Thank You, and Goodbye, My Little Honda Fit.

Well, today was the day. Title transfer is complete and the little Fit drove off with its new owner.

The Fit had been under storage policy since July, and it was rarely driven for a while even before that. I finally came to the decision to sell the Fit a couple of months ago. Even then, I was a bit hesitant since I really did like this car. So I posted a note on my Facebook page so that only my friends can see it, and get first dibs at a reduced price, before I actually put it for sell on a public site.

Turned out one of my very good friend, who I've known since high school, was in fact interested, but needed a bit of time to deal with her other vehicle first. Since it was a friend, I held the car for her. and today, we completed the transaction, and she took posession of the car.

It's been a great vehicle. In fact, the only car I've owned that I never had a single thing go wrong during then entire ownership experience (I know it's only been 5 years, but I've never actually owned any vehicle for more than this). And just last Thursday, my Sienna minivan started leaking power steering fluid. By today, it was making a pretty horrid sound after making left turns. I'm guessing I'm looking at a steering rack replacement, on a 2005, with actually less KMs than my Honda Fit. I think I'm going to regret selling the Fit.

But hey, at least it's going to a good friend, and I'm gonna be able to see it all the time. Maybe she'll even let me drive it once in a while.

Thank you, my little Fit. and Goodbye.

Dead Battery, and Putting the Fit Away... For now.

Well, I haven't really driven my Fit since I swapped wheels/tires. In fact, when I did try to start the car, the battery was comepletely shot. In fact I tried to revive it with a digital battery charger, but it's apparently completely dead.

A quick search on fitfreak.net will show that the stock Honda battery does not last long, and a lot of them suffer an early death. Many even before warranty is over. The unfortunate thing is, the small sized battery in our car is quite rare, and seems no one currently makes an aftermarket 151R Group sized batteries. So you're stuck to either purchase the battery from Honda, and possibly suffer an early death again, or as some owners have done, trimmed their battery tray, and installed a larger group 51R sized battery into their Fit. Depending on the brand, some are a tight fit, barely clearing the air box, while others are pushing against it. But at least it's an option. An option that's cheaper, more readily available, and with higher specs and capacity than the stock battery.

Anyways, since I wasn't driving my Fit these days, and my Sienna's insurance was up, I decided to transfer my insurance on the Fit to the Sienna. I then put storage insurance on the Fit and parked it in my garage. It was a bit sad, but currently I have no intentions of selling it. It's still a good little go-around. I'm sure I'll plate it again in the future.

My New Bike

I got my new bike!!


After finding out my Ninja was a write-off, I started looking at Craigslist and other places for a replacement. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, and was actually considering buying a standard cruiser like a Harley Sportster or a Triumph Bonneville. However, I saw the ad for this Bandit, and I was intrigued. After asking the selling the history and condition of the bike, and settling on a very reasonable price, I couldn't pass it up.

It's a GSF650SAK7, better known as a 2007 Suzuki Bandit 650S ABS. The Suzuki Bandit is a long running series from Suzuki, and is quite a popular bike in most places in the world. The interesting thing about this bike is that the 2007 model was the first year of the new liquid-cooled, fuel-injected 650cc motor. However, it was also the final year the 600-class Bandit was sold in North America. In fact, the U.S. never got this model. And after a one year hiatus, Suzuki brought the GSX650F to North America. The new bike is in fact just a full fairing version of the Bandit I have now. So basically, I got the same thing as the new bike, but without the pretentious super-sport looks.

This bike is heavy. about 100 lbs or so heavier than most of its competitors in its class. It's because it has a full primeter frame, and it was also build to support a 1250cc motor. In fact this bike has more load capacity than a Honda Goldwing.

The ABS is a good option for me to have on this bike, considering it might have helped when I slipped on gravel on my last bike. With the kid now, I won't have as much time riding, but I hope I do get a chance to enjoy this bike a bit. In fact, the Wee Bandit can make a very good light Sport Touring bike, which is what I originally wanted to get into when I started riding. I'm considering putting some hard cases on it and hopefully go for a long ride sometime.

My Bike is a Total Loss

Just got the call from insurance today. They decided to write the bike off. :(

In reality, all they needed to do is to bend the rear brake lever back, replace the bent right clip-on, bar end, and get a new front fairing so we can remount the turn signals, and the bike would be perfectly safe and street-able. Yes, I know the brake lever was scratched up. Yes I know the rear right fairing and mufflers are scratched. And there are probably many more things we need to do for the bike to be "perfect" again. However, the bike wasn't perfect to begin with. In fact, that's part of the reason why I bought it; it's my first bike.

So it's the start of the season and I don't have a bike anymore. That's the sad part. However, I can also look at the good. I was thinking about selling my bike this season or the next anyways to get something different, and my declared value is about right for what I'd hope to sell it for anyways. So it's like I didn't have to look for a buyer. Plus now when I have some free time, I can spend it more with my kid.


Well, so long my Ninja. You've been a great first bike, and I'll always remember you.

My Motorcycle Oops

Well, I had planned to do this for a while, but today, I finally got around to cleaning my air filter on my bike. I had not done this since I bought the bike, and figured it was about time. I had all the cleaners and oils ready to go for a while, and have read the instructions here a few times. So off I went to take the bike apart.

Old bikes, gotta love them. You have to remove your gas tank just to get to the air filter... and to most everything else for that matter...

Anyways, the filter was definitely dirty, but everything went pretty smooth. I put the bike back together, and figure I'd go for a short test ride and get some gas.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it back home in one piece. Well, I did, but the bike didn't. There's been some construction near the off ramp to my home, and there was some gravel in the middle of the turn. I let go of the brake and straighten up as much as I could, but since I was already engaged into the turn, going straight would mean a head-on collision with the giant exit sign.


Anyways, the bike went down, and me along with it. My gear did it's job and protected me for the most part. However, since I was wearing jeans, and not proper riding pants, guess where I got hurt? Yup, my knees. The padding on the palm of my gloves were shredded. If I didn't have gloves, that would have been my hand. The shoulder armour took a good impact and slide. Aside from my knee being cut open a little, all I had was a bit of bruising on the side of my waist. I'm a believer! Wear gear when you ride!!

Oil Change for the Sienna (56,397km)

This will be the first oil change on the Sienna since I've owned it. The oil looked clean enough when I picked it up at just over 50,000km. So I left it in and was expecting to change it at the same 5000km interval as my Fit. But the oil change was delayed a bit since I wanted to do it at the same time as when I had to change back to my summer tires since I don't have a separate wheel for the van's snow tires.

Well, that was delayed too since it's already almost end of April, and I live on the Lower Mainland, where we have not seen snow or sub zero temperature in a while. When I finally changed my Fit wheels over last Thursday, I also picked up the Sienna's summer tires from storage and made an appointment to get my tires re and re, and do the oil change for the van.

So the summer tires went on, and the oil got changed. I also asked them to check the rear pad while the wheel was off since I've been hearing light metal grinding from the rear. Sure enough, the rear pads needed replacing. So the whole service cost me a bit more than I had anticipated. But hey, it's the babymobile. If it needs it, it will get done.

EM1 (SiR) Wheels Back On

My goodness! I haven't updated this blog in a while.

Well, if you read my last post in January, you probably guessed that I've been a little bit pre-occupied with the new addition to the family. And to be honest, I've also been driving the Sienna a lot more than the Fit lately because it's just much easier to haul the baby and paraphernalia around.

In fact, there's a thread on Fitfreak.net that talks about how the front seats have to be moved almost all the way forward in order to fit a rear facing child seat in the back.

Anyways, I finally managed to put back on my EM1(SiR) wheels today. I miss these wheels on the Fit. The offset is just so much nicer and much more flush to the fenders. They've also got brand new Yokohama S.Drive tires I bought along with my General Altimax Artic winter tires back in November. Once I give these tires a good run, I'll post my review here.

Oops... baby needs a bath again... Gotta go.

Baby On Board

Remember me buying the Toyota Sienna minivan? Remember why I bought the minivan? Well, the reason has finally arrived early this month. (you think I wasn't updating this blog often enough before? you just wait. =P)

He's lucky he's so cute. Otherwise I would not put up with his multiple late night feedings, diaper changes, constant need for attention, and... I don't remember anymore. In fact, I don't really remember anything before the baby anymore. ;-)

Other than the necessities, I haven't splurged on the baby until now. I know I payed WAY TOO MUCH for a piece of vinyl sticker, but I couldn't help it.

Boxing Week Battle Scar

I didn't go out to brave the crowd for Boxing Day shopping. Partly because there wasn't any really good deals to be had, and also, I didn't really need anything at this point.

But then, I did eventually find a couple of items I wanted. Since the sales usually last the whole week now, I decided to head out and pick up a couple of items; a Blu-Ray, and a printer.

Maybe I shouldn't have. Because I came home with a new door ding, well, more like a gash on my front passenger side door. Very high up, so must be a van or SUV. But it's a nasty one. Looks like they hit my door, and didn't stop right away and kept pushing for another 3/4 of an inch. Nasty! Maybe it wasn't worth going out for the sales after all.

On the upside, I manage to sell my stock Dunlop 14" tires I mentioned in my previous post rather quickly. Of course, pricing them low helps.

Oil Change #13 (66997km) + Winter Tires Mounted

A Lot going on these days, and I was again a little late getting my oil and filter changed. But got it done today with the standard 5W20 and Honda oil filter.

The tires I ordered from JC Whitney I mentioned in my last post took a while, but they had finally arrived. I'm happy to say that it was as stated in their website; no additional taxes, duties, or brokerage fees were applied. I had them mounted on Tuesday when I had some free time, and will now list the stock Dunlop SP31 tires cheap as I will no longer need them with these dedicated snow tires on my 14" steelies.

New Real Snow Tires

If you've been following my blog, you'll know I've gotten by with all season tires for the past 4 years. (wow, I've had this little Fit for just over 4 years now!) The first two years were with the stock Dunlops 14" on factory steelies. Then 2 years ago I only had the worn Kumhos that came with my used EM1 rims. That was also the year wih the huge snow dump, so I the Fit was pretty much parked. Last year, I managed to find a set of stock 14" wheel/tire combo to replace the ones I traded, and at least I could drive in light snow.

However, with the light weight of the Honda Fit, it's really not a great winter car, and to really be useful in the white stuff, you want proper winter tires. I mentioned in a previous post that I bought a Toyota Sienna in anticipation of my growing family. Well, this also means I need to make my vehicles ready for winter since my wife is due in early January. Luckily, The Sienna came with a spare set of winter tires. But the Fit still needed help.

While looking around online, I found JC Whitney. I already knew of the company because I had lived in the States when I was younger, and would request some of their mail order catelogs even though I was still too young to own a vehicle. However, I never thought of purchasing from them here because normally shipping anything from the US to Canada, especially larger items, are prohibitively expensive. However, it would seem from their page here that they only add $11.99 to your order to ship to Canada. This, along with their regular shipping charge, supposedly covers for all taxes, duty, and brokerage fees. I was skeptical, but other canadians have ordered and said that it was legit. and as long as the tires are 16" and under, this works.

So I decided to place an order for a set of General Altimax Artic in the stock 175/65/14 size. And since I'm now getting dedicated winter tires, I decided to also order a new set of summer tires in the form of Yokohama S.Drive in 195/55/15 size to replace the factory Michelins I got last year for the EM1 rims. It would seem that the one tire that had some camber wear was because there was a nail in the tire, and the seller must have driven with it flat or low for a while. The last time my car was up on a hoist, I noticed that tire, which luckily I placed in the rear, is now starting to show a couple of bubbles on the inner side wall; a sign or sidewall failure. So that tire is no longer safe. The price for the two set of tires was much better than what I could have gotten locally. So I'm just waiting for these to come in so I can mount them on the Fit.

In the meantime, I went in today and put the winter tires that came with the Sienna on the van. I didn't pay much attention to them when I bought the car. but as it turns out, they are also General Altimax Artic tires. Same ones I had ordered for my Fit. A copy of the Gislaved Nordfrost 3 tires from Sweden, the General Altimax Artic (both under the Continental umbrella) had fantastic reviews and are a good value. I feel better that the van, and soon the Fit will have proper winter tires on this season. With pregnant wife now, and kid later. I think it's money worth spending.

LED Gauge Lights for the Bike

My buddy decided to change his car dome lights to white LEDs. However, within the batch he ordered, there were some that were a bit too 'blue' for his liking. So I took his 'leftovers' and put them behind the gauges of my bike. So I guess this qualifies as the first mod for my bike.

These are nice T-10 wedge base bulbs with 4 SMDs on each bulb. Very wide angle and very bright. Yes these had a noticeable tinge of blue, but They're still mostly white. So the redline on the tach and temp gauge is not washed out by blue and is still clearly distinguishable. The before and after photos are taken with a point and shoot, but the ISO, exposure and shutter speed settings were set the same. You can tell by the matching ambient lighting in front of the bike as well as the glare off the warning lights in both photos. So the photos are an accurate representation of the LEDs brightness.



The results are great. Many cheaper LED bulbs are either too dim or the angle is too narrow. These SMDs doesn't have either of the problem. I followed the simple directions here for the install. And it took very little time. I don't ride at night too often, and the riding season is almost over for me. But I still enjoy the results.

Oil Change #12 (61651km) + Brake Job

A tad late on the oil change again. Plus with the moving and heavy use, the oil was a bit dirtier this time. Well, late for my standards, not the factory recommended, which is a lot later.

Standard affair again with the 5W20 oil and Honda oil filter. But I noticed a slow leak at the driver side front tire and found a nail in it a couple of days ago. So I just kept the nail in 'til today and plugged it while the car was up on the hoist.

I also asked my mechanic to check on the brakes since I can feel some grinding under heavy braking. Upon a quick visual inspection without removing the wheels, they looked ok. However, once the wheels were removed, he quickly realized that while the outside pads still had plenty of material, the inside pads were completely gone!! He said he's had another Fit that did the same, and also a Infiniti G35 coupe that also wore out the inside pads much faster than the outside. So keep an eye out on your inside pads.

Anyways, he put in new Nissin pads, the same stuff the factory uses. We noticed that the rotors were a bit grooved and also slightly wrapped, so he also machined the front rotors at the same time.

Jazz Packing

My friend posted this on my Facebook wall. It's apparently part of the new campaign for the Honda Jazz in Australia. I thought it was pretty funny.



And here's the other ads from the same campaign:

My Swagger Wagon

That's right! I bought a minivan!!!

We found out last month before we left for our trip that my wife is expecting. Since I was considering looking for a second car anyways, now the minivan became a consideration.

I know, I don't NEED a minivan for one kid. But the thing is, no matter how much stuff you can throw into the Fit, it is still is a sub-compact. With a child seat in the back, there's really only room for one more adult back there. Now say we want to take the kid out with the in-laws, with whom we are very close. With the Fit, we'd either have to pick only one in-law to take with us, or they'd have to drive a 2nd vehicle.

There are other advantages to a minivan, such as the ability for my wife to stop the car, hop to the rear 3rd row inside the tinted windows, and breastfeed the baby whenever it needs to be fed. Or having enough room inside to easily change a diaper.

So minivan it is. I don't see the point of an SUV (some do have 3rd row seating). And most Fit owners would agree that the ability for a vehicle to maximize usable space vs the space it occupies is very important. And in this respect, a minivan will ALWAYS have an SUV beat. Plus, one of my biggest loves for minivans: sliding rear doors!! Huge openings you can stand directly in front of no matter if there's another car parked next to you. I don't understand why more people can't see the usefulness of minivans and sliding doors. But I expect they'll come around again, just like the return of mini hatchbacks like the Fit.

Anyways, since I'm expecting to keep the minivan for a while, I was basically looking for a lower KM, late model Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna. I came across this 2005 Sienna LE and went to check it out. The van had light to heavy scratches on every panel, and the rear cargo area was well used. However, it was indeed low KMs (just over 50,000km), and well priced, and came with hitch, bike rack, and a set of spare winter tires. I was happy enough with the condition considering the price, so I picked it up.

This thing just absolutely dwarfs the Fit. So far I really like it. It cruises at a much lower rpm on the highway than the Fit, is very comfortable inside (I still have a few small issues with the Fit's driving position), and the 3.3L V6 and 5-speed auto is nice.

Of course I can't leave any vehicle alone. I've already added a GROM USB interface that allows MP3 playback from a USB flashdrive via the stock radio's CD changer interface. I'm also debating parking sensors or rear view camera. and maybe another set of wheels for the van as well. It will probably be something similar to the Fit, with an OEM+ style upgrade (i.e. wheels from another Toyota/Lexus vehicle). We'll see.

Popular Mechanics Compares Fit to Ducati

I've had this article bookmarked for a while. It's obviously a tongue-in-cheek type of comparison since these two vehicles can never substitute for one another, and therefore not in competition what so ever. But the basic premise of this article is to see which vehicle is better suited for the current down economy with rising fuel prices, yet still provides the enthusiast owner with the most fun ownership experience, for under $20,000. Being both a rider and a Fit owner, I thought it was pretty funny.

Here's the article: Two Wheels or Four? Ducati Bike vs. Honda Fit

JDM Honda Window Visors Installed

One of first parts I got for my car, that I didn't install, was a JDM replica Window Visor. However, I wasn't pleased with the way the replicas looked, especially since I know what the genuine ones looked like. So I ended up re-selling them rather quickly.


I noticed right away with this car that the low angle of the windshield allowed water to wrap around the a-pillar significantly, and wanted to get the visors to remedy the situation. 3 years go by, and with the minimal numbers of car washes my car gets, my a-pillar often look like it has dirt/watermark tentacles wrapped around it.

I had recently helped a good friend install a I.C.E. system complete with GPS navigation, DVD player, USB and iPod integration, and reverse camera. We then also retrofitted turn signal mirrors on his car, which turned out to be a much bigger job than anticipated.

Being the great guy he is, instead of thanking me with a case of beer, he purchased the genuine JDM HondaAccess Slimline window visors for me, and even installed them for me on my car to show his gratitude.

I absolutely love these visors. Very discreet, they are so sleek looking and barely stick out at all. The tint on them also helps with the afternoon sun on my drive home in the afternoon. They're very well made with clips and double-side tape to secure them to the car, and also visually lower the roof line of the car making it seem less tall and bubbly.

Installation is very easy. And with the clips, you don't have to worry too much about lining them up right before pulling the backing of the tape.

1. Install the clips onto the visors. Roll down the windows and remove the upper portion of the window seals from its channel.

2. Prep the adhesive surface with rubbing alcohol.

3. Clip in the visors, and replace the window seals (start with the corners first, it will be a lot easier than doing them last).

4. Roll windows back up to hold the visors more securely in place. Remove the backing from the double-side tape, press down to stick to door.


That's it, you're done.

Just Throw It In The Fit

My sister-in-law and her boyfriend are slowly moving over to a new place. And on this day, we decided to move their double wide Ikea Pax wardrobe with 4 wooden drawers, and their Ikea Expedit bookshelf... All with my Fit. And for good measure, we also threw in a couple of boxes. =P


I love this car!

Oil Change #11 (56500km)

Time for another oil change again. A bit earlier on the interval this time since I was late last time. I'll slowly move my interval back to a nice round number. Easier for me to remember that way.

Standard affair, new oil, new oil filter. But this time I also put the SiR wheels back on with the new (to me) tires I mounted just before I put them away and put on the 14" steelies for the winter. I also replaced all 3 wiper inserts for the car since the two fronts were streaking and skipping, and the rear one was splitting.

And in case you need wiper inserts for your GD fit, the part numbers are:

76622-SLN-A01
76632-SEC-A11
76632-S2K-004 (rear)

Also, just realized I forgot to reset the oil change reminder in the dash. Hope I remember when I get back in the car next time. Although It really doesn't matter since I go my mileage anyways.

Another Hit and Run

Well, my car got damaged while parked again over the weekend. This time it was a lot less severe than last time. However, it still left enough of a mark to really annoy me. It looks like a parking incident where the car behind me just didn't know how long their car is and hit my rear driver side corner while trying to get out.


Originally I thought maybe I can get away with buffing it out and using some touch-up paint for the damage. Upon closer inspection, the clearcoat is actually cracked. That means the bumper must be repainted.

I made a claim with my insurance company right away, but will see if it is possible to get it painted below the cost of my deductible. See if the shop will cut me a deal if I can remove and reinstall the bumper myself (easy on the Fit, see my Taillight install post on how).