vijay Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Well, after 4 months of vacillating between the FJ-09 and the Versys 1000 I finally made a decision last week (aided by my wife telling me "spend the money, by your bike, and quit talking about it") and bought a leftover 2015 black FJ-09. Had it exactly 7 days and have now put 842 miles on ... as of 2:00 a.m. this morning. The 464lbs wet and triple finally made the decision for me. I love it!! First Impressions: Negative 1st: 1. The seat is obviously the creation of a permanent resident of Dante's 7th level of hell. He must make this seat because he never wants to ascend of his pit of hatred and discomfort!!! Awful, Terrible. Painful. And horrible. Already contacted Russell for a Day Long. 2. While I am 6' tall and have a 34" inseam, my arms are ony 31". Risers are an absolute must and were ordered tonight. The aggressive lean and Seat from Hell make anything over 100 miles an exercise in back torture and a source of income for my chiropractor!! 3. Windscreen and hand guards are mostly ineffective. Not bad just not good. 4. Menu system sucks. Difficult to use. Inconsistent operation. Positive Items: 1. The engine is a doddle. Love it. Once I got through the 500 mile break-in, I took the liberty of putting it in Sport Mode with TCS off. It really likes to wheelie. Didn't try to wheelie ... but did it immediately. Fortunately, the nice officer who saw me and pulled me over was a rider and when I showed him I had purchased the FJ the day before, just gave me verbal warning before asking me a thousand questions about it and my Super Tenere. My experience over (only) 9 bikes in the 11 years since I started riding has been on FJR's, ST1100 and ST1300's. VStrom's, Super Tenere, and a couple of others. I have never had anything so light weight and responsive. What fun. 2. The ABS and TCS work very, very well. Absolutely no stuttering or jerkiness in the ABS. Unlike my FJRs. 3. Suspension is adequate. Not great ... but acceptable at this point. Not going to change yet. 4. My big concern when I purchased this bike was the small gas/petrol tank. Despite riding with a friend for a 250 mile day of aggressive riding I still got almost 47 miles per gallon or a (theoretical) range of approximately 225 miles. While I will carry a pony bottle of fuel if I take it on any of my west coast trips .. I am not nearly as concerned as I was. 5. Handling is quick and surprisingly precise ... despite the very average (at best) suspension. 6. Overall a very big +1 for this motorcycle. Very pleased so far that I bought it. Question for everyone who has had this motorcycle longer than me ... and that should be about everyone. I am truly enjoying this motorcycle, but I have noticed one thing that strikes me as unusual. There is almost no engine braking at all. I am not particularly concerned, but I am curious. I rode the FZ-09 and it had a lot of engine braking. As did the Tiger 800 and Tiger Trophy as well. Since it is basically the same engine as the FZ-09 I am wondering if I should have this checked or is it simply the nature of the beast? I have never ridden a motorcycle; owned, borrowed, rented or demoed with so little Engine Braking so I am curious if anyone else has noticed this?. It doesn't really bother me ... but I would like to know if I should be concerned. Enjoying the Forum and looking forward to hearing what anyone can tell me. As well as suggested mod's (along with the Rox Risers. longer throttle and clutch cable, as well as the Russell Seat I am going to order. Thank you all in advance for your advise and thoughts that I have been reading the last few months and will read in the future. I look forward to your reply(ies). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal616 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 In regards to the engine braking the FJ-09 got far better and smoother fueling than its rowdy FZ-09 twin or its smaller brother the FZ-07 which has locomotive grade engine braking... If the bike you bought was a " trade in " or what not its a good chance the previous P.O. had the ECU reflashed.... My bike is totally uncorked with reflashed ECU and exhaust and I find in B mode it has no engine braking feeling compared to when in A mode... 2012 wr250f - C-class 30+ age group 2015 fz-07- Hordpower Edition-80whp 2015 fj-09- Graves Exhaust w/Woolich tune by 2WDW @120whp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crempel Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Also, if it's black, it's not a '15, unless it's been painted or the bodywork was swapped. Matte grey and burgundy/red were the only 15 colors. My grey 15 certainly has what I would consider to be normal engine braking, except for about the first minute when it's not warmed up yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vijay Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 Norcal616 and Crempel: Thanks for the information. It came out of the crate last Saturday, June 10th so I am sure it hasn't been reflashed. Although the Dealer is so bad ... I guess anything is possible. I guess I won't worry. Because it runs really well and I'm just flat out having fun on it. Regarding the Color meaning it is not a 2015 ..., the title says 2015. However, maybe I should do a VIN check and make sure. Mild confusion on my part. I actually wanted the Red, but the last 2015 the Dealer told me they had was Black. And the price was so good I went for it. Oh well. Should be interesting to run a VIN and find out the dealer made an error. Correcting the title should be fun .... Thanks again guys, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koth442 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I'm in Rolla, happy to see you on the site! '15 FJ09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Norcal616 and Crempel: Thanks for the information. It came out of the crate last Saturday, June 10th so I am sure it hasn't been reflashed. Although the Dealer is so bad ... I guess anything is possible. I guess I won't worry. Because it runs really well and I'm just flat out having fun on it. Regarding the Color meaning it is not a 2015 ..., the title says 2015. However, maybe I should do a VIN check and make sure. Mild confusion on my part. I actually wanted the Red, but the last 2015 the Dealer told me they had was Black. And the price was so good I went for it. Oh well. Should be interesting to run a VIN and find out the dealer made an error. Correcting the title should be fun .... Thanks again guys, I'd really like to see some pix of the Black - not yet seen here in sunny Australia. Closest I can get is my 2016 very very dark blue with gunmetal tank. Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member DavidS Posted June 19, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted June 19, 2017 Well congrats and welcome to the board, looks like you hit the ground running. Glad you like the bike, it's a lot of fun. If the dealer did sell you a 2016 for the 2015 price - Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vijay Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 I was in Rolla Sunday. Sadly, I was the only FJ-09 I saw. On the other hand ran into a lot of people on various motorcycles at a "Slice of Pie". My favorite stop in Rolla. Hopefully, I'll run into you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koth442 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I was in Rolla Sunday. Sadly, I was the only FJ-09 I saw. On the other hand ran into a lot of people on various motorcycles at a "Slice of Pie". My favorite stop in Rolla. Hopefully, I'll run into you. I was fitting a new tire Sunday. Never got out to ride. Be sure to let me know when you head down this way. '15 FJ09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vijay Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natnaz13 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Vijay, Welcome to the site. I have a 2017 and my buddy just bought a left over 2015. I live in Washington,mo and we hit mostly twisties on the weekend(185,pp,dd,....). You will love this bike and this is a great sit to seek advice and get pointers on issues. see you on some rides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vijay Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 Natnaz13, Sorry I just now saw your post. Somehow your post showed up with other replies under profile. ? Hopefully I'll run into you as i live in Villa Ridge. I was on those twistiies Saturday heading out to Bo`s Hollow. Near Montauk. Meet place. Owner rehab s Model A`s and T`s and other true antique cars and trucks. Assuming you ride with the Stlar group, I thought I saw an FJ riding with them the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted August 24, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted August 24, 2017 I'm really curious about the color. Is it really glossy black, or a matte finish dark grey? Triumph used to do weird stuff with paint schemes; in 2001 there were two "official" paint schemes for the TT600, but on the TT600 forum we identified at least 4-5 different combos that came out of the factory. I wouldn't expect this from Yamaha though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted August 26, 2017 Supporting Member Share Posted August 26, 2017 4. Menu system sucks. Difficult to use. Inconsistent operation. Well I sure dont understand this one. Care to elaborate? How are they inconsistent? Are you referring to the initial screen customization? Setup is in section 4 of the owners manual. Once each field is set to your choosing, there are only 3 screens you can toggle between while driving. ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 4. Menu system sucks. Difficult to use. Inconsistent operation. Well I sure dont understand this one. Care to elaborate? How are they inconsistent? Are you referring to the initial screen customization? Setup is in section 4 of the owners manual. Once each field is set to your choosing, there are only 3 screens you can toggle between while driving. If you think this, try any current BMW for size! Bill Gates would be in trouble!! For my money the FJ/ MT system is simple but has everything I need, and I like the simplicity of the three-screen toggleability. Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.