I finally added a FJ to my garage

[panooch]

I've been looking at the bike since early February or March. I started off getting to do a 10 minute test ride, which I squeezed to 15 minutes, whippee. I left with less then ideal impression as a whole but loved the motor and its nimble quick responsive steering (80% of my preference). Being able to do 85-90% of my favorite roads without changing gears much could be a very impressive ride. Then I did a demo day and got to ride for 20 minutes, stop and go in the city and some highway. Not what I want the bike for. I almost preferred the Super Tenere, which I also road but did not want the extra weight. So my search for a FJ purchase started pretty much from there. Though I struggled with the fact that if I was going to get a good ride on my favorite roads it would only be accomplished through a purchase. No FJ rentals in my area and I know of only one recent member post here who has purchased an FJ but having never met him, I could not ask to borrow it for a couple hours. I'm the first in my group to purchase the FJ. I know what I'm in for now. 
 
The first dealer I spoke to with check book in hand quoted $11,950 OTD with fees. Oooh, be patient my inside voice told me. Same dealer ended up advertising a price online of $8190.00 plus fees. Yes low but advertised. I showed up to purchase but of course they had made a mistake and would not honor the price. Another dealer, the same one I did the demo day @, the owner himself quoted me a price over the phone a couple weeks after the demo day. I road 60 miles to purchase and he would not honor his price either saying he quoted on a FZ-09 by mistake. Was a nice ride down though. So that's two dealers. The third dealer wanted $11,700 OTD with CA state administration fee (tax) which was too rich for me to write a check for. Zero percent interest was not being offered at the time. So my search slowed down until something possibly second hand came up. I was pretty well done with dealers.
 
Last weekend my daughter had a swim meet 90 miles down south from us. I did a search online and just happened to find a Matte Gray FJ with 470 miles on it. Matte Gray was not my first color choice only because I heard the red ones are faster. But within 90 miles and such low mileage, I knew to move forward. I contacted the owner on Tuesday 05-12, who was a wonderful 71 year old gentleman and by Friday 05-15, I had payed off his reasonable loan balance, added it to my insurance ($352.00 per year, Geico full coverage $500 ded with roadside) and on Saturday, rode her home. Saved enough on my purchase to be very pleased. I also signed way less paperwork buying private party. It does need the recall done, early vin sold in February. I did the 600 mile service yesterday and added my Givi soft bags, Cortech tank bag, cut seat bumpers down (5' 6" vertically challenged) cleaned, loosened and lubed the chain, added some farkle tape, filled up the tank and went for a ride. 46.1 mpg was my first average. I will tear down and synch throttle bodies in a few weeks. This Wednesday will be my first twisty foothill/mountain ride. Which is the type of riding I like to do. We are heading up to Mariposa for lunch. Hmm, I think I hear Yosemite calling.
 

 
 

[Trambo]

Congrats on the new ride!

[caferacer]

I know I'm replying to an almost year-old thread, but the Matte Gray looks great with the red "farkle tape"!  Where did you get the red decals?  I assume shroud decal is from faster red model , and rim tape is readily available, but what about the side cover pin stripes?

[panooch]

I know I'm replying to an almost year-old thread, but the Matte Gray looks great with the red "farkle tape"!  Where did you get the red decals?  I assume shroud decal is from faster red model , and rim tape is readily available, but what about the side cover pin stripes?

That's OK, I'm still around. 
Well your close accept for the faster part. The red tape and white FJ-09 decal is the OEM decal from the slower Lava Red FJ-09's.
 
I'm not the originator of the idea. We can thank spunrdneck for that. They have to be ordered from a dealer OEM #'s 2SC-28391-10-00 and 2SC-28392-10-00. I ordered from Yamaha Sports Plaza link and paid $7.84 each back in 6/2015.
 
The rim tape is 3M reflective I purchased on Ebay many years ago. I used it on my VFR also. Lights up well at night.
 
The side trim tape is a two line 1/8" I think. It may have been metric sized, like 4mm. I can't find the link to it, sorry.  I wanted it to run along with the OEM red FJ-09 decal which is a two line. Couldn't find reflective tape in the size I wanted but ended up purchasing a red on Ebay which worked. You have to be a bit patient doing the rim tape and two line on the side panels. But it works out OK.
I would probably prefer a two line on the wheels also but won't change them. The reflection is just an added safety factor I'm not willing to part with for night riding.
I'm done using the Cortech tank bag. Ordered a Nelson Rigg CL-1060-S tail bag for the rear seat. Tank bags fit is poor on the FJ and rubs my beer belly.
 

[checkereddemon]

What a GREAT looking bike, well done, laddie!! My tankbag (MotoCentric 14L) is just a little bit smaller but it fits the tank perfectly and I'm quite please. Especially since RevZilla had them on sale for only $54 - w00t!! Please get back to us once you've had a chance to get the bike onto the better roads....
 
PS: I, too, waited until the winter to buy 2nd hand and I ended up getting a bike with only 199 mi. (NOT a typo) and it already had almost $4,000 in farkles!! The icing on the cake was that I paid well under MSRP for the whole deal - w00t!! As the saying goes "Patience is a virtue..."

[panooch]

Checkereddemon,
 
Thank you for your comments. You may have missed the original post date. I've had my FJ since May of 2015 and this one sees very few straight roads. I have lots of wonderful scenic foothill and mountain riding all around me. FJ-09 loves it here until summer.
 

[caferacer]

Thanks for the comprehensive details! As others have said, lovely looking bike! I hope to own one soon!