First FJ-09 Ride perspective

[kltk1]

Hi. folks. This write isn't necessarily for the seasoned FJ-09 veterans but more for someone investigating the FJ-09 and wants a perspective from someone coming to the bike from a long history with European bikes. A little background first. I've been riding BMW's since 1993 (2 K1100LT's and 1 Non-water cooled R1200RT) and recently purchased a Ducati Monster 821. As I'm downsizing from larger sport-touring bikes, I wanted something that's all day, perhaps a long weekend, friendly that is affordable, fun to ride and allow enough power for the occasional two-up day ride. I was looking at the water-cooled R1200GS and Multistrada 1200. Pricing is what ultimately led me to the FJ-09. Orders from high up were to keep it in the $5k range and the best I could find an MTS1200 was in $10k range. I began looking at the Versys 650. Having never ridden one I was gonna take a chance with concerns about the two-up experience. Not being a big horsepower guy I wasn't as concerned with the 650 if I was going to ride the bike solo. I happened to come across a, essentially new, 2015 FJ-09 with 1700 miles on the odometer locally from a private seller. I was able to take the bike for a short test ride and decided to buy the bike. $5500. Looking at prices online it seems I did really well. 
 
Yesterday, we were treated to the rare November day at 65 degrees here in the northeast and I took the bike out for a decent ride (80+ miles) in hopes of getting an idea of what I may want/need to prepare the bike for the 2019 riding season and here's what I gathered on a first ride of the FJ-09. 
 
1) Suspension definitely needs a proper setup. It's entirely too stiff and makes for an, almost, unpleasant experience. Before heading out on the ride I gave the forks a good bounce and determined immediately, either someone cranked the suspension up or the original PDI was not done correctly. I'm not worried about this as it's a matter of getting it set properly and getting the suspension dialed in is something that can be addressed with different weight oils or rebuilds. Unfortunately, if we can't get the shock dialed on it's going to mean a new one and they're not inexpensive, but the option is available so I'm not going to fret until the spring when I can get to a suspension tuner and get everything set properly. 
 
2) The seat turned out to be better than expected. Typically, I don't get along well with seats and the BMW's were replaced with Russell Day Long. Once you've had a Russell you're kinda spoiled. Right now I'm 5'11" with a 31" inseam and 225lbs before riding gear. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the seat held up on a 2+ hour 85-mile ride. Was I ready to get off at the end of the ride? Yes. However, how much of that discomfort can be attributed to issue #1? Having read a lot here about seats, and seat discomfort this came as a pleasant surprise. We'll give it a few more rides before making a decision knowing there's a break-in period required for seats. 
 
3) The windscreen. Compared to the suspension, this is the one area I've seen most people struggle to come up with a positive solution. I didn't get any buffet but it is loud as the windblast over the top of the stock windscreen comes right into the face. I wasn't bothered by this as much as I was expecting to based on the reading I've done here, however, something will be done. The only question is whether I go lower to get the windblast down around my neck or taller to try and get it over my head. I definitely felt the windblast on my shoulders. While it wasn't bothersome on the short ride I did yesterday, the jury is still out on a 250+ mile day-long ride.
 
4) Brakes. Probably the strongest brakes I've experienced so far on a motorcycle. The front especially. They do nothing wrong and I found them to be strong and don't require a hard pull to get the bike pulled down.
 
5) Ergonomics. Bottom line? The bike is incredibly comfortable. The seat to peg position is great as your legs drop straight down and natural with a slight bend back. Reach to the bars is fine, if somewhat long for my likes. I'm undecided on pulling the bars back at this time as the reach didn't bother me as much on the ride as I originally thought it would. The bar is a bit wide and by the end of the ride, I was actually wishing for a bar that was a little narrower. It's not bad, just noticeably wide.
 
6) The motor. What to say here that hasn't already been said? It's incredibly smooth and has all the power you could possibly want. At least for my riding style. 110hp in a sub 500lb package is a tough combination to beat. Throttle on/off transition was pretty smooth and not as bad as I was expecting after reading many thoughts here on the forum. I found the bike to be pretty much anything you would want it to be. If you want to cruise just go light on the throttle. If you want to be a hooligan twist the throttle and the bike responds willingly. I used all three ride modes and, while there is a noticeable difference, was as happy in A mode as STD. B mode really tones down the hard throttle applications and I'm sure that's by design. STD mode is a softer hit than A mode but I didn't find A mode to be as snatchy and aggressive as I have been reading here on the forum. That said, I'm pretty light on the controls so take that as it is. YMMV. 
 
In the end, it's a great bike and I'm looking forward to the 2019 riding season. Ride safe everyone. 
 
 

[betoney]

Congratulations on the new bike. There is a lot of information here on how to adjust or set-up just about anything on your '15 model, as well as a lot of knowledgeable people to answer questions.
 
Since it is the end of the riding season, you have plenty of time to make adjustments and get maintenance done before the 2109 season.
I would suggest changing out all fluids, the original owner only put 1700 miles in it, meaning he probably didnt use it enough to change them, they have been in the bike since 2015. Oil change, coolant and brake fluid flush just so start fresh for 2019.
 
Set the chain slack to about 30mm, the manuals recommendation is way too tight.
 
I would also suggest a radiator guard, you dont want rocks or debris flying up and damaging anything.
 
Your intended use for the bike will greatly dictate suspension needs. If you were just commuting, you could probably get away with proper weight springs and call it good. If you plan on 2-up riding I would absolutely recommend a better shock. If you are going to do more sport riding, I would recommend a fork revalve or cartridge kit as well as a shock.
I do a lot of solo sport riding, fast sweepers, mountain and canyon twisties routinely up into triple digit speeds and am a huge advocate of well set-up, personalized suspension.
 
Finally, the '15 and '16's respond REALLY well to an ECU flash, 2wheel dyno works (forum vendor) usually has a black Friday sale, watch for it.

[kltk1]

Thank you. There's a lot to be learned and new experiences are always fun.

[jo1000]

The Traction Control is really awesome on this bike too, afew times in wet weather and tar snakes the TC kicked in and you can hear it . It's a great feeling knowing the bike will stop the wheel from slipping.

[Guest]

I just picked up a brand new 2017 leftover on Saturday. There's really no surprises for me as I had a 2016 XSR900 which I totaled after getting hit in a parking lot. I was on the fence about whether to get this or a 2019 but $9600 out the door made my decision. I like the idea of a 2" longer swing arm on the new models but I'm thinking it's not going to be a radically different bike. So........ I've put on about 150 miles and rode to work today and I love it as much as I expected. I'm 6'1" and although it's still painful for me to bend my knee after my May crash, it's very comfortable a good fit for my height. I was looking for more comfort on longer rides and to be able for my girlfriend to ride with me once in a while without being afraid she'd slide off the back.  The larger gas tank is nice to as these triples aren't great on gas. The suspension has to be sorted out but  I'll figure it out. Too soon to go spending money until I analyze  what it's doing. The motor is as sweet as the XSR and I think most everyone agrees. The dark blue metallic is sharp and everyone that's seen this bike has commented on how much they like the color. I know you can spend substantially more and buy more performance but for me, this is a lot of motorcycle for the price. I had a 2016 Ducati Scrambler and the Yamaha triples outperform them in every way and for less money and vastly superior reliability.  This one fits my needs better than the MT 09 and the XSR 900 but they're all great values. The biggest problem I see with this bike is that I bought it in November and I'm not going to get much riding in until spring. I guess there are worse problems to have. 
 

[kltk1]

Quick update: I took advantage of a rare 55 degree January day here in NJ and managed 125 miles. Here's what I Iearned.

 

1) Throttle - It became very clear what everyone is talking about when they discuss throttle abruptness. The first ride didn't seem to bother me, now that I'm getting some seat time, I understand it. And no matter the setting (A/B/STD) it's incredibly difficult to shift this bike smoothly as the throttle transitions are too abrupt. Roll off the throttle and you're at idle in a millisecond. Roll on the throttle and you've got too much engine speed to make a smooth shift. I know there's a fix (TPS adjustment?) I read on the forums here a few weeks ago.  Needless to say, this will be addressed.

2) Suspension - Although it was cold yesterday, the suspension was entirely too stiff. I took one notch out of the shock and turned rebound damping in 3/4 turn (equaling 1 turn out from seated) and it made a big difference. I didn't touch the forks and will have that addressed when I can get to a suspension specialist in the spring to get it dialed in for a good baseline. At that point, miles and need will dictate what we do to the suspension down the road. 

3) Seat - I'm still very pleasantly surprised with the stock seat. I didn't experience any discomfort issues on the ride and it wasn't until the very end of about 3.5 hours of total seat time did I feel like wanting to get off the bike for a little while. Time will tell on the seat. 

4) Windscreen - As delivered to me the stock windscreen was in the highest setting. I moved it to the lowest to see what that would deliver. At 5'11" with a 31" inseam it put the wind blast right in my eyes. As I like to ride with my Faceshield open and glasses, below 50 mph was fine. Highway speeds were intolerable. On the ride back I moved the windscreen to the middle setting and, as expected it moved the blast up a bit to just above my eyes. Next, on the recommendation of people here, I'll remove the windscreen to see how that works. That will likely determine whether I go up or down with a new windscreen.

5) Ergonomics - I moved the seat to the highest setting and can still flat foot the bike. As expected, it's more comfortable, however, I don't find the lower setting to be bad and could be happy with either setting. After the first ride, I thought I was going to want to move the bars back but I don't think that's going to be necessary. Time will tell on that.

 

Happy New Year, everyone. Ride safe in 2019.

 

 

[betoney]

2 hours ago, kltk1 said:

1) Throttle -

no matter the setting (A/B/STD) it's incredibly difficult to shift this bike smoothly as the throttle transitions are too abrupt. Roll off the throttle and you're at idle in a millisecond. Roll on the throttle and you've got too much engine speed to make a smooth shift. I know there's a fix (TPS adjustment?) I read on the forums here a few weeks ago.  Needless to say, this will be addressed.

 

 

What year is your FJ?  Flashing the ECU greatly smoothes out the on/off fueling, and the APS adjustment smoothes it out further still. 

Even in stock form though, B mode “should” be very smooth. 

[kltk1]

2015. No doubt B mode is smoother but still pretty aggressive for smooth shifts. At least in my short ride. It could be that I  need more seat time as well.

I'm going to try the APS adjustment first then proceed from there. It's possible the APS adjust and more seat time will be all I need.  

[betoney]

1 minute ago, kltk1 said:

2015. No doubt B mode is smoother but still pretty aggressive for smooth shifts. At least in my short ride. It could be that I  need more seat time as well.

I'm going to try the APS adjustment first then proceed from there. It's possible the APS adjust and more seat time will be all I need.  

When adjusting the APS, the factory values should be around 17, I lowered mine to 12 and it made a very noticeable difference. 

[DavidS]

Flash is really important, it solves a ton of problems, and I highly recommend 2WheelDyno works as mentioned above. You can tailer the settings in A and B mode and make the bike your own.

I replaced my windscreen with a Madstad, for the 2015 it was/is the screen of choice. Very good wind protection and it looks pretty good as well.

Congrats on the bike, you will love it......