maximo

Reporting back. I just picked up my bike and rode it through town for 15 minutes, and all I can say is that the bike is transformed! Throttle response, while not buttery smooth, is well within the acceptable range. I was even able to put in on cruise control at 35 mph without the bike doing its best to throw me off. I'm actually going to have to relearn how to ride it again, not having to overcompensate for snatchiness in the throttle. It really is an unbelievable change. Thanks for writing up the instructions!!

My wife caps the number of bikes at 3. Then again, I'm still working, so it's probably a natural limit regardless. A few years back I had 5 in the garage. They barely fit and seemed like with my limited riding time all I did was maintenance runs (to keep them in good mechanical order). When we retire we plan on moving, and the new house will definitely have a bike-specific garage or outbuilding. Then I'll build my collection of a bike for each purpose!

We had a blast! It was quite a unique experience, and the people were amazingly friendly.

I flew to Boise last year to watch a game on the blue turf. That's as close as I get.

It was my good fortune this morning to realize that I had a leaky valve stem on my FJ, so I took the bike into the shop, along with the printed instructions on how to do the APS. The guy at the counter seemed like he was going to say no, so I parroted what you guys all said "I was going to do this over the weekend, shouldn't take more than 10 minutes, it's no different than taking the slack out of a cable." The guy gave me the side eye, and walked back to the mechanic. I overheard the conversation, and I heard the wrench say "let me see...(glances at the paperwork), oh yeah, put a half hour on the ticket, it'll be less than that." So now I wait...

I found a difference in very heavy bikes. On my ST1100 I ran the T and the S series, and the T lasted much longer. That overweight pig chewed through the S like me with a pizza at a late lunch. I've not tried the T on my smaller bikes.

I’ve been using the S21 for a few years on all my smaller bikes. In my mind, it’s been one of the best all around tires out there, and a bargain to boot. If the S22 lives up to its hype, it should be something else!

Oh, you severely underestimate my incompetence! Without exaggeration, this would take me anywhere from 3-5 hours, and quite likely something broken along the way.

This is a good idea, maybe it's easier to throw out the bat signal and see who's around?

I recently learned about the APS adjustment thing and I’ve read the very well explained steps on how to do it. And despite me being completely useless with a wrench, it seems simple enough that I may be able to do it myself. Thing is, I don’t want to do it myself. I absolutely hate doing mechanical things on vehicles. I’d rather spend my hard-earned cash on a mechanic to do it. That’s how much I hate wrenching. So my question is this: is there any legitimate reason why a dealer might refuse to do it?

I know nothing about this topic, so I have a couple of questions on your QS for my ’15. Since my model would need the controller, does it matter if my ECU has been flashed? Would it need to be re-flashed? I haven’t yet done the APS adjustment, but I plan to do so, would there be any impact there? Lastly, I have a KTM cruise control fitted on my FJ. Would that impact the installation at all? As for the math, it looks like the OTD for my model year would be $250 + S&H, right?

I think what we’ve got is something like this…

You guys are giving me hope! Now I have to research what "adjusting the APS" means. Big thanks!!

One of the greatest bits of review...

I can’t speak for the new GT, I have a ’15 model and the original throttle was so choppy as to be almost unrideable. After the ECU flash it’s much better, but not good (kinda like the early 2000’s Oilheads used to surge). I feel it the most on super tight roads where smooth roll off and roll on are required. The imprecise nature of the throttle is noticeable. The other place I feel it is at 35 MPH holding a steady speed. Or I should say trying to hold a steady speed. The throttle catches and lunges forward for half a second, then cuts, then lunges, and cuts. The only way I can ride in town is to slowly accelerate from 35 to 40 and then slowly decal back to 35, then up again. This is one of the reasons I still grab my 1st gen SV650 when I ride in town.

Yeah, Rick (RMS) has retired from the industry. I have one of his custom saddles on my touring bike and I love it. Rick was a polarizing figure, with questionable business ethics. He left more than one rider with a lighter wallet, and no saddle. One of Rick's former employees, Seth Laam, spun off a business when RMS started doing less-than-straightforward business. Seth's saddle philosophies align very much along the Mayer saddles. Super comfy, and (to my eyes) more aesthetic than Russel day-long. I had Seth do my custom saddle for the FJ-09, and it is every bit as good and comfy as the one Rick did for my BMW. Seth is also in the Redding area, not far from where RMS used to be. He's also a great guy and makes good company as he works on your custom saddle. I recommend his services.

There are a ton of amazing roads in this area, any single one of them could be a destination ride, but here you string them together, one after the other. The closure you should most likely watch is highway 162 AKA Bucks Lake Rd AKA Oroville Quincy Hwy. It is not plowed up above the Butte/Plumas county line on the west side, and past the Sno Park on the east side. Usually by mid may it's passable - it's not a high altitude road, just snowy. When you make your plans let me know how many days you'll have to ride here and how much you want to ride per day. I'll draw up some options for you.

I have a set, I don't use it always, but I do sometimes on a long ride. I'd put the benefit as "ok", not "wow!". The one thing that gets me is that on long saddle days I like to stand up on the pegs to get a bit of circulation. When I do that and the butt pad is on the bike, sometimes it flops around, or the wind folds it over, and then it's a PITA to get it sorted out when I sit down. So I do carry one on each bike, but use them sparingly.

I love the Hopland grade. I go from Chico to Santa Rosa often, and if I have an extra half hour I’ll go over 175 for sure. There is one pesky detail that keeps it from going from Great! to Spectacular!, and that is the number of dirty corners. Lots of people haul boats and trailers over the grade and on the right handers the load often goes off pavement and kicks up gravel just at the delayed apex. You really have to know the road well to know which sequences you can open up and which sequences you have to hold back. That having been said, it’s still probably one of my top 5 roads in NorCal – and that says a lot, considering the embarrassment of riches we have.

When I use my '15 for just commuting, I do so on B Mode, set the cruise at 65, do 50 miles of uninterrupted freeway, and I always gas up 200+ miles. Usually it takes 4.3 gallons, so I know that under those conditions I still have another 25 miles in fuel. Regular riding (A Mode, active R wrist, lots of speed changes) I gas up when I hit 140. I've come pretty close to running out even below 140.

I think this summer we'll do a couple of weeks in the Canadian Rockies.

Did the creek crossings on Berryessa-Knoxville Rd have water running on them? That's always fun!

My '15 has cruise, heated grips, bar risers, larger windscreen, bar end weights, FJR pegs, flashed ECU, and other farkles I'm forgetting. It's by no means a GT, but if value is high on your list, this route does give you a lot of bang for the buck.

I used to use this way back in the day, until it started turning my plexis into a milky yellowish hue. I haven't used it for years, so I can't comment on the current variants. I've just come to accept beading on my visor as a normal part of rain riding.

So with the lower rise, despite the 3" overlap, do you get a gap right at your coin slot that lets cold air in?