maximNikenGT
-
Posts
1,043 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
5
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by maximNikenGT
-
-
On 7/7/2023 at 6:39 PM, Heli ATP said:
Removed the fenders (10 minute job), and fitted Mudwing Medflaps to my 2019 GT. No hardware just peel and stick, which I doubt would last long. I used some short rust free bolts with lock nuts to secure and sealed the gap with black Silicone RTV adhesive sealant. Used thread locker on stock hardware and sprayed the bolt heads black. Two last pics are looking back from front.
Total cost $25.
Looks like they'll really Nerf the rooster tails that would normally get kicked up. Excellent tip! Please let us know how they perform.
-
Am posting this with permission from the original author/owner from the Facebook Niken forums where the owner was encountering a strange left tire suspension "stuttering" only when making deep right-hand turns.
link to wheel stuttering video:
Niken in question was a used 2018, with 36,000 km / 22,370 miles. No accidents / no obvious damage. Owner had already tried to troubleshoot the stuttering of the left wheel by swapping out with new front tires and balancing the wheels. Still experienced the stutter eroding the riding confidence of what is normally a very sure-footed machine.
After getting suggestions of balancing the front wheels including the hub, whether there was a problem with the rear wheel, fork compression/rebound settings, front suspension blockage, brake calipers sticking, steering stem bearings getting loose/worn, and even suggestions to perform brake fluid change, turns out the root cause was an out of alignment front end.
From the owner...
"Because the left wheel wasn't aligned with the right both tires were always "dragging" and struggling with each other. When turning right, while accelerating, the front left wheel was the most unloaded and started "jumping"."
Owner ended up creating his own alignment tool and provided pictures. This was the first time I had ever heard of an owner creating their own alignment tool and wanted to capture it for posterity because of the low production runs of the Niken (at least in the USA), not too many shops will probably even have this tool available.
The original Yamaha tool is called a Wheel Alignment Toe Gage part number 980890-01595 YM-01595.
According to different owner's post from 2021 (where his new Niken actually came with this alignment tool from the dealership), retail price for the Yamaha tool at that time was $540.99 USD / ~491 Euro / ~417 pound sterling.
Special shout out to owner Boris Nodelman for sharing detailed information on how he built his own alignment tool for about $15 USD. Specific questions I had about the tool construction included details such as:
-
Dimensions:
- Tool made from aluminum square rail 25x25mm, 60 cm in length. NOTE: Aluminum rails MUST be the exact same size, and the center hole must be the exact center of the rail.
- Rail Center holes = 10 mm
- Angle bracket holes = 5mm.
-
Materials and tools used:
- 2 Aluminum square rails: 25x25mm, 60 cm in length
- 2 M10 thread machine screws, 40 cm long that fit perfectly into the fork guard bushing.
- 2 M10 nuts
- 4 spring washers sized for the M5 screws
- 4 furniture angle brackets: ~75mm x ~62mm - The furniture angle brackets used on the rails have long holes so they can move about 4-5 cm each. This makes it easy to correctly align them to the wheel rims.
- Powered Hand Drill
- 5mm and 10mm Drill bits that can drill into aluminum
- Pencil/marker to mark where the holes need to be
- Hammer and tap to mark hole locations
- tape measure
- (suggested) Table mounted clamp to secure the aluminum square rail when drilling required holes. Can be done by hand if no access to clamp.
- how the precise holes for toe in pointers and the wheel brackets were drilled e.g. hand drill, pneumatic drill (DO NOT USE), drill press (If you have access to one is great).
General Build Instructions:
1. Check that the aluminum rails are true/straight with a level or right-angle square. If the rails are not true/straight to begin with, discard and find ones that are true/straight to begin the tool build otherwise it will never give you a true reading when trying to adjust the front end. Save yourself the headache and find aluminum rails that are true/straight to begin with. If starting with a single long aluminum rail at least 120cm in length, cut rail into two equal pieces of 60cm in length.
For each aluminum rail:
2. Find the midpoint of the aluminum square rails and drill a 10mm hole into both rails using powered hand drill or drill press (if available). This will be where the machine screws used to verify toe-in will be mounted.
2.1 Use M10 thread, 40cm screw and insert into the midpoint holes drilled per the step above.
2.2 Secure the 40cm screw with a nut on the opposing side to where the furniture angle brackets will be mounted.
3.1 Drill two 5mm holes to mount the furniture angle brackets at a distance of 17cm away from the midpoint holes you drilled for the toe in machine screws.
3.2 Using a M5 screw, secure the furniture angle brackets to the aluminum square rails with a spring washer and M5 nut (2x per rail for a total of 4 times). CAUTION: M5 screw tightening should be done with a tool, but not overtightened (you physically can't tighten M5 nut by hand - it's too small). Take care not to scratch your wheels with the furniture brackets.
Wheel Alignment Toe-In Gage Instructions for use:
Follow the instruction in the Yamaha Niken service manual per below and add spacers as needed.
* The assembly of aluminum alignment toe in gage rails on Niken should be done in the next order:
1. Insert the M10 screw through the wheel axis.
2. Fit the rail over the M10 screw already positioned within the wheel axis.
3. Adjust furniture angle brackets against rims enough for friction to hold them in place against the inner wheel.
4. Tighten 2 M10 nuts by hand, from opposite sides, until the aligning tool is in place and the furniture angles lightly pressed against rims (aligning horizontally can be done by building level tool).
From the service manual.
How to use the toe-in alignment gage and specifications on adjusting shims of varying thicknesses.
Where to install the adjusting shims.
Construction of the aluminum rails and hole positioning dimensions.
After utilizing the toe-in tool, turns out that the front end needed 1mm spacer on the right side adjusting shims and 2mm spacers on the left side adjusting shims.
After the alignment was performed, the bike no longer had the left wheel "stuttering".
-
1
-
Dimensions:
-
Updating world totals as follows with first 2023 confirmation.
2018 Nikens =1532,
2019 Nikens=1553, and
2020 Nikens =2258
2023 Nikens = 539
Still no serial numbers confirmed for 2021, 2021 Nikens. Current estimated worldwide total of 5882!
Country representation so far includes:
Australia 55 (as of March 29, 2021, recall data)
Canada
China (estimated at 23-24)
Czechoslovakia
France
Hong Kong (estimated at ~20-30),
Hungary (1),
Ireland (Republic of Ireland)
Italy (estimated at <120),
Israel,
Japan = 537 as of November 2020, recall data)
New Zealand (estimated at 14)
Philippines (1)
Portugal
Serbia
South Africa (1 2019 non-GT, #38)
Spain
Sweden (1)
Switzerland (1)
Taiwan
Thailand (estimated at 10)
Turkey
UK (England/NorthernIreland/Scotland/Wales = 302, as of December 8,2020, recall data).
US 280 (all model year 2019, recall data)
-
Pretty small detail to feel the need to add reinforcement - does it really vibrate or not have a good right fitting without it?
-
On 6/26/2023 at 10:42 AM, maximNikenGT said:
Opening a thread on 2023 Niken parts compatibility with older Nikens since the US officially only had 2019-2021 Nikens and I'm afraid how difficult it will be to procure replacement parts for US based Nikens for maintenance purposes.
I saw a thread in the Facebook forums where they at least confirmed that the European only 2023 Niken GT mud guards (fender extenders part number BFD-215E0-00-00 - Black) do fit the older Nikens (cost of £55/$75 USD).
Can anyone confirm what these silver brackets are for on the mud flaps?
-
On 6/25/2022 at 1:40 PM, NikenSwe said:
Been trying out different spacers in different positions. So far by far the best results was adding a few mm spacers on the upper screws on the stock GT screen. Still turbulent air but it hits only the top of my helmet.
Since I can't get any kind of reasonable airflow with the other screen I'm going to try and cut off a few centimeters from it and see if I can at least get some clean non-turbulent air that way.
What did you end up doing here? I'm thinking of switching to short screen for summer.
-
-
Stumbled across this as I was looking for Niken model toys/Lego to purchase as desk art.
-
Nikens used for the 2023 Tour de France.
-
1
-
-
Good suggestion - Just messaged him via Instagram with the request. Fingers crossed.
-
1
-
-
If anyone is watching the tour de France in person, special request - can anyone get snapshots of the VIN numbers for the Tour de France Nikens and post to this forum? Want to confirm if they are all new 2023 Nikens and if not, whether they were special run Nikens from 2018-2021.
Yamaha is still listed as an official supplier for the 2023 Tour de France but not as a sponsor per se, so the Nikens we see on TV could be from prior years vs new 2023 Nikens.
-
Approximately 18k yamaha motorcycles were impacted by the front brake switch recall issue including the Niken GTs.
-
Approximately 18k yamaha motorcycles were impacted by the front brake switch recall issue including the Niken GTs. https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/two-wheelers/yamaha-recalls-18-000-bikes-in-us-over-faulty-brake-light-41610189713717.html
-
13 minutes ago, Carol Bollington said:
2023 Niken 00539 arrived France 15/06/2023, England Yamaha 19/06/2023, delivered to IV22 2JU 27/06/2023
First confirmed 2023 Niken GT owner! It's a high number so interesting to see if it's a continuous run of at least 539 Niken GTs for production year 2023.
-
From the Facebook forums from another owner who documented his fix to faulty cruise control.
-
1
-
-
Any long term observations with the booster plug? E.g. Did your fuel mileage decrease, Did you see your spark plugs look like they were burning much richer during inspection / replacement? Any exhaust pops from running richer? Was cold starts affected negatively?
-
1
-
-
Official specs on 2023 Niken from the Yamaha Europe website.
-
Would also be interested in the sliding bracket to mount the new GT screens since the 2023 GT's now have manually adjustable wind screens... Would love to see if this is compatible with my Givi windscreen. Anyone have the part number for the adjustable windscreen hardware for the 2023 Niken GT?
-
Opening a thread on 2023 Niken parts compatibility with older Nikens since the US officially only had 2019-2021 Nikens and I'm afraid how difficult it will be to procure replacement parts for US based Nikens for maintenance purposes.
I saw a thread in the Facebook forums where they at least confirmed that the European only 2023 Niken GT mud guards (fender extenders part number BFD-215E0-00-00 - Black) do fit the older Nikens (cost of £55/$75 USD).
-
1
-
-
For those with Facebook accounts, Swiss article on the 2023 Niken. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2772217769679684/permalink/3547142438853876/?mibextid=S66gvF
-
Had to pull out my book on Engineering Fundamentals of the Internal Combustion Engine by Willard Pulkrabek from engineering school to refresh my knowledge of heat transfer in engines. The section on Engine Warmup states:
"As a cold engine heats up to steady-state temperature, thermal expansion occurs in all components. The magnitude of this expansion will be different for each component, depending on its temperature and the material from which it is made. Engine bore limits the thermal expansion of the pistons, and at operating temperatures of a newer engine there can be very high resulting forces between the piston rings and skirt and the walls of the cylinder. This causes high viscous heating in the oil film on the cylinder walls during engine operation.
Figure 10-3 shows how the temperature of various automobile components increases with time after a cold engine is started. In cold weather, the startup time to reach steady-state conditions can be as high as 20-30 mins. Some parts of the automobile reach steady-state much sooner than this, but some do not. Fairly normal operating conditions may be experienced within a few minutes, but it can take as long as an hour to reach optimum fuel consumption rates. Engines are built to operate best at steady-state conditions, and full power and optimum fuel economy may not be realized until this is reached. It would be poor practice to take off with an airplane, when full power is needed, before the engine is fully warmed up. This is not as critical with an automobile. Driving before total engine warmup causes some loss of power and fuel economy, but if there is engine failure, the distance to fall is much less than in an airplane. A large percent of automobile use is for short trips with engines that are not fully warmed up. In Chapter 9, it was found that this was a also a major cause of air pollution."
Key point here is that any engine has a lot of factors that go into determining how long it takes to reach a steady-state (regular) operating temperature (heat losses from conduction, convection and radiation all play a role).
With motorcycle engines, while smaller than an automotive engine, may take longer to heat up to steady-state engine temperatures if it's colder outside due to convection heat losses being more pronounced since typically the engine is more exposed to the cold air vs. a more typically enclosed automobile engine.
To your question of whether the thermostat is operating correctly, had to reference what the point of the thermostat is in an internal combustion water cooled engine. Section 10-8 Liquid Cooled Engines states:
"To keep the coolant fluid temperature from dropping below some minimum value, and thus keeping the engine operating at a higher temperature and efficiency, a thermostat is installed in the coolant loop, usually at the engine flow entrance. A thermostat is a thermally activated go-no go valve. When the thermostat is cold, it is closed and allows no fluid flow through the main circulation channel. As the engine warms up, the thermostat also warms up, and thermal expansion opens the flow passage and allows coolant recirculation. The higher the temperature, the greater the flow passage opening, with the greater resulting coolant flow. The coolant temperature is , therefore, controlled fairly accurately by the opening and closing of the thermostat. Thermostats are manufactured for different coolant temperatures, depending on engine use and climate conditions. They generally come in ratings from cold (140 degrees F / 60 C) to hot (240 degrees F / 116 C)."
Key takeaway here is that your thermostat is keeping your engine temperature at optimum range of operation as set by the computer based upon ambient conditions even though the thermostat may not be opened and the cooling fans not kicking in. Yamaha engineers have tested the engine in a wide range of ambient temperatures and adjusted the engine cooling software/hardware to trigger once its thresholds are breached across a variety of inputs/sensors. If there's one thing they taught us in mechanical engineering school, it was the study of heat transfer. And you can be sure that Yamaha Motors has some of the top heat transfer specialists in the industry testing and programming its engines. If your thermostat failed, typically you would know because your engine temperature would be overheating a lot and your check engine lights would trigger.
-
2
-
-
2 hours ago, Sti470 said:
New owner of 2019. serial 0038.
Love this bike.
Welcome. Location (state/country)?
-
On 4/20/2023 at 11:31 AM, Jasperthedog said:
Once again I'm looking for a bit of advice!
I finally got round to playing with all the buttons etc., on the bars and moved from 'Trip 1' to 'Coolant Temp'. A daring move I realize. Imagine my surprise when, touring in the Welsh borders (hilly, twisty, fun) when I notice the temp is resolutely stuck on 66C. I stop and idle and very gently the read-out advances to 70-75-80-etc to 102 when the fans come on. So the read-out is accurate. But Why so cool on the go? What does everybody else run at? It is my experience that cool running is inefficient, fuel wasting and gives poor fuelling. This is a problem with this bike, I had put it down to an aftermarket zorst that the ECU could not match. I would expect a modern FI bike to run at +/-90C. Thoughts?
2019 Niken GT
Two questions - what is your typical ambient riding temperatures? And is a zorst=exhaust pipe?
-
Final step re-keying my v47 top case to use the same keys as my saddlebags. Luckily Givi gave an extra locking cylinder with the purchase of the hard cases to allow you to do just that. Instructions as follows :
- Remove v47 top case from bike and using Phillips head screwdriver unscrew four screws attaching the locking mechanism from the interior. Note: once you unscrew these the latching mechanism will fall immediately off if you don't have a hand to prevent it from dropping on the outside. Do this on the floor or a table so that the mechanism doesn't fall and get damaged from falling on the ground.
2. Four Phillip screws is all it takes to remove the v47 locking housing. No need to separate interior liner.
3. Be careful this piece doesn't fall on the floor and get damaged. I luckily caught mine in time.
4. Interior of handle locking mechanism. Use 10mm socket to remove the nut and watch out for the locking cylinder and three small pieces that will pop loose as soon as you unscrew the bolt. They are a:
a. very small spring,
b. ball bearing for the spring, and
c. a single crush washer.
Don't do this near a sink unless you have the drain plugged because as soon as the locking arm gets loose the ball bearing is free to shoot out and you could lose both the tiny bearing as well as the spring.
5. My middle finger is pointing to the tiny hole located at the 7 o'clock position on the handle side that holds the tiny spring (you can barely make out the head of the spring in the picture) as well as where the locking collar arm retains the tiny ball bearing.
6. I used this opportunity to clean off any dirt and reapply some grease to the locking arm to ensure reliable operation. You can see on the locking collar arm at the 7 o'clock position where the tiny single ball bearing is supposed to reside.
7. Insert the new lock cylinder mechanism after taking note of position of locking arm and cylinder during removal. I recommend putting the tiny screw and ball bearing into the handle side and then putting the locking collar arm vs trying to keep the ball bearing from moving on the locking collar arm itself.
8. Put on new crush washer (also supplied by Givi with the new cylinder lock), and then secure 10mm nut while ensuring locking collar arm has a good fit with the ball bearing and spring.
9. Test locking mechanism with new key.
10. Reassemble locking housing in reverse of disassembly. ENJOY ONE KEY TO RULE THEM ALL!
-
2
-
1
2023+ Niken parts compatible with earlier versions?
in Yamaha Niken Forum
Posted
Had to look the Extenda Fenda up since I'm not familiar with them.
Pyramid Hugger Extension | Matte Black | Yamaha Niken 2018>Current | Pyramid Plastics (pyramid-plastics.co.uk)
Looks like Niken owners buy the Extenda Fenda from the '06 FJRs and make them work: