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jojosz

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Everything posted by jojosz

  1. Hi John, I had it installed at my shop. It’s a while ago, but I think they said they had too loosen the radiator. To me it looked like you’d could pull the magura line with the old cable, but not sure. In any case, it’s been a great improvement. good luck. Joachim
  2. Zero oil consumption in 110000 miles - no matter riding in the city, highway or backroads and temperatures from 10-100F. Coming from a KTM 990 which quickly started to leak an burn a liter every 1000 miles the Yamaha was a delight in the oil department 😉 But I also had the oil sign coming on a few times for 30 sec to 2 min at start up, but always disappeared when the engine warmed up. It happened usually soon after oil changes, thus maybe some bubbling at the sensor...
  3. Amen. On the other hand, looking back on my FJ gravel rides (after switching to a BMW GS), I must admit that the FJ is not the bike for 100s of miles of forest and dirt roads. It’s just not much fun 😉
  4. No mods required or useful for the FJ. It’s possible to fill the tank to the rim without any mods, but this is not advisable as the fuel will spill if you put the bike on the side stand. My initial post was not advocating for overfilling the tank, just noting that the Yamaha spec of 4.8 gallon is really conservative + that filling on the center stand makes a difference.
  5. I was also surprised by the tank capacity - found it out by accident (closed fuel station). The trick to get the extra .3 seems to be filling the tank with the FJ on the center stand. 260 miles on one tank is surely an outlier - on a flat straight backroad at steady 60-65mph, and probably with a slight tail wind. My regular range (outside the city) until fueling was 200-210 miles at around 45mpg. Maybe I had a very frugal FJ or I am just a geezer 😉
  6. Rode the FJ for 110k miles (traded for BMW GS last August) and thought that was useful info. When the reserve light comes on, I got at least 30 miles @ 60mph steady. Most I rode on reserve was 35 miles.
  7. I noted that fueling the FJ on the center stand get you at least an extra .3 gallon/.5 liters. The most fuel I got into the tank was 5.1 gallon/19.3 liters - never ran it dry 🙂 The little extra fuel has been very useful on my long-distance travels. The largest distance on one tank was 260 miles (on a sunny day heading East through Kansas into Wichita).
  8. I fully agree with betoney! The ground clearance and 130mm suspension travel puts the FJ in the sport bike department. The skid plate is great for potholes, bumps and the occasional unexpected drop-off (quite a bit of that to be found on NY quality roads), but this doesn’t make the FJ an adv bike. Anything other than the occasional well-maintained dry dirt road is just not its purpose. That’s the main reason I switched to a BMW GS...
  9. I had the sw motech on the FJ for 100k miles. Quite a few parking tipovers - zero damage. They are designed perfectly.
  10. Congrats to the FJ - great bike. A skid plate is a good idea. The ground clearance on the FJ is limited and the stock suspension undersprung. Easy to crack the oil pan - I cracked one and bent a cheap skid plate. Finally got a sw motech plate which held up fine (the sw motech crash bars are great as well). Here the link to the post with my experience with the FJ09 (traded her recently at 110000 miles):
  11. It’s one of the few badly designed parts on the FJ09. Mine broke at 60k miles - costly repair...
  12. I am 5’11 and riding year-round in the North East US. My screen setup: v-stream tall with MRA x sport deflector - it’s been absolutely great for 110000 miles. The only problem with a tall screen is the flimsy front cluster mount on the FJ - it’s not really suitable for tall screens if you ride bumpy roads (the mount on my FJ broke at 60k miles). Re deflector: there are now cheaper knock-off deflectors available - I got the MRA in 2011 and it’s still fine after 200k miles ago. Lastly, mounting a deflector on the stock screen is not a good idea - the screen has too much flex.
  13. I have used various 90/10s on my FJ09 and rode a few 1000 miles on dirt roads with mixed success. I found myself avoiding longer dirt trails and turning around many times in front of a puddle or hill climb with a few rocks. Also cracked the oil pan and a bent a bash plate. So I eventually bought an BMW GS to have more ground clearance and suspension travel, and better dual sport tire options...not that I am suggesting you get another bike 😉 Here my take on the issue - just my 5cents: 40/60 Tire: TKC80 - great off-road, but that will come with limited mileage and poor wet performance 50/50 Tires: Nothing available in FJ sizes unfortunately (I am using MitasE07+ on my BMW GS - it’s an excellent dual sport tire) 70/30 Tires: Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR - not ridden yet, but reviews praise the performance on and off-road, though millage will be limited. It’s stock on the Yamaha T700. 80/20 Tires: TKC 70 - Only ridden on a test bike. Good, proven tire - unfortunately no block pattern, thus limited on soft surfaces ( I used a rear of the new Michelin Anakee Adventure with block pattern on my GS on snow and grassy trail climbs - it would be a great touring option for the FJ, but unfortunately not available in 180/55/17) 90/10 Tires: Metzler Tourance Next, Pirelli Scorpion, Conti Trail Attack - great on road and on dry well-maintained forest roads, but not of much use on any soft surface, especially on an incline. As a bit of additional grip goes a long way (literally), my choice for an extended trip on the FJ with dirt roads would be the Pirelli Scorpion STR. And hope you got a bash plate...
  14. Traded the FJ at 110300 miles for a BMW R1200GS to add a bit of off-road capability on top of great road manners. The FJ09 has been a great and reliable ride, but not comparable with the Bavarian rocket ship 😉
  15. My 110000 FJ09 miles with 25 rear and 15 front tires recently included a set of Angel GT2s - it’s a weird tire with some strong and one extremely weak point. They are somewhat sluggish to turn-in, but excellent in full lean with fantastic feedback and grip. The wear is good and very even - I changed the rear early after a flat at 5500 miles, the front made 10000 miles. The main downside of the GT2s is that the front tracks every groove and track in the road surface - it may be due to the strange double parallel thread on the centre of the front tire. My favorite tires are Dunlop Roadsmart3 (best grip and handling, great in wet at pace), followed by the Conti RoadAttack3 (great grip and handling), and the Michelin Road5 (best wet).
  16. I finally parted with my 2016 Yamaha FJ09 for a 2017 BMW R1200GS. The FJ has been a great bike for 110000 miles - commuting in New York city, weekend rides to Vermont, and several cross country journeys. This forum has been useful in so many ways for my ride that I can't thank everyone enough! And always courteous and helpful - please keep it that way.
  17. 110000 happy miles - finally time to part ways with the FJ for a BMW R1200GS. I have to add a heartfelt thanks for all the information shared by the terrific people on this forum!
  18. I'll be back at the Dragon - hopefully soon. The planned June trip didn't work out 😞
  19. Maybe we should move the dragon meet into a separate post - I'll probably be down there 23-25 May - current plan.
  20. Good you got home Olddawg, but that doesn’t sound good . I experienced a sudden loss of power with my last bike. It turned out to be a burned exhaust valve... ‘Hope it’s fixable. Please keep us posted.
  21. 2016 FJ purchased in December 2015. 97100 miles. I am riding year round - commuting in NY city, weekend and cross country touring. 10% two-up. New York potholed roads and traffic certainly puts some extra strain on the bike... Maintenance Oil changes 4-6000 miles - zero oil consumption Chains: 6 - replaced between 16-23k miles (one chain changed after only 5k miles - maybe faulty or due to worn rear shock) Major service every 25-30k miles: valve adjustments (exhaust valves always tight), spark plugs, throttle bodies, KN air filter cleaning - no issues. Tires: 22 rear / 14 front tires - best mileage (10200) and favorite tire: Dunlop Roadsmart 3, lowest milage (1500): Dunlop Q3; best for winter riding: Metzeler Tourance Next Brake pads: 6 sets front; 3 rear Cam chain tensioner: noise on/off, not replaced Repairs/Upgrades Suspension - 41k miles: stock rear shock worn out; NY city potholes & two-up touring certainly shortened the life of the shock - replaced with Öhlins shock; - 45k miles: replaced front forks with Öhlins cartridges (great upgrade) -96k miles: Ohlins rear shock leaked oil; replaced with K-tech shock - 97k miles: left front fork seal broke - seals on both forks replaced Foot pegs: broke off several times in parking tip-overs (NY city driving standards...); replaced with adjustable set. (I carry a spare set on the bike). Crash protection: sw-motech crash bars (perfect design); good protection of the bike in combination with the factory hard bags, except for the foot pegs. Radiator: leaking at 60k miles (due to winter riding & gravel); replaced the water pump with the radiator and added a fender extender Skid plate - oil pan protection: the oil pan and exhaust are quite exposed due to low clearance (and undersprung stock suspension). I added a no-brand skid plate at about 20k miles. At 68k miles the oil pan cracked when I rode over a piece of wood - the skid plate bent and cracked, but saved the headers and probably prevented a hole in the pan; replaced with a sw-motech skid plate (solid) Aux lights: added PIAA LED aux lights (great upgrade) Wind protection: the stock windshield is not sufficient for colder temperatures; the hand guards deflect air, but are more designed for optics than protection. I added a v-stream tall windshield + an MRA deflector - perfect for long-distance riding. Replaced the stock hand guards with off-road hand-guards. Clutch cable: required lots of lubing - every 1500-2500 miles - 27k miles: cable snapped, replaced - 50k miles: cable replaced with the updated 2017 design (still lots of lubing, but held up fine); - 91k miles: installed Magura hydraulic clutch (great upgrade) Instrument cluster stand: broke at 65k miles (unit is too flimsy for tall windshield & NYC potholed roads) Steering and wheel bearings: - 91k miles: steering and wheel bearings replaces with Allballs sets; steering bearing worn out. - 97k miles: bearings front wheel replaced Observations and overall assessment When it comes to bikes and riding, tastes and perceptions vary, thus this is just my 5cents, nothing more. Also, the road conditions in and around New York City are not Yamaha’s responsibility. The FJ09 has been a very solid touring bike. It's light and nimble, with a good power band. Two-up riding is doable on the FJ, but there are better bikes if you ride with a pillion - the rear shock just copes with the weight and the pillion seat is a little too far back (this should be improved with the 60mm longer swing arm on the 2019 Tracer900) - brakes: solid Yamaha / Brembo standard ware. The ABS is simple but works fine in my view. - traction control: the TCS regulates early which is fine for touring and city riding - saved my skin quite a few times on oil, gravel etc. - electric system - no problems whatsoever. The FJ always starts on first click; excellent LED lights and good alternator output (heated grips + jackets and gloves for two no problem) Yamaha should have recalled and replaced the clutch cable on the 15/16 models with a hydraulic option - the clutch pull is too heavy. The 2017+ models with the assisted/slipper clutch solve the issue. The suspension is sub-standard in my view - Ohlins was an expensive but great upgrade - still, the 130mm travel of the rear shock is too short for US north east “quality” roads. Clearance is low for a touring bike and the oil pan is vulnerable - a skid plate is a good investment. Dirt roads are not the FJ’s playground... Would I buy another FJ09? Short answer: no. I will change to a bike with more suspension travel and clearance. If I’d buy another sport touring bike, I would forego some of the cost and maintenance advantage of the Yamaha and chose between the KTM1290 Adv S, BMW S1000XR, Ducati Multistrada 1260S - and probably regret it 😉
  22. Just had the third valve check done at @91000 miles. Each time the mechanic sounded quite concerned about several exhaust valves being too tight. Engine runs fine with no issues thus far - maybe just lucky...
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