2015 ES vs Standard FJR

[jim oneill]

I'm in the process of buying my 4th FJR and am looking for opinions please? Is the ES model worth the extra money? Can the ES suspension be adjusted "on the fly"? or do you have to stop to make the electronic adjustment? Does it work well? My dealer is offering me a terrific deal on either model but just wondering what you folks think?

 

[Warpdrv]

Here is a thread with a few answers....

https://www.fjrowners.com/forums/8-fjr-central/50745-es-worth.html

I own the 15 ES and I love it..... Yes you can adjust it on the fly with 3 preset setting you determine what those settings are.... Soft, Medium, and Hard....

Within those parameters, when not moving you can adjust how you would like each of those settings to be set at...

I would suggest that you look at the owners manual to get an idea of how they play out....

****EDIT**** Fixed my link - this is the Aussie but it has the info for ES there starting page 56.

https://www.yamahaownershandbook.com.au/lib/download.php?f=2PD-28199-20.pdf

Here is a video of how that plays out which is a bit long winded but you'll get the just of it...



I think it is a huge addition for those that need to make changes for different road conditions like I have here in the upper mid west where roads are crap after winter takes its toll...... If you were to live in Cali or the southern states where road conditions stay relatively the same all year round, its a toss up....

Make sure you spring for YES warranty for ES since it is an unknown quantity in the repair dept at this point and time....

Good luck on your purchase, its a great new machine !!

 

[A41Billy]

+1 for the ES. The ability to switch damping settings on the fly is really nice. I also like the inverted forks. Preload change with the push of a button. If you vary loads or ride 2Up 50% of the time like I do, it's a no brainer.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

I did not choose ES. I don't regret going standard, but I found that my bike, for my weight load and usage, does not handle unflappably at one setting, no matter carefully configured. I can clearly see the benefit of being able to go soft for the slab, then hard for the twisties. If I had it to do again, I would spring for ES.

 

[Warpdrv]

I updated my link for owners manual, it was for an old bike.....

Here is the link again for the ES Model....

https://www.yamahaownershandbook.com.au/lib/download.php?f=2PD-28199-20.pdf

Page 56 for ES

 

[MCRIDER007]

I have both with 15K miles on a 2013A and 10K miles on a 14ES. I think the inverted forks on the ES are worth the extra $1K, I don't think they would be worth $2-3K if that was the difference in cost between the models. As far as suspension, I can't tell any difference in damping performance of the forks, they both work very well (in spite of the A model only having damping on one side). I think the ES shock has slightly better damping than the A model but it should since it costs 6-7 times as much and at this point no one has any idea what it is going to cost to rebuild that very expensive shock. The on-the-fly damping adjustment is mostly a marketing gimmick since the range of adjustment is actually very narrow and the middle setting seems to provide the best ride over any distance on any road surface I have found (and I change the damping constantly trying to find the best ride).

Carrying a passenger on the ES requires a huge amount of preload on what seems to be about a 800 lb spring or a simple change to the hard position to take advantage of the A model's 950 lb spring (spring rates are my estimates based on a lot of sag comparisons using a 08 FJR that had a 800 lb aftermarket spring). Sag rates between the shocks are almost identical up to a 360 lb load, after that the A models heavier spring is going to out perform the the ES although the difference probably will not be noticeable until the load exceeds 425 lbs.

My preference would be the A model with inverted forks but unfortunately that option is not yet available.

 

[jim oneill]

Thanks everyone! Think I'm going to spring for the ES

 

[Medpilot]

I went with the ES and happy I did. My only fear is if something breaks. What kind of bill is that going to be?

 

[Uncle Hud]

Got the ES and rode for about 4 months without changing the suspension. Then, over the course of a long day, played around with all the settings. Happy with soft (or REALLY soft) for the miles of highway work needed to escape Atlanta's sprawl, and happy to be able to tighten things up when I get to curves and hills and countryside.

Is it worth $1,000? Don't know. That will vary widely, depending on who's answering the question.

As for the repair bill ... get a YES.

 

[fjRaven]

Being on my third fjr, first two A's, I personally think it's worth the $1k. Part of the equation is that you'll get value out of it when you own it, and then get a higher price than the A when you go to sell it. So it's not costing you $1k, but something less, maybe $500 over the course of the time you own it, assuming you sell it within 5 years or so. You can justify any expense if you're creative enough.

 

[escapefjrtist]

I went went with an A model because my GP forks / Penske shock would transfer over and I have a known good suspension setup. In my mind, the ES is still too lightly sprung for any serious two-up work with bags and trunk. Does it work, yes, does it work as well as my Penske...nope.

Now, if I didn't have / begin with the aftermarket suspenders, I'd have gone with an ES and made it work. Love the USD fork!!

--G

 

[900gc]

I went with the ES and happy I did. My only fear is if something breaks. What kind of bill is that going to be?

Right. Even if one has YES, it runs out eventually. Even if it does not fail in some way, it will need rebuilding at some point and that must be a lot more than a standard suspension.

I met a guy with a Ducati Multistrada w/Skyhook ES, something went kaplooey, $3,800 to fix, still under warranty but if it were not..... OY!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I did not care about the performance advantages, I just wanted to look cool. The ES with its upside down, blacked out forks just looks much better than the A model.

Okay, I did care about the suspension performance. I loved the ES as compared to the Gen2 suspension but I am not sure if it is any better than the Gen3 A suspension.

I love being able to change damping settings on the fly. It smooths out a rough interstate ride then tightens up for curvy roads. You do have to stop to change the spring preload, you cannot make that change while the bike is rolling.

 

[Fred W]

The on-the-fly damping adjustment is mostly a marketing gimmick since the range of adjustment is actually very narrow and the middle setting seems to provide the best ride over any distance on any road surface I have found (and I change the damping constantly trying to find the best ride).

Interesting that you would say that, as that has not entirely been my experience. But it may be the way that I am using it

There are 12 unique programmable settings. Soft, Normal, and Hard at each of the 4 pre-load settings (1 up, 1up w/ bags, 2up, 2up w/ bags). I have programmed all 4 of the Soft positions to -3, all 4 of the Hard positions to +3, leaving all of the Normal settings at 0. There is quite a noticeable difference between Soft -3, Normal 0, and Hard +3 while riding down the road.

As you know, the roads in New England are some of the most scenic, but are some of worst in the country in terms of smoothness. Many seem like old cow paths that were just paved over, and every winter they heave and buckle with frost heaves that never fully recover after the thaw. Running at 1-up Soft -3 (when 1-up) the FJR feels nearly as smooth over the rip-rap as my Vstrom does. But when I do hit some good pavement with a few turns in it, switching it up to Normal or Hard makes a significant reduction in how much wallowing I get.

Carrying a passenger on the ES requires a huge amount of preload on what seems to be about a 800 lb spring or a simple change to the hard position to take advantage of the A model's 950 lb spring (spring rates are my estimates based on a lot of sag comparisons using a 08 FJR that had a 800 lb aftermarket spring). Sag rates between the shocks are almost identical up to a 360 lb load, after that the A models heavier spring is going to out perform the the ES although the difference probably will not be noticeable until the load exceeds 425 lbs.

I guess I am lucky. My pillion weighs only 100 lbs, so even with my current porky-ness we only run around 325 lbs together. IMO, the bike handles quite nicely at the 4 suggested preload settings with our weights.

I went with the ES and happy I did. My only fear is if something breaks. What kind of bill is that going to be?

Right. Even if one has YES, it runs out eventually.

Well, you can get 4 years of YES warranty extension added to the 1 year factory warranty, then you can also extend that for an additional 2 years if you want. So I guess eventually can be put off for as long as 7 years. That will cover any shock or electronic control failures. The trick will be getting a precedent established with Yamaha that when the suspension wears out during the YES that they will rebuild or replace it.

I have not received my YES paperwork yet (I already paid for it at D&H) so I don't know if the language excludes shock wear.

 

[MCRIDER007]

The on-the-fly damping adjustment is mostly a marketing gimmick since the range of adjustment is actually very narrow and the middle setting seems to provide the best ride over any distance on any road surface I have found (and I change the damping constantly trying to find the best ride).

Interesting that you would say that, as that has not entirely been my experience. But it may be the way that I am using it

There are 12 unique programmable settings. Soft, Normal, and Hard at each of the 4 pre-load settings (1 up, 1up w/ bags, 2up, 2up w/ bags). I have programmed all 4 of the Soft positions to -3, all 4 of the Hard positions to +3, leaving all of the Normal settings at 0. There is quite a noticeable difference between Soft -3, Normal 0, and Hard +3 while riding down the road.

As you know, the roads in New England are some of the most scenic, but are some of worst in the country in terms of smoothness. Many seem like old cow paths that were just paved over, and every winter they heave and buckle with frost heaves that never fully recover after the thaw. Running at 1-up Soft -3 (when 1-up) the FJR feels nearly as smooth over the rip-rap as my Vstrom does. But when I do hit some good pavement with a few turns in it, switching it up to Normal or Hard makes a significant reduction in how much wallowing I get.

Riding solo at about 220 lbs the only preload setting I use is 1up w/bags and mine is programmed for Soft-1, STD-0, and Hard+3. The reason that I use Soft-1 is because there is a very noticeable lack of rebound damping in the Soft-2 or Soft-3 setting which I also found to be true in the 2up position. Therefore, there is a noticeable difference between Soft-3 and Soft-1 but I do not consider Soft-3 and Soft-2 to be usable. However, I find the damping difference between Soft-1 and Hard+3 to be almost undetectable regardless of road surface and don't think I could tell the difference in a "blind" test. Maybe its my bike, its the only ES I have ridden to date, but the important thing is that the suspension is very good, slightly better than the A model, and much better than either of the 2015 R1200RTs I have test ridden.

I don't think the YES is going to be much help getting the shock rebuilt unless it starts leaking and I have only heard of that happening a couple of times on the standard shocks.

 

[Steel_Gin]

I can see Mama-Yama classifying the suspension as a wear item so they wouldn't have to cover it with a Y.E.S. Yet the switches and electronics that make the changes, getting a Y.E.S. would be a good thing to get since all of that is so new.

Good thread, if I were in the market for a new FJR I would have not thought twice and bought an A. But after reading this the ES is a strong contender.

 

[Uncle Hud]

name="Redfish Hunter" post="1235147"
<snipped>

I love being able to change damping settings on the fly. It smooths out a rough interstate ride then tightens up for curvy roads. You do have to stop to change the spring preload, you cannot make that change while the bike is rolling.

Redfish Hunter is correct, you have to stop to change the preload. But that can happen at stop signs, traffic lights, gas/pee breaks, and -- of course -- on the side of the road if I feel a need to change the preload now.

Sure, I could live without it, and the FJR would still beat the living **** out of any bike I've ever ridden before, but it's useful and way cool.

(And for those trying to justify the extra cost, don't forget it's $1,000 PLUS the financing costs of that $1,000. Still a great bargain in my book)

 

[JamesW]

You know being a K.I.S.S kind of guy, that mainly likes to just ride, I went with an A model. No two up stuff either since grandma became grandma. Should have a poll on who is a fiddler and who is a rider. 1 would mainly be riders, up to 10 would be fiddlers, tinkerers (like George and others that practically rebuild their bikes to custom specs.) with the oil changers etc along the scale.

 

[bergmen]

When I first started shopping for a 2014 FJR back in late October 2013, I was looking for the ES model. I knew the dealers wouldn't have them until November but I still was on the hunt. What I discovered was unsubstantiated opinions from the 10 dealers I was in contact with about when they were actually going to get one. Also, zero flexibility on MSRP and some hinted at dealer markup.

Subsequently, I began to worry about cost of repair or replacement of components. A good friend of mine (retired GM mechanic) cautioned me on the cost of service or replacement, having lots of experiences with GM cars with electronic suspensions. I was not worried about the reliability or dependability knowing that Yamaha is top-notch in that area, just concerned about long term life. Also, I ride more than 95% solo so I don't have changing load or road conditions to deal with.

The last issue dealt with the possibility of upgrading the suspension if desired. I have not done that on any previous motorcycle I've owned but always valued the option. Not possible with the ES.

The "A" models were beginning to show up in dealers showrooms with MSRP flexibility on pricing. I punted to the "A" model and could not be happier (18 months and 16,000 miles later). It took a few experiments to get the suspension set where I like it but haven't touched it since.

YMMV.

Dan