nevada72

9 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Good thing she's a petite thing with little you on there LOL!

SA is a very interesting country, filled with raw beauty and massive dichotomies between its native peoples and those that came later but who all love the land and desire a better future for all.  My youngest, a veterinarian, volunteered for a while in one of your protected wild animal parks.

Good to see you're up and at em finally!

Haha - I thought the exact same thing my friend. Great minds......

14 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Lets get out this weekend if you're up to it! 

B

I appreciate the offer my friend. Unfortunately my limit right now is the ride to the park. All my oldness starts yelling at me (knee and hand) if I go any farther. I hope to be back to normal just in time for Winter.

Haven't been riding much. A mountain bike crash screwed up my hand and then some knee issues from just plain old getting old. But I get her out here and there for short hops. Here she is at Carl Shurz Park where I am a member. It's only 7 miles away but it's better than nothing. 

Huh..…...I ride a Harley Davidson and a BMW  (in addition to the FJ09, and a Honda, and a Kawasaki). I wave at bicyclists even. 

Honestly, when I'm on a Japanese metric I get waves from HD riders, BMW riders as well as others. In my experience the only guys that don't wave are Gold Wing riders. I'm serious. They just don't seem to like waving. Which is okay. 

Oh, and seeing as it's a pic thread - I just got back from Ohio/Kentucky riding with a friend (I'm wearing the Shoei). The pic is us doing a ferry crossing. He was on a 2002 Superglide and I can tell you, that dude can ride. I had to be on my game to keep up on the FJ. I'm not going to say I'm the fastest guy on the road, but I do ride with some guys who are and they have nothing on this guy. I guess being an ex motorcop may help. 

27 minutes ago, betoney said:

I hope you find them as useful as I do.  I truly use them at least once every time I ride.

Thanks, I'm sure I will.

Now I'm on the hunt for some lowered foot pegs. The choices seem to range between cheap Chinese junk and expensive CNC machined Knight foot pegs, which may be the way to go. I can't seem to find the stock Buell XB9r version anywhere.

On 3/30/2020 at 4:53 PM, betoney said:

@foxtrot722 - I use the exact same method as the first 2 photos.  I have ridden many 500+ mile days while on road trips and being able to have foot placement options is a life saver for my old, damaged knees.

About a year ago I found a guy on eBay who makes standard and wide sliders, (contact him and ask for the wide) the wide version is almost an inch wider.

2014 2015 2016 Yamaha FZ-09 FZ09 Frame Sliders 2015 2018 FJ-09 USA

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This set of sliders will fit on a 2014, 2015 or 2016 Yamaha FZ-09. Will also...

 

I just ordered the extended version. Thanks for the heads up!

8 hours ago, keithu said:

Not around here. My Yamaha dealer is also a KTM dealer and they have had a couple SD GTs through their showroom, but a tiny fraction compared to the FJ/Tracer. I think I've seen one SD in the wild, and I don't think I've ever seen a S1000XR.

That's interesting. Maybe it's a regional thing? The KTMs aren't as common. I'll see them in group rides and events. But the S1000XR I see quite a bit. 

I think as a category they really make sense. Not an adventure bike. Not a sport bike. Kind of a blend of both. Which I think works because how many adventure bikes really go on an adventure? And how many sport bikes actually see the track?

I don't know.....the BMW XR and the KTM SD GT are pretty popular bikes. 

On 5/3/2020 at 3:26 PM, Wintersdark said:

They definitely look solid and pretty decent actually - easily as good [better, IMHO] as the aluminum store bought hardcases you see on lots of adventure bikes.

Padlocks are fine; after all, the locks on the factory Yamaha hardcases would be trivially easy to pick or just bypass if someone was motivated to steal your bags.  There's only so much you can do to protect stuff on a bike after all, and in the case of bags, if you're parked in a sketchier neighborhood, you just take them inside with you anyways.

 

Damn good work!

Thanks for the good words!

I may be biased, but I agree on the appearance. I've had a lot of different side cases on "Adventure" bikes and the look ranged somewhere between fabricated aluminum shop cases (Jesse) to glorified camera cases (Touratech Zega). I even had some that looked like an old sewing machine case (Micatech). Those were actually really nice. But all of them were expensive. And in the event of a drop or any kind of mishap, replacement would be expensive. To replace these - just $54 a side and 20 minutes of my time to re-drill.

I did about 100 miles the other day. Some of it on crappy roads destroyed by winter weather. No issues or rattling, which I can't stand. The case with the new SW Motech rack and tail bag provide plenty of room for any trip I want to take. 

I finished up the bags last night and I'll test them out today. Overall I'm pleased with the look and functionality. And my design goal of using the Yamaha factory mounts remained, for the most part, intact. I say for the most part because I had to come up with a satisfactory latching system that was A- Easy, B - Secure, and C - lockable. So I ended up using "draw tight" latches off the bottom mount. That's a different take on this than most, if not all, manufacturers use. I reasoned that if the bottom were secure, the top would not move. However, to do that required the removal of the lower mounting brackets to drill and tap for the draw tight hardware. It was actually quite easy and I like that it looks perfectly stock from outward appearances. 

In the end the theory proved sound and the cases are very tight on the bike with very little wiggle. Less than some factory solutions I've owned. And the simplistic solution calls for simplistic choices with locking - a padlock. Sounds very aggro, but that was the goal. It secures the luggage to the bike, and if you use padlocks on the cases, those are locked shut. Of course it's just enough to keep the honest ones honest. But it would at least slow down a thief at a gas stop bathroom break. And again, my factory bags really aren't any more secure.

I'll take them out for a test spin today to see if there are any issues.

1 minute ago, keithu said:

The numbers at cycle-ergo.com back you up; the FJ-09 is a great bike for tall people. But for the LD riding that I seem to be doing right now I still think the FJR or R1250RT are better suited. They have much better weather protection out of the box; I can put a big windshield on my FJ-09 and I have, but now I live in constant worry about the front subframe cracking under the strain. The FJR and RT also have much more standard fuel capacity, and the FJR even runs on 87 octane fuel.  

And I haven't even mentioned the shaft drive. 

Agreed on all points. I think the FJR is king of the Iron Butt Association. Unfortunately it's just too tight for me. The Ninja 1000, however, feels a little better to me. I think I could live with that, but again, chain drive.

When I really rack up miles I use the Harley. It's not fast by any means. But it will run 90 MPH all day long and I'll be comfortable the whole day doing it. Range is okay, but really drops off at those speeds. At 75/80 I can get about 200 miles of range.

1 hour ago, keithu said:

If I had to replace my FJ-09 tomorrow I would probably look at the FJR-1300 or R1250RT. I would probably "Oh" and "Ah" at the RT and then after looking at the price tags come back down to Earth and buy the FJR. 

I find the FJ09 to be much roomier than the FJR or the BMW RT. I'm 6-5 and think the FJ09 is one of the few bikes out there that is built for guys my height.

On the windshield - nice write up. I was between the Madstad and the Puig. Ended up with the Puig Touring. Big improvement over stock. I can't say how it compares to the Madstad, but I can say it's good enough that I don't feel a need to replace it.

15 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

100% agree, unless you have cash and can glom a fully loaded used XR for less than 9k like a buddy of mine.  Most of my buds are semi or fully retired and have discretionary funds that permit this.  I was not flush so I got a fastest red 15 FJ new in 16 on credit and now own it.  Had them install the heated grips and was able to include the Givi tour shield and case guards, fenda extenda, rear SA spools, Shad top box brackets (already had a spare QD plate fro my two SH46 top boxes) and Shad SH36 panniers and mounts in the invoice, picked them as they came in and installed it all myself.  So while the buy in was low compared to a new XR (which frankly other than the semi-active suspension and up-down shifter, I didn't want the extra cylinder and was afraid of what I'd do to myself with 143 HP), my FJ has absorbed a lot of my money and time (which will never be recovered IF I ever sell it).  As I added the slipper clutch and cruise control, fully adjustable suspension front and rear, and did all the usual stuff like an ECU flash, bigger rotors, Spiegler lines, radial front master cylinder and HH+ pads, APE CCT, added horn, all LED lighting, headlight modulator, 5V outlets and coaxial and SAE power jacks, cell, radar and GPS heads up display mounting with hard wire power, TPS adjustment,  front axle sliders, custom Sargent saddle, LP drain plug and SW-Mototech skid plate, tank filler mount tank bag, grip puppies, I'm on my third handlebar which I'm still tweaking.  There's more but my brain is puss today. The XR and FJ are more alike than the Multistrada, it's just not as fast as stated above.  But they are all couch rockets, which this ole bod has evolved to need.  Still have my VTR and RD for fun putts but for long days in the saddle the FJ holds it own with similar ilk.

Never had matte finish bikes or helmets.  The fender on the FJ is as close as I can figure your paint is like.

Picks are from Sunday up in Cheesehead Land, north of Palmyra up past Waterville Road and the Kettle Moraine Drive.  The lake in Palmra is in the distance across from the BP station with their 91 octane E0.  Typically I tell She Who Must Be Obeyed I'm going out to get a newspaper and some cheese.  I don't mention it'll be the Oconomowoc Enterprise that is out weekly.

Wow! You really added to the stock bike! I've done very little to mine by comparison  -  tall Puig shield, Terry Adcox seat mod, Renthal bars, LED turn signals, fender eliminator, SW-Motech rack, and now working on my own hardcase system. 

I could buy the XR or SDGT, but domestic bliss would be unsettled. Admittedly, I have a bit of a bike problem with 4 others in the garage. My low mile FJ09 came up on Craigslist at a price that I could not ignore - about half of your friends great deal on the XR. Had to pull out the old "If I don't pay the bills because I'm spending too much on bikes, then you have something to say. Until then..." which, of course, went over very well :D.

On the finish - hard to describe. It's very smooth and feels slippery. But it's more like a satin than a flat. I got it on my Street Glide because the bike prior was gloss black and I was that fool always wiping his Harley off at the gas station. Mainly because it looked so bad within 10 miles of washing it. The matte finish doesn't show dirt as quickly. I like it quite a bit, but it's not for everyone.

On the ride - you were right in my backyard. I live on the eastern fringe of the Kettle Moraine and ride where you were quite often. Prior to C19 I liked to stop at the Country Store in La Grange for a sandwich and beverage. Many great roads around there - H, E, G, C, N, Z, ZZ, Bluff, Scout, among so many others. I can't even count how many times I've been on Waterville. You probably recognize this landmark from times you have chosen to get cheese from a bit farther north - 

I think it comes down to non-existent marketing. The FJ09 is exactly the bike I was looking for, but didn't know existed. I wanted a lighter, faster version of my BMW GS. One that dispensed with the off-road aspect of the big Beemer, which I found to be pretty much useless save for the occasional fire road. With only two expensive options - S1000XR and Super Duke GT, I decided was going to compromise and find a nice FZ1, despite it being a little tight for me (I'm 6-5). Somewhere along the line, I can't for the life of me recall where, I became aware of the FJ09. Basically a Yamaha version of the 2 high dollar Euro bikes. Yeah, yeah.....they certainly out perform the FJ09. But I will say, when I ride with friends that have those, it's not like they have to pull over and have a smoke waiting for me. Anyway, I was elated to find out about the FJ09 and bought one. No regrets.

On the matte color - I love it. I think it's an awesome looking bike. I wouldn't change a thing. And Harley has made a lot of money on what they call Denim paint. I would know because I have a Street Glide with Denim paint. It's very low maintenance vs gloss paint.

On scarcity - I was surprised to see a guy filling up at my local gas station with one just like mine. I had never seen him around before, but we chatted and he's local. And I was sitting in a Jimmy Johns in the middle of nowhere Nebraska and some kid rolled up on one just like mine while I was eating. I didn't want to bore him with the blah blah blah of some old guy that has the same bike so I just said "nice bike" and went on my way.

In the end I like having something that not everyone else has. Kind of an exclusive club but with a low entry price.

3 hours ago, bamarider said:

I like what you've done with the mounting system, wish i had done something simular with my setup. After seeing what you done i wonder if the upper mounting brackets could be made with a 3D printer to make them to fit onto the bike.

That's a really great idea! If I had it my way, I would use Delrin material for the top mounts. 

So here's the Beta/prototype. Please don't judge it by the shitty hardware and unfinished appearance. Once I know it's a solid design that will get refined.

That out of the way- It mounts very easily and is very stable. I still need to devise a fastening system to keep the whole thing locked down, but there are a lot of possibilities. I'm considering something that fastens from the inside of the case to effectively lock it on when the cases are locked. But that's not for sure. 

The beauty of this system is one could very easily attach the brackets to a flat (heavy gauge) aluminum plate and mount pretty much whatever you want to it, all while utilizing the stock Yamaha luggage mounts. But in this case I used a Harbor Freight Apache case which seems plenty solid.

Yup - it's that Cortech. It doesn't have much capacity but it works for day trips. I'm going to add a tail rack, so I'll probably get something bigger for multi-day trips. That Kriega stuff look pretty good. 

On the brackets - I will definitely post them up when I finish. As pictured above it's not 100%. I need to add some JB Weld bushings to stabilize the top mounts, a capture to lock everything in place, and a channel to secure the bottom. I'm working on that today and once it's together I'll post up a pick of the Beta.

At that point I'll use better, stainless hardware and paint it black. The brackets will be all but invisible. 

12 hours ago, Zach26 said:

I would also like to see the brackets. This has been my solution so far. It's cheap and easy but limited to only what I can fit in my backpack. Rok Straps are awesome though. 

I had to double take your pic. I have one like that!

On 3/26/2020 at 2:34 PM, mingo said:

That looks like a Russell Day Long copy. Does it have any built in seat suspension? I've had RDL seats on virtually every bike I've owned and it truly is a day long seat. I hope this one is as good.. What did it cost? 

It looks the same but it's all foam as opposed to the Russell that has a suspension system. That said, the end result feels remarkably similar. Firm, but comfortable. I think if one were able to sit on the two side by side, one could feel a difference. That said, whatever time I have spent in the saddle on this seat has been 100% comfortable. The weather (not to mention the Safer at Home status) has not been conducive to a long ride. But so far two hours in the saddle is excellent. 

It cost $280 which included return shipping. 

Delete me? WTF is that all about. It's not like you all were parked on the guys lawn drinking beer and tossing butts on the driveway. 

Were you?

I'm 6-5. The Terry Adcox seat was a big help. Adds about an inch more. 

On screens, I have the tallest Puig - can't remember what size that is. I think it's excellent. Yes, my head is in the air stream, but it's pretty clean air. No buffeting that I have experienced. I toy with the idea of the adjustable Puig wing on top, but really, it's pretty good as is.

I was super stoked that Terry was able to get my seat turned around so quickly - just in time for Spring riding! The quality is top notch. I got a chance to put about 100 miles on it yesterday and it's a night and day difference from stock. Having owned a BMW with a Russell Daylong seat, I can feel pretty confident that this seat will bring similar results which means butt comfort isn't even a factor anymore. 

Things to consider - this is a custom seat. I sent in pics and my stats, as well as my desire to maintain, or even increase legroom. I'm tall - 6"5". This seat definitely increases legroom, but also height from the ground so I wasn't able to totally flat foot at stop lights with my left leg, which is just fine. It also put me up a little higher vs the windshield, so factor that. If any of this is a concern, mention it to Terry and I'm sure he can make it lower. Again, not what I was looking for. The seat is perfect for me.

And yesterday -