A few Questions for all AE Riders

[brady]

Thank you to all that have provided feedback, this is all great input but i think i'm not quite ready for the AE so I continue my search for an 06+ "A" .

 

[bikerkash]

Innocent Bystander pretty much nailed it. I have well over 100K on AE bikes, 06, 08 & 09. I have physcial issues resulting for a wreck over 6 yrs ago. If it were not for the AE I'm not sure how I would ride. I've never had any kind of issue with the AE function. It takes getting use to but once you adapt it works just fine. Unless a person has phyical issue I'm not sure why you would want an AE. I would hope Yamaha decides to use the dual clutch set up like Honda uses on the VFR I believe that would be a winner for the FJR. The 2013 FJR is a clear improvment which is long overdue however Yamaha

will need to do more to keep the FJR the leader of the Sport Touring bikes as it once was. It's still an excellent bike it just needs a little more than a mild make over. Unless your the Lead Dog the view is not good and never changes!!!!!

 

[Auron]

I'm so glad the '13 won't come in an AE, it makes loving mine so much more fun.

 

[Top_Speed1]

I'm one of those guilty of buying a leftover '09 crated machine. Got it last year ('12) at this time and paid $11K out the door. With "0" miles and not even any dust on it from sitting in a showroom, I was pleased as rum punch. I was very leery of the AE at first however. I figured if I didn't like it I could just sell it for close to what I had into it.

Well I didn't like it, seemed to "weird", and my left hand was wanting to squeeze all the time I had to shift. Called my dealer and he said ride it for 500 miles and if you still don't like it I will take it back at full refund. OK, so I went to the foot shifter to shift with as at least this was just one thing that I had to tell my brain differently. This was more normal b/c a lot of times (on past hand clutch bikes owned) I sync'd up shifts with no hand clutching anyway.

Well after a few hundred miles I went to the click only method, took awhile again. Haven't been back since. Absolutely Love it!. Dealer gave me the "I told ya so" haha. I was happy and still am. I wish now that I could have the AE option on my ordered in Beemer K1600.

 

[gixxerjasen]

One of our local riders went from his AE to his 1600. He says it's a fantastic bike and loves it but misses the auto shift.

 

[Top_Speed1]

One of our local riders went from his AE to his 1600. He says it's a fantastic bike and loves it but misses the auto shift.

YUUUP!

(stolen from Dave Hester)

I think ur friend may be right, dang AE invention anyway

 

[gixxerjasen]

One of our local riders went from his AE to his 1600. He says it's a fantastic bike and loves it but misses the auto shift.

YUUUP!(stolen from Dave Hester)

I think ur friend may be right, dang AE invention anyway

Just please be careful and don't end up like my friend. Had nothing to do with the transmission.

The bike ripped the rear axle off a dually. He walked away with only a mild concussion.

 

[Top_Speed1]

Holy smackers there Jason, most importantly I'm glad your friend is Okay. So is he going back to his AE at least during his insurance settlement?

 

[willboe]

One of the reasons I like my AE, not normally mentioned, is my left boot doesn't wear out faster than my right one.

plus1 I tried to simply 'Like' your post, and got a note on screen that said I 'used up my positive comments for the day' Maybe I could balance it out if they put up a, 'This sucks' button . . .

 

[HotRodZilla]

^^^We had that. Once. People wailed and cried when someone gave them a negative score. It was like their wiener was gonna fall off if someone didn't agree with them.

Howie held the record at like-168 once...But I think he was framed. Even Howie isn't that unpleasant.

 

[Top_Speed1]

I kinda liked the negative button (in a weird kinda way)...

Every time I gave some cuddos to the K1600 I got bombarded with neggies

 

[bowtie39]

I do see a couple AE riders mention control. If they would respond to this statement I would like to understand. My main concern with these AE's are in technical situations such as riding really slow curves with straights between. The type of riding when you may use up and down shifts rapidly to negotiate the turns. Using this bike more as a sport bike it can be.

To further explain what I'm asking....is there any lag in down or up gear transitions. As in a levered bike you can downshift coming into a turn smoothly and get out smoothly to accelerate and upshift.

I'm not trying to say I can reach a bikes potential, especially this one, but like to enjoy a level of riding that's more than some want to experience. Will this AE be able to shift effectively in this situation? BTW....easy to see it shining in city traffic!

Thanks

 

[Auron]

The faster you ride, the better it works. It's actually the most intrusive in town for me.

 

[mcatrophy]

I do see a couple AE riders mention control. If they would respond to this statement I would like to understand. My main concern with these AE's are in technical situations such as riding really slow curves with straights between. The type of riding when you may use up and down shifts rapidly to negotiate the turns. Using this bike more as a sport bike it can be.
To further explain what I'm asking....is there any lag in down or up gear transitions. As in a levered bike you can downshift coming into a turn smoothly and get out smoothly to accelerate and upshift.

I'm not trying to say I can reach a bikes potential, especially this one, but like to enjoy a level of riding that's more than some want to experience. Will this AE be able to shift effectively in this situation? BTW....easy to see it shining in city traffic!

Thanks

One of the joys of the electric gearchange is the ease and speed of changing gear.
You can select a gear without hesitation as fast as you can think of changing.

It is impossible to miss a gear change.

Flick that paddle switch as fast as you can, it just follows.

You can even take some liberties with changing gear whilst in a corner, the control system doesn't allow too rapid a clutch engagement if you haven't managed the throttle control optimally, so it's most unlikely to make the back end step out. In other words, you can't make the rear tyre squeal by dropping the clutch in too quickly with the revs wrong, it won't let you. But judge the throttle correctly (which becomes second nature) and changes are very smooth and fast.

I find you can even use it for overtakes where you might have had second thoughts, you can drop one or more gears in an instant and just go, useful when the road gives you an unexpected overtaking opportunity.

Have no fear of that gear change.

 

[JimNtexas]

After 17000 AE miles I still am not as confident as I'd like with slow speed maneuvers. That's really the only drawback as far as I'm concerned.

I second the notion that you need to be real careful if you put any kind of throttle lock on an AE. DAMHIK.

Besides the low speed issue, I see no advantages to an ordinary FJR when compared to the Advanced Edition.

 

[Patriot]

the bike has no engine braking as I recall...it's all wheel brakes, but someone in the know might well correct me

a friend purchased a "demo" with under 1000mi here in nawlin's...and '07 purchased in 2012...he had trouble getting off the line smoothly...was throttle was jerking around when it would go and upsetting the bike...admittedly, the bike was taller than his cruiser he was used to...

worse thing was he took an intermediate riding course taught by some HD shop wahoos...my friend didn't notice that the instructors were in the habit of walking up to bikes queued in line for one of the practice rides around the cones, talking to the rider while blimping their throttle to listen to exhausts sounds...and then they came to Brian !!! ... !!!

 

[JimNtexas]

Let me add one tidbit about low speed handling on the AE. An interesting characteristic of the AE is that it cannot be stalled.

This actually eliminates one of the popular ways of dropping a bike in a slow tight turn on conventional bikes.

On the AE, if you turn too tight without enough throttle it will just pull in the clutch.

 

[bowtie39]

This is the answers I was looking for. Thanks.....helps to know bike can handle sport riding.

 

[mcatrophy]

the bike has no engine braking as I recall...it's all wheel brakes, but someone in the know might well correct me...

I'll correct you

, you get exactly the same engine braking as on a conventional machine until the revs drop below 1300, when the clutch disengages.

...This actually eliminates one of the popular ways of dropping a bike in a slow tight turn on conventional bikes.

On the AE, if you turn too tight without enough throttle it will just pull in the clutch.

Unfortunately I have to disagree. I dropped my '06 whilst negotiating an uphill tight hairpin. The engine was pulling, but the bike was slowing. At the disengagement point, all drive suddenly disappeared, and before the engine revs rose sufficiently to re-engage the clutch, the bike slowed right up, and I couldn't stop it from dropping.

The fix is to recognise before the turn that it's going to get too slow, slow the bike sufficiently so the clutch disengages before the corner, then put a bit of throttle on so you can drive it through the turn with the clutch slipping. (I described my event here and here).

It's one of those things you learn to do automatically, like not parking down-hill if you've got to back out.

 

[gixxerjasen]

the bike has no engine braking as I recall...it's all wheel brakes, but someone in the know might well correct me

...

I'll correct you

, you get exactly the same engine braking as on a conventional machine until the revs drop below 1300, when the clutch disengages.

What he said.

Flick that paddle switch as fast as you can, it just follows.

I generally am in agreement with mcatrophy on this stuff but here's one place I'm going to disagree slightly.

Flick the paddle switch and it'll shift one gear faster than you can shift one gear. If you run up the rpm's in a low gear getting on the highway and then start flicking upshifts to get to fifth, it IS possible to flick faster than it can shift. You have to flick very fast though.

Downshifts are another deal. Flick and yes, it'll still downshift faster than you can do a downshift on a standard clutch bike. But there seems to be some type of built in delay for multiple shifts. This is a point of frustration for me and one place I'm much faster on a standard clutch. I'm used to being able to pull in the clutch and hammer down two gears and let her rip for a passing maneuver on the back roads. Two quick flips of the shifter will result in only one gear change because you flipped too fast and it only changes gears one gear at a time. Same thing can happen if you get caught suddenly at an intersection with a fast yellow.

a friend purchased a "demo" with under 1000mi here in nawlin's...and '07 purchased in 2012...he had trouble getting off the line smoothly...was throttle was jerking around when it would go and upsetting the bike...admittedly, the bike was taller than his cruiser he was used to...

This is common with the 06 and 07 AE bikes and has been covered all over the board. In 08 this was fixed with a milder throttle cam and better map for the ECU. The 07 can be 95% fixed with a G2 throttle tube and a Power Commander running the smoothness map. It's still there on my 07 and I can feel it, but it is night and day different from before I added those two items. Note that the same problem exists with the non-AE bike, but you can work through it better by using the clutch.