angrygirafe

I road through Oregon and Idaho in August once. Took a week to lose the headache from all the smoke 

Nikens have a plastic plate holder?

2 hours ago, ItsRichieRich said:

That's what I'm averaging as well. My commute is 80 miles round trip from Winchester to Escondido. If you're curious, traffic is getting worse here lol.

I believe it 😂

4 hours ago, ItsRichieRich said:

I started the morning off in Temecula, riding down to Fallbrook/Escondido area off the 15 freeway. We road through Lilac Road to Pala Casino, arriving at Palomar. Rode up the back to Palomar Mountain, down the front. Back to Escondido for a fuel up, then back home to Temecula.

We joke around how sad it is here in California, but we're very fortunate to live here. The fact that we can go from the desert in Ocotillo Wells to the beach in Pacific Beach within 3 hours is amazing.

I lived in Temecula for 4 years while I was going to school, and averaged riding 20k miles a year down there. What a great place to ride! 

ACC is awesome in cars, because those are just temporary prisons we’re waiting to get out of. On a motorcycle, the ultimate expression of freedom? No thank you 

23 minutes ago, ItsTracerTime said:

Interesting...

 

It's definitely fine mechanically INSIDE of the motor, as I doubt it would be ride-able if cam timing was off. I am leaning towards a vacuum or air leak in some spot, or the fact that it's a 2019 with the OEM battery and possibly that's an issue. I am also trying to get a gauge to sync the throttle bodies, or at least check them.

We did find four broken vac caps in my bike, but it didn’t help replacing those, or cleaning and syncing the the throttle bodies, or trying a different ECU, or checking the clutch switch, or having the valves/timing verified by a second shop, or replacing the neutral sensor, or… Bleh.  Granted, I’m sneaking up on 52k miles, so we may be having very similar problems for very different reasons. I’ll keep an eye on this thread and let you know if I find anything definitive. 
 

ETA; also tried new battery. Twice. 

Rain came early this week, so no tear down this weekend. I am almost through a tank with the Ring Free shock treatment and things were much better today. Yamaha recommends 2oz per gallon and something like 60 gallons for a full treatment. Well, I put 8 ounces in a full tank, and I’ll do the last 4 ounces in the next tank. Probably won’t treat 60 gallons worth at that ratio though. 
 

I rode close to 100 miles today between commuting and my lunch break, trying to stay over 6k rpms. Which was easy coming home, since I was chasing a Repsol down the freeway, and he wasn’t shy about using that throttle. Man, those things are quick!

But I only had idle issues maybe 25% of the time today, almost none on the way home, and they ALL CORRECTED within a couple seconds. Even at the long lights. I’m hesitant to say that the Ring Free is fixing it, but it was hot out (107F), the bike was hot, and this is way better than a couple days ago. 

I’ll polish off the bottle in the next tank, and might do one more before changing the oil if it continues to improve over the next tank. I hope so. 

Oh man, we are in very similar boats. For what it’s worth, I’m almost a tanks worth of gas into a Ring Free shock treatment, and today things were noticeably better. Not fixed, but definitely better. 

5 hours ago, skipperT said:

Glad to hear the news, @angrygirafe

you mentioned that some of the vacuum caps were torn, that will certainly cause an erratic idle. Following that logic, I’d do like Pete suggested above - but simply check the sync screws first. Maybe wind them ALL in gently until they stop, then Sync the throttle bodies per the book, using the white painted one as standard (if it has the lowest vacuum reading). Usually the standard one is all the way in from the factory. You could also wind the standard one out approx 1/8 to 1/4 turn and sync from there and see how it operates. 

excess carbon build-up on the plates and throttle body innards can cause an erratic idle, and tight valves or improper cam timing can as well. 

-Skip

Right now the weather looks like I might be able to check it out this weekend. Hopefully. It’ll definitely be a learning experience since I haven’t done throttle bodies before. Really hoping it’s not valves/timing though. 

6 hours ago, peteinpa said:

How's the starting cold and hot?

I'm wondering about a full TB clean, especially the idle control circuits.

Cold start is great. Hot start is a little weak, and seems to  require a little throttle. I know my BIL cleaned the TBs, and actually has a whole extra YCCT unit he was intending to install but didn’t get to. 

3 hours ago, peteinpa said:

Good to hear it's mostly almost there. 

I'll have to think on what the idle problem might be.

I’ll gladly take any advice! I’m 90% sure the problem is that I paid “professionals” to do the work

29 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

@angrygirafe - I’m literally looking at the reaction options, and think any one of them might be appropriate here!   Regardless, I’m happy to hear you’re back on the FJ and (mostly) loving it again.   

Yeah that pretty much sums it up!

Long overdue update time, tl;dr: NO ERROR CODES AND IT RUNS. Mostly.

So it's been a while. A looooong while. Such a long while, that my Brother in Law actually had possession of the bike for the last few months. He used to ride, he was getting back into, and bought an S1000R that scared him to death. He's more mechanically minded than me, so I told him he could HAVE the FJ, and it was up to him to get it running.

So he did. 

I had bought an ECU and Wiring harness from a wrecked bike and just had them sitting in the garage. He replaced the ECU connector with the one off the wreck and most of the time the fault code went away. He did some hunting, and replaced the FUSE HOLDER as well, as apparently the contacts had enough play after so much poking around that the ETV fuse would lose continuity and throw the error. 

So. NO MORE FAULT YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!

And then he went nuts modifying the few things I hadn't! Slipper/Assist clutch with a billet basket, Lightech chain adjusters, FJR footpegs. And he replaced the airbox, getting one from a wreck, and it ended up coming with a high performance filter.

The reason for the airbox is because now he was back to my initial problem. The Idle. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it hangs high, like 2.5-3k, and then drops low, like 800. Most of the time it drops low. So he replaced the airbox, went over the vac system and found THREE MORE BROKEN VAC CAPS. Rebalanced the throttle bodies. Checked the clutch switch. Tried the other ECU. No luck.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I started a new work rotation, 50 mile commute round trip, mostly freeway. That is JUST inside the range of the Zero riding a little slower than I prefer (still around 80mph). I have Level 2 chargers at work, and installed one at home. So I'd charge at work in the morning, and charge at home overnight. But the Zero is not made for high(ish) speed, long(ish) distance commutes followed by charging. Mornings weren't bad, since it's the coolest part of the day (haha, 90F right now), but evenings were rough. About 110F-115F rough. So sometimes I'd have to wait an hour in the morning before the Zero was cool enough to charge. But I was waiting SIX HOURS to charge at night, and throttled the charging down to 3.3kW instead of 6kW. Kind of a pain.

So I started looking for a new FJ-09. When I told my BIL about it, he said he didn't really need the FJ anymore, and was riding the S1000R more. Awesome!

I took a bus out there (Southern California) last weekend, and rode the bike back same day, 330 miles. I had some idling issues when filling up the first couple times, and was running Techron additive in the tank. And NO issues on the freeway. I think I did 95-105mph most of the way home and it just purred. No idling issues by the time I got home. But the last week of commuting shows there's still the idle issue. 

It's weird, because 30ish percent of the time it's fine, and it's always fine when cold. Most of the rest of the time it goes low. Occasionally it goes high and then always drops low. Sometimes it stalls. If I crack the throttle just a little bit it's rock steady at 1200rpm. 

I have a service manual now, and there's not much for idling. I've checked the the ISC code (01: check intake system) and reset it. Other suggestions are valve clearance/timing. I'm hesitant to do that since it was done by one shop and verified by another, but I may get there eventually. I've got some Ring-Free on the way to see if it's as magic as some forums say it is. Next I think I'll look at the fuel pump. Then probably valves.

So anyway, I'm back on the FJ and loving it, idle problems and all. It's just way more fun than the Zero. It also feels waaaaay better in corners, despite the lower CG and much higher quality suspension of the Zero. Go figure.

8 minutes ago, peteinpa said:

Replaced the air box??  Why?

Suspicious about how well the boots were sealing up. He bought one from a wrecked bike for cheap, so basically got a discount premium air filter. 

2 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

 The Arrow platform developed for the live wire Delmar can be configured air or liquid cooled but I believe the Del Mar as well as the live wire one are air cool at this time.

 It also didn't dawn on me that the  0 had that issue.

 It seems like it would be a good cold weather bike up here in the great lakes region

 Turn on the lights to heat up the battery and then zoom with studded tires maybe A new ice racing class could be pretty cool.  But if they lighten the batteries the races are short and you could have modular Swaps

 No I'm still a fusion guy 

The livewires are interesting, and the new ones are at least better than the Zeros on paper for the money. I hope they do well. 
 

I think Revzilla did a review on a Zero as a cold weather commuter? And it did well! The only issue I’ve noticed when it’s cold (40F for Phoenix) is a range reduction, up to 20%. Something about the li-ion chemistry. So, poor range in the winter and poor charging in the summer 😂

I really hope fusion becomes a more common technology. I know they’re going to take our gasoline away eventually, and the current battery tech just isn’t the answer. 

4 hours ago, peteinpa said:

Glad you're back on your FJ!

So what fixed your bike?  I know there was something but can't remember. Couldn't find it either.

I need to find and update that thread. Basically it came back from it’s second valve service with a weak idle when warmed up. They couldn’t figure it out. Another shop couldn’t figure it out. I tried to figure it out and apparently mangled the ECU plug causing more problems. BIL swapped out the plug and then went nuts. Lithium battery, lightech chain adjusters, slipper/assist clutch with a billet basket, replaced the airbox and put in a high performance filter. It still had the week idle when I picked it up yesterday, but 330 miles at high speed across the desert with techron fuel additive in the tank and the issue was gone when I got home. We’ll see if it stays that way. 

8 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

That’s an interesting comment, and something I hadn’t considered when looking at EVs.   Is there something that makes this unique to the Zero, or a more universal EV issue?    

Pardon my ignorance, but I’m just starting to really dig into electric options (cars & bikes). 

Definitely a Zero thing. They have so far refused to implement a liquid cooling system, it’s entirely air cooled. There’s a tiny fan in the chargetank, but it doesn’t do much. Reduces maintenance, but living here makes it a pain. Energica has liquid cooling system, and if/when I get another electric, that’s what I’ll be looking for. 

14 minutes ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Nice but please elaborate. 

What Zero is that and how do you like it?

The Zero is a 2018 S with 13kWh battery and a level 2 “chargetank”. That’s actually what I’ve been riding the last year and half. It’s done okay as a commuter, but my commute recently changed from 20 miles round trip to 50. That is JUST within its freeway range; it uses almost 50% each way. So I’ve been charging at work and at home. But with the summer heat (Phoenix) it takes the bike about 5-6 hours to cool off in the evening enough to charge. No bueno. 
 

So. I gave my FJ to my BIL a little while ago. It needed work, and as a recent returner to riding, the S1000R he picked up was intimidating him. So he fixed up the FJ and put a few miles on it. He’s been riding the S1000R more though, and I’ve been wanting to no deal with the Zero charging in the summer. So I got my FJ back 🙂

Went to go visit my BIL yesterday, and look who followed me home 🙂

1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Enhancing form over function is a choice as is improving function over form.  That's all I'm saying.  What are you?

And I tried to be nice...

Form over function/function over form is choosing one at the cost of the other. It didn’t cost him function to improve form though, so… 

Every upgrade you mentioned is great, and aside from the pads is a significant time or money upgrade. But we’ve all got spray paint going bad in the garage. Seems like a win win

3 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Form before function

When underway on a twisty road you'd really feel how much better it could be with braided lines, HH+ pads and possibly 320 mm rotors and a radial MC, fork springs n tweaks and a quality shock, different levers, bars and/or risers, a sleeker or bigger shield, nicer saddle, and maybe an ECU flash.

Whereas your paint job is nice and inexpensive, you can't see or feel from the saddle...  😉

I'm just a mean old man whose eyes are no longer drawn to a pretty face, now a solid chassis and svelte running gear that runs like a wild mare...

yes, one can still feel the need for speed past 65...

Is this really relevant considering that function hasn’t been compromised? At all?

On 5/16/2022 at 12:22 PM, roy826 said:

The GT+ has arrived! Arrived late Friday and the lead tech at the shop fell ill. He’s in bad health shape and the only one I trust there to do the PDI on my bike. He was out Saturday and they’re closed on mondays. So I’m hoping it gets put together tomorrow Tuesday. The panniers ship separately due to their size. Hoping they make it by weeks end. I ordered the over priced oem heated grips Saturday for it. It should have come with these. But I see why Suzuki does it this way. Some buyers do not want them on their bikes and this model is sold as a GT and GT+. They are all GTs until you add the panniers and it becomes a GT+. Kinda stupid if you ask me. All I got for now is a picture of the shipping crate. They have peeked inside and it’s all in good shape. 

I’m itching for one these so bad right now, which is STUPID since I don’t currently ride more than 40 miles a week, but still… So jealous. 

On 5/13/2022 at 7:47 AM, Heli ATP said:

Installing a Pinlock EVO lens on my Shoei Neotec 2 helmet and the instructions say not to use at night, as vision can be reduced to 80%. I expect to leave the pinlock lens installed all the time, (or until I get moisture inside or the bead fails). Does anyone remove them after the sun goes down, or is this just lawyer speak?

There’s some flare but it’s not bad. I don’t touch my pinlock until it needs replaced. Scratching it from frequent removals/installations will do more to reduce your vision in my opinion. 

My 2018 Zero S with 13kWh battery and level 2 charge tank has identical ranges, retailed for 18k and has all of TWO dealerships in Phoenix, the closest of which is 20 miles away. 
 

That Harley has 20 more horsepower, weighs 20lbs less, retails 3k cheaper, and has at least 8 dealerships in the valley, the closest 3.5 miles away. 
 

They still aren’t worth anything near the sticker price in my opinion, but dollar for dollar that Livewire has an equivalent Zero beat. 
 

You can get a fancier Zero, but at those prices (~22k) you might as well shell out a bit more for an Energica and get DC fast charging and a decent reliability record. 

My 2016 FJ had the same problem. Removing the charcoal canister fixed it