New FJ Owner saying Hi

[ChadTheFoxFox]

Hello Biker Dudes and Dudettes. Names Chad, Just picked up this beautiful 2015 FJ-09 this week.

Can’t wait to start Modding her and making her mine. Any thoughts on where best to start? I figure crash cages, new seat, maybe luggage? Definitely an adjustable suspension. Oh and probably a skid plate to protect that oil bolt Achilles heel.

anyway just wanted to say Hi and introduce myself, I’m sure there are a lot of hidden gems of wisdom in these forums so looks like I got some reading to do.

Cheers!

[ABlast82]

Welcome,

As far as where to start, anywhere! Make it yours the way you see fit. It will be awesome.

[littlebruv]

Hi.

Join the party

[tojjer]

Welcome, great choice of bike

[betoney]

7 hours ago, ChadTheFoxFox said:

Hello Biker Dudes and Dudettes. Names Chad, Just picked up this beautiful 2015 FJ-09 this week.

Can’t wait to start Modding her and making her mine. Any thoughts on where best to start? I figure crash cages, new seat, maybe luggage? Definitely an adjustable suspension. Oh and probably a skid plate to protect that oil bolt Achilles heel.

Welcome.  I have the exact same '15 red FJ - Love it!  Except for a quick shifter, I have mine modified exactly like the Tracer GT with better suspension.

First thing, get a radiator guard and a low profile oil drain plug.  Set the chain slack to about 25-30mm, from the factory they come WAY too tight.  Take some of the things in the owners manual with some skepticism, chain slack, some torque specs, spark plug replacement interval, recommended shift points etc.  In other words, use common sense and ride more, worry less.

2 recommendations to smooth the on/off throttle abruptness, 1.-an ECU reflash (comes with a dyno optimized fuel map and removes factory speed limiters etc.)  The 3 most popular vendors are 2wheeldynoworks, vcyclenut and Ivans Performance.  2.- Adjust the APS (use the search) and set the value from 17 down to 12, and this adjustment is FREE.

MCCruise makes a plug and play cruise control and IT IS AWESOME!!!, worth its weight in gold.

A suspension upgrade really transforms this bike, there are many quality vendors out there and one that a lot of members use and love is KTech.  Suspension is the first change I make to any bike, you feel the benefit every mile that you ride and it actually makes a major difference in the bikes performance as opposed to a $1,000 exhaust.

I cant give enough praise to a custom built seat, you have LAAM and Russell seats in Redding.  Sure, you can buy a Seat Concepts, Corbin or Sargent as a generic off-the-shelf replacement, but nothing beats having one built specifically to you and your dimensions.  I will definitely get one built for any other bike I get in the future.

Enjoy the new bike, half the fun of owning it is modifying it to make it your own.👍

[Bill H]

On 2/23/2020 at 7:38 AM, betoney said:

Welcome.  I have the exact same '15 red FJ - Love it!  Except for a quick shifter, I have mine modified exactly like the Tracer GT with better suspension.

First thing, get a radiator guard and a low profile oil drain plug.  Set the chain slack to about 25-30mm, from the factory they come WAY too tight.  Take some of the things in the owners manual with some skepticism, chain slack, some torque specs, spark plug replacement interval, recommended shift points etc.  In other words, use common sense and ride more, worry less.

2 recommendations to smooth the on/off throttle abruptness, 1.-an ECU reflash (comes with a dyno optimized fuel map and removes factory speed limiters etc.)  The 3 most popular vendors are 2wheeldynoworks, vcyclenut and Ivans Performance.  2.- Adjust the APS (use the search) and set the value from 17 down to 12, and this adjustment is FREE.

MCCruise makes a plug and play cruise control and IT IS AWESOME!!!, worth its weight in gold.

A suspension upgrade really transforms this bike, there are many quality vendors out there and one that a lot of members use and love is KTech.  Suspension is the first change I make to any bike, you feel the benefit every mile that you ride and it actually makes a major difference in the bikes performance as opposed to a $1,000 exhaust.

I cant give enough praise to a custom built seat, you have LAAM and Russell seats in Redding.  Sure, you can buy a Seat Concepts, Corbin or Sargent as a generic off-the-shelf replacement, but nothing beats having one built specifically to you and your dimensions.  I will definitely get one built for any other bike I get in the future.

Enjoy the new bike, half the fun of owning it is modifying it to make it your own.👍

ok me again ,,yes im a pain in the ass,,,concerning chain slack,,my mt07 just used a measurement ,,,say 2.2- 2.5 inches to center of chain,,, but tracer manual calls for slack measurement ,,to get that does one pull down on chain and take measurement ,then lift up and measure and the number in between is the slack,,is that correct ? so if it reads 80,and 50 the difference is 30,. im i doing that correctly ?,,may manual says 35-45,,that seems really loose ,,

[betoney]

9 minutes ago, Bill H said:

ok me again ,,yes im a pain in the ass,,,concerning chain slack,,my mt07 just used a measurement ,,,say 2.2- 2.5 inches to center of chain,,, but tracer manual calls for slack measurement ,,to get that does one pull down on chain and take measurement ,then lift up and measure and the number in between is the slack,,is that correct ? so if it reads 80,and 50 the difference is 30,. im i doing that correctly ?,,may manual says 35-45,,that seems really loose ,,

You would be surprised how much slack tightens up when you take the bike off the center stand and sit on it, it tightens up very quickly, better to have a little too much slack than too little.  35mm really isn't too much slack.

I wont speak for everyone, but personally I measure in the center between the two sprockets while on the center stand.  I check the bottom section of chain, and press upward.  I don't pull down, I only check from its resting slack to where it stops when pressing up lightly.  Others might do it differently.

[BBB]

5 hours ago, betoney said:

I wont speak for everyone, but personally I measure in the center between the two sprockets while on the center stand.  I check the bottom section of chain, and press upward.  I don't pull down, I only check from its resting slack to where it stops when pressing up lightly.  Others might do it differently.

Same method here. I pick a link near the centre of the two sprockets and find a reference point, normally the pin on the link as it is easy to see and small. I measure its resting position, then push up gently until the chain is resisting me, it doesn’t have to be pushed up hard, and measure again. On my ‘15 plate I look for around 25 to 30mm.

[Stew]

3 hours ago, BBB said:

Same method here. I pick a link near the centre of the two sprockets and find a reference point, normally the pin on the link as it is easy to see and small. I measure its resting position, then push up gently until the chain is resisting me, it doesn’t have to be pushed up hard, and measure again. On my ‘15 plate I look for around 25 to 30mm.

Same here, with one extra step. I rotate the rear wheel a bit , check again, rotate the wheel, check again. Since sometimes you can have a 'tight spot' on a chain.
But keep it simple and just do what @betoney and @BBB have said.

[Bill H]

9 hours ago, BBB said:

Same method here. I pick a link near the centre of the two sprockets and find a reference point, normally the pin on the link as it is easy to see and small. I measure its resting position, then push up gently until the chain is resisting me, it doesn’t have to be pushed up hard, and measure again. On my ‘15 plate I look for around 25 to 30mm.

What does this refer to ?  " On my ‘15 plate "

[Bill H]

6 hours ago, Stew said:

Same here, with one extra step. I rotate the rear wheel a bit , check again, rotate the wheel, check again. Since sometimes you can have a 'tight spot' on a chain.
But keep it simple and just do what @betoney and @BBB have said.

Thanks all for chain info,,looks like by pulling downward i am  running tight .

My fz07 manual said to pull down on chain,,im guessing because it was measured  with side stand down

 

Thanks again all

[BBB]

4 hours ago, Bill H said:

What does this refer to ?  " On my ‘15 plate "

Made in 2015. Or more specifically, registered in the time period from April to October in 2015. 

[Bill H]

18 hours ago, BBB said:

Made in 2015. Or more specifically, registered in the time period from April to October in 2015. 

no such plate on the Tracer ,,

18 hours ago, BBB said:

Made in 2015. Or more specifically, registered in the time period from April to October in 2015. 

 

[BBB]

17 minutes ago, Bill H said:

no such plate on the Tracer ,,

 

People do live in other locations than the US @Bill H. And Yamaha have called my bike “Tracer” since 2015. Why do you doubt me?

Are you trying to make a specific point or just trolling?

[betoney]

44 minutes ago, BBB said:

People do live in other locations than the US @Bill H. And Yamaha have called my bike “Tracer” since 2015. Why do you doubt me?

Are you trying to make a specific point or just trolling?

Yes, @Bill H the history of the Tracer name can be confusing.  In the US it originated as the FJ09 while the rest of the world called it the MT09 Tracer, while at the same time the US had an FZ09 and the rest of the world had a MT09, now the FZ has become the MT and the MT09 Tracer has become the Tracer...  Why they named the exact same bike different names for different parts of the world is beyond me.