Trambo

20 hours ago, betoney said:

@superfist - Congratulations, beautiful bike!

I cant figure it out, every time I take my bike to the shop, I get the same old bike back...???

Yer doin' it wrong. LOL 😜

Yikes. Stay safe amigo.

Neat. Most of my family hails from Lewisburg & Greenbrier County. I visit the area a couple times a year. I can attest to it being a "cool small town" with good eats and great riding. Not sure of my work schedule will allow attendance but I'll see what happens.

11 hours ago, texscottyd said:

Need more data.   ECU updates? 

I was commenting on koth's new 'tard... LOL

Achievement Unlocked: Hooligan unleashed. 🤣

I'm one of the original FJ havers. I bought mine in May 2015 after a Yamaha demo day ride that helped me make up my mind. This replaced a KLR-650 I had for about a year, which had replaced the venerable '07 SV-650 that I loved for many years before it. The SV was truly my long-time fave bike of the past 20 years. Just a great, simple do-it-all bike that farkeled up well and did almost anything I wanted. My only gripe was the lack of top-end power. The V-twin was fabulous around town and in low speed twisty corners, but just gasped for breath above 60mph. The Yammer 900 triple has no such issues and can rip down long straights with great aplomb when I ask for it. Not that I ask it often... but when I do, oh mamma...

As many have said, the FJ farkels up very well. All new suspension was the greatest of the upgrades. The bike rides on rails now, with complete confidence and agility no matter how hard I push it. There are so very few shortcomings it's hard to even list them. However, I envy the new owners with the factory cruise control, that's maybe the one and only option I wish I had that I don't. Comfort with a Sargent seat is all-day long and the factory side bags are plenty good for my touring needs. Fuel economy is great for the displacement and although some feel the fuel tank should be larger, I'm OK with capacity. (A rider needs to stretch every now & then, after all) 

Of all the many motorcycles I have owned in the last 30+ years, the FJ-09 is by far my favorite. It ain't perfect. But for a budget bike it's as perfect as I need it to be.

On 6/27/2019 at 6:57 PM, Coop said:

Rode for pastry.

Always good motivation to ride, Coop. 🍩

1 hour ago, Batgirl said:

That was you that I saw then.  I also rode by a little later in the truck and almost stopped to ogle the bike.  Nice looking bike.  

Thanks! I'm pretty fond of it.

4 hours ago, Batgirl said:

Were you staying at Fontana?  I saw one there while out running one morning.  

Yup. Cabin right by the General Store. 

This is cool: LINK TO NEWS BLURB

Yamaha has signed a deal to make its Niken the official support bike for the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta.

I, too just got back from Deal's Gap. Put a lot of laps on the Tail this year. Great riding, as always.

9 hours ago, chesterburnet said:

I bought a Delkovic exhaust for $375.00 and it was sitting on my front steps waiting for me when I got home from camping on Monday. Got home from work tonight at 5:10 and had it installed in about an hour. I had a LeoVince on my Ducati and I really don't see a drop off in quality. I just couldn't resist seeing what this brand is like. It 's a lot lighter, very nicely made, fits perfectly, sounds gnarly, and looks cool. Seeing so many others at around $1000, I figure i can buy almost 3 of this brand. Unless it falls apart which I don't think it will, I'd say give it a try.

Good choice. I had a Delkovic exhaust on my SV-650 for several years and never had a problem with it. Quality was good, sounded great and talk about saving some dough! I think you'll enjoy it.

9 hours ago, micah2074 said:

I saw another red FJ yesterday on the Blueridge Parkway near Cherokee. We were going in opposite directions. Which one of you was it? Here we are at the high point. The Cornbread Mafia has gained a couple on new members. 

I love that spot.

15 hours ago, BBB said:

Are you all actually measuring the oil volume using a reliable measuring jug, or just using the indicator lines on the bottles the oil comes in? If the latter, there’s your variance straight away.

Just using the indicator lines on the bottles the oil comes in. It may not be as accurate as a measuring jug but .20-.25 quarts left over in a bottle isn't that worrisome to me, I mean the hash marks on the bottle aren't that wildly far off and IDC what the precise measurement on the jug says anyway. The top mark on the sight-glass is the mark I only care about, and I just pour, sight, measure, and re-pour as needed to hit that mark. My FJ is THE fussiest bike I've ever owned with regards to exact oil level so I have to do it this way to keep her happy. Top hash mark only for her or she pitches a fit so that's how we do things here.

Edit - My service manual states 2.7 quarts with oil filter change which is quite accurate to the oil bottle hash marks so..... yeah.

11 minutes ago, betoney said:

The book says "a lot of things".  😎

@wordsmith - 3 quarts is what worked for me with a new filter.  I tried 2.75 quarts but the level was a bit low for my comfort.

Mine is spot on with 2.8 quarts with a filter change, I found I have to fill mine to the high end of the sight glass to keep her happy. Works out just fine every 5th LOF. Hahaha

22 hours ago, wordsmith said:

That was a good find, Ukblade - well done!   Painting to match would really finish it off nicely, but what colour is the bike?  Even for allowing for changes when photographing due to light, camera, etc., I have to say I haven't seen that colour before, but I do rather like it!   

Totally agree, I love that color. Looks awesome.

On 4/30/2019 at 4:04 PM, texscottyd said:

Until today.  My original battery lasted until today...  2015 model, bought new in March 2016.  14,327.4 miles (give or take) 

Interestingly, the Battery Tender showed it as fully charged, but when I hit the starter it made about three or four slow revolutions, and then just a click and vague electronic buzzing noises.   Yup, it’s dead!  

Replacement is already installed, and it fired right up.  All is right with the world once again...

Had the exact same experience as you, back in January. OEM battery laster 3.5 years, the worst longevity I've ever had out of an OEM, and I also keep mine on a Battery Tender.... And mine also spoofed me like yours. 

21 hours ago, betoney said:

Changed the oil and filter in preparation for 2 upcoming road trips into Northern California.

I switched to Castrol Power 1 full Synthetic from Yamalube semi-synthetic.

Great choice. I've been using this for a few years now. In fact I just got a fresh case shipped in via Amazon today so I can tackle mine this weekend prior to my big trip to Deal's Gap in June. 

32 minutes ago, fjrpittsburgh said:

It's very minimal compared to any other bike I've owned.  It's almost dead on with my GPS speed.  I'd trust it to actual speed under most circumstances.

Same here. First motorbike I've owned that was darn near spot-on for actual speed indicated. I've checked versus GPS, and run through a number of radar displays as well and it was always right on the money. At higher speeds I think it wanders off by a few MPH but not by much.

I'm also a FbM customer, I had both the complete fork rebuilds and a new Nitron ordered through him. Yes it was a slow process, but in all fairness he warned me up front it probably would be. The end product was nothing less than stellar.  The FJ rides on rails now, I have utter confidence on technical mountain canyon roads with it and feels like I can totally explore the full potential of the FJ-09 with the upgraded suspension. The price point was very good and bang for the buck was impossible to beat. I'm happy with his work.

54 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

I do not want to start another tyre - or even tire - thread, but... are Pilot Road GT's the better choice than the non-GT PRs?   I have read elsewhere that the GTs are for heavier bikes than ours.  I'll be ordering new rubber next week and am tossing-up between Pirelli Angels and the newer Michelin Road 5s.   But the Pirellis are about $100 cheaper...

I actually picked the GT's for (hopefully) slightly better durability. They are designed for heavier sport-tour bikes, but this works in my favor as I am a rather heavy bloke (around 250lbs.) and I almost always ride with both the side cases and a tail bag carrying extra weight as well as an occasional passenger. With all that mass I tend to flat-spot rear tyres a great deal more quickly than most gents. I'll report on their ride quality in a few weeks after my trip to the mountains, after I pound on them for a thousand miles down there.

I put her up on the paddock stands and removed the wheels & tires today.

My guy at work has a beautiful No-Mar setup (he's a racer) so he'll mount & balance for booze. Good to have friends, eh? My new Pilot Road GT's have been sitting in my office for about 3 months, it's taken me this long to get around to it. 😜

I'll have fresh rubber on the FJ for my Del's Gap trip in 3 weeks.

9 hours ago, sdwillie said:

I still cant believe it was 20 dollars. So cheap and it really should have come with the bike its such a better look.

Agreed. Given what the original pricing was when these first materialized, this was a steal.

12 hours ago, sdwillie said:

How did you end up using the screws provided? The ones they sent to me were a thicker thread so I ended up reusing the stock ones and I didnt use the spacers either.

If you're talking about the sheet metal screws, they just screwed right in the underside of the headlight. Granted they took a little extra effort, but not to a point where I felt like I was struggling or putting enormous effort into it.

The longer bolts matched up to the new threaded clips.

Here ya go:

Only because 1.) I like you guys, and 2.) I literally had to walk past her to the beer fridge in my garage. 😜