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PFJohns

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Everything posted by PFJohns

  1. These Hella horns are great--year-round. I have no negatives comments whatsoever and recommend them highly. Stay safe on 95!!
  2. Does anyone have any experience with motorcycle carriers for a trailer hitch? Occasionally, I’d like to take my 454-lb FJ-09 to different places behind my Mazda CX-5, and I don’t want to bother with a trailer and its expense, maintenance, tagging, wiring, parking, backing up, storage, etc. I see that there are several different bike carrier brands, like the 500-lb Black Widow carrier seen here on Amazon, and wonder if they’re safe, easy to use and efficient? https://www.amazon.com/Black-Widow-MCC-500-Motorcycle-Carrier/dp/B00OZ1IM3C/ref=sr_1_7?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1524239049&sr=1-7&keywords=motorcycle+carriers+for+trailer+hitch - customerReviews Any insights appreciated—TIA!
  3. Just be aware that lithium-ion batteries are light, but not good for cold weather cranking. As a year-round commuter in the Mid-Atlantic area, I just use the standard old sealed OEM type.
  4. This worked out really well- I went to--and can recommend-- this shop. Turns out Scott used to work for my dealer in Rockville before they closed. Also, his step-father has an FJ-09 on which Scott has worked, so he was familiar with the model. He did a great job at a good price. So Tusk, thanks for the recommendation. How did you hear about this new shop? Hey wait--Scott said his step-dad is named Tusk! Haha-
  5. My Yamaha dealer in Rockville, MD just closed their doors for good in November; their main shop in Crofton doesn't sell/service Yamahas any longer. My 2016 FJ-09 is due for its 8,000-mile service soon, and I'm looking for recommendations for a good shop. TIA!
  6. This weekend, a friend and I finally installed the Hella dual Super Tone horns up under the front fairing, using the bracket that the original horn hangs on. My friend milled a couple of little hollow aluminum stalks/couplings for the Hellas to perch on, and we got slightly longer bolts to hang them on the horn bracket bolt holes. Murph's Kits sells a dual horn wiring kit called a "Stebel HF80 wiring harness" that works perfectly for the dual Hellas as well. The wiring kit cost $33 ppd and has outstanding brief instructions. I kinda like how they look, at least for now; I call them my Commuter Hooters! If I change my mind about the looks, I'll spray them black and they'll disappear up under there. OMG they're Hella LOUD! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??? My son thinks they're so loud that startled cagers may sue me for unleashing the din. I think they likely will save my life in daily year-round DC commuter traffic. Here are a couple of images of my hooters. I couldn't upload the horn and wiring instruction pdf's but if anyone wants them, send me a PM.
  7. I need REALLY LOUD horns for year-round commuting in the DC area. I used Stebel Nautilus air horns on my 07 Wee Strom for years. They were plenty loud three-season horns, but they didn't like cold weather and took a split second to load enough air to honk. They'd go back to a wimpy single tone in the cold, and I went through a couple of sets in the nine years I owned the Wee. The Hella Supertone Dual Horns did well in the horns review in the April 2014 Motorcycle Consumer News (downloadable at www.mcnews.com/mcn/technical/2014_04Horns.pdf), so I got a set to install on my 16 FJ, together with a Murph's wiring kit. They were on sale at Amazon for $40 or so. The Hellas are electromagnetic diaphragm horns, so they should sound promptly and LOUD when the horn button is pushed, but they're pretty big @ 4.75" diameter. I want to install them horizontally between the forks and around the fairing level, like people are doing with the Stebel 80s. Since they'll be more or less just under the leading edge of the fairing and not really visible, they can overlap a bit if they don't fit too well side by side in the space. Any advice before I get started with the installation? I searched the FJ forum for 'Hella horns' but didn't get any hits. TIA, PFJohns.
  8. I've been idly poking around for a service manual. I read this thread, and then did a search. I found what appears to be an OEM manual here, for $45 plus shipping: <http://www.service-shop-repair-manual.com/yamaha-fj-09-part-lit-11616-28-46-service-shop-repair-manual/> This is the lowest price I could find for what appears to be the real thing. Can anyone comment, recommend, or back up this source with an earlier purchase from this vendor? TIA, PFJohns
  9. OP here again: I had already removed the silver decorative part of the knuckle guards for aesthetic reasons some time ago, so I didn't need to follow the Madstad directions to remove them before installation. At full lock, the reduced knuckle guards miss the 22" screen by ca. 1.5 inches. PFJohns
  10. OP here: I'm 5'10", with short legs and long torso and arms. I festered about which screen height for some time, but saw that Madstad offers time-limited replacements. That took the worry away. But I'll keep this 22" screen. I'm still testing, and so far I've raised it an inch above the bottom setting. I'll use that for a week and then try a higher setting, but judging from the nice big still air pocket, I think I may have hit the ideal height right out of the box. I want to go as low as is comfortable, since there are a few windy spots on my daily DC commute. Another poster was interested in the angle of the screen. Honestly, I just eyeballed it, based on my prior experience with the Madstad/Givi combination on my '07 Wee Strom. With that bike, I used to give it a steeper angle and lower height in the warmer months and set it pretty much vertical and a bit higher in the winter, for better/more still air in the colder weather. It takes less than a minute to raise/lower and adjust the angle, so fiddling is the way to go. In all, cases, I want to look over the screen rather than through it. Let me know any more questions, PFJohns
  11. My 22” Madstad bracket/screen arrived last week within five days of the order, and I opened it, inspected the contents and read the entire manual before beginning installation. Everything went fine, until I tried to actually install the brackets on my FJ-09. After trying every combination and arrangement, I suspected that the brackets had been assembled incorrectly. What made me think this was a post on the FJ-09 list serv that said wrongly-assembled brackets had held up another lister (see <http://fj-09.org/thread/2137/madstad-windscreen-experience>). Sure enough, that was the problem. Both brackets had to be taken apart and reassembled before they would fit the windscreen properly. I informed Madstad, and whoever is assembling their brackets should be informed/retrained. If you order one, call or write requesting an assembly check before shipment. The rest of the installation went smoothly. The directions were pretty good and actually showed the proper bracket assembly in one of the pictures. My only other observation is that in the parts photo, specific identification of the different screws and pins would have speeded the installation. I had already removed the outer hand guard piece for aesthetic reasons shortly after purchasing the FJ late last summer. I rode all week, as cold as 19F, and I'm REALLY enjoying the new screen, which gives me a big, quiet, still pocket in the cold weather months of year-round Mid-Atlantic commuting.Like I said earlier, it’s my second Madstad, and the first one--just the bracket--on my 07 Wee-strom with a Givi screen worked perfectly for several years.
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