maximNikenGT

3 hours ago, Ride365 said:

So did you test the coolant before you did all that work?

I did test at the overflow tank but couldn't from the radiator inlet because the coolant level was too low to be picked up by the tool.

The overflow blue coolant in the tank did test ok but I was already committed to replacing the fluid since I was at the 4 year mark anyways. 

Stock Yamaha coolant was a blue color and I swapped with Prestone lime green coolant. 

Would be interested to see how big the rooster tails of water get kicked up by the stock Niken. 

Alright - so finally had some time to work on the coolant replacement. I have one of those coolant testing tools that will measure the specific gravity of your coolant to determine whether it is of the appropriate mix/quality to meet expected freezing and boiling temperatures. The tool is especially helpful for dialing in the right mix of coolant to water if you live in climates where you might get abnormally low temperatures or unusually high temperatures. 

So detailed steps are as follows:

1. Use eye protection and latex gloves. Coolant in your eyes is bad as is prolonged exposure to your skin. Also, immediately rinse off any painted areas that get splashed by coolant with water since coolant eats away at painted finishes. 
2. Set bike on level ground and use side stand. Use of side stand will supposedly help the coolant drain from the bike's pipes a little faster than if you use the center stand. 
3. Lay down cardboard/tarp and coolant catch tray under bike in case of spillage.
4. Remove coolant drain bolt located on the bottom left-hand side at the bottom of the water pump cover. Be sure to place catch tray here. Some coolant will leak out upon bolt removal. 
5. Remove upper fuse box cover that sits directly behind the radiator cap on the upper right-hand side. I was a little surprised that you must remove this cover secured by both a push pin fastener as well as a 5mm hex bolt. If you ever have to add emergency coolant while you're on the road, you'd better have a 5 mm hex bolt and a paperclip or else you cannot even loosen/remove the radiator cap. Do not loosen the cap until you have removed the water pump drain bolt first. As soon as you remove the radiator cap about 2 liters of coolant will flow out the coolant drain bolt on the opposite side. 
6. Use same 5mm hex bolt tool as well as a TINY T5 Torx bit to remove the cover that secures the coolant overflow tank and cover. You can go ahead and empty out the coolant remaining in the overflow tank while you're waiting for all the coolant to drain from the drain bolt in step 4. 
7. Squeeze some of the radiator hoses to help drain any coolant caught in the hose bends.
8. Note that the front of the overflow tank and the overflow tank cover have a slightly unusual front connector set up that utilizes a mounting bracket between the mounting hole of the overflow tank and the overflow tank cover (in comparison to the relatively straightforward mounting of the rear hex bolt fastener). This front connector also uses a VERY small T5 Torx bit head. Putting it back together was a little more detailed and took a bit more time vs. taking it off because of the specific placement as well as ensuring that the overflow drain tube didn't get caught/pinched by the rear hex bolt upon reassembly. 
9. Use a turkey basting looking syringe or pour 0.25 Liter of fresh coolant in the overflow tank. Fill level should fall between upper and lower lines. Put the coolant overflow tank and cover back on. 
10. Once all coolant has been drained, secure the coolant drain bolt back on using a fresh/new crush washer and tighten to 9 N/m with a torque wrench. 
11. Strongly suggest using a long neck funnel to add coolant to the radiator intake hose to help prevent coolant spillage and potentially impacting the paint. Unfortunately, the Niken's upper cowling is so big and curvy that it literally prevents you from putting a straight funnel overhead. Add coolant slowly until you reach almost 2 liters of coolant. 
12. When you finally top off the coolant intake, fire up the engine and let it idle for about 20 mins or until the engine reaches regular operating temperature (at least 140-165 degrees F) to let the coolant burp out any air pockets as well as allow the thermostat to turn on and run the coolant through the entire system. One has to hit the engine operating temperature to make sure that your engine temperature isn't fluctuating due to air pockets still stuck in the cooling system (toggle your engine temperature and see if it's jumping up and down). If you see weird engine temperature fluctuation then most likely you have air in the system that just needs to be burped out. 
13. After reaching engine operating temperature, shut off the engine and check coolant levels and determine whether any additional fluid is needed and top off as appropriate. 
14. Once you're satisfied that the bike isn't having wacky temperature readings because of air pockets stuck in the system and your coolant levels shows as being between upper and lower limits of the overflow tank, secure the fusebox cover hex bolt to 9 Nm with a torque wrench and put the push pin fastener. 
15. Dispose coolant at your local auto parts store/auto service shop for recycling. 

Coolant tester tool.

Coolant tester - cold side markings. NOTE: Dark red/triangle needle pointing to freeze point temperature scales is your coolant level reading. The upper dark red/much smaller needle is used to make sure that you're reading the  tool from an absolutely level position. 

Coolant tester - hot side markings. NOTE: Dark red/triangle needle is your coolant level reading. The upper dark red/much smaller needle is used to make sure that you're reading the  tool from an absolutely level position. 

Anti-Freeze and Coolant tester tool is used to verify what your coolant will actually perform at (in terms of freezing  and boiling temperatures) based upon its mix of coolant to water and its age/condition. The tool operates by measuring the specific gravity of the fluid being tested.

You insert the pipe end into the fluid that you want to test. Make sure that it goes all the way up to the level indicated near the top of the tool and hold it perfectly vertical to see where the secondary big needle falls.

Example. If you use this tool in regular 100% tap water, the needle will fall right at or below the FREEZE POINT indicated in red with white text above.

Typically the needle should fall at the -10 degrees F / -23 degrees C for standard 50% coolant plus 50% distilled water mix. If you're operating in more extreme conditions then mix as recommended by the coolant manufacturer. 

Needed a long neck funnel to get the coolant in after removing the radiator cap. 

Left hand side picture of the water pump cover. Bolt to be removed is at the 5 o'clock position of the water pump cover in between the bottom radiator hose and the clutch cover. 

Location of right-hand side radiator cap which cannot be opened until you remove the fusebox cover directly behind it first. 

Hex bolt that secures the fusebox cover plate as well as the radiator intake hose. 

The coolant overflow and cover plate with its unusual front and rear mounting set up. Note front gap between overflow tank and the outer housing is intentional since a metal bracket MUST fit between the two at this point. This was not readily apparent when removing the housing and you'll find out reinstallation is a bit trickier as a result of this nuance. 

Also verify upon reinstallation that the hose that sits on top of the overflow tank does not get pinched by the rear hex bolt. 

Niken upper cowling is so big and curvy that you have to use a long-necked funnel of some kind otherwise you cannot pour coolant without making a huge mess. Now my OEMTools coolant funnel above comes with various sized caps to secure the filler tube to the radiator. Supposedly it's a size "C" cap. However, the size "C" cap that allows the long filler tube through was too narrow to fit on top of the Niken radiator inlet.

Not sure if I have to bend the metal prongs on the OEMTools cap in order to make it work, but it did NOT fit mine with zero fuss. 

It's pretty late so I didn't want to wake neighbors by idling in my driveway/burping the coolant so will save that step for tomorrow. 

Burping the coolant is important because if you have any air pockets in the coolant system, what happens is that your engine will heat up these air pockets as you ride. The resulting engine operating temperatures will cause the air pockets to convert the air to steam which could trigger high temperature warnings when it circulates through the thermostat. The resulting high temperature signals could trigger high engine temperature warnings on your instrument display in addition to under very extreme scenarios (e.g. riding without any coolant/running pure water instead of coolant in your system) potentially triggering engine shut down to prevent catastrophic engine meltdown /cracking and a very large repair bill.   

 

 

Upper bolt securing the coolant overflow is a tiny Torx bit that I wouldn't normally carry as part of my emergency motorcycle tool set.

The overflow pipes, overflow tank and overflow tank cover. 

 During engine idling I added a little adapter to help control/prevent coolant air bubbles from bubbling on to the surrounding painted areas. 

After idling the engine up to an operating temperature of 170 degrees F, turned off the engine. Topped off the radiator intake with coolant and then capped the radiator inlet closed.   Set bike on center stand to and put a light on the backside to check coolant levels and we're done. 

Saw this article from Bauer, a maker for hockey helmets where they utilize 3d scanning tech to customize helmet fit for your head. Does any motorcycle helmet manufacturer currently provide 3d scanning and fit services?

https://gizmodo.com/3d-printed-hockey-helmet-custom-perfect-fit-eos-1850155860

 

New video actually shows the new Niken GT kitted with some kind of fender extenders on the front (see 0:00:29 second mark) - don't know if these are OEM stock now but at least these will help combat the mud rooster tails that get kicked up front the original stock fenders. 

Thought I'd start a thread on how to change the coolant on your Niken. According to the manual coolant should be changed every three years so this will be a first for my 2019 Niken GT. Manual illustrates the procedure as follows. 

 

I'll add photos of my actual experience as I perform the replacement.

Anyone happen to have the part code for the new washer/gasket needed for the coolant drain bolt?

Have to say that after reviewing all the updates made to the 2023 Niken GT, I'm curious where Yamaha got its feedback for future changes from.

Don't know if they commissioned a focus group or if they actually used our Niken forum and scanned all of our topics since they seemed to address most of our biggest gripes with the platform with the exception of addressing auxiliary lights, front fenders not long enough and the stock mirrors. 

2023 Niken GT finally includes an adjustable windscreen. 

Riders will still probably buy different size screens but this should help with fine tuning and minimizing buffeting. 

55 minutes ago, Heli ATP said:

While the PowerBronze windscreen is a huge improvement over stock for me, the top of the screen was at eye level. I was OK to look through the screen untill it rained and then had to sit up to look over it. I had looked at a few videos on You-Tube of people cutting windscreens so out came my Jig-Saw. Most videos showed people cutting winshields on the bike but I took the screen off the bike to cut it. The screen was only off for about 40 minutes, the project was so much easier that I had expected. Taping and marking the cut line took about 30 minutes to get it just right. The cutting took about 2 minutes and 15 minutes to sand the edge. Started with 60 and followed with 600 and 1500 grit sandpaper. I'm very happy with the result. Not able to ride as its snowing but will update after a test ride. 2" removed.

 

How did you clamp the windscreen down and where did you clamp it while using the jigsaw? Also what kind of jigsaw blade did you use e.g. Wood or metal?

21 hours ago, biggo said:

I average around 20,000 Km,s per year over my Bikes all leisure .   

Here is Cert For Iron Butt Ride I did on my Niken

I'm curious now as to how many Nikens have actually been used to complete an Iron Butt? Yours is the first Niken I've heard of in this...

On 1/5/2023 at 6:14 PM, 2and3cylinders said:

Bell, an original open face Magnum(?), Shoei full-face, their first imported into the US in 72, lots of Shoei after that back when they were reasonable going back to the RF200 thru the 900, Simpson flat-front full-face (sort of Darth Vader evil look), a Nolan full-face (before their modulars), HJC's first modular, a couple Scorpion full-face, their original 700 Red Rising Sun (Starburst!) is a killer Banzai design.  The following are still in use, some much less than others like the Scorpion EXO1100 JAG in DayGlo yellow-green (https://www.2wheel.com/scorpion-exo-1100-jag-helmets.html) but my head is a bit too wide for Scorpions, a GMax 54S modular, Nolan N90 modular, and now two Kabuto Ibuki modulars, one that matches my fastest red 15 FJ great and another in metallic black.  I like the Ibuki a lot!  Japanese quality on par with Shoei IMO with a composite shell and great interior, which I bought for less than $200 for the pair when WPS dropped importing them!  I stocked up on spares cheap for them but really haven't needed all but a hinge detent plate.  https://www.webbikeworld.com/kabuto-ibuki-helmet-review/ 

All currently used helmets either are set up with a Scala Cardo Q3 (the older helmets) or Cardo Packtalk; all with Pulse Pro 40 mm in-helmet speakers.  They crank even above 70 mph!

Didn't know anyone that actually had a Shoei RF-200. Way cool. 

On a separate note, hat tip to you because I bought the Pulse (non-pro) speakers based upon your comment here. 

Some accessories available through the Yamaha Europe website available for the Niken GT.  Key items that caught my eye included 30L hard cases, heated rider and passenger comfort seat, as well as TPMS sensors  (unknown at this time if any of these can be retro fitted to pre-2023 Nikens). 

 

2023 Niken GT and Tricities video at some motor show presumably out of Italy. 
 

When I ride my Niken GT on short trips around town during the warmer months here in North Carolina, I noticed that my helmet of choice would usually be my Arai Ram X jet style helmet because I was trying to avoid sweating under my modular Schuberth C3 Pro behind my monster Givi windscreen. 

So I ended up getting another jet style helmet since my other helmets were either getting close to or past the 5-year recommended life of motorcycle helmets. I ended up getting a Shoei J-Cruise 2 because of the integrated sun visor which allowed me the flexibility of putting it away on overcast days or when driving at night. 

Wanted to capture some bluetooth installation challenges I encountered on my new Shoei J-Cruise II jet style helmet. I specifically didn't want to drop another $359 USD for the Scala SRL mesh  communication system and wanted to continue using my Cardo Freecom 4 setup. 

So I placed an order for a second helmet Cardo Freecom mounting kit ($70 USD) which comes with JBL 40 mm speakers.

However, upon trying to install the Cardo speakers into the speaker cutouts on the J Cruise 2, turns out that the Cardo Freecom speakers have a slight bulge to them where the wires are soldered into the speaker housings which make the 40 mm speaker drives slightly oblong vs a perfect circle (see photos below of the Cardo second helmet oblong speakers being too large for the speaker recesses). As a result, the speakers that come from Cardo Freecom's second helmet kit are impossible to fit into the recessed speaker wells built into the J Cruise 2. 

Took some research but found an answer with the UClear Digital Pulse Wired helmet speakers (Amazon.com: UClear Digital Pulse Wired Drop-in High Definition Helmet Speakers : Electronics). These are 40mm speaker drivers that are perfectly round and drop right into the J Cruise 2 (along with some velcro affixed by adhesive tape to help retain the Pulse speakers). 

While the Shoei J-Cruise 2 helmet has 40 mm ear pockets to fit speakers, the helmet on the J Cruise 2's right side also has a special channel cutout specifically designed to help retain the Scala SRL boom microphone (see photo below). This boom microphone channel is NOT usable by the Freecom 4+ boom microphone for two reasons:

a. Because the Cardo boom microphone is much thicker than the boom used by the Scala SRL, and

b. I ended up having to mount the Freecom 4+ boom microphone on my left-hand side of the helmet because the Cardo 2nd helmet kit only allows the bluetooth receiver to be mounted on the left-hand side of the helmet. The resulting cable that runs to connect the boom microphone is too short to run it all the way to the right-hand side of the helmet. 

After getting the Pulse speakers secured within the ear recesses of the helmet, I was able to tuck in all the wiring under either the helmet padding or parts of the shell. After tidying up the cables, I put the helmet on and connected to my phone's bluetooth and tested the setup. Sound was excellent with zero discomfort/pain on my ears from the new speakers. 

Hope this helps others before considering using a Freecom 4+ for the Shoei J Cruise 2. 

12 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

LOL

That's not all my gear; I need a bigger closet.  The finished basement closet also is filled with gear and luggage.  The other half of the basement is unfinished and where my cedar closet, an equal sized workshop and office is located.  I've also given away and sold a fair bit of gear but my retired helmet collection, going back to 72, alone takes up 3 six foot long shelves in the rec room.  I just finally rented a 10 x 15 storage unit to get the 01 Sportster XL1200S and my duplicate 98 VTR1000F (2B 4 sale), two VTR spare engines and frames, and duplicate parts out of the basement and Bret Cave (separate heated/AC'd shop that's a third of the garage structure).  It's amazing how you accumulate things disproportionally to your available square footage.

I'm truely not trying to impress or brag.  It's a curse when you're a hoarder!  I've kept, for example, used up gloves and boots because you can't sell them or even give them away.  My father is 100 and a survivor of the depression and WW2, and instilled in me as a small boy that everything, no matter if it's just an old musty, lead-painted wood board, should be saved because you might need it some day.  Just crazy...

I've even saved every cell phone I've ever had except for one that I traded in for a free S21; and I mean with all their original boxes, cases, wall and car chargers, and earbuds too!

Just sick.

So be careful what you aspire to have kid.

Now I am insanely curious to see your helmet collection. It's not occurred to me to keep my helmets beyond 9 years, since generally accepted useful safety life is five years. 

"... as my walk-in cedar closet testifies."

I now aspire for my very own cedar lined motorcycle gear closet. 😀

WOW! That is a seriously impressive amount of gear. 

I don't suppose you could attest and compare the super fabric sliders vs the alternatives as far as likes/dislikes?

Just took delivery of a pair of Large Richa Atlantic GTX (Gore-Tex) Glove in Grey/Fluorescent yellow. This particular glove bubbled to the top of some european reviews (go to 5:43 mark at the video below as an example):

but have not yet made it to the US for some reason.

My previous motorcycle gloves include a Dainese leather long gauntlet with kevlar (no armor of any kind but I got these back in the 90s and aside from some cosmetic stitching coming loose, the leather has held up remarkably well e.g. no falls in them).

Also have a cheap pair of short cuff motorcycle gloves I got from Taiwan during one of my visits. Strictly a summer glove but with some hard plastic knuckle protection. Breathes well but little padding and not sure how well the fabric would hold up in a slide. 

I decided to get one to replace my most recent (but aging) del Rosario ultrasuede Resistor v2 gloves which I bought for the unusually high hand protection design (NEW RESISTOR v3 – Del Rosario) back in December 2017. The finger leather was wearing through at both the middle and ring fingers on my left hand and the adhesive keeping the hard plastic outside the palm near the bottom was no longer keeping it in place (NOTE: I have not taken any falls in the Del Rosarios). 

First impressions:

• Very well designed and good fitting glove. Will take a couple hundred miles to break it in. 
• European CE Level 1 with knuckle protection certified EN 13594:2015. Knuckle protection provided by 3DO. 
• Had a squeegee on the left glove index finger. Wasn't expecting that but nice add.
• Designed with key technologies including SuperFabric (www.superfabric.com), D3O (www.d3o.com), and Gore-Tex GORE Grip, and what looks like reflective fabric tech resembling Scotchlite but could not find any reference to what kind of reflective material tech is used or if it is a proprietary specific to Richa. 
• D30 tech is a high impact protection technology that is incorporated into the knuckle protection.
• Gore-Tex Gore Grip is a specialized construction method that effectively bonds the waterproof/breathable membrane to the shell of the glove. Normally the membrane is free floating, and as such, any feeling of disconnect from the outer shell has been eliminated.  GORE-TEX grip gloves | GORE-TEX Brand
• Two odd items:
  • First item that struck me as a bit odd was the use of two different straps for the wrist. According to the product description this is to achieve a better fit around the wrist. Purely my conjecture is that the secondary smaller inner strap is there to prevent any water from entering the main interior part of the glove. 
  • Second item I found odd is that Richa has these little straps stitched into the bottoms of the inner wrists with a snap button that allows you to snap one glove to another (presumably so you can always keep them together and not lose one). Never seen a glove with this kind of design before. 
• The use of reflective material occurs in five places:
  • Two longer strips of fabric along the back of the hand as well as the wrist/lower forearm,
  • a small double ring reflective section protecting the main joint of the pinkie fingers, 
  • the GORE-TEX logo on the back of the index finger
  • the RICHA name located on the outermost wrist strap (but almost on the inside of the forearm) 
• SuperFabric is located along the base of the palm as well as along the second and third bottom sections of the pinkie finger closest to the knuckle (see the photos with the fluorescent yellow stitching around padded areas that identify where the SuperFabric is incorproated into the glove. According to the SuperFabric site, the fabric's advantages are the high abrasion resistance, water resistance, slash/scuff resistance, and stain resistance. SuperFabric is used in a lot of gloves where the chances of getting cut/punctured/sliced are very high ex. (fish cutting gloves, broken glass handling gloves, knife sharpening gloves, etc.)
  I then wondered why Richa decided to use a fabric like this instead of a hard plastic or metal slider like those found in use by del Rosario, Held, Alpinestars, Dainese. I stumbled across this video from Knox that explains what happens when you fall off a motorcycle and what happens to your scaphoid if you injure it: 
   So these palm sliders are similar to wrist guards used by roller bladers and skate boarders on pavement. In the event that one falls forward on the pavement/concrete, then the wrist protectors will force the hands to slide forward so you don't break your wrists. You might still break your face but at least one will be less likely to break their wrists. So the SuperFabric is strategically placed there instead of a hard plastic/metal slider. Don't know if the SuperFabric has a lower coefficient of friction in comparison to a plastic/metal slider but it would appear that even if it's not, one at least retains better glove flexibility and comfort than one with a hard slider. If SuperFabric does have a better coefficient of friction e.g. it slides better on pavement, than the hard plastic/metal sliders of competitors, then even better. 

This is my first Richa product from the Belgian company and I must say that their products appear to be very well engineered. Also, glove tech has advanced quite a bit since my first Dianese leather with kevlar gloves from the '90s. To have a glove that is waterproof, breathable, using advanced impact knuckle armor, and designed to help the rider slide in the event of a fall for about 160 Euro, I can see why folks consider the Richa Atlantic GTX to be a glove that punches way above its weight class when one factors in all the licensed technology rolled into the product. More info to come after I've had some time with these gloves in the saddle to see how they fare in real world conditions. 

Happy new year! Be safe in the new year and best wishes for experiencing some fantastic motorcycle rides. 

Happy holidays everyone!

Cup holder. 

On 12/16/2022 at 9:34 AM, 2and3cylinders said:

Try 50s & 60s

Floppy

Basic & Fortran then 

I saw this and now I have no idea how to communicate with Gen Z...

https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2022/12/15/gen-z-communication-mistakes-coates-camerota-cprog-ctn-vpx.cnn

Was in a conversation with one of my good friends when we got on the subject of something I've never done in my life that might surprise him. 

So I said, "Never have I ever given anyone the finger while driving a car."

My friend from Boston looked at me thunderstruck. He said it is a coming of age requirement in Boston. Note I'm no Saint because if you cut me off without warning you'll get a long car horn blast. 

I thought it'd be interesting to see how folks answer this one.  I'll start.

"Never have I ever on a motorcycle...dragged a knee on the pavement."

On 12/13/2022 at 10:06 AM, knyte said:

Looks like great gear!  Someone's sure looking forward to spring!!

If I might ask, why the concern with Bluetooth standards - are you looking for specific features?  My old(er) Bluetooth crap all still interconnects as desired - it's not like it just stops working.

As for who's been naughty or nice - I've been naughty this year, but got an Atlas for myself, my g/f, and my dad for our spring ride:

Any particular reason you preferred the Atlas vs the Kaoko throttle lock?

30 minutes ago, 1moreroad said:

Ur soooo old. 😁

In a meeting with two of my coworkers yesterday and one made a comment to the other, yeah, some of us weren't even alive in the '80s.  🤐 

What killed me is when Sirius XM radio created an Oldies channel to all my music that I grew up to. 

I thought it was bad enough that folks didn't know what 5 1/4 inch floppy was anymore...