cretin Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I finally got to go on a demo ride today on an FJ. I was convinced it was the bike for me, but I'm not 100% sure now. I was quite disappointed in the suspension, which felt a bit mushy in the front and hard and bouncy in the back. I asked the guy at the dealership and he said he thought it was the stock setup. Other than that, and the minimal wind protection from the windscreen, I liked it. I'm wondering how much improvement guys who have taken the time to properly adjust their suspension have seen. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member wessie Posted March 23, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted March 23, 2015 It's all subjective with suspension - perfectly adequate for me coming from a Super Tenere. If you are used to an R1 with Ohlins then it will feel rather agricultural. FYI, I have added half a rotation of damping on the rear to make it a little less bouncy but ultimately, this is an £8000/$10500 bike, not a £15,000 S1000RR and you need to set your expectations accordingly. This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bmidd Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I finally got to go on a demo ride today on an FJ. I was convinced it was the bike for me, but I'm not 100% sure now. I was quite disappointed in the suspension, which felt a bit mushy in the front and hard and bouncy in the back. I asked the guy at the dealership and he said he thought it was the stock setup. Other than that, and the minimal wind protection from the windscreen, I liked it. I'm wondering how much improvement guys who have taken the time to properly adjust their suspension have seen. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks! Depends on your weight. Guys around 200# will be able to make do with the stock stuff. I'm 260# in full leathers and there just wasn't enough adjustment to get my sag set properly. Once you crank up the preload, all i got was hard crashing over bumps no matter their size. This is a bit of a budget bike with a limited amount of adjustment, so figure suspension mods into your final price. Your suspension is the first thing most people need to get right instead of worrying about pipes,horsepower and ecu flashes. You'll be faster and more comfortable spending that money on suspension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grogsym Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I concur with the above, the suspension is fine but not excellent. coming from a KTM with WP suspension I notice a huge difference, but even my Tiger 1050 was a much more composed ride. But guess what, they don't cost £8k! In fact, the dealer is trying to sell my 2012 KTM 990 Adv with 18k miles on it for £7.5k. So a short answer long, this bike is very good value for money but it's not a huge amount of money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tavy64 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I picked up my FJ on Friday, and have only put 100 miles or so on over the weekend, but the suspension is something I've noticed already. It seems fine most of the time, but if I hit a hard bump, it seems pretty harsh on the back end. My FZ6R seemed almost plush in comparison. It does ride very nice on the smooth stuff, but I wouldn't want to hit some washboard type terrain in fear of losing some teeth. I have not made any adjustments, and hope it softens up some. I would still buy the bike again. I'm loving it, but I'll be watching for suspension upgrades anyone makes for suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalaws Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 I experience the same thing. Scares the heck out of you. Anyone with advise besides new suspension? Settings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panooch Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I went for my first test ride Saturday. Three things I noticed. (1) I'm 194 lbs and the stock suspension set up was too harsh going over less then smooth roads. This bike has too much travel to be that rough (IMO). I felt it should definitely absorb better. I asked the salesman and he said it was new and would loosen up. Not the answer I was after as I don't think it will loosen up that much. It's not a car. (2) I'm not used to throttle by wire, I guess. Roll on's were not anywhere near as smooth as the Kawasaki 1000 LT Versys I also test road (nice bike but I want under 500 lbs) or any of the other three I own now. (3) I experienced a buzzing in the handle bars at cruising speeds 62-70 MPH ish. Felt like my KLR650 single at 65. Anybody else experience any of these issues/symptoms on their personal bikes? I walked away without leaving a check. If that's the way the bike is, I need to think this over. If not, I will go back in today and ask to ride another one. Everyday's a good day when your able to ride 15 FJ-09 - 2WDW ECU flash, Givi SV201, Nelson Rigg tail bag, OES sliders, Koubalink extenders, Ermax Sport, Vista Cruise, OEM seat mod, (smiles) 07 Honda ST1300A (sold) 06 Kawi KLR650 - Big Gun full exhaust, Corbin, Givi, PMR racks, carb mod (keeper) 97 Honda VFR750 - Traxxion Dynamics, Penske, Givi 3 piece, carbon exhaust (keeper?) 20+ years of snowmobiles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jimf Posted March 24, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted March 24, 2015 I felt it should definitely absorb better. I asked the salesman and he said it was new and would loosen up. [...] (2) I'm not used to throttle by wire, I guess. Roll on's were not anywhere near as smooth as the Kawasaki 1000 LT Versys I also test road (nice bike but I want under 500 lbs) or any of the other three I own now. The suspension will certainly change as the oil starts to break down, and that won't take that long. That might make it less harsh over the little stuff but it'll also make it more bouncy, and my understanding is that people are often running it close to the maximum in rebound damping already. I think the only solution to this is going to be to change the fork internals one way or another. Having done a cartridge emulator upgrade on my old SV650S with superb results I think this is fixable for not a lot of money, although I'm told that Traxxion Dynamics has a cartridge system that, while pretty expensive, works very well. A Race Tech emulator would be more like $200. (I looked at Race Tech's site but didn't see one for sale yet, but I'm sure it'll come eventually if only because of the FZ-09.) IMO the roll on behavior is probably the FI mapping, not throttle-by-wire. I get the same kind of thing on my Daytona, especially if the throttle jiggles over bumps, and that's cables all the way to the throttle plates. My understanding is that EPA requirements make them push the mapping as lean as they can get away with, and that tends to cause a lot of snatchiness, especially on the smaller motors that don't have a lot of inertial mass to smooth things out. You can already get a Power Commander to help with low-RPM fueling and map updates are possible too, both aftermarket and potentially more from Yamaha like they did for FZ-09 owners. I wouldn't bet on much more improvement from Yamaha because they'll always be constrained by the EPA, but it could happen. In any case I had a lot of trouble with the Daytona in the first few weeks of ownership but eventually I learned how to smooth out my wrist and hold the throttle constant over most bumps. It didn't take too long before I stopped even noticing it. I bet the same happens for you. 2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate) 2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.) 1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.) 2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.) 2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member wessie Posted March 24, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted March 24, 2015 I went for my first test ride Saturday. Three things I noticed. (1) I'm 194 lbs and the stock suspension set up was too harsh going over less then smooth roads. This bike has too much travel to be that rough (IMO). I felt it should definitely absorb better. I asked the salesman and he said it was new and would loosen up. Not the answer I was after as I don't think it will loosen up that much. It's not a car. (2) I'm not used to throttle by wire, I guess. Roll on's were not anywhere near as smooth as the Kawasaki 1000 LT Versys I also test road (nice bike but I want under 500 lbs) or any of the other three I own now. (3) I experienced a buzzing in the handle bars at cruising speeds 62-70 MPH ish. Felt like my shetbox650 single at 65. Anybody else experience any of these issues/symptoms on their personal bikes? I walked away without leaving a check. If that's the way the bike is, I need to think this over. If not, I will go back in today and ask to ride another one. get your manual out and make sure the suspension is on factory default settings - never assume the dealer has checked. If you are getting a buzzing and poor acceleration then again, make sure everything is set up properly. We are getting a worrying trend here that some dealers are not doing the job they are paid to with pre-delivery checks, in the US at least. This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panooch Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 This bike definitely fit my short list of criteria. I felt it was 90-95% of what I'd been waiting for with decent price. But even $11K OTD with taxes, set up, freight and license fees ($10,800 is best price I've been quoted), by the time I do the suspension and a few other minor changes, I'd be up in $12K + range as I really like the Traxxion stuff. Plus another $400 for the Power Commander. Everyday's a good day when your able to ride 15 FJ-09 - 2WDW ECU flash, Givi SV201, Nelson Rigg tail bag, OES sliders, Koubalink extenders, Ermax Sport, Vista Cruise, OEM seat mod, (smiles) 07 Honda ST1300A (sold) 06 Kawi KLR650 - Big Gun full exhaust, Corbin, Givi, PMR racks, carb mod (keeper) 97 Honda VFR750 - Traxxion Dynamics, Penske, Givi 3 piece, carbon exhaust (keeper?) 20+ years of snowmobiles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deersSlayer Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 (2) I'm not used to throttle by wire, I guess. Roll on's were not anywhere near as smooth as the Kawasaki 1000 LT Versys I also test road (nice bike but I want under 500 lbs) or any of the other three I own now.IMO the roll on behavior is probably the FI mapping, not throttle-by-wire. I get the same kind of thing on my Daytona, especially if the throttle jiggles over bumps, and that's cables all the way to the throttle plates. My understanding is that EPA requirements make them push the mapping as lean as they can get away with, and that tends to cause a lot of snatchiness, especially on the smaller motors that don't have a lot of inertial mass to smooth things out. In any case I had a lot of trouble with the Daytona in the first few weeks of ownership but eventually I learned how to smooth out my wrist and hold the throttle constant over most bumps. It didn't take too long before I stopped even noticing it. I bet the same happens for you. Same thing with my 2009 Street Triple R, I just got used to it. There were subsequent maps available from Triumph to improve it, but apparently it also softened too much the throttle response (less wheelies.) The suspension 'harshness' that some are noticing is because Yamaha increased the compression damping significantly over that of the 2104 FZ-09. I'll live with it initially, and maybe upgrade in a couple or three years to Traxion front and Elka rear. FJ-09, 690 Enduro R. Back Roads. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cretin Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Thanks for the input guys. I'm coming from a KTM 950 SM with fully adjustable WP suspension. Obviously taking it down a notch with the FJ. Unfortunately, my test ride didn't include any twisties. Part of the reason for getting this bike for me is that it's supposed to be geared more towards sport than touring. How does it handle in the twisties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FigJam-OhNine Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I think the word 'issues' in the subject line is a misnomer. It's stock suspension on a sub-$15,000 bike. It's entry-mid range suspension that is not going to perform up to the standards of someone used to high end suspension. Issue makes it seem like there's something wrong with it, but I think it's doing what it's designed to do. It's not designed to be top of the line suspension. My 2 cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member wessie Posted March 24, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted March 24, 2015 I think the word 'issues' in the subject line is a misnomer. It's stock suspension on a sub-$15,000 bike. It's entry-mid range suspension that is not going to perform up to the standards of someone used to high end suspension. Issue makes it seem like there's something wrong with it, but I think it's doing what it's designed to do. It's not designed to be top of the line suspension. My 2 cents I am often reminding people about the humble origins of this very good value bike. People are coming to this bike from much more expensive bikes without recalibrating their expectations about its performance, especially in terms of the suspension and high speed aerodynamics. This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FigJam-OhNine Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 I'm happy with the thread title - an issue may be also be a problem but it generally means a "topic for discussion" which is what we have here. I'm not keen on people using the word issue when they really mean problem. It happens in my work and it is just people trying to avoid using the word PROBLEM as they think this will be a problem.Maybe it's just me haha I am the customer satisfaction leader for an electronics company. "Issue" and "problem" are like swear words in my day to day work. We always find other creative descriptions like, 'design limitation' and 'event'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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