JDM Passenger Sun Visor Installed

Before picking my wife up at work today, I stopped in my mechanic's garage to say hi. He was not too busy at the time, so we walked around the complex to A&J Racing and I picked up a JDM passenger sun visor, while he inquired about the LED daylights for his own vehicle.

The difference between the stock North American one and the JDM visor is that the JDM one has a flip up mirror on the underside of the visor, as well as two pockets in the front for business cards and/or parking passes, etc. The mirror is a big plus as the wife can now fix her makeup easily. The lack of this mirror was a big pet peeve I had about the Fit from the beginning.

Installation of this item is a cinch. There are two exposed torx screws holding the sun visor in place. Remove these two screws and reinstall the new visor in its place. Easy as that. My wife used it as soon as I picked her up from work that day as we were heading straight to a friend's birthday dinner downtown, so it's definitely worth it.

It's Official, I'm a Licensed Rider

Well, It's official. I'm now a fully licensed rider in British Columbia. Thanks again to all the wonderful people at Pacific Riding School, and my family and friends for sending me there. I passed with only a single mark on the sheet for keeping my signal on too long once, and was told by the examiner that I was a very safe rider. That's really all that I was after.

Now I'm hooked and legally allowed to dive into yet another potentially expensive hobby. It's time to start playing the lotto.

My Lame Excuse for Not Updating

Wow, I haven't updated this blog for a while. The reason is, I have not spent any time online looking on Fit related information.

Remember back in my New Years post, I had mentioned that my family and friends were sending me to motorcycle riding school as my Christmas present. Well, I got my Learners in January, but since then, had not done much more about it. Anyways, I finally called up the school and booked myself in July.

I was picking between BCSC and Pacific for schools, mainly due to their proximity. Both had good reputations, but when I finally decided to book my class, BCSC had lost their use of Boundary Bay Airport, and wasn't sure where their lot sessions were going to be held yet. So I went with Pacific. After going through their course, I would highly recommend them. They didn't really teach you how to ride a bike, but how to think when you ride a bike. I had so much fun all the way through the course.

Anyways, Since I completed the course, all I've been looking at online are motorcycle related things. what type of bike, what kind of gear, etc.. I've already went to a few local shops trying out all brands and models of helmets trying to figure out which one fit my head, and sat on a few bikes and read up on what's best for a beginner. So far, I've narrowed my choices down to either a 2003+ Suzuki SV650, or a 2006+ Kawasaki Ninja 650R. I also know that aside from the expensive Shoei helmets, the HJCs fit me best.

Now comes the tough part, picking designs/colours. Motorcycling is all about looking good, let's be honest. If you don't want to be seen, you'd sit inside a car; it's much safer. So now that I know which helmet, I need to pick a design, then the rest of the gear like jacket, gloves, etc as well. It all has to be somewhat neutral in colour since I don't know what colour bike I will get yet, and don't want to have to buy new gear to match each new bike. But the gear still has to look good. Tough huh?

Anyways, my motorcycle road test is next Friday, and it will have been almost a month since I've been on a bike (I don't already have a bike to practice on, unlike some of my classmates), so I'm a bit nervous. We'll see.

And oh, I sold my old Mazda Today.

Taillamp Post Updated

I've fixed the broken picture links on my previous post Fit Taillamp Options. I've collaged the pictures and put them on my own webspace so that they are clean, easy to understand, and hopefully won't disappear again. Also added are a few more taillamp variations which I have later found.

Also added here are some other taillamps that have been customized by their owners, and are not readily available for sale:


Tinted OEM Taillamps:


These OEM bulb-style taillamps have been tinted by their owners. The left one has just the center clear portion tinted, and the right has the entire lamp tinted. I was actually considering doing the left version as well, as it would look similar to my sister's Euro-spec GTI taillamps on her MkIV Golf.


Mercedes Style Taillamps:


These taillamps were done by the Japanese tuner "Noblesse" for one of their project cars. They put a red strip across the center of the clear section on an OEM bulb-type taillamp to emulate the Mercedes-Benz taillamps. The goal I assume is to complement the VIP look of the car by making it appear more like a MB.


Custom JDM LED Ring Taillamp:


This again was customized by Noblesse of Japan for their project car. They bypassed three LEDs in the cluster and made the taillamp light up as a ring. Interesting concept. Would be cool if they could have wired it so that the ring acts as the taillamp and the centers lit up bright along with all others for brake lamps; Kind of Skyline-ish.


Honda Extreme Concept:


This car was done by Honda for the 2006 SEMA show. At first glance it just looks like the clear version of the JDM LED taillamps. However, look closer and you'll see that it is actually unique. The reflector sections were left alone while the rest of the inner housing has been darkened, similar to the OEM smoked clear or OEM bulb type LED smoked clear taillamps.

Resetting The Oil Life Reminder

As I mentioned in my first maintenance post, the dealer had forgot to reset the oil life reminder in the dash. So I finally remembered when I got in the car today and reset the reminder myself. The procedure is actually in your owners manual, but here's the quick and dirty of what you need to do:

• Press the trip meter select/reset pin until you the oil life reminder is displayed


• Press and hold the select/reset pin down for approximately 10 seconds until the oil life reminder is blinking


• Press and hold the select/reset pin down for another 5 seconds or so until the oil life reminder is reset to 100%

And that's it. It's that easy. This will be good news for people who change their own oil, or does not wait until the reminder tells them to before changing the oil and filter.

Animated Fit GIFs

I found a fun site called GifNinja where it will convert a 4 second WMV video file into a animated GIF right there on the website. So I decided to make a few quick animated GIFs for the Fit from the Honda quicky ads I had posted earlier.





I also made one from an edit of the Ferocious Dominator ad where the Fit swallows an SUV. GifNinja can also make animated GIFs from your pictures. Have fun.

First Maintenance Appointment (5487km)

I have finally reached 5000km on my Fit, after nearly 7 months of ownership. I called to setup a service appointment with my dealer via my salesperson because he had a parking light bulb he had ordered previously for me, and I wanted to replace the burnt out one the same time I did my first service to make things easier for me. He was able to fit me in the next afternoon.

Aside from the first oil change, which was free at my dealership, I also had them perform the SRS (airbag) software update as I had received the recall letter in the mail. And besides replacing the burnt out driver side parking light in the front (apparently a $10 bulb, but covered under warranty for the first year), I had them check for a rattle I've been experiencing under the car. Unfortunately, the service techs could not hear the rattle on their test drive. They did however tighten up my exhaust heat shield as another tech who owns a Fit had experienced a rattle from that area. Unfortunately, that wasn't the source of my rattle, as I can still hear it coming from underneath the car. I'm guessing a loose skid plate under the gas tank possibly.

One thing was that the dealer forgot to reset the service reminder in the dash. But the owners manual does tell you how to reset it yourself. Now I've just got to remember to do it next time I get in the car. Not that it really matters though, I plan to be changing my oil around every 5000km anyway.

Lucky Limo Downtown

I went into downtown yesterday and parked on the street. I fed my meter and went into the building across the street. When I came out, I saw this limo parked behind me. I thought it was pretty funny, so I snapped a picture with my phone.

Look how small the fit is compared to the limo. And boy did the limo driver luck out. Normally he would have had to feed two meters to park on the street I'm sure. Funny thing is, we both still got a bit of space left over in front and behind our cars. I left my car there while I had lunch nearby, and when I came back, the limo was still there. I guess the next car to park in my spot would have to be another small car.

Cargo Cover Installed

The lack of a standard cargo cover on the Honda Fit was something that annoyed me from the beginning, as I believe this should be a standard item on any hatchbacks. Now thanks to fellow Fitfreak member George02, I was able to pick up his cargo cover for my Fit without paying the ridiculous price ($236.16CAD) the dealers wanted for the piece. I've now got it installed in my car, and I already feel much better about having to leave items in the car while parked, even if it's just my jacket.

I'm using a stock photo of the hatch cover for now since I let my relatives borrow the digital cam on their trip to the Canadian Rockies. Really though, it just looks like that. So I might not bother updating the photo with my own. This is definitely a worth while item to buy. To avoid dealer prices, I recommend looking for a used one, or even a replica one. They will look and function almost exactly the same as OEM. Look on ebay, or at Zeta Products.

Prototype Glovebox Light

One of the things that annoy me about the Fit is the lack of a glove-box light. Trying to find something in there at night is like sticking your hand into a raffle box; never knowing what you'll grab out of there, and hoping you got what you really wanted.

There's been a few different lights installed into the glove-box of the Fit, and many other cars that didn't come from the factory with them. Most requires at least basic knowledge of electrical wiring to install. I have no problems with wiring up lights in a car, but I wanted to see if I can find a solution that's easy enough for anyone to install in almost any car.

So far, the setup in this teaser picture I've installed in my Fit is looking very promising. Extremely simple install without wiring. And unlike some previous glove-box lights posted, turns on when the lid is open, and off when closed.

I will keep you updated on the progress of this item.