Hyena

Welcome and what a beaut! Love the 2020 color scheme. Do what it seems all of us new owners do and instead of paying down the loan, drop 2k in suspension and upgrade parts

Givi crash bars and SW Motech Skid plate installed this morning.  Not bringing pics over from imgur for whatever reason.

I heard the Givi install was tough but I had no issues really. Key thing in lining it up is using the center mounting point as the guide to line the bars up and get everything hand threaded first before tightening down. The engine bolt that goes all the way across was a little tough, almost broke my clutch lever when hammering it out.  If you use a strap to pull the lever down and lightly hammer the bolt out from the other side with a screwdriver and rubber mallet, it's no doable. Relubricate before reinstall and it will help for future removal.

14 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

Installed a dual USB power point (with voltmeter) in place of the stock cigarette lighter style power outlet.   I did move the stock socket over to the other side, so I actually have both options now.   

This is one of those little things that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.  Fairly simple project, although it seemed to take longer than I would have expected...  unrestricted access to good beer in the shop refrigerator may have been a factor in the pace of productive work.  

that is a cool project. looks OEM. is moving the stock plug to the other side as easy as removing the blank and rerouting wires?

SW Motech Skid plate put on. And I forgot the thread locker. Woops. Going to tackle the Givi crash bars next

30 minutes ago, betoney said:

Many companies offer very high quality drop-in fork cartridges.  Traxxion Dynamics AK-20   GP Suspension 25mm   K-Tech 20IDS   Ohlins NIX 30

awesome list, thank you. I'll need to start focusing and saving for what I'm going for. 

things are slow at work, so I've been shopping. Hand grips are on the way, which I've said. I also have the Givi crash bars (I found them for 167 on amazon!) and the sw-motech skid plate on the way now, too. The Hig looks great, his service has been awesome. But... with the $50 shipping, I just didn't see where the $200 value came from and I haven't seen many people with the gen 2. The givi also extends up to the upper fairing which is ideal for me..  I'll probably regret this after reading how bad the Givi instructions are but I'm a fairly competent wrencher and have put together a while Ikea bookshelf in a matter of weeks 😉

McCruise and suspension are next. 

16 minutes ago, betoney said:

There are a lot of high quality suspension options available.  Tell us what you need and/or want and we can steer you in the right direction.

I've been spending the last few hours looking at a few of your options. I'm the sort of person that will want to go a higher end route that offers me a lot of adjustability even though I probably don't really need it for my riding style, but would like to have it for the future. I'm 6'0 and probably weigh around 210 with gear, but my weight fluctuates down to about 185 in the spring time (cardio, heh).  I like the look of the Ohlins kit with the external reservoir but have pretty much 0 idea of what I want to do fork wise.  Most miles are commuting miles but I do spend a lot of time doing mountain runs and that's where I want to focus: Predictability and stability in corners. It does dive on hard breaking (not as bad as my sv650 or my 919 though!) and it lists through corners pretty poorly, too. I really haven't had much time on a bike with a great set up though so I'm not really sure what I'm missing. 

S2 and a high viz option would be nice since all of my gear is black or grey....

Suspension to the top of the list then, thanks for the feedback. It looks like the Higdonion is the way to go then, is there any issue with cornering clearance? He also doesn't so the uppers anymore which is  bummer.

This is a year old thread so sorry for bringing it from the dead but: I have a GT-Air and they are on sale right now at Revzilla for 350. Also, Schuberth's S2 elite, which would be the closest competitor is on sale there too for 400. I'm thinking of switching to the S2 just to see if it's as quiet as everyone says it is

Tax return season is here, so that means parts for the FJ. I've read a lot of common upgrades on the forums so far and I'll follow suit for what I want to do in the next month. 

What's already been done/added by PO: 

• Quickshifter and ECU flash. 
• Puig frame sliders.
• Puig double bubble windscreen.
• Shorty adjustable levers. 
• Givi rack and top case, two side cases
• M4 Carbon slip on exhaust

Things I'm going to do in the next month: 

• Heated grips (went with the OEM option from Yamaha Plaza)
• Skid plate and cage. Higdonian or T-Rex for this. Hig's design is good and I really like the Gen 2 but the T-Rex has a door you can pop off for oil changes and the cage covers more real estate. Hig no longer offers his higher bars. Unfortunately, I don't see anyone on this forum running T-Rex's skid plate or their cage and I don't see much else about it online either. They offered to send it to me to see if it fit, as the M4 exhaust may cause fitment issues... the Gen 2 one from Higdonion shouldn't have a problem.
• Cruise Control from MCCruise
• Radiator Guard
• Remove throttle lock
• Screen protectors for HUD.

Long Term: 

• New seat. 
• Additional lighting
• New windscreen. 
• Suspension update
• Various cosmetic items, like the aluminum chain guard. 
• Fender extender
• Power commander? Do you guys do those for this bike? 

So that's that for upgrades. Maintenance wise, I just rolled over 12k. The bike has the YES warranty til June of this year and I have to get the Shift Cam segment stopper recall done (NHTSA 15V176000). The one for the handlebars recall was done by the PO from what I can tell in his records.     

Maintenance Items: 

• Chain tension and lube. May need to replace
• Oil change
• Radiator flush
• Suspension adjustment for height and weight
• Brake bleed
• Modify center stand so I can remount it (taken off due to M4 exhaust). 

That's it for now. If you have any recommendations on the skid plate, let me know. I know skid plate have been talked about to death but the T-Rex option intrigues me just for the convenience of the door. 

Electric bikes are aimed towards a younger rider that wants to commute to work. Younger riders can't even afford a car let alone a 30k Harley product that Harley has no previous experience with the technology. Everyone I know that wants to go electric is looking at something from Zero, a company that has been in that sphere for over a decade. 

Harley needs to bring back Buell or create a new brand that completely deviates from any sort of Harley branding in order to attract the next generation. And, bring prices in line for that generation, too.  

I just went with OEM from Yamaha Sports Plaza and they should be here shortly.  I read somewhere on here that they had updated the part number and insulated the right side a little more effectively so that the right side and left side distribute heat more effectively.... but who knows? I like the idea of aftermarket but I also like having something menu controlled since all of my past bikes basically had a speedo and if I'm lucky a tac. 

On 2/19/2020 at 11:41 AM, Cruizin said:

In my state , over half the motorcycle deaths that I see on the news are Harley riders. Sometimes not their fault but here, you hardly ever see a Harley rider wearing a helmet and when they do, it's usually one of those half asses half helmets. 

I take the advanced STARS riding course every other year in the spring to keep my habits refreshed and one year, this guy shows up on a big heavy bagger and he had to borrow a helmet from the instructors.

  We got to the fast swerve and power stop manuveur and of course, right on cue, he low sided the 800 lb piece of shet in front of the entire class.  

I think that Harley marketing and attitude has killed more motorcyclists than anything else. 

 

 

Absolutely agreed. I appreciate anyone willing to take the risk of riding, don't get me wrong, but if you buy a 15k - 30k Harley as your first bike and bin it on a mountain corner, that's your fault. Pride and ego makes no difference to the laws of physics. One of my bosses at my old job got a 20k Road King to ride in the mountains in VA. Limited riding experience, some sport bike stuff but it had been years. No surprise, he wedged it under a guard rail on one of his first outings.  You have to respect this passion or the gods of the mountain will get their blood sacrifice.

I'm new so I can't say much, but there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of activity here as opposed to some of the other forums I've been on, or if there is it's a lot of new members (like myself) not using the search function.  I'd like to have more meet-ups set up, especially for those of us that are new to the ADV/Touring scene and would like to ride with a group and do some weekend trips. Heck, an FJ/Tracer rally would be pretty cool, too. I'm usually more interested in coming to forums if it translates into actual real world stuff, but that's just me. 

Welcome @Pinoy_rider! Love the black.

First Day Out

---

Post with 2 votes and 80 views. Shared by HyenaoftheSea. First Day Out

 Took her out for the first time today. Really love the quickshifter!

18 minutes ago, roadrash83 said:

Be careful leaving your bike at trail heads, two of my friends bikes were stolen doing that. 

Good call out.... Hmm. Maybe I need to find a spot I can just camp out with my bike then....

Hi All, 

I'm the new proud owner of a 2015 FJ09 with 12k miles on the clock. I bought it off of a friend of mine that happens to be a member on here so the bike may be familiar to some of you. Comes with a lot of goodies I would've done if I bought one so seemed like a no-brainer. He also kept all the paperwork for literally everything and got the YES warranty so I'm covered until June of this year (which will be good since I need to get that transmission recall done). 

I've been riding for 7 years-ish now and this will be my first real foray into sport touring and commuting.  My other bikes were either a little too high strung or uncomfortable for me to want to ride on the 70 mile round trip to work, but the FJ seems like the perfect fit.  I plan to do some bucket list rides this year too, hopefully doing the Tail (or Back?) of the Dragon along with some superslabs down to Atlanta to visit my God Daughter in the fall. Biggest thing I want to do is combine my two loves of hiking/backpacking with riding and do some longer trips to trail heads, hike for a day or so in a large loop, camp, and then come back to my bike and ride home. Sounds like a good weekend to me. 

I live in the Shenandoah Valley which is pretty great if you're a motorcyclist, especially if you can dip over to West Virginia where the roads get a little bit more interesting. I'm a writer too and want to get into some motoring journalism on the side as I slave away in my day job and pay off my student loans that seem to never want to disappear....Which may be related to me buying motorcycles. Oh well, rather have the motorcycles. 

I guess I should do a build thread or something? 

Past bikes in case you're curious: 2006 GS500f, SV 650S, Yamaha R6, CB900, CB360, Sportster 1200c.