A couple of '06 observations

[TheAxeman]

Well I finally was able to pick up the bike yesterday from East End Motorsports on Long Island after it took them a week and a half to get their **** together and build it/register it. I was only able to take a 60 mile ride with it after I picked it up but there are already a couple of things that concern me. First thing was that just off idle, while in neutral, the bike would continually stall when just barely cracking the accelerator. Too pissed off after waiting for the bike for 2 hours when I was told it was ready to be picked up, I didn't bother to address that problem with them immediately. Second thing was a MAJOR difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I literally could not move the shift lever on 5 or 6 occasions while shifting from 3 to 4. It would take me 3 or 4 attempts (and damn near a broken toe) to get the thing to shift. Kinda disconcerting to lose that momentum with a cage right on my *** a couple of times. I figured I would wait until I was able to ride it some more tomorrow to see if the problem would rectify itself.

Powerwise, the bike definitely has some serious torque. I was a little disappointed that the comfort level of the seat wasn't any better than my VFR but thats something that is easily remedied. Who designed the turn signal indicators? I've had zits bigger than the indicator lights. Suspension is worlds better than the VFR so I can only imagine that the Wilbers must make it incredibly good. Nice to see that Yamaha at least put a rubber grommet in the bottom of the glove box to run a wire through without having to drill it. I'm not really enamored with the gauges. They look good when standing still and are pretty at night but are definitely made for the eyes of a 20 year old. I figured when it points at 9:00, thats just about right.

Overall, the bike is exactly what I thought it would be and am now looking forward to giving it a real work out....Farkles to follow.

 

[TheBlueStreak]

Hey Axeman,

I'm on LI too. I have a 2001 Bandit 1200S but was looking to buy the FJR. Would you like to meet up for a ride so I can take a look at it? I go to Port JEff alot, maybe we can meet up there? My email is: [email protected]. Let me know.

Rob

 

[Iris]

I had a problem shifting too. For me it was because I wasn't completely taking the pressure off of the shifter lever where my foot is. I had on new boots and it took a while for me to get used to make sure I took all pressure off the shift lever when completing my shift. Someone suggesting that scenario to me and I thought they were crazy, but it turned out they were correct.

Hope that's all it is for you too and that it's nothing more than that.

 

[TheAxeman]

HerFJR,

I tried all possibilities, thinking that my boot may have been catching on something during shifting but nothing I did seemed to make a difference. I figured I need to ride it some more to see if it persists before I run into the dealership with my axe....

Bluestreak, no problem, I ride up into Port Jefferson fairly often so I'm sure we can hook up. For information purposes, East End Motorsports in Southampton has an FJR sitting on the floor that they are selling if you are interested. You may want to speak to me personally before purchasing however.

 

[GAPS]

Axeman, mine too on the stalling, turning the idle up to about 1100 rpm has helped but I look forward to putting guages on the throttle bodies, Im guessing they are out of synch.. How about your abs light, has that stayed on at all or does it go off right after start up? Mine comes on after start up and stays on for a mile or so from time to time....

Otherwise its all Happy in CT. Hoping the rain stops soon.

 

[bvail]

First thing was that just off idle, while in neutral, the bike would continually stall when just barely cracking the accelerator.

That's not 'natural' at all. I wonder if the idle circuit is even leaner than in previous years. If so, I'm sure someone will come up with the 'Barbarian Jumper' fix with the '06s if possible. Does the stalling occur with the ECM still in the fast idle mode or after the idle has settled down to 1100 rpms?

I literally could not move the shift lever on 5 or 6 occasions while shifting from 3 to 4. It would take me 3 or 4 attempts (and damn near a broken toe) to get the thing to shift.

Something definitely amiss there. Mine would miss shifts or be notchy between 2nd and 3rd gear, but wore in after a while (few thousand miles). I realize that you have already tried unloading your toe from the shifter, etc., but you might try adjusting the shifter for more foot clearance. If this problem does not go away soon, it would be advisable to at least inform the dealer (even though they sound a bit on the lame side) and insist that they put this problem into the database of your bike. Yamaha keeps a nationwide database on each bike they sell while it's under warranty. That way it would be more difficult for them to brush off a bent shifting fork problem with the excuse of 'owner abuse'.

 

[TheAxeman]

Stalling was occurring even after the bike was warmed up by a five mile shakedown ride by the tech. It would stall just off idle with the slightest amount of throttle being applied. It didn't occur again while I was riding it or when the bike was in neutral. As far as the shifting condition, I will definitely take your advice and tell the dealer about my concerns if it continues to occur. I don't really want to throw any red flags yet as I haven't had the opportunity to ride it since I picked it up on Friday afternoon.

Gaps, as far as the ABS light is concerned, it seems to be working normally.

 

[camera56]

Friends

I'm new to the forum. I just took delivery of my FJR a couple of days ago (current other bike a 2005 Duc MTS DSS 1000). I took the new beast for a 440 mile loop across the Cascades up along Lake Chelan, then across the Northern Cascade Scenic Highway then home to Seattle. Everything from pissing rain, to 65 degrees and sunny, to freezing cold and snow on the shoulders of the road over my head. Tremendous ride.

My thoughts so far.

Like you, I find the shifter sticking up upshifts. I had to be extra careful to release all pressure on the shifter and sort of brush the shifter with my toe in a downward direction to make sure it had dropped back. Very disconcerting.

I also find the saddle to be very uncomfortable. There is another post here that says the same thing. I thought the multistrada had a bad seat but this is worse.

I'm another tall rider and am looking forward to a taller screen.

I find that it runs a bit raggedy on part throttle or light throttle cruising. I wonder if a PC III would clear that up.

I'm getting more like 36 mpg but I was running hard.

All that aside, and it's all fixable i'm sure, the bike is a complete stone cold champ. It is so much more planted and solid than the multi it's ridiculous. Never puts a foot wrong, holds it's line perfectly, pulls like a mad fiend . . . everything i was expecting and more. If someone is on the fence about buying an FJR, I'd say get off it and go ride one.

 

[GalaxyBlue]

Any codes? Sounds like the TPS might be out of adjustment.

 

[jimbemotumbo]

Sounds like something is wrong. I've had mine about 2weeks. Runs perfectly. low to mid 40's mpg. Hot day. Cool day. Doesn'matter. Just runs great. Comfy seat. Bars are almost back far enuf. Good wind mgmnt. No complaints at all.

Used to have a Guzzi that ran a bit ragged. AFter a thorough TPS/TB tune it was fine. I suspect you may need the same.

 

[Bike Effects]

Friends<snip>

I'm another tall rider and am looking forward to a taller screen.

I find that it runs a bit raggedy on part throttle or light throttle cruising. I wonder if a PC III would clear that up.

I'm getting more like 36 mpg but I was running hard.

All that aside, and it's all fixable i'm sure, the bike is a complete stone cold champ. It is so much more planted and solid than the multi it's ridiculous. Never puts a foot wrong, holds it's line perfectly, pulls like a mad fiend . . . everything i was expecting and more. If someone is on the fence about buying an FJR, I'd say get off it and go ride one.

Relative to the windscreem, it's hard to make a one-bike-fits-all machine.

Raggedy throttle. As long as we have emission controls, we will have this in one form or another which will vary from bike to bike. Dynojet will be selling PCIII's for the forseable future.

Seat. All butts are not created equal.

36 MPG running hard. I drop down there far too often.

Enjoy your FJR. It doesn't get much better than this.

 

[MrWizard]

Just picked up my FJR 1300A on Friday.

No problems except with the shifting.

Short shifting into fourth or fifth is impossible. RPM's must be up above 5 to 6K.

Also, the shifting is very clunky in all gears.

The clutch appears to be fully disengageing even though it's fairly close to the grip when it does.

I checked the lever pressure between shifts and this makes no difference. The lever is deffinitely reurning to center.

Anyone with same problem? I'll be phoning my dealer asap tomorrow about this.

Rob

 

[JamesK]

...Second thing was a MAJOR difficulty shifting from 3rd to 4th. I literally could not move the shift lever on 5 or 6 occasions while shifting from 3 to 4. It would take me 3 or 4 attempts (and damn near a broken toe) to get the thing to shift. Kinda disconcerting to lose that momentum with a cage right on my *** a couple of times. I figured I would wait until I was able to ride it some more tomorrow to see if the problem would rectify itself.

Just out of curiosity, have any of the folks with the shifting difficulties tried doing the double shuffle shifting or giving the throttle a quick "chirp" before attempting to shift? Would be interesting to find out if this reduces or eliminates the problem. I always "chirp" the throttle on downshifts and occasionally on up-shifts and find this makes the shifting smoother...

 

[designeraccd]

My '06 was dying more and more, usually coming into stops, but she didn't always like to rev from idle either. The 600 service seems to have fixed that: throttle cable properly adjusted and TBIs synched, not "almost synced".

I am still having very noitchy shifting, especially the 4-5 upshift. My '03 FJR did not have any shifting problems, now the engine heat............ DFO :glare:

 

[chickey191]

I've also experienced this minor stall - pretty much the same conditions -

bike is sufficiently warm - sitting at light and slight twist of the throttle - with clutch fully pulled in - no load on engine - an it coughs and stalls.

Had it start up and stall again. Start up is a little bit rough, too.

This weekend I rode from San Diego to Vegas - warm day in Vegas - parked the bike and went back about 30 minutes later to pick up - and when started - the bike was VERY rough - like it was almost out of gas (almost a full tank). Ran rough for about 100 yards of goosing the throttle - then cleared itself and ran fine all the way home.

I've had the cough/stall probably 6 or 7 times - usually at a light after sitting at idle for a few seconds. doesn't seem to miss at any other speed - though I too think I need the Throttle Bodies synced. around 3k rpm - it hunts a bit (feels like a surging BMW R bike)

my guess is that the bike is running VERY lean.

 

[GreyGoose]

I've also experienced this minor stall - pretty much the same conditions - bike is sufficiently warm - sitting at light and slight twist of the throttle - with clutch fully pulled in - no load on engine - an it coughs and stalls.

Had it start up and stall again. Start up is a little bit rough, too.

This weekend I rode from San Diego to Vegas - warm day in Vegas - parked the bike and went back about 30 minutes later to pick up - and when started - the bike was VERY rough - like it was almost out of gas (almost a full tank). Ran rough for about 100 yards of goosing the throttle - then cleared itself and ran fine all the way home.

I've had the cough/stall probably 6 or 7 times - usually at a light after sitting at idle for a few seconds. doesn't seem to miss at any other speed - though I too think I need the Throttle Bodies synced. around 3k rpm - it hunts a bit (feels like a surging BMW R bike)

my guess is that the bike is running VERY lean.

Chickey,

how hot was it in vegas? Can we really put this heat thing behind us, or is the jury still out?

GreyGoose

 

[tstaff]

1,500 miles on the clock & mine has never hinted at stalling, cold or hot.

As far as the transmission, i think that is where Yamaha has improved the 06 the most over my 03 FJR, very tight & smooth shifting, maybe a bit more effort required on the lever, but very positive shifts & very little lash felt in driver line.

Stalling & rough shifting are not what i would consider "Normal" on a 06 FJR, IMO.

 

[donaldb]

for those who already posted about stiff shifts, mine was a bit rough on the shifts in the early miles. When I switched over to a synblend oil after break in, at 5k, there was a complete change in the shifting behavior. Shifting was an immediate smooth, so much so, it took me a bit to get use to it. Now I just preload squeeze clutch about 1/2 way and the shifter moves up, no clunk, no jerk, no force, it's so smooth it's scary :scare:

 

[Bounce]

I've also experienced this minor stall - pretty much the same conditions - bike is sufficiently warm - sitting at light and slight twist of the throttle - with clutch fully pulled in - no load on engine - an it coughs and stalls.

Had it start up and stall again. Start up is a little bit rough, too.

This weekend I rode from San Diego to Vegas - warm day in Vegas - parked the bike and went back about 30 minutes later to pick up - and when started - the bike was VERY rough - like it was almost out of gas (almost a full tank). Ran rough for about 100 yards of goosing the throttle - then cleared itself and ran fine all the way home.

I've had the cough/stall probably 6 or 7 times - usually at a light after sitting at idle for a few seconds. doesn't seem to miss at any other speed - though I too think I need the Throttle Bodies synced. around 3k rpm - it hunts a bit (feels like a surging BMW R bike)

my guess is that the bike is running VERY lean.

almost sounds like the overpressure vent isn't cleared. check the hose where it exits under the bike, clean it and cut it at a 45° agle (toward the back of the bike). then check the filler vent for allignment, plugs, and other stuff.

vent is documented here:

https://www.bikes-n-spikes.org/maint/ff/ff.html

(the orange insert)