chitown

Held is an established German manufacturer with a long history. Many North Americans are familiar with their gloves, which I've used almost exclusively for 20 years on street and track. The Held Steve is legendary and my year round street glove but also have used their rain gloves and many track models. Like all the large manufacturers they make some very nice stuff but also have some budget crap. The higher end stuff is manufactured in Germany and Hungary, some of the budget lines are manufactured in Asia. When I toured the Alps even made a special trip to their factory store on my way back to Munich. That was the first time I was able to see any of their suits. Some were very nice. At that time all the leather suits were still made in Germany. Don't know if that's still the case. If it's origin is Germany or Hungary I'd probably feel confident that it's quality gear. If it's Pakistan etc would probably want to be able to inspect it thoroughly before purchase (or use a vendor that allows returns for full refund etc).

Take a look at adjusting the free play. It's simple and painless and should solve that issue. Can't recall if Yamaha puts it in the owner's manual but there are plenty of vids on youtube if you haven't done it before.

'15. Reflashed 2wdw for stock exhaust. Heavy wrist. 10% ethanol fuel vast majority of life. Fat guy. Have run through plenty of full tanks in STD, in A, all city, all twisty, freeway cruising, mixed etc. 38 pre-flash riding light to light flogging isn't out of the realm of possibility. Mine would dip to high 30s stock when flogged. My flash made it richer but not 5 mpg richer. Fwiw mileage did improve slightly during the first 20k miles of operation. My mpg never comes close to online figures. Lots of folks that don't ride them that hard out there.

Don't know if they're a different spec either but it's a good point -- Japanese bike oem tires even of the same make and model have been found in the past to sometimes have different compounds than what is sold aftermarket in the US. About ten years ago remember owners of new Yamahas complaining about some Michelin tire I loved. Folks posted the detailed sidewall codes and the oem tires had numbering nobody had seen stateside aftermarket. Some suggested they were different compounds sold in the Japanese/Asian market. Others suggested the oems can spec their own tires from the manufacturers and may have been cost-cutting or going for longer life etc. Never found an authoritative answer but both seem plausible.

+1 on Pledge or store brand furniture polish like from Wally. Helps with water and bugs and anything that will stick. Kept a can in the plane for wiping down canopy, prop, and leading edges. Many carry the wipes or a can on bikes for shields and screens and plastics cleaning but you can clean anything you don't mind being slippery on a bike with it and save some money over more specialized products. Makes a great tire changing lube too

My '15 FJ-09 experience: "Tank slapper" -- nope. "High speed weave/wobble" - yes but no more. Tank slappers IMO are violent affairs and my experiences they came with weight shifted forward. One was catastrophic failure of the front rim at speed. As long as I was on the throttle with weight shifted rearward I could steer so that got me to the shoulder of a freeway. But I had to stop eventually and the last 25 feet had zero control. Somehow didn't drop it. Another was a car pulling out from a mountain turnout suddenly. The other lane was occupied so no escape route. Max braking but car clipped the front tire starting the tank slapper. So violent couldn't input any throttle or steering. Eventually it just flopped over and I didn't roll quite enough and broke a collarbone. When completely stock had the beginnings of a weave at high speed a few times. Usually at high speed pulling into turbulent air (semi passes etc). But they were nothing that couldn't be managed by subtle shifting of weight and being mindful of inputs. Since then I've made several changes to the bike and it's not an issue. Endless threads on the topic for your reading pleasure

The passenger foot rests and brackets were one of the first things to come off my FJ-09.

Having a warning gauge is a good policy. With stock suspension I was pretty careful. My rear suspension was definitely not up to the task and I could touch pegs and centre stand down too easily. But suspension has been upgraded, forks raised in the triples, rear ride height adjusted on the new rear shock. Actually gave away some ground clearance but don't need it. Still have the centre stand. The pegs touch down when I'm at the edges of the tire and just before centre stand. Installed one of those aluminum side stand enlarger pads and it now touches down first on the left.

Agree that clearance is comparable to other sport touring bikes. Once suspension was set up properly (required spring changes in my case) and peg feelers removed, hard parts touching down is rare and there's no rear tire left to use.

There are alternatives to irons Of course tools to remove wheels are still useful and money saving in many cases when a tire swap is needed even if someone else actually spoons the rubber. My favorite shop has a tire machine but no other services so all installs are wheels off. And on road trips when a dealer already has commitments and I'm on a schedule it can get me on the road more quickly.

My tire guy hates sealants or any substances that ride in the tire. Plugging has worked fine.

There's no "a little bit pregnant" You're either in or out of the range of spec. If it's out I wouldn't close it back up until adjusted. The only place I'll use any judgement is for an engine very nearly out of (but still in) spec. May decide to skip adjustment based on factors such as trend from previous check, mileage, experience of others, etc.

A tube of Honda Grip Glue has lasted through a couple dozen grip replacements but it's just a rubber cement.

Those are definitely the heated grip connectors in the photo. As mentioned aux 1 & 2 are in the dash, you'll need to remove the windscreen and some plastic covers to access easily.

Bummer. I'd fix it and ride it. That's what I did after my hit and run on a previous bike. Too bad about the liability only. But, the road isn't always easier when it comes to "phantom" hit and runs. Didn't know there was such a thing until my insurance company directed me to the fine print saying they won't pay on UI/UM unless they positively ID someone to go after. We settled on the bike and gear (after saying no five times, always say no five times, they'll come up). But when it got to 2k out of pocket for medical they pointed at that fine print. Long story but ended up suing my own insurance company for huge profit I never wanted two years after the fact. What a racket. When we're taking a break on a weekend canyon run and the Lotus Club or Ford GT Club goes by and someone says "Don't you wish you were one of those guys?" I always say "No, prefer the bike, but do wish I was their insurance agent!"

Not in my experience. Have used under grip elements on a half dozen bikes with the shrink tube or single layer of tape with various grips, including Pro Grips. Snug but fine.

Tire changing is mostly technique so if one is fighting me I usually take a break before trying to muscle it. None of my rims are scratch free but they work and touch up paint is cheap . No mention of heat so I'll mention that I preheat all my tires before mounting. Tires will sit in the sun before mounting and if there's no sun I'll lay a running heat gun or hair dryer in the tire for awhile.

Noticed that yesterday. The superior red!

That looks like the one. Would guess length about the same as stock but didn't compare closely.

Ah. There's a diagram in the shop manual but think I just snapped a pic with my phone before starting.

Good tip. Or label them before starting. The Galfers came with labels at each end.

Yamaha doesn't publish by-model sales breakdowns, at least not for US street bikes that I've ever seen. We will usually get about as far as 500cc+ street etc. I'd prefer to stay at the current price point and let me do suspension. I don't have a GT but the brakes on the 15 FJ are plenty good imo. For reference, I'm in the fast group in SoCal track days. '20 will be the last model year for the FJR. There's a send off commemorative edition with gold wheels etc. Probably less about sales than the '21 Euro5 requirements. Expect to see some models from all mfgs that have had long production runs go away or changed significantly.

No specific knowledge of the Colorado but I'm a bit more careful with gates compared to previous generations of pickups given the constant migration away from steel to lightweight construction materials. At 1/2 Tracer weight it's not too concerning but If you can't angle it to get the rear off the gate consider a plywood sheet to distribute. While my bed isn't that short I use plywood with one or two chocks attached for hauling.

+ smaller tank and heavier. Seems to be copying their larger XR. Thought my 2015 FJ-09 copied others that existed prior. But if I cared what they looked like would probably only own uncomfortable Ducatis. This thread got to brands quickly. I'm above all that. I hate those that are intolerant of other brand owners and Range Rover drivers. In the US give waves if my workload is low but feel weird when it turns out to be a scooter and then I try and snatch it back and pretend it never happened. Don't think much about others not waving. They may have bogeys to pay attention to. And dear lord if they're riding some cruiser configuration I don't want to be the motive for removing a hand from the bar for a nanosecond.

Electric leaf blower does the job for me.