cyclealleyriders

New comment on the gear whine. I also noticed another part of the forum has a discussion on this. I don't it's solely a transmission problem but a resonance problem with various plastic parts on the bike and the 6th gear pairs not being completely seated. Today, when shifting into 6th at around 4500 rpm, I had that whine. I chopped the throttle and then opened it quickly to accelerate to around 75 mph (5,000 rpm or so?). The whine disappeared. I dropped back down to 65 and still no outrageous whine. I now have the tallest windshield from Parabellum and I'm still very pleased with it. I recommend it but at the very least, you can be sure it will do a good job in giving you a nice calm ernvelope at speed.

You're reading too much into my comment but I can see that I left a few things unsaid so let me clear up a few misconceptions. At around 45 mph, the exhaust is louder than the wind noise so I don't hear the wind noise. That's what I intended. Above that speed, the wind noise starts to equal exhaust noise and increase so now wind noise is more prevalent than exhaust noise to my hearing perception. With the stock shield, the wind noise at around 25 drowned out everything else - exhaust, engine, gear whine. I thought saying how effective the shield is in this manner would be a better comparison that everyone here is familiar with. At 6'1", they would definitely tell you to get the tall shield or 26 incher. Mind you, the 24" shield is very good but like I said, I think I can get even better results with the bigger still air envelope the larger shield can provide. I started wearing earplugs back in the 80's and still do. This review was a test ride without plugs (still had a number of pairs in my pocket just in case). Don't underestimate the wind noise - if you can't hear your exhaust over the wind, then I definitely recommend ear plugs to protect what may be left of your hearing (don't ask me how I know ). Gear whine - in 5th gear there is no whine either cruising or accelerating. Switch to 6th in cruising mode (around 65-75), there is a louder whine. However, under power - say going into the wind, up a hill or accelerating - the whine is extremely loud and I mean louder than wind or exhaust noise. A top mechanic might know or Yamaha might know the reason but I suspect the gear lash is not within the tolerances resulting in that whine. Could I be heading for an early gearbox failure? I don't know. I appreciate you reading my review on the shield and bringing up some points that were due to my not completely clear writing. Ride safe!

Just installed the 24" shield. The buffeting was non-existent compared to the stock shield. Fit and finish was superb - took 15 minutes to remove and install old/new shield. I probably could have done it closer to 10 minutes if I didn't keep on dropping the lower spacers (well, 70 year old fingers will do that). There is no wind noise until I hit 45 but that's due to the shield being too short but get this: Parabellum will let you exchange the shields. I was so pleased that I told them I'll pay the shipping for the replacement shield (they will waive shipping fee here in the USA). I'm 5'10 and Parabellum warned me I was right at the point that either shield could do the job so I chose wrong. What really surprised me was with the wind noise gone, I discovered my bike has a terrible gear whine in 6th gear. Now I have to research the forum to see what others say. With the wind noise and my earplugs, I never noticed that whine. Great shield, clears the handguards with no problem, no optical distortion but then, you want to be able look over the shield and duck down behind it in inclement weather if you want.

A full size Aerostich suit WILL NOT fit in the stock FJ bags. Had I known the size of those bags, I would have opted for GIVI. However, someone's comments above that the FJR1300 bags will also fit give me an idea!

The other day, I replaced the forward frame sliders I installed for highway pegs with passenger pegs from an XS650 Yamaha. The only modifications needed were several flat washers to fill the frame insert and a 5mm longer bolt for the left side of the frame since that insert is deeper than the right side. Works like a charm, fold flat when not in use and since they're black, they blend right in with the engine. Cheap, too.