huck

rodb47 As I mentioned, I had the flash done first and was very happy with the mapping improvements, fuel cut, and all the other things that everyone knows about by this time. But, it did not solve the off idle stumble that I also found so terribly frustrating. I have now had it installed in my bike for over 50K miles with no problem and know others with more than double that with these mods). No problem with the flash either. Both the flash and the plug are easily removed or reversed if one found any problem along the way, but to my knowledge no one has - at least I have not heard of any. I have been riding for a long time, and have had a lot of bikes, among them several Yamaha's. Before this bike, the '15 FJ-09, I had two FJR 1300's. One for over 10 years and well over 150K mi.Before that two Honda ST1100's, also trouble free and very high milage. While I did a bunch of suspension work on both, and in fact other bikes as well because I wanted more performance than the very adequate stock suspension offered (But I stress that this work was not necessary to make the bikes simply ridable), I have never had these kinds of problems with either carbonated (Absolutely loved my FZ1) or Fi bikes. I am in fact pretty disappointed with the fact that this otherwise pretty good bike has such serious problems with fueling. I have heard all the stuff about DOT issues, etc, but somehow other new bike of this era seem to have no such problems. As I mentioned, If the plug had not solved this issue I would have traded this one off. I went from the FJR to the FJ mostly to have a bike that was lighter. As I have gotten older, weight has become an issue. But the off idle problem was so bad with this bike that I was prepared to go back to a heavier FJR, or perhaps a Versys to regain the pleasure of riding a well sorted out bike. I still find this bike to be a bit more buzzy than I would like, but keeping the chain adjusted and wearing gel palm gloves takes care of that well enough. I like the light weight, and the peppy engine so much that I bought it thinking that what I had read about the flash was enough to overcome my worries bout the stumbles... I was wrong, but fortunately some research led me to the Booster Plug. My point is that it took a lot of work, a lot of time, frustration, and expense to get the bike to actually work the way almost any other new bike does out of the box. I will never buy a bike with such issues again. That is like buying new shoes that do not fit thinking they will "Break in" to fit. they will not. So I am grateful for the flash and the Plug, but disappointed in Yamaha.

2WKLOZK, I had my bike flashed first, but as stated, this problem was not solved. The Booster Plug did solve it. In regard to your question regarding flashing. I had a fairly extensive email conversation with Lars, at Power Plug who suggested that this unit was indeed a stand alone product and that one did not "Need" the flash. You may want to discuss this directly with the the power plug folks. I di, and found them to be very responsive and very thorough in answering questions. However, since I had the flash done first I can't reply with personal experience. Why not do the plug first and see if you are happy with the result. It carries a full money back warranty if you are not happy. You can get a list of what the flash does address. The flash does address several other issues, but you may not care about those specifics. Do give this a try, it really is easy to instal, and it really works. I personally experienced a slight increase in milage. But, that might have been because I no longer needed to use higher RPMs in lower gears to try and overcome the stumbles. I am not associated with this company, but I am a big fan.

Wow Marcin! I posted that back in '18... I'm glad I could help. I have a '15 as well. and yes, I have done the flash which helped a lot, but did not take care of the off idle, low speed throttle problem, and I agree, easy instal, and instant response. To me it was a last resort as I was about to ditch the bike out of frustration. but the little gadget made all the difference. I have put on another 50K miles since installing it and hope to put on another 50. I understand the newer models have improved but I have not ridden one yet and don't need a new bike so I likely won't bother until it is time to replace this one. The only problem is that it does its job by faking the intake air temp. The new intake air sensor also feeds the on board temp gage rendering it inaccurate and unusable. No problem as I simply installed a stick-on temp gage to take it's place. Again, glad I could help. Once that dreadful problem was solved, and the true potential of the bike was "revealed" it became a keeper that I have enjoyed every day. I am not sure why these early units were set up to run so lean, Something to do with emissions? The only other problem I have had with this bike was the common problem of a broken clutch cable due to the badly designed tubular cable housing at the top (Lever end) that caused too much friction. The new version extended the tube in length, and built it with a larger radius. If you still have the original, I suggest replacing it ASAP. I have had a number of new Yamaha's over the years, and have never had problems like this before, so I am not really pleased in that regard. And, to my knowledge Yamaha has not offered any solution for the issue we solved with the Power Plug. Also, the faulty cable was not recalled, although clearly flawed, and we all had to pay for the new one. Again, not pleased that these issues were not dealt with by Yamaha like they did quickly with the recalled handle bar risers. Again glad my suggestion helped and you are now able to really enjoy the bike.

I note that the new brake pads have the steel sound deadening plates attached. Some times that make the brake pad too thick and and will jam the system. Snap them, off with the point of a screw drive and try them again. I know this seems a bit simplistic but I had exactly that happen. But... years ago, I had a similar situation where I eventually had to replace the caliper. Basically the rear caliper had been replaced by a shop when doing a tire swap (Why I mostly do that myself), and it was not properly centered on the slide causing misalignment of the pads on the disk and causing internal damage to the caliper. we later found some very miner thread damage and other tell tale signs. Sadly, the caliper had to be replaced - and a fight with the shop which they finally agreed to settle.

Good. I of course meant no disrespect, etc. But, just as you mentioned, this was before we all went around with a phone that took pictured. I admit that I still do not take enough advantage of that amazing ability. This picture was simply the best action shot that captured both the bike and the era. I will amend the title I have under the picture I'n my archive to carry your handle. You at least have one picture of you on board the early GXSR at speed----100% more than I have. By the way, I would not have any idea how to pick a favorite. To me there are some "Categories" to be considered which might make it easier like racing, touring, daily rider, or such things as carburetor, Fi (Thankful for this!), and now electric as I have been involved with EV MOTO since about '05 (Very fast, more torque than the law should allow, etc). that makes it easier as each category is a smaller bunch. But when I try that it turns out to not be any easier. Well, a category I usually consider to be well over with is the early 2 Stroke scooters from my college days that required a cleaned or new spark plug every time you tried to start them. but even those led to some fun times. ATGATE for those if I remember was a hooded duffel coat and an open faced Bell Helmet.

Cool! I could not find a picture of mine, actually I don't think I ever had one, so I used this one. Did not know who it was (Sorry!) Also, I did not get EBC money. But, I did then and still do use Shoei helmets. and well, I really wasn't all that fast then or now... But I loved it. That is one of the bikes I wish I could have kept. But I trashed mine too badly... I feel the same way regarding that time in US racing and miss it. If I have learned anything from this thread it is that I need to take more pictures.

Yo Keith, Yep, the first one is Rachel, NV, Also known as Area 51. A long way from anywhere out in the middle of Nevada, and one of the most bazaar places I have ever been to. There were four of us on that particular trip, all on St1100s. I may be confusing this trip with another, but I think this was actually a side trip on the way home from Las Vegas, where we went to visit the wonderful Art of the Motorcycle show at the (No longer there) LV outpost of the Guggenheim Museum that was located in depths of one of the giant hotels. I think you are right about the timing of the second one, but I don't remember that exact location of this picture? And of course that is Butch on his ST1100, and Becky on her Triumph Sprint ST. Here are a few more from Racheal during that trip. A better shot of the "Flying Saucer" on the tow truck which clearly proves... something. the other is complete ST1100 Wild Bunch in attendance.

Wow, What fun looking at all these bikes. This is great! Well hell, This July I'll be 76 years old and I have beeen riding since my first machine which was a converted bicycle thing with something called a Whizzer motor, when I was about 14. I don't have any pictures unfortunately. I have never been particularly good of keeping a record of all the scooters and bikes I have owned, but I enjoyed them all. So here is a random bunch of my favorites, or at least those I actually have pictures of. Being a life long rider, racer, daily rider, and most of the time in the business it is a fairly random bunch. There are a couple of electric there from a couple of my start up involvements, and a few of my race machines.

Betony, All great roads and places, that I ride often. Except for directly on the coast during "Normal" times when tourism can be very heavy, these roads have very little traffic and are great fun to ride, and very scenic. One thing though, all of that country is elk and deer habitat. Those roads can stimulate some pretty enthusiastic tire adhesion testing, and a bit of caution regarding the fact that both dear and their much larger cousins the elk believe they have unrestricted right of way. Here is a local resident that I visited out near Jewell last September.

There are differing levels of vibration from bike to bike even of the same model. and yes, all of the issues of tuning and proper adjustment play significant role. And even if one is not particularly effected by vibration, all of those things should be done for the long term health and reliability of the bike. The older I get the more sensitive I have become. I have always done the tuning and adjusting suggested in the previous posts, but even so, I now find bar vibration uncomfortable and distracting. So even after all the tuning and adjusting, I have found two things that seriously help. The first has been mentioned several times, and that is a set of Grip Puppies. Although they look like sponge, they do not absorb water, they do not cancel grip heaters. they last a long time, and actually help a lot. Because they are very grippy and increase the diameter of the grips, they allow one to relax the hands n the grips and hold the throttle open with only the weight of the palm and heel of the hand, and they do indeed quell some of the vibration. However, the most important and helpful thing I have found are good GEL PALM gloves. Take a look under Gel Palm on the Olympia website, as they have several models. Sadly, I have no affiliation with, and enjoy no remuneration from the Olympia Glove company.

Over the years (60 on bikes) I have also done most of my riding alone. For one thing, being alone allows one to be very selfish about everything, choice of routes, choice of stops, speed, duration, sudden inspirations causing instant route change, and of course destination. Since the kind of work I do requires a great deal of cooperative activity, and having a family that loves getting together (Me too), solo riding offers a kind of physical and mental respite. Also, I still believe that everyone deserves to have spontaneous adventure in one's life, so no matter how long I have been riding, I still look forward to my next ride with the expectation that it will indeed be an adventure. Being completely alone while riding allows me, and requires me, to concentrate completely on the road ahead and my surroundings, and kind of blots out everything else which is a sort of mental cleansing. This unfortunate situation precludes any LD excursions, but rides such as texcottyd suggests serve the same purpose. I have a few very good friend riding buddies that have mostly shared LD rides to MC events, and races, and some of these shorter day rides of course... I suppose if there is any silver lining to this difficult time it is that there is very little traffic, at least where I am in the Portland, OR area. It is very pleasant to finish a ride without a single difficult confrontation with an aggressively unconscious driver.

Exactly. Non riders are always surprised, and often non believing. Once a guy offered to bet me money I could not get everything in my basket on to my bike. When in National Parks, or at restaurants or Motels on the road I am often approached and asked where I am coming from and where am I going... I remember being asked this in a motel in Wendover, NV where I was staying while working a pit crew for a speed trial at Bonniville. I answered that I had come from Portland, OR and was promptly called a lier. It is usually not that bad, but often one is met with what you might call disbelief or a sort of befuddled confusion. If the weather is bad the response can be a bit more judgmental. At such times one can imagine that one's sanity is being considered.

Like many of you I am a life long daily rider, and LD tourest. That includes commuting. In recent years, since I'm involved in the still nascent electric Powersports industry, that commute was a once or twice a month commute between my home in Portland, OR, and my office at Lightning Motorcycles in San Jose CA. It is about 750 miles door to door, but by using "short cuts" I can easily expand the milage. Some of those route changes have included Death Valley, Yosemite NP, Joshua Tree NP, Crater Lake, NP (I love National Parks and am privileged to have a lifetime pass), and many other wonderful places that allow me to add to my t-shirt collection. It took me a life time to get to a place where I can get away with this, and that is another story. Needless to say, the current pandemic situation has put a full stop on my commute. So I am having to content myself with short local rides like the recent lunch ride to the Jewell, OR Wildlife Sanctuary... In the rain (this is Oregon after all) where Keithu and I met for lunch--at appropriate distance, standing around under a tree out of the rain in the deserted parking lot. But a ride is a ride and in the NW if you don't ride in the rain you are not likely riding much! It was fun, but both keithu and I agreed that we look forward to longer rides, for him that includes some Iron Butt events which he is preparing his bike for with appropriate aux. gas tank, lightning and other necessary LD mods. Meanwhile, I try to do some solo riding to places that will not put me into crowds, or other risky situations. The other thing I do is use my bike for my forays into the world to do necessary shopping for household supplies. Here ia picture of my bike in the garage at the end of such a trip. I use all of my touring gear. Top box, expanded soft Panniers, tank bag, and back seat bag (except when I use bunnies to secure large bags of dog food), to carry supplies home. Much more fun than using the car, and there is always the challenge of figuring out how to deal with the limited space. That's how I cope, what about you guys?

I just went out to the shop to check how mine is adjusted. I am about 5'8" with a 30 inch inseam and have the Yamaha "comfort seat which is a tiny bit higher than the unfortunate stock gen one seat. I use the shortest (22") Madstad windshield set at the lowest height in both the stock and Madstad hight positions. I stood in front of the bike a flexed the windshield a bit from side to side. I seems that the flex comes from the whole assemble moving, as if mounted in something flexible. I have no idea what the final mounting base is but perhaps the mounting bolts are in grommets or something? Has anyone been in there to see? I detect no movement in the screen when riding so I have never paid it any attention. I suspect this slight flexibility in the bracket may be intentional. When I get a chance I'll look in the service manual. I have owned two FJR1300's, and consider them to be the most well sorted out machines I have ever owned in over 55 years of daily riding. I have, as have so many others, hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles on FJRs. They are amazingly trouble free, dependable, very fast, have great weather protection, handle very well for a +625 pound machine, and can't be beat for ease of use in LD situations. The drive shaft negates bothersome chain maintenance, regular gas is cheaper, the gas tank gets you 250 miles, and the electric windshield is brilliant. Oh, and no bar vibration! Currently there are many really low milage used machines in the market, and I am often tempted to buy one of them as they have such a wonderful high milage history as to make a used unit purchase pretty safe. However, the older I get the lighter I want and need my motorcycles to be. I do not think the FJ-09 is in the same league as the FJR in terms of fit and finish, dependability, or any other category. However, with a few strategic mods and up dates (tires, brake pads... and well, suspension) it can become a damn good machine that is light weight, is very nimble, and has enough leg room to help deal with geriatric knees. I kept my last FJR for the first year of FJ-09 ownership, but once I had the thing sorted out, I found the FJR to be too tight in seat to peg space, and way too heavy. I really love the FJRs but fear I can't go back to something so heavy and so like sport bike ergos. I note that the new GT model Tracer is heading into FJR territory in terms of up grades, and perhaps it will continue to do so. I assume, at least for now, that the Tracer GT is my next bike. Meanwhile, my much modded '15 FJ-09 works for me for all the above reasons.

Hi Keith, I am glad to hear you are happy with your Madstad screen. I agree with your conclusions. I use the shortest version, so likely there is less barn door effect. I have not reinforced my brackets and have had no problem. Yes, because of the way the Madstad brackets fit on the stock brackets you get an amazing amount of angle and height choices, but it does seem a bit wiggly. However, I have been using it for over 45 thousand miles and have had no problem in that regard. The material Madstad uses is significantly thicker then any other windshield I have ever had, and much more nick and scratch resistant as well After over 45 k miles, most of which is at hwy speeds, I have no seriously noticeable surface damage. I use it in a position that is lower than my my eye level, but still look through it often and find it to have no appreciable distortion. The shape of the windshield is specific to the bike and carefully fills in the areas the unfortunate (Gen one version) stock shield did not. Madstad states that the gap behind the windshield is the specific reason for the calm cockpit, and has illustrations on their web site to explain how that works. And, it does work including in the rain. the noise reduction is also significant, and might take a little bit of experimenting to get the right angel. I wear pretty quiet helmets, and never ride without ear plugs, but still suffered from noise and buffeting with all the other windshield I tried before finding this one. This one is a clear winner. I was introduced to this brand by a guy I met during a ride. I saw it a Madstad on his Versys and asked about it. I was regained about how good it was through breakfast (Blue Bird Cafe, Hopland, CA). I had never met a guy who was actually happy with his windshield! I also use after market hand guards (KTM) and they do not interfere with the windshield, while doing a much better job than the ('15) stock items. As usual, YEMV, and alas, I have no relationship with the Madstad company.

It was a bit damp, but it turned out to be a good ride. Once off the Main Hwy, no traffic at all. Rain was off and on, and by and large the scenery was beautiful. Keith and I had the Elk Sanctuary to our selves except for one noisy diesel pickup that stopped in to use the indoor restrooms. I spotted a big bull elk patrolling the edge of the woods way off on the other side of the meadow, along with what I thought was a bunch of other elk reclining, also at the edge of the trees. Keith (Gently) pointed out that those might have been large bales of hay... On the way out I stopped at the road-side viewing area that was closer to them. I did spot the big bull patrolling again, but the rest of the herd were indeed, giant bales of hay. Geriatric eyes vs younger eyes. Oh well. One elk is better than none and it was an attractive herd of hay. We had a good time, chatting, and eating our bag lunches, while maintaining the appropriate physical distancing and wondering why a little rain stops so many motorcyclists from riding 🤣 GoreTex riding suit, gloves and boots, heated gear, and really good tires, considerably tame the wet. We had a good time.

Oh, I just saw your post saying you will be there... Me too. See you there.

Now 8:15am. I just went outside and found the streets to completely wet. It is not raining, but it is that uniquely NW condition, we call: Wet Weather. So While not actually actively raining, the roads, at least here in Beaverton, are wet and likely will be so up in the mountains on the roads to Jewell. Keith, Since you have a bit further to ride than I do, I just wanted to see if you are still in. I'm game if you are. And of course anyone else that cares to join us.

5:00am Saturday 4/18. Threat of rain seems to have diminished. Cooler then we might have wished, maybe a bit cloudy, but likely pretty dry. See you there. Although we will maintain the appropriate safe distance when we meet, if we are lucky we will see a crowd of elk.

Jewell meadow is actually on Hwy 202. For a long way, 202 is also 47. It is in the mountains between Vernonia and Astoria! You can access 202 from a couple of places on Hwy 26, also from Scappoose and Clatskanie, both on HWy 30. Take a look at map to find the best way for where you are coming from, all great fun, and lightly traveled roads. Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area Visitors' Guide | Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area is located in the Oregon Coast Range... Dean creek Elk Preserve (Also a yearly stop for Canada Geese) is way way south of there just outside of Reedsport! and yes, I think we did stop at Dean Creek on a 250 ride a few years ago. This place is much more isolated as 202 is not in any way a heavily traveled road like Hwy 38. I look forward to seeing you guys there. And dude, your bike looks like a fuel tanker! How many miles can you get in total?

The larger main paved Lot. It is complete with picnic tables, a large informational kiosk, indoor rest rooms, and large grassy public areas, even a small apple orchard planted for the benefit of the elk to nibble on... There is a large sign on the road. There is good open space for us to use and allow for physical separation, and ample paved parking to separate the bikes as well. Also very good viewing of the large main meadows if elk are present.

One more quick note. One of the pleasures of living in and touring around in Oregon, and the NW in general, is the wonderful opportunities for observing our abundant wildlife. The Jewell Wildlife Sanctuary boasts one of the largest herds of Roosevelt Elk in the US, and April is optimum viewing season. While we must maintain physical distance during this difficult time, the elk don't. In fact, if we are lucky, we will see some very large herds on the open meadows of the preserve. Something not to be missed.

Agreed. I like to stop in at Garabaldi for fish and chips, then take the Miami road to where it hits 53, then 53 over the mountain to 26, and back to Beaverton from there. Likely I will come at Jewell by way of the scappoose Vernonia road to 47, and 47 to Jewell. If time permits, after our meet-up and lunch, Maybe continue out 47 all the way to Astoria. Lots of ways back to Beaverton from there... I haven't decided. Sadly all my favorite coffee spots will be closed, but a full thermos and a few of the amazing and beautiful scenery spots along the way will have to suffice. Wish you could come along.

Great, I look forward to seeing you there and seeing your LD modifications... Anyone else?

Hi Keith-and all, I guess we could cal this the Spring Physical Distancing Experimental Ride During a Time of Plague. Appropriate distancing while riding is not a problem. The Elk sanctuary at Jewell is sufficiently off the beaten track to insure a lack of a crowd. If we all bring a lunch and agree to the 6 foot protocol it should be OK-No one will laugh if you wear a mask (We can share how to use regular household items to make them!). I would also suggest keeping helmets and gloves on during gassing up, and perhaps using effective wipes on those gloves and credit cards after the fact... Sigh, this is riding in a time of plague... But I use the concept of physical distancing rather than social distancing as maintaining social contact is seriously necessary, while staying safe and well by doing the physical distancing. Riding is for most of us a lot more than a form of transportation. It is an integral part of who we are and what our live are all about... Something we can talk about while sharing some time at the really beautiful Elk sanctuary, after an invigorating ride on some of least traveled and most interesting roads around here. How about Saturday 4/18 with an arival time of about noon... Subject to anyone's other suggestion in this regard. This is a really tough time for everyone, I hope such a ride and meet-up (Subject to thoughtful and appropriate distancing protocols) will help add a little normalcy (Well as "Normal" as being confirmed motorcycle nut cases allows) to our otherwise truncated lives. If interested, please comment here. But please make sure to note that we are serious about staying safe and well and protecting our families, so, while ogling the bikes and sharing MC BS, we will scrupulously maintain physical (Though assuredly not social) separation. If like me, you need a ride and some human society, let's do this. Where it is and how to get there: https://myodfw.com/jewell-meadows-wildlife-area-visitors-guide