UK bike, MY2008 - air temperature display change to centigrade?

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sporall

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2024
Messages
19
Reaction score
14
Location
Hampshire, UK
I’ve had a look around and can’t find anything on this so thought I’d ask if it’s possible to get this changed. There’s nothing in the handbook that I could see.

Thanks.
 
I’ve had a look around and can’t find anything on this so thought I’d ask if it’s possible to get this changed. There’s nothing in the handbook that I could see.

Thanks.
Gen II bikes cannot change display units from imperial (or US gallons) to metric. Gen I could and so can Gen III+. You would have to replace the instrument cluster.
 
I’ve had a look around and can’t find anything on this so thought I’d ask if it’s possible to get this changed. There’s nothing in the handbook that I could see.

Thanks.
What year is your bike?

Gen2 UK spec bikes are set to degrees C and MPG (imperial gallons), no way of changing them. If yours is a Gen2 and is reading degrees F, it's not a UK bike.
 
What year is your bike?

Gen2 UK spec bikes are set to degrees C and MPG (imperial gallons), no way of changing them. If yours is a Gen2 and is reading degrees F, it's not a UK bike.
It's a 2008. I just ran a check on it and it's come back as not imported or exported. Odometer is in miles, speedo is in miles and there's no MOT reports for non-compliant lighting etc. I've messaged the dealer asking the question and to ask if they can change it with dealer only tools. It's a relatively un-important detail but I'm a bit miffed that this wasn't pointed out by the dealer, at least it would have prompted questions about the bike's origins. Maybe it's a parallel import from Europe or something and isn't recorded in the same way as if it had come from America? 🤷‍♂️

It could also mean I haven't disclosed everything I needed to when I bought my insurance. Hopefully it doesn't have any unique emissions parts to maintain.
 
Last edited:
If it had come from Europe I would expect the temp to be in Centigrade and speed in KM.
My 2009 was imported from America and it has temp in Fahrenheit, but speed in Miles. MPG also uses US gallons which are smaller than imperial gallons, so my fuel consumption appears quite bad.
If it was imported by a dealer then any headlight adjustment should also have been done so it shouldn't show up on MOTs.
 
If it had come from Europe I would expect the temp to be in Centigrade and speed in KM.
My 2009 was imported from America and it has temp in Fahrenheit, but speed in Miles. MPG also uses US gallons which are smaller than imperial gallons, so my fuel consumption appears quite bad.
If it was imported by a dealer then any headlight adjustment should also have been done so it shouldn't show up on MOTs.
That's interesting regarding fuel consumption. I had my first ride on it today and after around 80 miles the average consumption was around 37.5mpg

I'm going to give the supplying dealer a call tomorrow and/or Yamaha UK. Although the check came back as negative there's clearly something unknown here.
 
If it had come from Europe I would expect the temp to be in Centigrade and speed in KM.
My 2009 was imported from America and it has temp in Fahrenheit, but speed in Miles. MPG also uses US gallons which are smaller than imperial gallons, so my fuel consumption appears quite bad.
If it was imported by a dealer then any headlight adjustment should also have been done so it shouldn't show up on MOTs.
Is there anything else unique to your bike such as emissions equipment that wouldn't normally appear on a UK bike?
 
Is there anything else unique to your bike such as emissions equipment that wouldn't normally appear on a UK bike?
I think fuel consumption APPEARS bad because the fuel consumption meter is in miles per US gallon rather than miles per Imperial gallon.
IIRC, a UK bike normally uses degrees C, miles and Imperial gallons???
US uses degrees F, miles and US gallons.
The rest of the world bikes use degrees C, kilometers and litres.
This is, of course, for Gen II where the owner cannot choose display units.
Note: rest-of-the-world bikes can switch between litres/100 km and km/litre for consumption.
US (and UK) bikes have a speedometer display that includes both miles and kilometers (in smaller print) on the dial.
At least in Canada (and probably elsewhere), the dial is printed only in kilometers.

Interesting observation... A US bike doesn't hide its metric roots. A rest-of-the world bike updates the average fuel consumption exactly once per kilometer after it has been reset. A US bike updates every 0.621 miles (= 1 km).
 
That's interesting regarding fuel consumption. I had my first ride on it today and after around 80 miles the average consumption was around 37.5mpg

I'm going to give the supplying dealer a call tomorrow and/or Yamaha UK. Although the check came back as negative there's clearly something unknown here.

That does sound like miles per US gallon. I've always averaged around 58 plus overall, it can dip to 40 but only when all riding was in local heavy traffic, all stop-start, rarely reaching 40mph. I've always logged my fuel consumption, click on the year for each of my four FJRs, 2006 2010, 2014, 2018, scroll down for graphs.

I think fuel consumption APPEARS bad because the fuel consumption meter is in miles per US gallon rather than miles per Imperial gallon.
IIRC, a UK bike normally uses degrees C, miles and Imperial gallons???
US uses degrees F, miles and US gallons.
The rest of the world bikes use degrees C, kilometers and litres.
This is, of course, for Gen II where the owner cannot choose display units.
Note: rest-of-the-world bikes can switch between litres/100 km and km/litre for consumption.
US (and UK) bikes have a speedometer display that includes both miles and kilometers (in smaller print) on the dial.
At least in Canada (and probably elsewhere), the dial is printed only in kilometers.

Interesting observation... A US bike doesn't hide its metric roots. A rest-of-the world bike updates the average fuel consumption exactly once per kilometer after it has been reset. A US bike updates every 0.621 miles (= 1 km).
Correct in every detail, though I don't know whether non-UK bikes have mpg numbers on their speedometers. I would expect them to because we see riders from the continent in the UK. But then you must get Canadian riders in the US, so who knows?

Gen3's digital readout is switchable.
 
Correct in every detail, though I don't know whether non-UK bikes have mpg numbers on their speedometers, but I would expect them to because we see riders from the continent in the UK. Gen3 bikes are switchable, digital readout.

I had a 2007 that I purchased from someone in the US. The speedometer printed dial showed miles plus kilometers in smaller print.
My Canadian 2011 speedometer is only printed in kilometers.
 
Is there anything else unique to your bike such as emissions equipment that wouldn't normally appear on a UK bike?
The only other differences which I know about is that my bike came with orange reflectors on the side of the panniers and forks.
It also didn't have a factory fitted immobiliser which was standard on a UK Gen II bike so I do not have a 'red' key.
Apart from that everything was the same.
 
The only other differences which I know about is that my bike came with orange reflectors on the side of the panniers and forks.
It also didn't have a factory fitted immobiliser which was standard on a UK Gen II bike so I do not have a 'red' key.
Apart from that everything was the same.
That's almost certainly US spec.
 
That's almost certainly US spec.
No almost about it, It is definitely a US spec bike, as I bought it new from a company which imported FJRs from the USA. :)
I'm just stating the differences that I know about from a UK spec bike in order to help @Sporall identify whether theirs is a US bike.
 
This thread has been really helpful and I'm somewhat wiser about this now.
Whilst none of these differences are serious, I do find myself feeling unsure about how I feel about the bike.

I would without doubt find a temperature gauge and fuel consumption information useful in a unit of measurement that I could understand without the use of a calculator.

I have also discovered it doesn't have an immobiliser. This bothers me less as it had no real implications for insurance.

I do feel that the dealer would have been aware and has chosen not to disclose the fact.

I also wonder if I will face any issues when I come to sell the bike privately.
 
I would imagine that most people wouldn't be that bothered about it being an import as it is practically identical to a UK Spec machine, but there is always the possibility that they might try and knock the price down a bit.

Regarding the temp gauge and fuel consumption. I've not found it to be too big a problem, I've learnt a few temps in Fahrenheit so I know roughly what the temp is in Centigrade, e.g. 50F =10C, 59F=15C, 68F = 20C.
For the fuel consumption I use an app to record the mileage and amount of fuel used whenever I fill up, this gives an accurate mpg.

But at the end of the day it's your decision on whether to keep the bike, I agree the dealer should have been aware, and should have disclosed that it was an imported bike.

Also , I've just checked my V5 and there is a note, "SVA/IVA Cert issued 26 02 2009" which is what is issued to prove an imported vehicle meets UK specifications, e.g, lights, etc. So I would expect the same on your V5.
 
Also , I've just checked my V5 and there is a note, "SVA/IVA Cert issued 26 02 2009" which is what is issued to prove an imported vehicle meets UK specifications, e.g, lights, etc. So I would expect the same on your V5.
Is that under Vehicle Details, section D.2 ? If it is, there's nothing there on my V5.
 
Is that under Vehicle Details, section D.2 ? If it is, there's nothing there on my V5.
Yes it is in section D.2. first note about first registration and then second note about SVA/IVA,
Maybe they remove it after a number of owners 🤷‍♂️
 
Top