chitown

tl;dr

While the Alaska stuff is well-made and some love it it had no benefit for me so sold mine after a 6k trip with it. Also not a fan of anything gel.

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I do endurance riding on everything from stock seats to $500 customs to dirt bike seats.

Anything that changes the pressure points helps for awhile though. Thus, any seat that's level and doesn't have too well defined of a bucket is helpful as I can change positions a bit throughout the day.  Gel tends to pack and retain heat. 

Have used Airhawk, Sargeant, Corbin, various bicycle shorts and apparel etc. At this point if spending more than $50 will just wait till ready to do a ride in appointment with a custom seat maker with whom I can test the seat during the process and have adjustments made before it's covered. Since I'm west coast have done that in the past with Bill Mayer Saddles (run by one son, Rocky) and Rick Mayer (the other son who went north and last I heard wasn't in the biz any longer). Both good for the half ton any day.  

On a budget, there are inexpensive inflatable pads that store flat in luggage for part of the day then can be in/deflated to various degrees throughout the day to change the pressure points. Think I still have the one I paid $25 for from ShadeTree 15 years ago when I toured the DRZ and couldn't bring myself to put a custom on it

Like my Givi monokey case and rack. Found a Givi case and racks used ~15 years ago on fleabay. The case has been on five different bikes now, has seen hard core usage, and is still going strong. As I've sold/bought other bikes have either fabbed a mount (rear seat mount), used a Givi universal plate when the bike already had a rack, or bought a bike-specific mount from Givi.  

Some items you might want to consider while shopping:

- Are you running or planning to run side luggage that might conflict with the hardware from the case? This might not even be an issue for the FJ-09 but has been for some others. Since I only ever run a top case these days not a concern for me. 

- Is look of the rack when there's no luggage mounted a concern? EG my case never leaves the bike so don't really care. There are some slick-looking options for racks that will often work with various brands of luggage.  

- Will you ride with a passenger? Some rack and case combinations are fixed at one spot while others may allow some adjustment. Some offer nice back pads as options. 

This may be of interest: 

29" inseam, right knee replaced. When there's no luggage on the rear seat I swing it over and when there is just raise it up and over. Never got into using the peg or riding off center stand but have known a few riders not much over 5' tall that were well-practiced at both. 

On 1/25/2020 at 10:07 AM, bugie said:

You'd think it would be trivial but I'm now in a situation where on the centre stand the oil goes above the sight glass, and, when on the side stand held upright the oil is smack bang on max.

Then you don't need to add oil. Carry on. 

Damage, no. Annoying light yes

But it's trivial to get it right without the weird obsessing in oil threads like this one and other Yamaha model boards. 

Ride more worry less. 

All of my Yamahas with level sensors have liked to be filled till there's just a bit uncovered in the sight glass. There's never been enough of a difference on center/ground for me to have an under or over filling problem so I use the center. Keeps it simple. 

Do all my own maintenance and none of my post-2000 Yamahas have ever consumed oil but when I ride behind very high mileage examples that do it's pretty easy to detect where some of it is going via the proboscis.

On 6/8/2016 at 11:59 AM, rocky5000100 said:

Yes Pit Bull triple tree lift if you're going to be using it regularly. The cheaper brands also work, but tend to fail much sooner than Pit Bull products.  Browse your local craigslist, and you'll eventually find someone selling a Pit Bull stand cheaper than retail, and it'll continue to last years and years.
 

QFT. As the weather turns can often find folks selling off bikes and equipment. Regional classifieds on some of the larger racing/track oriented forums led me to awesome local deals on PB stands. I don't like the style of pin they sell for the FJ-09 triple tree lift but it's not strictly necessary. 

I always end up going naked or barn door on my bikes. No problem with a constant blast or a calm that will let me smoke a cigarette, just can't stand turbulence. No in-between. Put the Puig touring screen on my FJ-09 in 2015. Don't really care about how it looks as I don't buy them to look at them  

As to whether it's better to get more air for cooling in higher temps... yes but in a range. Same as mesh gear. Once ambient > body temp you just dehydrate faster and feel like you're in front of a furnace blower such as the multiple days of 109F riding through Vegas and AZ/UT this past July (that's 42+ taps aff weather for some of ya).

So for me it's barn door all the time even in the southwest US. When I took a rental Versys on the NC500 in August two years back missed my barn door. Ymmv.

Was going to say it lays on its "back" but it's all perspective when a battery supports multiple orientations depending on application  

As to figuring out what's compatible I'm not 100% but would probably start by comparing part numbers from the online parts fiches of the respective bikes. The rim part numbers probably won't match but if things like axles, spacers, and other items nearby it's at least worth more digging. 

I remount the partially used tires when the trip tires are eventually done. Less room and weight to store than a full set of rims. Have had spare rim sets for street+track as I use dot race tires on track and though legal on the street not a great idea. For the DRZSM had knobbies on 21/18 set plus the 17s with street rubber. Spare set just for a street ride would be a new one for me but why not? Would probably just keep an eye on ebay salvage yard sales.

Edit: I change my own tires so if it's the trip to the shop that's the issue would look into  doing my own changes before spare rims. The money saved on installs and rims is not insignificant if you go through a lot of tires. 

Many miles of dirt, mud, gravel all on a Power front and Road rear. Just have to remember it's a sport bike with the same amount of clearance as an FJR and similar and requires similar caution off the pavement. 

Mine heat while idling, just to not the same level they do once under load/higher rpm. 

EG at 60F ambient, grips on L3, L3 set to 10 in the settings, my left grip will be mid-80s when measuring with an IR laser thermometer in the 3-5 minutes it idles before putting on gloves. 

No way. June! 

Sorry. Oil thread

1 hour ago, littlebruv said:

Has anyone changed the original power socket for a KTM type which actually holds a charger plug in tight and will not vibrate out ?, at the moment I just duct tape my charger plug in into the socket

Yes. But not for phone charging as the usb to Powerlet adapters aren't inexpensive. Would probably just install a dedicated usb port if used often. Currently have one of each style of socket plus a 2 pin SAE type.  

What I've found more effective (well, I use Powerlet now) when a cig adapter won't stay put is to run a very small gauge piece of coated wire behind the prongs (the side pieces that need to make contact with the receptacle's surface). The wire serves as the shim referenced above while making certain there's still electrical contact. You can do the same with an oring but would require that you carefully pop the prongs loose to install it.

1 hour ago, HGP61 said:

chitown

Summer of 17 we rode the route anti clockwise apart from the first day we had fantastic weather and saw Scotland at its best. Thought we would try it clockwise this time.

Nice. We flew to Belfast, hired bikes from Philip McCallen, took in the UlsterGP, then the ferry to Cairnryan and a clockwise trip. Also a couple days in the Orkneys. Good times.

12 minutes ago, HGP61 said:

My two riding buddies and Myself are planning a "four corners" tour of Scotland in the Summer.Taking in Berwick on Tweed , run across the borders to Mull of Galloway lighthouse and then taking in Durness and John O'Groats as part of the Northwest 500.The socialising is as important as the riding so no particularly long days and will probably plan on being away for the week.

Did most of the North Coast 500 in '18 and it was a great time and a real exercise of the rain kit. 

This summer it's going be the Pyrenees. 

Ah, so you probably meant "stock" mounting system. I don't have that so no specific advice there. 

May be misunderstanding the question, not sure about "shock mounting". I'm using a Givi rack and tail trunk on my 2015 and don't use any factory luggage. If going DIY would probably have used a Givi universal plate and fabbed up mounting for it as I've done for bikes for which Givi doesn't make a rack. Another option I like for those that don't do 2-up riding is mounting to the rear seat pan, as it's generally better for weight distribution and aerodynamics.

7 hours ago, andz said:

My bike has this box under the tank... what is it for?

 

EDIT: I guess it is the aforementioned charcoal canister but I live about as far away from California as you can get so I don't know why it is there, can I safely toss it?

The charcoal can just came up another thread. You can remove it without issue if you follow the steps in first post or another thread on canister removal -- what to plug, venting, etc. IME they've never impacted performance other than a few ounces of weight savings.

Fwiw Cali owners don't really need to worry about the legality issue -- we don't have regular inspections, and even a full salvage and rebuild inspection they only look for stickers and have never verified the presence of the canister. Heck, I went though an inspection with pod filters on one bike and they didn't notice or care. That may change one day so I do throw them in a box as it's easily reversible but never heard of one being reinstalled. 

Yes, the charcoal can is a Cali only thing.

IME they cause problems for starting if they get saturated. This usually only happens after a tip over. If it's getting saturated when the bike is sitting in the sun I'd want to check the other vent (the one to ground) for blockage. That's the one that should piss in the hot sun  

Have deleted them on several bikes but only because of cosmetics or real estate. They've never impacted the running of any of my bikes other than after a tip over. 

14 hours ago, roadrash83 said:

 For what it's worth I just finished the lines on my 19 GT,  the lever- petal feel great but the ABS is not acting right but no ABS light. From what I have been able to determine the dealer needs to cycle the ABS pump with his dealer only tool to flush the system and reset the system. This is not coming from the dealer but from what I have read on the world wide web "so it must be true". I'm taking my bike by the dealer tomorrow to so what they have to say, I'll let you now tomorrow👍

Don't know about the GT but the shop manual for an FJ-09 doesn't call for any such procedure to flush or reset anything. Have heard other motorcycles with ABS have such a thing but none of my Yamahas with ABS call for it in the shop manuals ('15 FJ09, '05 FJR 1300). 

The only item different for the FJ-09 from bleeding any old system is that the manual specifies an order, bleeding front first then rear. 

There is a "hydraulic unit operation test" that requires a diagnostic tool that is to be performed AFTER bleeding. Have bled my system a few times, including at brake line replacement, and never did the test nor experienced any problems. Of course, now that someone has had problems that test might prove useful. 

Over 200 is normal in many situations. Fluctuating as normal is well. 

If it gets to 230 and it's flashing "Hi" I'd be concerned.