xlxr

http://fj-09.org/thread/1239/removing-fj-09-ecu Here is one thread showing how to remove plastic and tank. I turned the tank around backwards and put it on boards because I was also synching the carbs. I had to disconnect the vacuum tubes and fuel pump electrical connector to turn the tank and then reconnected the electrical connector. Put some tape on the black frame under the bottom edge of the tank to keep it from scratching the frame. There are other threads and a video somewhere.

I finally got around to reading some of the threads about Iridium spark plugs on FZ 09 forum. Most guys said they worked good, but there were a few reports of various problems after switching to Iridium plugs. Not really enough detailed information for me to spot specific trends causing problems.

I made an overhead frame out of 2x4s and use a motorcycle tie down strap around the handle bars to hold up the front end and use the center stand to hold up the rear. Much less risk of the bike falling over. You can do something similar if you have roof rafters and a hook.

I heard back from Nels at 2WDW: Thank you for the email. The iridiums will work great and last longer. I assume Yamaha didn't use them to save money at the factory. Have a great one! Nels

Terry at Norwest Suspension. Ohlins 535 shock and Ohlins fork cartridge factory set up was too harsh for me. I have been riding too long on good suspension to tolerate over damped and harsh ride. Terry at Nowest set shock and (compression) fork up exactly how I wanted them. Very plush, but still handles aggressive riding on rough roads very well. 2 Wheel Dyno Works ECU reflash and Higdonion skid plate are also great.

Compare $2 Champions to $10 Iridiums, and then come back and report. I have tried a lot of different plugs over the years, most do not make a difference, but I did notice a difference between the far ends of the spectrum. There are just too many complicating factors for your assumption to be true in all cases. Regardless, as a result of this conversation, I have decided what I am going to do. I am going to replace the stock plugs with new stock plugs at the stock recommended interval. I will do carb synch at the same time. A big part of my reasoning is I simply do not want to do all the work needed to take the tank off and replace the plugs and then take the tank off again to do throttle body synch on a different schedule. Another big reason is to maintain warranty. I will keep the old plugs until warranty is expired, and then reuse them if they are in good shape.

You guys are misreading what NGK is saying. The main purpose of different heat ranges is to maintain a proper temperature of the electrodes in order to burn off carbon deposits without getting so hot that pre-ignition / detonation happens. If you ride very easy, have too rich a mixture, too retarded timing,you need a hotter plug to keep its electrodes clean. The harder you run the engine, advance timing, less rich mixtures, a colder plug can be used ..... to prevent overheating caused by other factors such as too advanced timing and too lean mixtures that may cause melted pistons in worse case situations. My point is, spark plugs do not work by themselves. Do not make assumptions that iridiums will always be a safe and direct replacement if something else is out of adjustment.

I am not sure "leaner" is an accurate or complete way of describing the effect of changing from standard to Iridium plugs. Someone will have to post up before and after air fuel mixtures to see what is happening. Perhaps a more accurate description would be changing from standard to Iridium plugs changes the combustion process enough to be careful. The guy who reported pipes getting too hot will have to check it out more and report back.

Some guys say "equivalent" spark plugs of different brands do not make any difference. However, a few years ago I compared stock, one hotter, one colder heat ranges of both NGK Iridiums and cheapest Champion spark plugs in my other bike, a carbed 2006 Harley Sportster with stage 1 mods, and jetted to give a good torque band and clean plugs, which some Harley guys would say was on the lean side. The Iridium plugs did make a noticeable difference, mainly they seemed to give a crisper sound and feel. I was concerned the Iridiums were pushing the air fuel mixture a bit over the edge of too lean/too hot. I did not try to rejet the carb to match the Iridiums, and went back to the non-Iridium plugs just for safety. Based on this experiment, I would guess the result of changing to Iridiums is probably related to other aspects of how the engine is tuned, ECU reflash, exhaust changes etc. This explains why some guys change to Iridiums without problems, others report (what may be) too lean / overheating problems. I would like to see dyno tuning and air fuel charts before and after changing to Iridium plugs, and I do not know if anyone has done that. I am going to send this link to 2WheelDynoWorks to see if we can get better info from him.

You do not have to take the forks apart to change to clean oil if there is not many miles on the forks. The more miles on the forks, the more crude is formed and settles to the bottom, and you will surprised how much gunk collects in 10,000 miles, which is my guess would be the minimum miles the forks can run without disassembly and clean. By the time you need to change seals, you really must take the forks apart for a through cleaning, and that should be more than 20,000 miles. Then there will be guys who go a lot further. Truth is, once you learn how to get forks apart, it really is not that hard to do. I only use fork oil to flush out fork without disassembly.

Is the problem is they sent you a spring that is too short? Replacing the spring should be easy enough.

Read this thread, and link to another thread on page 3, vibration can be reduced dramatically.

I don't think those three things are related to any large extent. There was another thread or two about vibrations and how to eliminate them. Adding an APE manual tensioner smoothed out my engine a little, maybe just enough to notice the engine ran a little smoother. My clutch is loud, I suppose in a normal way, but still have a relatively vibration free bike, at least enough that it doesn't bother me. http://fj-09.org/thread/1272/strange-vibrationzzzz There is a link on page 3 to another thread about reducing vibrations.

Anybody have any idea exactly what design, parts, and/or set up details cause the clutch to rattle so much? How can we tell when something is wrong before it becomes a severe problem? I suppose the only ways to know is by using used oil analysis to check for metal particles, or take it apart to inspect.

http://yamahazone.biz/tensioners.html My stock cam chain tensioner quit working in the first few hundred miles of my 2015. It was easier to use the APE manual tensioner than deal with Yamaha. I don't know if newer bikes still have the same problem, but since I put in the APE, I don't bother to keep up with the thread in the post above.

http://fj-09.org/thread/3925/bar-buzz-bi-solutions?page=5 This thread discusses every idea there is to reduce handle bar vibration. For me, ECU reflash by 2WDW, built up hand grips with foam and Vibranators (which may have a long waiting period to get, but this is my 3rd bike with Vibranators) in the handle bars, and 6,000 miles have reduced vibration to insignificant on my bike. Changing the stock chain tensioner with APE manual adjustment also reduced vibration. I did all these things shortly after I bought the bike because it needed them, and was just lucky to find the end result is almost vibration free bike. YMMV.

It may be possible to do this without removing forks from bike, but it is easier to take the forks off, and you may save scratching your bike or spilling oil all over it. Taking the forks off and pumping them, and turning them upside down and back and forth is needed to get all the oil out. I assume 220 -250 cc's is all the oil. In addition, after adding oil, the next thing to do is pump the forks a lot to get out all the air and measure oil height to verify it is correct, which means the forks need to be held vertically. Turning the forks upside down and letting them drain will help get out a lot of the sludge at the bottom. If I am not taking the forks apart, I will pour a little oil in the bottom and re-drain it just to clean the sludge out of the bottom.

No problem, my comment about guys with more experience was meant in general.

Big difference between shims with .5 mm interval and .025 mm interval. From the manual, intake valve clearance is 0.11 - 0.20 mm, exhaust 0.26 - 0.30 mm. Which means shims with .5 mm really limit accuracy. There has always been conflicting opinions of whether valve clearances get tighter or looser over time, exhaust tighter, intake looser. My guess is it can go either way, depending on a variety of factors, how hard, how hot the engine was run, and probably how well it was set up from initially from the factory. I deal with that by what the valve clearances are when I first open up the engine. If the clearance is too much, I assume that direction is the trend, and adjust it opposite. In other words, if the clearance is too loose, I will adjust it on the tight end of the spec. I also feel slightly loose is better than slightly tight, too tight can damage valve seats more quickly. Race engines may need to be on the tight side, but then assume they will be checked more often. Street engines can tolerate looser specs without problems. Since I have no idea how much experience any one has, I question everything. To be clear, my previous comments were based on Ducati, not Yamaha, and I have not worked as a mechanic in a few decades, and only did one valve adjustment on the Ducati. I have about 2 years before I have to adjust the valves, so I am taking note until then.

From what I understand, hand sanding shims, (not grinding) is commonly needed to get the clearance closer than possible with stock shims. Lets hear from guys with more experience.

The shims I looked at under a microscope were for a Ducati, several years ago. I ended up getting over sized shims and sanding them down to the spec I needed on flat tile and fine wet or dry sand paper. Lots of work, but ended up with perfect specs. Too bad I totaled the bike before I got enough miles on it to see how well they lasted. Too many variables in engine operation to begin to guess exactly what caused the metal surface to break down. I do not know if this will work with Yamaha shims.

Last bike I had to adjust the shims, I used a microscope to look at the mating surfaces of the shims. Some of the used shims had matting surfaces that where pretty bad. They measured OK, but lots of pitting and metal loss on the surface.

Are any special tools needed to check/adjust valves? I have the manual and digital calipers and all the basic hand tools.

Too much oil may be the problem. Locate the tube the oil is entering the air box and trace it to the engine and see where it goes.

http://japan.webike.net/products/21922913.html I found some after market crank case ventilation valves, but could not find it in the service manual. I'll look more this week end if I have more time.