FJ MICROFICHE PROJECT HISTORY
-= 02 APR 1998 =-
I'm beginning shipments tomorrow. Please be patient. I burned 15 CD's tonight, and will do more tomorrow.
-= 26 MAR 1998 =-
I'm going to ship some of the CD's tomorrow to those who will get feedback to me ASAP. I plan to ship all the other orders as soon as I hear some feedback.
-= 21 MAR 1998 =-
LET'S GO! I'm going to stop screwing with finding brochures, etc, and MAKE SOME CD's! If your year is not shown in the brochures, or I possibly missed your bike pic, I apologize. I'm going to send a few CD's this week, and for those of you who receive them, please give me some feedback ASAP! I could mess with this for another year, and still come up with new ideas, but riding weather is almost here, and I'm sure the CD would be a big help to everyone.
-= 11 MAR 1998 =-
Thanks Dave Peddle! The viewer is slick. I hope it works for everyone. We have a few items to tweak, and I hope to start shipment before the end of the month. Thanks for everyone's patience.
-= 03 MAR 1998 =-
Hope to be shipping as soon as I received the viewer from Dave Peddle. I want to stress what is included in the CD.
a. All US FJ1100/FJ1200 microfiche scans from 1984 - 1993, in .GIF format separated by year. I will also include the original .TIF files.
b. A Gallery of individuals bikes (If I somehow missed yours, I apologize).
c. Brochures for some of the years.
d. Shareware version of ACDSee image viewer for IBM Compatible machines.
FINE PRINT
I am in no way responsible for poor quality images, typos, wrong part numbers, etc.
This is beyond my control. While the images on the CD are not copyrighted, the
CD and it's structure are copyrighted. No copies may be reproduced without written
permission from Gary Foreman. The contents are being distributed "AS IS".
The viewer included may or may not work on your system, no guarantees. You
can use any good graphics program to view the images. If a CD arrives DAMAGED,
please contact your carrier. If the CD is unreadable, please return to myself for
Quality Control and Replacement.
-= 25 FEB 1998 =-
MAC USERS - Looks like the CD's are readable in a MAC. Does anyone know of a good image viewer for a MAC? Must be Shareware/Freeware. Zoom and Panning a must.
-= 17 FEB 1998 =-
MAC USERS - PLEASE READ! If you use a Macintosh, and ordered a CD, please note I have sent it to someone to verify a MAC can read the CD. There will be NO Mac applications on the CD. The only usable files are the image files (.GIF, .JPG, .TIF). If you can't find a reader for these files - DO NOT ORDER A CD! I have no way to write and application for the Mac. The CD will conform to ISO 9660 naming structure. If you have questions/concerns, please email me.
-= 09 FEB 1998 =-
www.fj1100.com is now online. I couldn't resist registering it! I hope it makes it easier to remember how to navigate to this page.
-= 08 FEB 1998 =-
I have order the blank CD's, and the Mailers. I was going to order cheap diskette mailers, but went ahead and order small CD Mailer Boxes. This should insure you get the CD intact!
-= 05 FEB 1998 =- FINISHED!
I have completed conversions and cropping. First cut of the CD has been sent to David Peddle to work on the viewer.
I am STILL accepting pictures, brochures, articles, etc.
NOTICE: If you are impatient, and don't care about the program David is writing, please let me know you would like the CD as is. All microfiche are separated by directory. I will also include the entire directory of RAW files I received from the company that scanned it in case I screwed up somewhere along the line when cropping. I have some brochures, some images of personal bikes, etc. I haven't had any time to work on FAQ's or news articles. But if you need it, you are welcome to it! I have included on the disk the 16 and 32 bit versions of ACDSee to view the images with, it has zoom and pan capabilities.
-= 01 FEB 1998 =-
Almost there as far as conversions go (wow, this process really fries my brain after
a few hours). Takes about 1.5 to 2 hours per year to convert the images and crop out
all the junk that comes with printing from a microfiche. I am done up through the
'90 model year. I am trying to send confirmations when I receive your check (usually
done on the weekend). If it has been a two weeks since sending your check, please
notify me, and I will check to make sure nothing was overlooked Thanks again for
everyone's patience.
-= 21 JAN 1998 =-
The remainder of the files arrived today. They look great. I will get the
conversions done, and send them to have the viewer written by next week I hope. I
have already spent a chunk of change on this. I will need to have the orders
pre-paid before mailing. I will email each person who filled out the PRE-ORDER form
an address to send checks or money-orders to in US Funds.
-= 14 JAN 1998 =-
The first Microfiche files arrived today. They look great, and I am getting
them ready to transfer to CD. I have to convert the Group 4 TIF to BMP then to GIF.
Sounds lengthy, but it goes pretty quick. I hope the remaining images will
arrive soon. I will then send them to have the Viewer written.
-= 08 JAN 1998 =-
The first Microfiche files should arrive any day. I will post a few samples on
this page when they are available.
-= 24 DEC 1997 =-
I think the format problems have been solved with the company digitizing the
microfiche. I have successfully taken the Group 4 .TIF and converted it to .BMP,
then to .GIF. Sounds like a long process, but it's not too bad. Will drop off
the remaining fiche to them next week, and hopefully have all the images back at the first
of the year. Once I have the images, the process will go a lot faster.
-= 09 DEC 1997 =-
Dealer called today, and all the Microfiche have arrived. They will now ship
them to me. There were 9 fiche in all. Still working with company to scan all
the fiche direct to digital.
-= 02 DEC 1997 =-
I contacted a company who can scan all the Fiche to digital at a reasonable cost,
cutting out the print and scan routine. This should make the project go MUCH
faster. I will send a sample fiche to this company tomorrow and get some samples on
this page for comparison ASAP. I still need those brochures.
-= 01 DEC 1997 =-
Received response from one company who can scan the microfiche to digital format
(TIF). Only problem here is cost at $1.00 per frame. Figure 60 frames a fiche
x 7 fiche would make this too expensive. Will stick with printing and scanning
for now.
I have the 1984 Sales Brochure...Do you have others? Please email me!
My FJ History
My first FJ was a 1984 FJ the first year they were introduced. My cousin who is a
motorcycle performance freak had the first one, and after one ride on it I had to have
one. I paid $4800.00 for it new. I was a beast and a half. Shortly after
I purchased it, I was working on my Pilots License. This was not a cheap endeavor,
which required me selling my FJ after a year and I let it go for $3400 with only 2k miles
on it. You have to do what you have to do. Well, I got my license which I am
never sorry I did, but I needed a bike. I purchased a 750 Virago from a friend for
$1000, but it was no FJ, even with the drag bars and shorty pipes pipes I installed.
I sold it and was determined to get another FJ1100.
I now own a 1985 FJ1100 that was purchased in 1990 after it was abused and dropped on the right side. It was a 4 year restoration project which included a complete new paint job in Imron, and repainting the frame. While I only paid $1000.00 for the beast, I spent over $1000 in parts just replacing engine case covers, nuts and bolts, etc. The fairing was repaired by a company in CA called "Born Again Fairings". They did an excellent job. The seat was covered by Sargent's. The original SuperTrap pipes that were on it were replaced with V&H SS2-R System.
Why am I doing this?
While I was restoring the bike, I needed to compile lists of parts needed with part
numbers. I purchased a microfiche, and printed all the pages at my local library.
These pages were helpful, but over time they showed a lot of wear. I tried
scanning a few pages in, and they looked great. Not only was this storage permanent,
but I could now ZOOM in for a close look when doing a reassemble. My fellow riders
were impressed, and I toyed with the idea of making a CD with the images. I use
ACDSee to view the images, but David Peddle has written a nice Windows front end with zoom
capabilities.
I asked the users on the Yamaha FJ list if they were interested in a copy. WERE THEY EVER!
But hey...why not do ALL the FJ1100/FJ1200 series? I have ordered a complete set of Microfiche for all the years that the FJ1100/FJ1200 were available. I will offer the CD to those who want it as cheap as possible. I have a lot of printing and scanning to do, and I'm sure this will take some time.
What about Copyright Issues?
I called Yamaha Customer Service since I could not find ANY copyright notices on the
microfiche. A representative told me that there is no copyright on it, and we were
free to make all the copies we want...after all, if we order parts with it, we are making
money for Yamaha. This was the only obstacle I had to overcome for the project.
What will be on the CD ???
Again, I want ALL the years of FJ1100/FJ1200 microfiche (US only), but also want any
FAQ's, and related info. I would also love to include a gallery of images of each
users bike if you will provide me one. I would also like someone to compile a
complete list of Yamaha dealers and parts dealers with address and phone numbers.
Any takers on this part of the project?
What do I need from you?
I need the sales brochure for each year the bike was made. I have the 1984 brochure,
but ANY and ALL material would be appreciated. If you send it to me...I promise to
scan it and return it. If it is worth a lot to you, please insure it. As the
project nears completion, I will start taking orders then. I will put an order form
on this page and decide the logistics of it then.
Please place a link to this page for updates.