omniphil Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I am fairly picky with my vehicles. I am always looking for the one that does it all the best. I've have several sport bikes and a couple of scooters. My last bike was a BMW C600 and it was certainly the most capable. Tons of storage, easy to ride in traffic, 110mph capable, Long distance touring is a breeze, pretty good power and pretty good handling. But it wasn't the right one. I still craved sport bike handling and power and I still want storage and comfort. If the BMW C600 had an 800cc class engine it would have been near perfect for me. Enter the FJ-09. I got it 2 weeks ago and have amassed 1400 miles so far. Storage. This is going to be an issue. I miss being able to get off the bike and just throw my helmet under the seat. I have a Shad bracket on order to be able to use my Shad 45 top box. This will help, but means I always will need to have it attached. Power. Yup, this is good. on my 600cc sport bikes I always felt like there was never enough power. On my 1000cc bikes I felt like you couldn't use all the power on the street. It always seemed like something in the 800cc range would be the sweet spot. And yes it is... Side note the engine in the Ninja 1000 (upright bike, 1043cc but tuned for low/mid range) was the best street motor I have used. power everywhere. Comfort. I have added the Yamaha comfort seats and comfort is pretty good, yeah I still get a little sore on long rides, but the same was true with my BMW C600. To be honest the sport bikes have more comfort seat wise because you don't sit on your tailbone, some of the weight is put on the inside of your legs. The FJ-09 does this to some degree, if I sit up very close to the tank I can keep alot of weight off my tailbone area. The FJ-09 is also a proper upright bike so back issues aren't a problem leaning over. Wind Protection. This is pretty bad on the FJ-09. However with the Madstad 24inch screen it has been transformed. Its almost as good as the BMW C600 with aftermarket screen (I am 6 feet tall). Suspension. Scooters have very hard suspension and their chassis designs are stiff compared to motorcycles so with the BMW C600 I was used to a fairly harsh ride. With the FJ-09 The suspension just seems weird. Sharp bump are very harsh, but otherwise it handles well enough. It just seems like the spring rate doesn't match the dampening. It seems most people fix the suspension by making it firmer, but I hit plenty of sharp bumps and would rather not have it even worse The suspension is good enough. That's all I can say about that. Maintenance. I usually do my own maintenance and the BMW was pretty trouble free, the Yamaha like most Japanese bike are pretty easy too. What I love about the FJ-09 is how easy it is the change the oil, no plastic parts to remove or thing to do. Just unscrew the drain plug and filter. Side note, I used a Mobil 1 M1-110 filter which is longer than stock, this allowed me to put in exactly 3 quarts of oil. Nice... Accessories. I have added the Yamaha heated grips, those are quite good as they integrate right into the bike, but you have to add some insulation of the left grip or the heat will be quite uneven. Yamaha comfort seats are a little better than stock. The opens handle bars allow me to mount up my GPS quite easily. I still need to add brackets for storage options. Gas Mileage. I know most people don't care about this, but for me if a bike gets 35mpg and my car gets 30mpg I am not using the bike that much. I use my bike for commuting and using less gas has value to me. The BMW C600 got around 50mpg on average for me, so far the FJ-09 is giving me 47mpg. Very nice.... Passengers. Works very well. Bike still feels light and nimble. The only bad part here is the extra storage needs with a second person. Shad better hurry up with my top box mount Complaints. The stock clutch grabs way to far out. I have my fingers almost fully extended when it starts to grab. I have installed after market levers and that helps alot however I worry that now the clutch might wear faster as the clutch plates aren't as open with the stock levers? The other complaint is fueling. I am used to a touchy throttle and I can manage it fine, I just don't like it. There are also some areas of surging that I never had on other bikes. Like 1st gear going slow in traffic. It sounds like this can be fixed by flashing the ECU so that will happen whenever I can be without the bike for a week. So far this is really a great all around bike. I considered the Versys 1000 as it has my favorite street motor in it. However I didn't want such a heavy bike. Super Tenere? Too heavy as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fzrcraig Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Good comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odisspunkmuer Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Clutch shouldn't wear any faster with a shorty. Disengaged is Disengaged, whether there's a 4 inch gap or a 2mm gap if there's a gap there's a gap, you could always tighten up the pull if you feel like you're not getting enough and want to be on the safe side for when you miss the sweet spots in the Rev range. Nice write up though, I share a lot of your sentiments after 250 miles myself, though coming from a SuperSport to the Fj, I find some things you found "meh" to be fantastic (storage, comfort etc). Wind protection is pretty abysmal, not so much the wind just the annoying buffeting we are all pining to get rid of. Got a calsci tall in the mail(also 6 foot), hoping I can get some relief from it soon as you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket1 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Great review! Also, Odiss- I just got the CalSci medium about 2 weeks ago and its a HUGE improvement over stock. I am 5'10 and get just about zero buffeting, and reduced wind roar. Clean air hits my helmet about 1" above the top of my visor in low position, or about 3" above with it in the high position. I bet at 6', the tall screen will work about the same for you. Also, with the weather here getting toasty, I've made a very small shorty screen, based on the Fred Gaulvin posts here. Lots of air, but very clean. It hits me mid neck. Very nice when its 80+ degrees out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odisspunkmuer Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Great review! Also, Odiss- I just got the CalSci medium about 2 weeks ago and its a HUGE improvement over stock. I am 5'10 and get just about zero buffeting, and reduced wind roar. Clean air hits my helmet about 1" above the top of my visor in low position, or about 3" above with it in the high position. I bet at 6', the tall screen will work about the same for you. Also, with the weather here getting toasty, I've made a very small shorty screen, based on the Fred Gaulvin posts here. Lots of air, but very clean. It hits me mid neck. Very nice when its 80+ degrees out. Ecouraging reply, I'm going to do the same thing I with my stock screen, cut it down for the dogs days of summer. Clean air or inside the turbulence, I like either, but the "stuck in the middle" rattling has to go. It gives me a headache. Cheers mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowflake Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Odiss, I put my new CalSci large on this morning. Waaaaayy better than stock. I still have to mess with the small adjustment Yamaha provides to 'fine tune'. The wind buffeting is essentially gone, the noise is less, but I wear ear plugs so hard for me to say how much less. FYI, I'm 6'0", 32in inseam. I'm glad I bought the large screen, medium would be too short I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omniphil Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 The great thing about the Madstad setup is how easy it is to adjust even when riding. 2 screws and I can slide the screen down to its low position and then I get quite a bit of airflow on those hot days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrlaltdl Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Complaints. The stock clutch grabs way to far out. I have my fingers almost fully extended when it starts to grab. I have installed after market levers and that helps alot however I worry that now the clutch might wear faster as the clutch plates aren't as open with the stock levers? Have you adjusted your clutch cable at the lever? You can turn it in quite a bit and still have the clutch fully disengage, while that moves the friction point on the lever closer to the grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omniphil Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Complaints. The stock clutch grabs way to far out. I have my fingers almost fully extended when it starts to grab. I have installed after market levers and that helps alot however I worry that now the clutch might wear faster as the clutch plates aren't as open with the stock levers?Have you adjusted your clutch cable at the lever? You can turn it in quite a bit and still have the clutch fully disengage, while that moves the friction point on the lever closer to the grip. I did move it in some with the stock adjuster, but I didn't want to go in too far as I wasn't sure how far would still have the clutch plates fully disengaged? The aftermarket levers I got are the regular long length, but they appear to be more bend at the handle to get it closer to the grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcharlie Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Were you affected by the shift shaft recall? Check the alignment of the dot and arrow on the lower right side of the bike where the clutch cable connects to the arm. They should be lined up with the clutch lever out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thruster8999 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Mine is not aligned and shifts just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcharlie Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 With the free play taken out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minsis Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I have the same issue with the clutch where it's fully engaged at the very end of the release. It also feels like there's about half an inch before its engaged to disengaged. Its something like this: ~1 inch of free play -> ~.5 inch to fully disengaged -> ~3-4" to the handle (numbers aren't exact but you get the idea). When I first got this bike I kept popping the clutch and killing the bike (I felt like it was my first day riding a bike!) Since then its been a little better as I've gotten a little used to it, but I'm still going to talk to the dealer and find out if there is something going on. I'll also check out that shaft alignment as I didn't know about it. I knew there was a recall but my vin number is above the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrlaltdl Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I did move it in some with the stock adjuster, but I didn't want to go in too far as I wasn't sure how far would still have the clutch plates fully disengaged? As minsis mentioned there is such a small window of lever movement that actually engages/disengages the clutch, so you can crank it in quite a bit before you can't fully disengage it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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