2016 Is Official 6-spd, Slipper, LEDs, Analog Tach, Price

[user 8909]

Just curious, did you guys have this much discussion about what Generation the 2014 model was, the major change there was ES, same bike as the 2013 otherwise?

 

[Panman]

Just curious, did you guys have this much discussion about what Generation the 2014 model was, the major change there was ES, same bike as the 2013 otherwise?

Most of these guys are getting old, they are practicing for thier retardedment when they do nothing but play checkers with other old farts.

 

[Ignacio]

Just curious, did you guys have this much discussion about what Generation the 2014 model was, the major change there was ES, same bike as the 2013 otherwise?

Look for yourself. Simply use the search gear icon (to the right of the box) and search on thread titles only for "2014" and see how many and depth of threads. 2014, for example, has about three pages of threads and lengthy discussion about ES. 2016 hasn't come close yet.

 

[NHredliner]

Come March I'll expect to see plenty of well farkled 2015's going for bargain prices! For those that have the means to spring for this newest beauty I am sure there are plenty like me ready to upgrade their GenII's. Which of course means there will be plenty of bargains to be had for barely broken in and well equipped GenII's.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

Just curious, did you guys have this much discussion about what Generation the 2014 model was, the major change there was ES, same bike as the 2013 otherwise?

an option for upside down forks does not a new generation make. That is all.

 

[Fred W]

Just curious, did you guys have this much discussion about what Generation the 2014 model was, the major change there was ES, same bike as the 2013 otherwise?

an option for upside down forks does not a new generation make. That is all.

While I agree, it is too bad that just getting the USD front fork without the ES was never an option. That is one that I would have looked at hard.. But for what it available, and the paltry incremental cost of $1000, I do love the ES with the USD fork.

 

[hppants]

Getting old.....

Hey!!!! I resemble that remark!

 

[DocFJR]

The cost of the 2016 FJRs is still unknown, and given the updates, the ES at least might be higher than the 2015. Even if that's true, though, hop on over to the Honda site, and note that the ST1300 is still actively promoted..... that's the 2012 ST1300..... for about $18,500 with destination. And it's essentially the same bike as in 2002.

FJRs rule.

 

[wfooshee]

Well, my car has a 7 gear transmission....

But, since it's an automatic, you don't shift them. My last and current company cars have unlimited gears automatically (CVT). The little four banger engine hardly changes rpm as you increase speed. That is technology I would never want to see applied to motorcycles.

Ahh, but I often do shift gears semi-manually, my shifter is setup to allow me to manually shift sequentially motorcycle like, bang the stick up to up shift and bang it down to down shift, it acts like a manual transmission sans a clutch. It's made to allow the engine to be shifted for track use and pops the 'clutch' appropriately for the type driving being done.

Now, that CVT transmission, I've driven some of those there things. If they ever put one on a motorcycle I can guarantee that there will never be one in my garage. It's a wierd experience.

It concerns me that the first two gears in the '16 are taller, my Gen I is already good for 100 kph, err, 62 mph and can reach that in ~3.0 seconds. A taller gear will allow more speed but slower acceleration -- boo, hiss. My Gen I will also pull redline in 5th gear but I'm positive that the '16 will be wind resistance/drag limited in 6th. Since the new FJR's 5th gear is shorter you should be able to briskly pull redline but it will have a lower top speed than my Gen I in 5th, and pull less hard in 6th before it peters out and hits the drag/wind resistance limited top speed.

I posted this before already, but I'm wondering if they went back to a shorter ratio to the middle gear shaft (a la Gen I) to accommodate the taller low gears and shorter high gears.

 

[art miller]

Yamaha HAS to consider what the motorcycle press thinks. Because most motorcycle buyers are strongly influenced by the motorcycle press. And on this 6 speed v. 5 speed issue, how can it not be better to have more choices? You want your engine to run in the sweet spot for maximum gas mileage (that's why we ride FJRs right?

). More gears means more road speeds that will match up nicely with engine speeds.
My Tundra's got 6 speeds. The Prius has a continuously variable torque splitting drive.

Five speeds just seems totally underwhelming.

Meanwhile, I'll pronounce judgement on the 2016 FJR ES after my nominal 3 month test ride, probably around mid June. I'll bet it'll be a keeper.

I agree with these comments. I have stated many times the ideal set up is an overdrive gear. There is no reason I can see for the FJR to not have a final gear that provides minimum 5mph overdrive ie; 3000rpm = 65mph. Why do so many members insist on revving the shit out of this powerful bike? Even if they had kept the 5sp trans, why not make 5th an overdrive? This could have been done by changing the final drive ratios?

 

[DocFJR]

Even if they had kept the 5sp trans, why not make 5th an overdrive?

Isn't fifth already an overdrive on the 5-speed?

 

[rPGoatBoy]

Even if they had kept the 5sp trans, why not make 5th an overdrive?

Isn't fifth already an overdrive on the 5-speed?

It is.

 

[Ignacio]

Even if they had kept the 5sp trans, why not make 5th an overdrive?

Isn't fifth already an overdrive on the 5-speed?

It is.

I disagree. The definition of "overdrive" that I Googled is:

a gear in a motor vehicle providing a gear ratio higher than that of the drive gear or top gear, so that engine speed and fuel consumption are reduced in highway travel.

I'm not aware of anybody objectively demonstrating that consumption is reduced as there's no other 5th gear ratio that has been every installed in an FJR nor have their been objectively demonstrated differences between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 in final drive ratios on consumption. Nor has the 2016 come out yet to compare.

So, as a typical NEPRT subject....overdrive compared to what?

 

[art miller]

It's still a gen 13 as far as I'm concerned......

This statement right here is why our odot - Ray is the smartest Guy on our Fine FJR Forum, next to ionbeam - Alan of course. JSNS, es Verdad ese!

I see odot is from southern Oregon. Is odot Oregon Department of Transportation??

 

[art miller]

Even if they had kept the 5sp trans, why not make 5th an overdrive?

Isn't fifth already an overdrive on the 5-speed?

It is.

I disagree. The definition of "overdrive" that I Googled is:

a gear in a motor vehicle providing a gear ratio higher than that of the drive gear or top gear, so that engine speed and fuel consumption are reduced in highway travel.

I'm not aware of anybody objectively demonstrating that consumption is reduced as there's no other 5th gear ratio that has been every installed in an FJR nor have their been objectively demonstrated differences between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 in final drive ratios on consumption. Nor has the 2016 come out yet to compare.

So, as a typical NEPRT subject....overdrive compared to what?

OK!!!!!!!!!!!! Forget the term OVERDRIVE. Call it what you want, I am looking for what I clearly stated, 3000rpm at 65mph. Is that so hard to do? That is what I had on my Japanese 5sp manual shit cars back in the 70's.

 

[xcsp]

Why do so many members insist on revving the shit out of this powerful bike? Even if they had kept the 5sp trans, why not make 5th an overdrive? This could have been done by changing the final drive ratios?

Who's "revving the s%#t out" of an FJR at highway speeds? 4000-4500 rpm isn't even close to fitting that description, maybe I'm missing something.

Now, if you were hitting the 9k redline all the time, that's another story.

 

[Ignacio]

3000rpm at 65mph. Is that so hard to do? That is what I had on my Japanese 5sp manual shit cars back in the 70's.

You should probably go drive your low-revving 70's car until you know the answer to the question....in March 2016. It will probably be a bit less stressful for you.

 

[wfooshee]

Yeah, 5th has always been an "overdrive" in that it's a less-than-one ratio. In fifth, the output shaft turns faster than the input shaft. What that translated to in a RWD car is the drive shaft turned faster than the crankshaft, thus "overdrive."

Thing is, on a motorcycle there are a bunch more ratios to consider. On the FJR specifically you have the primary gear, from the crankshaft to the clutch basket, then the output shaft to the middle gear, and the bevel gear set for the shaft, before you get to the drive shaft, so the ratio of input shaft to output shaft is kind of irrelevant. If you want to put it into car terms and compare crankshaft to drive shaft, the Gen I drive shaft spins at a 1.097 reduction from the crankshaft, and the Gen II and later spins at a 1.067 reduction, with a 3.66 rear end in either case.

In automotive terms, crankshaft to drive shaft, that makes 5th gear not an overdrive, and even a bit short of the common 1:1 found in cars.

As for 3000 RPM at 65, what the heck for??? Mileage??? Ionbeam posted years ago, maybe speculatively, maybe not, that 3000 RPM is so far below optimal intake tuning that fuel consumption may actually be higher at that low RPM than letting it spin around 4 or 4.5 thousand. And those Japanese 5-speeds weren't 9000 (10,500, actually, if you go by the rev limiter....) RPM twin-cams, either. You compare 2- or 2.2-liter engines to 1.3, you gotta allow for some revs.

 

[montanaman]

Wow.. now we know why Yamaha finally caved and put in another gear. I get it. It's called marketing. I had my eyes on the FJR for years but that "5 speed thing" held me back a bit. All my other bikes in the last 10 years had 6 gears so why not this wonderful bike? I finally got over it and got a 2013 and after realizing that it just really was not an "issue" I upgraded to a 2015 with the ES. Are their times when I instinctively reach for another gear? Yes I do. Is it needed for comfortable freeway speeds at 65-80 mph? No it is not. The tach is the tach.. at approximately 70 mph my bike is slightly over 4000k. I don't consider that "over revving". I believe that most comparable bikes are taching the same in 6th gear. Now if the new bike's rpms are significantly lower at freeway speeds and the gas mileage goes up 3-5 MPG then I will start to pay attention. Good thing I don't like Blue...

 

[rPGoatBoy]

Even if they had kept the 5sp trans, why not make 5th an overdrive?

Isn't fifth already an overdrive on the 5-speed?

It is.

I disagree. The definition of "overdrive" that I Googled is:

a gear in a motor vehicle providing a gear ratio higher than that of the drive gear or top gear, so that engine speed and fuel consumption are reduced in highway travel.

I'm not aware of anybody objectively demonstrating that consumption is reduced as there's no other 5th gear ratio that has been every installed in an FJR nor have their been objectively demonstrated differences between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 in final drive ratios on consumption. Nor has the 2016 come out yet to compare.

So, as a typical NEPRT subject....overdrive compared to what?

Overdrive compared to drive compared to underdrive.

It's a little more confusing on an FJR because of the primary and secondary reduction gears in the box, but think of a rear wheel drive car. Overdrive simply means the engine is spinning at a slower RPM than the drive shaft. Drive means they're spinning at equal speeds (1:1) and in the underdrive (lower) gears the engine is spinning faster than the driveshaft. Were it not for the primary and secondary reduction, our 0.929 5th gear ratio would be considered purely an overdrive gear, as it would spin the driveshaft one revolution for every 0.929 turns....ah shit I see Walt already beat me to it.