A few Questions for all AE Riders

[mcatrophy]

I learned that once the bike motor stops running with bike in any gear except neutral you can not move the bike without working on the shifting linkage. That is a safety issue to me.

I agree that this would seem to be a serious flaw.

If the you have an engine failure, there is no way use a coasting strategy to get over to the shoulder and off the road. You will always have engine braking associated with the gear you were in at the time of the failure, and there are situations where this could be a very serious safety issue.

To a lesser degree, this characteristic is annoying whenever I want to free up my throttle hand for something but lose minimal speed. If I'm going along at 80 mph and I need to take my right hand off throttle, on other bikes, I will disengage the clutch and get rid of the engine braking to lose minimal speed. With the AE, I just forget about it and use my left hand for anything it can reach. I wish the bike had cruise control .... even crippled cruise control limited to 80 mph like the Gen III.

As I rely totally on the AS (AE) to keep riding, I have rationalised these objections at least to myself.

I consider the risk of an engine failure on a par with brake failure, i.e. approaching zero. That way I can continue to ride happily.

The nearest I've got to engine failure was once when I took my right hand off the throttle and accidentally hit the kill switch (don't ask, I can't remember why I took my hand off, let alone why it hit the switch).

As for the throttle hand needing relief, I couldn't agree more, which is why I unwound the return spring, increased the friction of the grip to reduce hand squeeze effort, and fitted a cruise control.

Pushing the bike in gear is possible provided the clutch actuator is still working and you still have a battery, just turn on the key, hold the brake on for a moment and the clutch will dis-engage. Although if you can't find neutral I suspect it may not be working???? If you do have simple engine failure (or accidentally hit the kill switch

), you can still select neutral just by flicking down the gearbox, but not usefully until you've stopped.

 

[12thumper]

I just bought a used '06 AE a couple months ago. I have another 1,000cc sportbike with a traditional clutch lever also. So what do I think?

Well, if you're looking for maximum sport performance and are a bit of a control freak you might not be happy. You do lose some of the precision available with a clutch lever. I bought the bike for riding with the lady and that equals casual riding style with lots of freeway and coastal miles. When I go alone I take the sportbike most of the time. For me, it's great to travel 500 miles and then not have to fuss with a clutch when I hit a traffic jam at the end when I'm tired. If I only had one bike to ride I would likely get the A model instead but the AE has a lot going for it. Yeah, other riders (who are too 'macho' to admit their interest) will laugh at you when you pull up to a local motorcycle spot with the AE. I just tell my lady to wear something sexy under the jacket and they shutup fairly quick. lol

As for slow speed riding that you pointed out. As an instructor I'm honestly a bit surprised you asked that. Teaching folks the proper uses of the rear brake seems fairly vital to safety IMO.

 

[Granger]

As I am looking for an FJR I see a lot of AE for sale. In fact more then A's in my area. That beign said several in my general area are pretty good deals. However for some reason I have some hesitation about not having a clutch on a motorycle. Being a MSF Instructor we always coach about the importance of a clutch. I wanted to poll this group and see what your thoughts were on this.
1. Are there any safety concerns around not having a clutch?

2. What do you do in tight, slow speed turns when normally you would need to feather the clutch?

3. Is there any added maintance of repair concerns with the AE that are not present on the A?reall

Thanks for your feedback.

1) No, at any speed it's fine, does nothing "surprising" just because it's an AE, although stupidity on any bike will not be cured by the bike. Just remember when you put it in gear, it's IN GEAR , and from a standing start it engages smoothly as you roll on the power; yes it can be jerky if your right hand is spastic, but I've had no issues;

2) In a parking lot snaking-cone test I either feather the rear brake while keeping the power low and smooth or keep it in 2nd gear while doing the same;

3) No. If you abuse the clutch or screw up your up/down-shifts you get the same result as in an "A", so don't do that.

Before I bought the FJR, I've had a Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter which has a CVT, so also when you hit the gas it just takes off, no clutch work with the left hand, so I had an advantage of getting used to it ahead of owning an AE. So the only FJR adjustment for me was not the clutch (or lack of it), but in the balance of the bike itself and the weight/handling/power (the Suzy and the FJR are only about 75 lbs difference in wet weight but a BIG diff. in power/torque). Before the Suzy I only rode regular street motorcycles, just wanted to try something different and never expected to have more fun without the clutch. I won't go back.

Granger

 

[majicmaker]

Granger, I had a friends Burgman 650 in my garage for a year and a half due to his wife's threat of divorcing him if he ever got a motorcycle. I used it often and it was a piece of cake transitioning to the FJR. Loved it. He finally got rid of the wife and took the bike home. Good move in my opinion! )

 

[gixxerjasen]

My best advice, buy an 08 or later. 06 and 07 had their throttle cam and fueling fairly abrupt which has supposedly been worked out in the 08 and later versions. These can mostly be fixed via the G2 throttle tube and Power Commander. I've done both and mine is still a smidge more abrupt than I'd like it to be. You can easily work through this when you have control of the clutch but it's harder to do when the computer is doing the work for you.

If you do any riding in traffic, this bike really shines there. Most of the time the AE does nothing for me, but I do commute daily on my bike and when I get stuck in traffic, I just grin at my trigger shifters.

Here's a short video showing my AE in action stuck in traffic. No, I'm in Tx, not Cali, so no splitting!

 

[ridernotbiker]

Hey gixxerjasen, first, thanks for the bit of video...(I hate traffic)...but did you have some work done on your bars? It could be my eyes but your left bar looks one position closer than the right? A local rider here in PC had that happen after the ignition recall.

Just asking 'cause I might be wrong or you might have your reasons. (insert smiley face here)

 

[gixxerjasen]

Now you are going to make me pull them apart aren't you? I set both to the furthest back mark right after I got it...I think. I don't notice them being off, but....

damnit, gotta dig in the tool box when I get home.

 

[Auron]

I liked the auto-clutch when I first got the bike.

Then I realized that you do give up a certain degree of control and I started to not like it.

Now I love it, it just took riding a regular bike for 20 minutes to remember why I went with an AE in the first place

 

[ridernotbiker]

Gixxerjasen...HAW!...made ya look!

Actually I was treading lightly just in case you have one arm that is "reach Challenged".

Brady...any thoughts on all this feedback yet?

 

[gixxerjasen]

Well son of a.....

You should know that I just had to entirely disassemble my FJR for this small task. Yea, three bolt job, I know, but that doesn't include chasing the bolt that holds the cover through the motorcycle as it fell from my fingers, rolled over the edge and dropped into the ABS line hole. As I removed parts and moved parts I'd just about get it only to have it roll, slide and move deeper into the engine on me. My three year old was in the garage so I was further frustrated by having to contain my garage language.

All well now, but you should know that I've never noticed but it drove me nuts all the way home. Grr...

 

[Enn]

Here's a short video showing my AE in action stuck in traffic. No, I'm in Tx, not Cali, so no splitting!

Damn, how I miss this whining melody ...

But when I look out from my kitchen window, this is all I see, so few other good months to wait. AE rules!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Who was whining?

And that was last fall, not recently....not to say the weather hasn't been nice recently. Well, it was raining this morning.

Do you have skiing nearby? If so, no whining for you. I'd give up motorcycling for a few months if I could carve some slopes during those months.

 

[Enn]

Who was whining?

And that was last fall, not recently....not to say the weather hasn't been nice recently. Well, it was raining this morning.
Do you have skiing nearby? If so, no whining for you. I'd give up motorcycling for a few months if I could carve some slopes during those months.

well, no slopes here really, but I sure do some nordic skiing nearly every day the last 2 months already, so getting a bit fed up. Miss the smooth beast

 

[1stepcloser]

I bought my AE used because it was a great deal and I was in the market for a new (to me) bike. t took a little getting used to, I had read all the negatives about it, but after a short time I have come to love it. I dont have any trouble with low speed maneuvering, if you slow enough that the clutch releases, gentle throttle application will allow the clutch to slip before engaging fully, just like a lever. For me, its all in the throttle application. Outside of that I that I think its a ball to ride. Shifts are timed just like with a lever, slight release of throttle pull lever, next gear. As for stop lights, I always snick it into nuetral, but thats mostly from habit.

Overall, its a great bike.

 

[gixxerjasen]

I bought my AE used because it was a great deal and I was in the market for a new (to me) bike.

Pretty much how I got mine. I figured, what the heck, give it a try.

 

[1stepcloser]

I bought my AE used because it was a great deal and I was in the market for a new (to me) bike.

Pretty much how I got mine. I figured, what the heck, give it a try.

Lol! Exactly. I will admit, the first ride was "interesting" to say the least.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Most interesting part of my first ride was a right hand turn out of the parking lot. You don't realize how you kind of let the bike start to drop before engaging the clutch when pulling out like that but I did and wasn't ready and almost dropped the thing.

I think it took a full week before i was fully used to it and a couple of weeks before it was completely natural again.

Then, I had a buyer coming over to look at my FZ1, and it had been sitting so I took it for a spin to make sure the carbs were all good and battery topped off. I sat on the bike staring at the clutch lever putting it into my brain to remember to use that thing.

 

[wnyfjr]

First bike I rode after a 15 year layoff was an AE (not counting the bikes we used in the MSF course I took to knock some of the rust off). I think that helped, not having recent clutch muscle memory. I think if I rode a bike with clutch lever at this point, I'd embarrass myself for a while! Love my AE! And mine was also one of those "hey, we have this used AE in stock..." purchases.

 

[mcatrophy]

I've had no problem at all using a clutched bike. Only done it twice since I got my '06 (in '06), both times I reverted to "clutching" without issue.

Maybe something to do with my never using the foot switch to change gear?

 

[Granger]

I've had no problem at all using a clutched bike. Only done it twice since I got my '06 (in '06), both times I reverted to "clutching" without issue. Maybe something to do with my never using the foot switch to change gear?

Yeah, I agree with that. I never shift my AE with my foot, always use the hand-switch to shift.

And I have hopped on a friend's bike with a clutch and had no problem use the left hand and foot in sync again, worked fine. In fact I found I was concentrating on getting a feel for that bike's weight and balance rather than what gear I was in or shifting. But I did discover (to Auron's point) that I was very bothered in slow traffic or tight maneuvers with attention and effort to the gearing and feathering the clutch, a 'pain in the asphalt'.

So okay, some can be picky about wanting fine clutch control in the 5% of situations when it really matters to them to have a clutch, but I am not that type of rider, so I'm perfectly content with the AE as a 100% bike.