texscottyd

Today, we ride… 🤘

For whatever it’s worth, I either (a) didn’t see that warning, or (b) chose to just blatantly disregard said warning, because my first-year FJ (the unstable short-wheelbase version) has been north of 120 mph on many occasions, all with the factory saddlebags hanging out there in the breeze… Never been a problem.

I’ve been digging around in the specs that are available, and this thing looks like it’s right in my wheelhouse. I can’t wait to see one in person…

Interesting… I didn’t know this one was in the works.

I have the Galfer 5 line system on my FJ, and they work great. They aren’t difficult to fit, but it is a bit of a tedious job… take your time and route everything carefully and you’ll be fine. It’s been mentioned here on the forum a few times, but the easiest way to remove the stock hard lines from inside the frame is to just cut them out. You won’t ever want/need to reuse them, so it’s far easier to cut and remove in sections than trying to remove intact.

Eye opening, isn’t it? 😀

Not sure if it qualifies as a best thread, but here’s some content and discussion about the Ohlins/RaceTech combination I did on my 2015 FJ. I’m not aware of great options for swapping the factory shock from another bike, but there are several strong aftermarket shock options available off the shelf (if you can justify the $$$).

East Texas things…

This one really has caught my eye… seems like a no-excuses sport tourer, but still with the Guzzi personality.

Well, I have $1,994.69 worth of Ohlins & Andreani parts (sales tax included) waiting to be installed. So… yes! 😀

At the risk of starting a heated debate, I’ll summarize it as this: The Speed Twin is a great bike, that is about $2K worth of suspension upgrades away from being phenomenal.

It’s sunny, the bikes are clean and ready to ride, and work should wrap up early… I’m really hoping that “I rode it” will be the final answer to the “what I did today” question. 😀

The weather is finally getting nice, so I snuck out for a few hours of glorious sunshine riding. I only stopped once to take photos, while waiting in the shade for a freight train to pass… And ‘yes’ I absolutely did wheelie down the opposite side of that elevated railroad crossing. 😀😇

After I stopped road racing, I got my track time in instructing with one of the local track day programs for several years. One of the keys we always emphasized was the idea that smooth and relaxed is the way to build speed, and sometimes you have to slow down to go fast. Charging around blindly, full of adrenaline, and on the edge of control is NOT a recipe for success… just ‘going a little faster’ rarely ends well if you don’t understand and can’t mentally process what the bike is telling you. Slow down, really focus on technique and all the subtle feedback details you’re getting, and speed will naturally come.

I know we went a bit off track here, but back to your original question of why the density of 2015 model FJ09s for sale…. As mentioned, the FJ09 only existed under that name for 2015-2017, and then morphed into the Tracer 900 line. I haven’t seen a breakdown of production by model year, but I suspect that the vast majority of FJs are 2015 bikes. Yamaha produced a ton of them early on, as I believe they anticipated a huge demand… a slightly more practical FZ9, so what’s not to love? But in reality they were slow sellers originally, and it took awhile (and deep discounts) for the inventory to sell. I bought my 2015 in July 2016 for $2k off MSRP, and the dealer still had several more 2015s in crates waiting to sell. They were still available new as late as maybe 2018 if memory serves…. To help clear the backlog, I suspect that Yamaha cut way back on production for 2016 and 2017 models. Note: I have nothing to validate this other than intuition and common sense, and would love to find actual production numbers by model year. The other factor may just be the ownership lifecycle timing. ‘The Seven Year Itch’ seems real, as owners get the urge for something shiny & new & different. The early FJs are now 8+ years old, and appearing more & more frequently on the resale market.

Crappy windscreen, crappy seat… 🙄 But hey, a few hundred bucks here, a couple thousand there, and now I’m WAAAAY too deep into my bargain sport-tourer. But it’s mine now, and it’s a keeper.

@RD52 - Is that a GS1000S I spy in your garage? I like you already… 😀

Finally a viable workaround for those 2-amp switched accessory outlets… 😀

Hi @Jpainter187 - Welcome, and I hope your search finds exactly what you’re wanting in a new bike… they’re out there, so keep looking. What part of East Texas? I’m in Houston now, but my family is originally from Port Arthur, and we still have a lake house up in Tyler County. The piney woods up that way are beautiful terrain.

I know I’m biased, but I still think it’s the best looking vehicle in the parking lot…

Not a high tech solution, but rubber bands worked on the early FJ…

No problems at all… just let the tuner know you’re keeping the stock exhaust as part of the remap. 2WDW did this for my 2015 model, and it made a world of difference in the ridability of the bike (especially in A Mode). Mine is stock exhaust, with AIS block off plates & the plumbing removed.

The dual cables are push-pull, as a safety precaution so that you can (in theory) manually close the throttle even if it isn’t returning on its own. For that not to work, it must be REALLY stuck. My bet is still mechanical, and not electronic. Have you actually looked at the cable run all the way down to the engine side? I totally understand if that’s a “I’ll let the dealership sort that out” item, but I’m really curious. Good luck, and do keep us posted.

@Ride365 - I’ll be interested in hearing your opinion of the RS3…. I never really bonded with the feedback from the front, and never quite found the setup that made it work FOR ME as well as the Michelins. Finding a pair of Road 5s for $320 made it an easy decision for me to swap back. I guess I’m just a Michelin guy… 🤷‍♂️ Here is some specific feedback on my comparison of the two:

Well that’s an interesting one… I had missed this previously. Thanks for the info