Started Fixing Jessica

Where did you get the 3" fire sticks, and are they giving you decent AM reception?

They are 3' ... and the radio reception is actually a little better around town ... not sure when I head to the middle of no where ... :D.

I just saw these on Amazon ... they are 4" tall. The manufacture claims they are "engineered" to perform better that OEM.

Stubby Antenna 48.40.jpg

Intriguing :D ... Might be nice to not have the long ones in the way ... LOL
 
Solrry Fuzz, my bad, I meant 3', man those look good, and patriotic.

My only concern right now ... the area I work on the bike has a wood rack over it ... so 'i need to be cognizant of the antennas if I back in. LOL ... the OEM's have to be folded.

Here's a link on Amazon to them

https://www.amazon.com/FIRESTIK-II-...43533&sr=8-17&keywords=fire+stick+cb+antennas

you will need to adapt them from 3/8" 16 to 8MM to screw in. Any Machine shop should be able to make you an adapter.
 
Nice Day Today.

Since the tinning and grommet installation was done, I decided to do some electrical today.

First was running an extension from the trunk to the left pocket. This will allow me to put my phone in the trunk and plat my audio books via the aux input. Also, installed the auxiliary power port in the left pocket while I was there.

Left Pocket Pwr.jpg
 
Still Nice Day Today.

Next was to power the relay and the fuse box (AP1) that Zook recommended. And I gotta tell you, it was a great recommendation. Very easy install and very safe way to power some accessories. Thanks Zook.

Here's how the wires hook up to the bikes battery and fuse panel. The orange wire went to the + accessory terminal in the fuse box. This allows the AP1 to be powered via the relay when the key is on. On the Battery there are three things off each terminal. 1) the battery connection 2) the connection for the heated gear (gloves, jacket, pants and socks) 3) the red and black heavy gauge wires for the AP1. The red goes to the relay and the black to the ground terminal on the AP1.

With the fuse panel cover off:

Fuse Box Routing 1.jpg

With the fuse panel cover on:

Fuse Box Routing 2.jpg

I mounted the AP1 in the trunk on the left side of the front wall. The relay got clamped under the seat.

Fuse Box.jpg

The two coils you see are feeds for my Garmin and to the GoPro charger. I didn't get those mounted yet. Actually haven't decided on mounting the Garmin yet, since Jessica has Navi. The red wire goes to my charging station for the phone that has a standard 12v socket and 2 usb connections. It is the unit on the bottom of the below picture. Also, while I had the seat off, I also installed the CD BT Thingie. It's on top in the below pic.

CD BT Thingie.jpg
 
Still a nice day so after all the wiring was routed ...

I decided to put the Back Rest, SS Seat screws, and Cargo ties when I put the seat back on.

Cargo Tie Downs 1.jpg

Cargo Tie Downs 2.jpg

I also had a request to post a better pic of the antennas .... since I didn't even pull the bike out of the garage, this will have to do.

Antenna 2.jpg
 
Slow Day

Since I finally had my appointment at the DMV, And had to get x-rays, then Therapy at the VA ... yea. All I did on Jessica was take the red white and blue antennas off and put the OEM antennas back on. I ordered a rattle can with the Y181P Honda paint (Challenger Brown or what ever it's called) in it. My plan is to paint the 2' antennas the same color as the bike and see how they look. The 3' antennas just seem way too long to me. I'm a bit worried that in wind for at speed, they may stress the trunk. Besides, it will make the bike sort of look like my avatar.

The only other thing I did was to mount my front nose "accent piece". Since I retired a Navy Chief. I have a fondness for the fouled anchor, so here it is.

2019-02-26 13.16.00.jpg

Ordered this thing like 6 weeks ago, came by slow boat from China, Literally ... :D.

I like the look and it kind of ties in with the anchor on the rear Jessica pin.
 
Try slathering on some of the ceramic coating stuff..hopefully with that stuff you could just hit it with a little gentle hose water and clean it up.
 
Try slathering on some of the ceramic coating stuff..hopefully with that stuff you could just hit it with a little gentle hose water and clean it up.

Already did that ... GMTA .. Put two coats on before I mounted it.

I also did the whole nose after I mounted it, so I guess three coats ... LOL. Slowly, but, surely the whole bike is getting done ... LOL ... did I mention I hate cleaning the bike????
 
Another VA Morning

Spent the morning at the VA. Since it was in the low 40's, I rode Jessica. So nice to be in the saddle and afforded me the opportunity to see how the foot pegs and backrest felt and how they need to be adjusted.

When I got home I made those adjustments and did a test ride ... all good.

Then I finished up the SiriusXM install and put the trunk cubbies on. I'm using the left cubby to "protect the Siriusxm Radio and the chargers from miscellaneous junk that might e rolling around in the trunk. Also mounted the plates that now have new tags.

Here's the tidied up corner of the Electrical. Might not need to install other charges as the charging station has two usb ports, one for the GoPro battery charger, and one for the phone. Not sure I'll need any more, especially with the left pocket having a port too.

SiriusXM Radio.jpg
 
Lazy Day

Spent a large part of it at the VA, good thing I'm not paying for all this care ... :AGGHH:

Anyway ... when I got home I checked the mail and my stubby antennas had arrived. Didn't feel like messing with them, so just gonna do some hand therapy (get your kids out of the gutter)

The reason I was at the VA was for numbness in my middle right finger ... turns out I hyper extended the finger and aggravated the tendon. It's not from over use of that particular finger during my youth as diagnose by Carla ... :D. Anyway, the therapy involves massaging the palm and down the length of the finger. The neurologist called it trigger finger. I explained to her 1) I don't shoot and 2) that's not a trigger finger I'd use. She laughed and said most people with tennis elbow don't play tennis. I will never understand doctors or medicine. When they do finally speak english, it makes no sense.

Alas, I digress .... :D

I was surprised at the actual size of the stubby antennas ... really small. Here they are:

2019-02-28 14.33.56.jpg

Not sure how they will look ... or perform ... More to come later.
 
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Non Twenty Four

I may have non twenty four ... just can't explain it. I go to bed at 2000 (8 pm for you non standard folks) and sleep 8 hours and am up at 0400 (4 am) ... very strange.

Anyway ... at 5 am I was finished with my first cup of lifer juice (coffee) and decided to install the stubby antennas ... there they were ... just sitting on my end table begging to be installed. So I obliged.

Here they are. Kind of like the look, just not sure how they will perform.

Stubby Left.jpg

Stubby Right.jpg

If they perform okay, I may just paint them to match the bike ... :D

I like taking pictures at night ... harder to see the clutter in the garage ... hehehehehe.
 

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