Who has taken the %$@!?(& thumb wheel apart?

[TomTracer]

If someone has taken that damn thumb wheel apart did anything pop out at you? Mine has no soft detent at all, you gotta push like heck to get it to budge and there can be nothing soft about that first push. I have used contact cleaner and dry silicone as well as WD-40. Aggravating to say the least. I have checked recalls and the only thing I see is about brakes. Any info provided on thumb wheel is appreciated. 

[RandyN]

I have taken it apart, to a limited degree, to try to loosen up the action as I've had the same problem you describe. When I took off switch mechanism from the bars there is no problem to watch for at that point. I then saw 2 small crosshead screws and removed those and lifted out the mechanism. That is as far as I got. See photo with both screws removed. One is under the wire in top of photo.

I lubed it with silicone grease. It helped a little but still isn't right. You'll see how it works and what the fix would most likely be, but I wasn't ready to try taking that apart. When you push the wheel it forces a ramped piece of plastic into the spring loaded ball bearing. In my opinion, if one were to disassemble that part you would most likely be able to soften the action by smoothing that plastic ramp by filing or sanding the profile of it. I just didn't feel like attempting it.

If anyone else has gone further I'd like the info and help also.

[TomTracer]

Thank you! What a rinky dink set up. I thought about just buying a new one but the parts house price is $126. I may dive into it next rainy day we have. Really appreciate your info!👍

[pokey074]

You're braver than I am. Same problem here but I don't think I'll be taking mine apart.

[Ride365]

I don't need to use it very often, but agree the design/operation totally sucks.

[johnmark101]

That thumb wheel is poorly designed in my opinion.  Too small and very little control feel.  Someone else here suggested Deoxit spray. 

Fortunately I rarely use the thumbwheel.  I use it most when it is cold enough for the heated grips. 

[peteinpa]

MAF sensor spray??  It's like brake cleaner that doesn't harm plastic.  Widely available at Auto Zone etc. Pricey at $8 a can but you should clean your MAF in your car periodically anyway.

I don't have a thumb wheel so haven't tried it. 

[TomTracer]

It's there on the bike and it oughta work dang it! I sprayed the heck out of the wheel with contact cleaner while rotating and pushing in. Then sprayed it with a dry type silicone. For the time being it works. I'm too stubborn to give up but disassembly I really don't want to do.

[SKYFLIX]

Agreed, it is the worst part on the bike. I recognized that from the day I bought it. Any lubricants that are used are only a band-aid and will never truly solve the poor engineering. It's a perfect candidate for an aftermarket replacement, but the economics of it would never allow it. Unfortunately, this is just one thing that we have to live with. Which isn't to say that an enterprising maker couldn't come up with something on their own. I just feel like the time involved with doing that couldn't possibly make it worthwhile. But I'll be more than happy to be proven wrong. Shut up and take my money if you do.

[TomTracer]

I agree, just an aggravation that shouldn't exist. 

[TomTracer]

Well, since I had my dealer shoot silicon into the thumbwheel switch it has worked less and less each attempt to zero out mileage, mpg, or turn on/off the grip heaters. I know we can figure mpg and adjust mileage like we always have, manually, but dammit, we paid for the thumbwheel to work and it doesn't. I've tried the $17 can of Detox spray and shot the hell out of the cluster,  the grip heater icon flashed once then the damn screen jumped to Menu as it does most of the time. I looked at replacing the cluster of Start/Stop thumbwheel switch, cheapest is $116 plus shipping and local tax, up to $156 plus. Surely the butt head design engineer who designed that mess rides and knows it doesn't work worth crap. I have a number for Yamaha USA and intend to all them but I have a week or so upcoming when I won't be able to ride. Think I will take the cluster off the bike and take it apart. What can I lose if the POS doesn't work now?! This kind of problem, that surely Yamaha has to know about, really pisses me off. It should be on a recall, but so far it isn't. I've had oem grip heaters on several bikes and put after market heaters on several bikes, it is a nice accessory to have IMO. Yes, the other stuff I can work around but we paid for the stuff to work, and it is Yamaha's responsibility to fix it. (OK, I'm done for the time being, but may vent some more later on).

[Wintersdark]

Yeah, that bloody thumbwheel is without a doubt the most terribly designed part of the bike.  It's awful.  Even with two years of practice it still takes me a couple attempts to turn my heated grips on or off; sometimes I push it and instead of registering as a push, it registers as a turn, so then I need to turn it back to highlight the heated grip indicator again and try pushing from a slightly different angle.  Each time there's an absurd amount of resistance and I'm afraid it'll break.  

I'm so, SO, SO glad my Tenere just has a little switch on the gear to push to change between what's displayed on the dash, and a couple regular buttons.  

To this day, that damn wheel enrages me.

[betoney]

2 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

Yeah, that bloody thumbwheel is without a doubt the most terribly designed part of the bike.  It's awful.  Even with two years of practice it still takes me a couple attempts to turn my heated grips on or off; sometimes I push it and instead of registering as a push, it registers as a turn, so then I need to turn it back to highlight the heated grip indicator again and try pushing from a slightly different angle.  Each time there's an absurd amount of resistance and I'm afraid it'll break.  

I'm so, SO, SO glad my Tenere just has a little switch on the gear to push to change between what's displayed on the dash, and a couple regular buttons.  

To this day, that damn wheel enrages me.

So, after reading this I'm convinced that I will be keeping my 'old school' Gen 1 FJ for awhile longer.  There's just something about its archaic simplicity. 😎

[Fleng]

It is a bad design, for starters located at the wrong rh side. You can’t really switch and drive at the same time.

And guess what, Yamaha decided to use it on the new Tracer 9 and 9GT as well. 😡

[petshark]

I agree that it could be a lot better but I have to say that it kind of works well for me these last months.

My dealers advice (I know it's controversial) is to use penetrating oil. He used it on my completely stuck indicator switch and it's been working smooth ever since. I asked if I could also use it on the thumb wheel and he said yes. This is not a nonchalant dealer, he's actually quite the perfectionist so I gave it a go. I still wouldn't call it easy to push the wheel in but the resistance is much more predictable now.

The second part of this success story is something I read here at some time:

Put your thumb low on the wheel and imagine pushing up instead of straight forward. I think it took a while to get the right feel but the roll-instead-of-push action hardly ever happens anymore and I often use it while riding. I also reset the trip 1 and fuel parameters every tank of gas.

Hope this helps someone.