, possibly more.

Before we got started we measured the trigger pull with the gauge, and we consistently measured it at 8.5lbs.

(Note: the actual procedure took place last Sunday but tonight the Titanium trigger safety plunger arrived today so I’m installing that and taking photos.)

I had cleaned it well before he showed up and this is what we did:

My Baby:

First and foremost we made sure it was unloaded (duh)

Removed the slide and disassembled it.

The Red arrow points to the shinny new Titanium Trigger Safety Plunger. ($17.00).

We did replace the Striker spring from the factory 8lb spring to I believe a 6lb spring.

Other than that everything else in the slide stayed stock.

We also polished the bottom of my barrel, and the top mating surface of the locking block.  We didn’t change any angles or remove any edges, just a light polish.

We installed the new Ghost Trigger Connector 3.5lb $12.95.   And polished (lightly) the radius on the trigger bar.   Again we did not change the shape of the trigger bar in any way.

We polished the back and top of the trigger connector, and replaced the trigger spring, with a lighter spring, not much lighter though.  

Just another shot with arrows showing the surfaces we polished.  AKA the $0.25 trigger job.

So with $12.95 in parts, after re-assembly the trigger tested consistently at 3.1lbs.   I can’t wait to go shoot it!

Thanks again to my buddy who shall remain nameless, but honestly he gets all the credit.   I know if you’re a Glock guy none of this is new or rocket science.

We just polished metal on metal parts, and replaced the connector with a lighter one, but I was amazed that we dropped 5.4 lbs off the trigger just by doing that.  The difference between this G19 and my G26 which is still stock is amazing.

I’m saving up for the Titanium Striker, but I want to see a difference with the changes we made and hope that we haven’t affected reliability.   My buddy doesn’t expect that we did.   Having watched him smoke the steel with a similarly slicked up Glock I’m really looking forward to the results.

Wait for it…

A Mini van…

A gently used 2003 Pontiac Montana.

Keeping on the Ramsey debt free strategy we added another clean used car to the stable, and paid cash.  This puppy is fully loaded and well cared for.  Every option, including DVD stuff for the kiddos.   We really only need to get 2 years out of it to break even, but it should last longer.

If you know me, I know what you’re thinking.

“What the hell?  A Mini van? and a GM product no less?“

No I didn’t bump my head, and I’m feeling OK.

This is a strategic move.

(a) It gets Claudine into something more fuel efficient for all the driving she does.  It’s actually easier for her to get Matthew into the car seat in this thing.  If Molly decides to resume gymnastics, all the driving that Claudine does will be better in this over the Excursion.

(b) It allows us to park the Cirrus for a while.  It’s been nickel and diming us to death, and quite frankly I’m just completely sick and tired of driving it.  It’s still a decent vehicle and Maggie will be 16 soon so she’ll need something to learn in.  The Cirrus is a good choice for this but if I had to drive it much longer it may very well have ended up in a lake or river.

(c) It allows me to take over the Excursion and recoup some man-points that have been lost from driving that Cirrus for so long.  Since I ride as often as I can the fuel burden won’t be as bad.

(Sorry tree huggers, we will never, ever, get rid of the Excursion, it is the Ultimate utility vehicle for hauling people, vacation/trips, and pulling the horse trailer, etc, etc.).

The most interesting part of this is that it is a GM product.  I’ve been anti-GM all my life, but this thing fit the bill and we just didn’t like anything Ford had to offer in this space.  Time will tell if that’s a mistake.

Phil, you’ll be sorely missed.

His Obituary from the Journal news follows:

News Death Notice
MORRIS, Phillip S. age 61 of Trenton passed away at Atrium Medical Center on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 12:06 PM. He was born in Hamilton on September 29, 1948 the son of Elmer and Nellie (Chaney) Morris. Phillip was employed as an auto mechanic. He is survived by his mother, Nellie Morris of Hamilton; a brother, Kenneth (Gail) Morris of Pleasant Hill; three nephews, Shawn Morris, Jason Morris, and Marcus Christy; and a niece, Michelle Christy. He was preceded in death by his father, Elmer Morris, and a brother, Dr. Marcus Christy. Funeral service will be held at the Brown-Dawson Funeral Home, 330 Pershing Avenue, on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 10:00 AM with Pastor Shawn Morris of Salem United Methodist Church, Wapakoneta, Ohio officiating. Burial will follow in Millville Cemetery. Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Friday from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. www.browndawson.com

The little man can eat.

Claudine is just a trouble maker.  She and her friends wrapped the youth Pastors car as a going away present for him.

Molly at Firecracker Camp:

Matthew and his Cozy Coup…  He had a busy day including a small ‘incident’.

Hanging on the porch swing

Time to take the car for a walk…

Oh the bees…

He took my coffee

This is right before he poured it on Jake…

It wasn’t hot, but Jake was not pleased, nor entertained.

(What do you mean I can’t do that? Sure I can, I just did.)

Apparently, he was behind a school bus that turned right at the tracks.  The school bus blocked his view of the flashing lights, and the train was coming from the right.  When he cleared the school bus he saw the train, but it was too late.   Hit slammed on the brakes and ended up hitting the 4th car from the Engine (according to the conductor).

He’s very, very lucky.

From Escort vs. Train

Channel 12′s Coverage

Channel 9′s Coverage

Ky Post Coverage

I’m 40-something and started smoking when I was 14 or so. 

When Michael was born, Claudine put her foot down.  No more smoking in the house.   Back then you could still smoke in most public places.  But standing outside in the cold weather wasn’t for me. 

So, I did the next best thing.  Switched up for something with no second-hand side effects.  (Chew or Dip).  It doesn’t affect those around you unless a: you spill it on them, or b: they grab your dip cup or can by mistake and take a swig.   The later was often comical though.

Anyway, that means I’ve been nicotine dependant for over 25 years.

As for dipping, it was a 5-can per week habit, nearly a can a day but not quite.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.

I have quit before, heck quitting is easy.  But staying that way hasn’t be so easy.  My most successful run was about 6 months, and I used the patch to get that far.  So still getting nicotine, only the clean pharmaceutical variety.

I am nicotine dependant, and addicted, there is no doubt about that. 

But I’m giving it up.  It’s simply “time to do so”.   I started yesterday, I’m not brave enough to go ‘cold-turkey’, and I also love my family too much to put them through that right now.   It wasn’t pleasant last time.

So I cut back significantly yesterday.   Only three small ‘fixes’.   May not seem like much but it was significant to me and actually wasn’t that easy.

I stuck with that routine today, at least as far in today as we are.  This mornings little fix was different.  Certainly not enjoyable.  Not like yesterday.  Nope, my body didn’t really like it.

I expect to drop it completely by Monday, heck if later today is like this morning, maybe sooner.

So there, I’ve said it.  I’ve posted it.  It’s public.  So after Monday, give me crap if you see me with tobacco.  It’s important for you to do so.  Now I just need to figure out how to not gain 30 lbs while doing this.  I really cannot afford to gain any more weight.