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You will find that the FJR is a great bike right out of the box and is very easy to adjust to. It is also a very easy bike to make even better and this is what some of us are doing. It is great to be able to read about changes that others are making and how they work before you decide if you want to put out your hard earned cash for that change. Congratulations on the new bike. You will enjoy it.
Put about 150 miles on today including some real tight stuff. What a great bike!!! Yes I can take turns faster on my Sprint BUT no matter what the speed, the FJR is still fun in the turns, lots of fun. Yes, the throttle isn't all that smooth but it's not all that bad for FI bikes. Am I going to fiddle with it, most likely. Do I need to? Not really, but why have a bike if you don't play with it :rolleyes:

The handling really surprised me. I was riding on the soft setting and have not tweeked the forks yet. New tires plus I'm not accustomed to the bike yet and still only have about half an inch of chicken stripes. Love the brakes. Looks like the Sprint is gonna spend a lot of garage time.

 
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You will find that the FJR is a great bike right out of the box and is very easy to adjust to. It is also a very easy bike to make even better and this is what some of us are doing. It is great to be able to read about changes that others are making and how they work before you decide if you want to put out your hard earned cash for that change. Congratulations on the new bike. You will enjoy it.
Put about 150 miles on today including some real tight stuff. What a great bike!!! Yes I can take turns faster on my Sprint BUT no matter what the speed, the FJR is still fun in the turns, lots of fun. Yes, the throttle isn't all that smooth but it's not all that bad for FI bikes. Am I going to fiddle with it, most likely. Do I need to? Not really, but why have a bike if you don't play with it :rolleyes:

The handling really surprised me. I was riding on the soft setting and have not tweeked the forks yet. New tires plus I'm not accustomed to the bike yet and still only have about half an inch of chicken stripes. Love the brakes. Looks like the Sprint is gonna spend a lot of garage time.
Good to hear Rod...it only gets better! It is a cool bike for sure...I'll be installing the PCIII sometime next week. I'll let ya know if it helps calm some of the "hit" off idle and will hopefully pick up the mid-range (lean) area for better HP/TQ under the curve...Not sure how good the stock map is on the PCIII but I'll give it a try then maybe hit the rollers for a custom tune. The slightly heavier / progressive throttle still not an issue for me yet, I kinda like it...I may have to release one round off the throttle cable spring though to help keep the BrakeAway CC from slowly closing after many adjustment attempts. Made one more final adj so I'll find out for sure next time out...

 
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The slightly heavier / progressive throttle still not an issue for me yet, I kinda like it...I may have to release one round off the throttle cable spring though to help keep the BrakeAway CC from slowly closing after many adjustment attempts. Made one more final adj so I'll find out for sure next time out...

Taking one turn off the spring will help the BrakeAway throttle lock work much better. Mine holds very well since I did that mod.

Capt. Bob

 
The slightly heavier / progressive throttle still not an issue for me yet, I kinda like it...I may have to release one round off the throttle cable spring though to help keep the BrakeAway CC from slowly closing after many adjustment attempts. Made one more final adj so I'll find out for sure next time out...

Taking one turn off the spring will help the BrakeAway throttle lock work much better. Mine holds very well since I did that mod.

Capt. Bob
I have found that the BrakeAway really benefits from tinkering. I had creep on my Sprint but after fooling around with it I totally eliminated it. Right now I'm just toying with the idea of getting a new one for the FJR or moving the one from the Sprint. I talked to BrakeAway and you can get the additional parts for ten bucks.

 
The slightly heavier / progressive throttle still not an issue for me yet, I kinda like it...I may have to release one round off the throttle cable spring though to help keep the BrakeAway CC from slowly closing after many adjustment attempts. Made one more final adj so I'll find out for sure next time out...

Taking one turn off the spring will help the BrakeAway throttle lock work much better. Mine holds very well since I did that mod.

Capt. Bob
I have found that the BrakeAway really benefits from tinkering. I had creep on my Sprint but after fooling around with it I totally eliminated it. Right now I'm just toying with the idea of getting a new one for the FJR or moving the one from the Sprint. I talked to BrakeAway and you can get the additional parts for ten bucks.
What was weird about the whole installation instructions was the only thing that was mentioned about the FJR specific install was having to remove the grip and use the end bar spacer and longer bolt. I had one extra bag left with a small "spacer" block and longer bolt. The instructions mentioned that the FJR's may have to move the brake assembly closer to the throttle grip. Well after having to move the brake lever and finishing the final "tweeking" I see this other small bag and wonder what its for. Come to find out, mind you there are NO instructions on this extra bag of parts, the extra small machined block and longer bolt could be used to space the CC assembly and not have to had moved the brake assembly. I was like WTF...I may or may not make this change as I think I have it where it needs to be. The extra 1/2" I had to move the brake lever toward the throttle doesn't bother me at all...If anyone wants I can post some pics later of what I'm talking about.

 
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What was weird about the whole installation instructions was the only thing that was mentioned about the FJR specific install was having to remove the grip and use the end bar spacer and longer bolt. I had one extra bag left with a small "spacer" block and longer bolt.

The instructions mentioned that the FJR's may have to move the brake assembly closer to the throttle grip.

Agreed.

Even though the unit was specific to the FJR it seems that the instructions were generic for all bikes. Under section 3.1 they added a note referencing the "extension block" and end bracket. Bet you got one of the old instruction sheets before this note was added. :unsure:

Capt. Bob

 
What was weird about the whole installation instructions was the only thing that was mentioned about the FJR specific install was having to remove the grip and use the end bar spacer and longer bolt. I had one extra bag left with a small "spacer" block and longer bolt. The instructions mentioned that the FJR's may have to move the brake assembly closer to the throttle grip. Well after having to move the brake lever and finishing the final "tweeking" I see this other small bag and wonder what its for. Come to find out, mind you there are NO instructions on this extra bag of parts, the extra small machined block and longer bolt could be used to space the CC assembly and not have to had moved the brake assembly. I was like WTF...I may or may not make this change as I think I have it where it needs to be. The extra 1/2" I had to move the brake lever toward the throttle doesn't bother me at all...If anyone wants I can post some pics later of what I'm talking about.
DJ,

I would like to see the pics if you would please. I'm trying to cheap out. Trying to make up my mind among a new complete BrakeAway, moving my old unit or just getting a Vista Cruise. The best solution is just biting the bullet and getting the unit. Probably tinker with the Barbarian mod in a week or so. Warchild sent me differences between what's on the list and what you need for an 06 if want to try it out, I'll send it to you.

On other subjects, I've got 150 miles on it and am thinking about dumping the oil and changing the rear end fluid. Really think that is a good long term thing but Yamaha's 20w40 kinda synthetic or kinda dino oil has me confused. I don't like to put synthetic in until 1500 or more miles. I'm also caught between the Motoman break in and Yamaha's baby it method. Think I'll just roll my own tweener method. No red line, no sitting on one rpm, increase acceleration over time,and ride like I ride it. Take care and enjoy the new toy.

 
On other subjects, I've got 150 miles on it and am thinking about dumping the oil and changing the rear end fluid. Really think that is a good long term thing but Yamaha's 20w40 kinda synthetic or kinda dino oil has me confused. I don't like to put synthetic in until 1500 or more miles. I'm also caught between the Motoman break in and Yamaha's baby it method. Think I'll just roll my own tweener method. No red line, no sitting on one rpm, increase acceleration over time,and ride like I ride it. Take care and enjoy the new toy.
At 150 miles I don't know that changing the differential fluid this early would make that much difference. IIRC, I did mine @ 600 miles. The fluid will be black when you drain it because Yamaha puts some sort of moly paste in the differential at assembly.

Of course, everyone has different theories and reasonings for thier maintenance habits. I did drain and change my engine oil @ 30 miles. I s'pose there are no rigid guidelines other than what Yamaha prints and distributes.

 
At 150 miles I don't know that changing the differential fluid this early would make that much difference. IIRC, I did mine @ 600 miles. The fluid will be black when you drain it because Yamaha puts some sort of moly paste in the differential at assembly.
Of course, everyone has different theories and reasonings for thier maintenance habits. I did drain and change my engine oil @ 30 miles. I s'pose there are no rigid guidelines other than what Yamaha prints and distributes.
Thanks for the reply, I just might hold off on the differential. Totally different situation than the engine oil, but I just thought 'what the hey'.

I have heard so many theories and stuff on oil and break in that I figure my theory is as good as anyones. I really believe that on modern day engines that most of your old fashioned wear in, break in, whatever you want to call it happens real quick and leaves the remnants in the oil real quick. Don't know if this is contradictory or not, but I don't believe that rings can seat that fast. A Triumph mechanic that IMO really new his stuff told me that on Triumphs that once you switched to synthetic (at 600 miles) all ring seating ended. I'm not sure whether to believe that or not because in theory synthetic and dino oil of the same spec are equally slippery (a real scientific term). So I want to keep it to the Yamaha 20w40 or something real close before I even think about going to my old standby Mobil 1 Gold Cap. Actually, I have come to the point where I'm not sure that you can hurt these engines unless it is through a willful act or absolute neglect.

 
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DJ,I would like to see the pics if you would please. I'm trying to cheap out. Trying to make up my mind among a new complete BrakeAway, moving my old unit or just getting a Vista Cruise. The best solution is just biting the bullet and getting the unit. Probably tinker with the Barbarian mod in a week or so. Warchild sent me differences between what's on the list and what you need for an 06 if want to try it out, I'll send it to you.

On other subjects, I've got 150 miles on it and am thinking about dumping the oil and changing the rear end fluid. Really think that is a good long term thing but Yamaha's 20w40 kinda synthetic or kinda dino oil has me confused. I don't like to put synthetic in until 1500 or more miles. I'm also caught between the Motoman break in and Yamaha's baby it method. Think I'll just roll my own tweener method. No red line, no sitting on one rpm, increase acceleration over time,and ride like I ride it. Take care and enjoy the new toy.
I'll get some pics up for ya as soon as I can...only thing I see you'll need to fit the FJR is a 1/2" (I'll check to make sure) spacer and longer bolt for the end bar. Like I mentioned earlier the brake lever assembly can be moved slightly. Yes please send me the things on the list from Warchild. I'm doing the PCIII this week without the Barbarian mod. Don't think we'll need to do that mod with the PCIII. IMHO you don't need to change the diff oil just yet. Also use Mobil 1 75/90 gear lube instead of the riduculously priced Yami lube...From 20+ years of racing cars and talking with engine builders over the years (yes car specific) they DO NOT recommend synthetic during engine "break in" period. I'm not really sure if it's that big of a deal or not. Look at some of the new "performance" cars today. Straight out of the factory with full Synthetics but I'm not sure whats run when they do crank them for the first time and for how long.

As far as "break in" proceedure's...I do a little of both I guess you could say. I don't baby it for sure but don't abuse it either. I've done this with just about every "new" car, bike, boat I've owned over the years with great results. The Motoman break-in I think works great for racing applications but not sure about longevity issues years down the road for daily driver vehicles...I'm like you, pretty much my own "tweener" method...

 
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At 150 miles I don't know that changing the differential fluid this early would make that much difference. IIRC, I did mine @ 600 miles. The fluid will be black when you drain it because Yamaha puts some sort of moly paste in the differential at assembly.
Of course, everyone has different theories and reasonings for thier maintenance habits. I did drain and change my engine oil @ 30 miles. I s'pose there are no rigid guidelines other than what Yamaha prints and distributes.
No, there's not.

I do believe it is generally wise to do the early oil change. It may or may not make a difference in the end, but on the very odd chance there might be a few machining flakes to be had, the first couple dozen miles on the bike will likely to produce them. Might as well be safe than sorry. That's when you notice that Yamaha must have a robotic arm that torques the oil drain bolt to approximately 193 ft-lbs. :angry:

The differential oil, that I would (and did) swap out fairly early as well, and for much the same reasons.

 
Did the PCIII install today...all I can say is WOW!! :thumbsupsmiley: PCIII FTW...its all the '06 needed.
Did you do the Barbarian mod before you installed the PCIII ?? :blink:
Making an assumption here, you know what assuming can do :rolleyes: I see two possible reasons for the question. First, does the Barbarian mod which is free reduce or eliminate the need for a $300 PCIII? The second question would relate to should you do both the Barbarian mod AND install the PCIII? I can't answer either of them for sure but I can say that number two option has more negative implications than positive. The Barbarian is a mod that directly effects the ECU. The PCIII is downstream of the ECU and must assume certain parameters from the ECU. If you do both mods I would bet that an off the shelf map for the PCIII would not account for the Barbarian mod and you would have to rewrite or at least tinker with the map. Most folks really don't have the experience/knowledge plus a dyno to rewrite maps.

 
I see two possible reasons for the question. First, does the Barbarian mod which is free reduce or eliminate the need for a $300 PCIII?
Reduce the need? - possibly to some extent. The BJM gets a lot of press in the forum, but it is not the panacea that its hype might suggest it be. Yes, it's free, and that's certainly is a nice aspect about it. But as anyone professional tech knows, dicking around with CO settings without the benefit of EGA probes in the header tubes that can read the actual amount of CO levels produced per cylinder, and how they change as one tinkers with the LCD display, it's all simply a guess. A guess that may or may not be correct. Since the fueling configuration is indeed quite lean as it comes from the factory (in order to meet some fairly rigid 2008 CARB requirements), then most have found that bringing up the numbers by +5 or +7 have improved whatever drivability/low-speed surging issues may be present.

Eliminate the need? - I woulds say categorically no. If one has a need (i.e.: desire) to tune the fueling characteristic of the engine to achieve a specific goal (maximum power, maximum throttle response, maximum "smoothness", etc), or to realize the maximize benefits obtainable from installing a completely new (and quite expensive) full exhaust system, this is the purview of the PC-III. Horking around the CO settings in a blind manner the BJM procedure does is not any way to go about re-tuning the fueling characteristics of the engine to achieve specific goals, of that there is no doubt.

If you do both mods I would bet that an off the shelf map for the PCIII would not account for the Barbarian mod and you would have to rewrite or at least tinker with the map.
Absolutely spot-on correct.

If one installs a PC-III and intends to use a stock map (or otherwise does not intend to get the bike dyno'ed to produce a map custom for that specific machine), then the BJM should be un-done if it was performed.

That having been said - installing a PC-III does not mean it's absolutely necessary to go through the expense/hassle of a dyno run, even if you have different exhaust slip-ons from stock. There are many maps freely available from DynoJet and exhaust manufacturers themselves that are likely to do the job quite nicely, including maps for different model slip-ons, bikes with or without an aftermarket hi-performance air filter, etc, etc.

However, when one installs a full exhaust system and a PC-III, then I believe it's foolhardy NOT to go the extra mile and get the bike dyno'ed to produce a custom map for that specific machine and specific exhaust system. Without it, you're likely not going to see the maximum possible benefits obtainable from that particular configuration. If you've already dropped One Large (or more!) for a killer full Titanium exhaust system, it only makes sense to do it right and plop down another $250-ish or so to get the custom map and actually realize the significant horsepower gains that may be obtainable.

 
Reduce the need? - possibly to some extent. The BJM gets a lot of press in the forum, but it is not the panacea that its hype might suggest it be. Yes, it's free, and that's certainly is a nice aspect about it. But as anyone professional tech knows, dicking around with CO settings without the benefit of EGA probes in the header tubes that can read the actual amount of CO levels produced per cylinder, and how they change as one tinkers with the LCD display, it's all simply a guess. A guess that may or may not be correct. Since the fueling configuration is indeed quite lean as it comes from the factory (in order to meet some fairly rigid 2008 CARB requirements), then most have found that bringing up the numbers by +5 or +7 have improved whatever drivability/low-speed surging issues may be present.
If one installs a PC-III and intends to use a stock map (or otherwise does not intend to get the bike dyno'ed to produce a map custom for that specific machine), then the BJM should be un-done if it was performed.

That having been said - installing a PC-III does not mean it's absolutely necessary to go through the expense/hassle of a dyno run, even if you have different exhaust slip-ons from stock. There are many maps freely available from DynoJet and exhaust manufacturers themselves that are likely to do the job quite nicely, including maps for different model slip-ons, bikes with or without an aftermarket hi-performance air filter, etc, etc.
You bring out a lot of excellent points. I have a thing called a TuneBoy for my Sprint as do a lot of Triumph riders. It allows programming the ECU directly. I use an off the shelf map that Triumph distributes for its "off road" cans but I have tried several other maps with generally positive results although some really sucked gas. What I learned quickly was that modifying the map myself required much more time and effort that I did not want to expend. With TuneBoy, because you could mess with ignition settings, it is possible to do serious damage to an engine. You can do it with a PCIII but IMO it is much harder to do. Guess what I'm trying to say, and I'm sure you will agree, is that getting the most out of a PCIII requires a lot of study, experience and work, but if you can just hook it up and live with an excellent improvement by picking fairly standard maps it is still well worth the bucks. I plan to do a Barbarian mod until my wife allows me to spend money again :rolleyes:

 
Reduce the need? - possibly to some extent. The BJM gets a lot of press in the forum, but it is not the panacea that its hype might suggest it be. Yes, it's free, and that's certainly is a nice aspect about it. But as anyone professional tech knows, dicking around with CO settings without the benefit of EGA probes in the header tubes that can read the actual amount of CO levels produced per cylinder, and how they change as one tinkers with the LCD display, it's all simply a guess. A guess that may or may not be correct. Since the fueling configuration is indeed quite lean as it comes from the factory (in order to meet some fairly rigid 2008 CARB requirements), then most have found that bringing up the numbers by +5 or +7 have improved whatever drivability/low-speed surging issues may be present.
Bingo!

Shame on me, I had given up. Seems I was preaching on deaf ears. Glad to see you have picked up the torch and continued on. Perhaps it was that I simply lacked your eloquence on the subject.

 
Did you do the Barbarian mod before you installed the PCIII ?? :blink:
No I hadn't and never planned to. I'm with Warchild on this as far as blindly adjusting the CO settings. I just didn't feel comfortable doing it without the benifit of seeing "exactly" what was going on with the A/F ratio and doing the BJM you have that fuel delivery across the board in areas it may not need it...What Warchild stated was the exact reason I bought the PCIII. Plus now I have the ability to adjust appropriately if I decide to change air/exhaust set ups...

Eliminate the need? - I woulds say categorically no. If one has a need (i.e.: desire) to tune the fueling characteristic of the engine to achieve a specific goal (maximum power, maximum throttle response, maximum "smoothness", etc), or to realize the maximize benefits obtainable from installing a completely new (and quite expensive) full exhaust system, this is the purview of the PC-III. Horking around the CO settings in a blind manner the BJM procedure does is not any way to go about re-tuning the fueling characteristics of the engine to achieve specific goals, of that there is no doubt.
 
DJ,

You can take your time on those pics, I've got the BrakeAway up and running. You probably don't want to hear this but that little block makes things line up really nice.

I understand and agree with your, Warchild and Skooter's concerns, and I really believe that the PCIII solution is the best available BUT PCIII ain't no purfect solution either. First it is downstream of the ECU which limits it's capabilities and second it doesn't control spark timing which again is a major limitation. Do those limitations stop you from taking advantage of the PCIII's capabilities??? Hell no. If you understand the capabilities and limitations of the Barbarian mod, then there should be nothing wrong with using it. Is it over-rated? Probably. The Barbarian mod could be considered something like (only as an analogy, not in fact) to the advance plates put in older bikes that just dialed in at say 5 degrees across the board. It would be nice to know exactly what the Barbarian mod actually does to the map. My guess is that is just richens the AF mix across the board. If that is the case the only damage is burning some extra gas.

Rod

 
DJ,You can take your time on those pics, I've got the BrakeAway up and running. You probably don't want to hear this but that little block makes things line up really nice.

Rod
Sorry Rod about the pics I was wanting to take for you. I have 2 digital cameras. One is at my office being used for a job and the other I don't know where in the hell its at...looks like you got it all taken care of anyway. Good to hear about the block. I may just go ahead and install it to get things lined up perfectly. It's doing great now but I hate doing things half ***...Save your pennies for the PCIII you won't be disappointed! Your right I wish they had the "R" version, as they do on some sport bikes, which is for the ability to adjust timing. That would be great to squeeze out a little more HP and TQ to get the full potential of the 1300 in stock form with the correct fuel of course...

 
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