Ain't Scared No More . . .

[VanHarlan]

I really need to grease/lube the spline, etc. . . . and have done some initial digging around . . . that doesn't look all that difficult either.

It's not hard, and is best accomplished when you pull the rear wheel for a tire change, since you're reproducing a lot of the same work.

However, other than for keeping the potential rust off of those splines, greasing them is seriously over-rated. I believe that the perception for needing to do this greasing comes from the BMW shaft drive crowd, where the shaft splines actually move laterally (slide in & out) when the rear suspension articulates. The FJR splines that everyone wants to grease up are at the forward end of the drive shaft, and does not slide at all (except when dismantling). It is held in a constant position by a spring at the rear end of the shaft. The rear shaft spline does move some longitudinally, but it is well lubricated by the gear oil in the pumpkin.

Fred . . . looks like i'm buying the beer if I make it to White /Green Mountain ride this year :drinks:

 

[Checkswrecks]

Maintenance?

[SIZE=12pt]Maintenance? [/SIZE]

The FJRs don't need no steenkin' maintenance!



Seriously, congrats. It's a very straightforward Jap inline 4 once you get past the plastic and tank.

 

[RossKean]

I finally got sick of paying the dealer for routine maintenance . . . I've always done a majority of my car & truck maintenance . . and a bit of basic stuff on my previous bikes. The FJR was my first new bike and my first in-line four. I've always let the dealer do everything . . mostly because it looked a little tight and somewhat intimidating . . . well in the last 2 days I've changed the oil, bled the clutch, my 10 year old son & I bled all the brakes last night, lubed up some of the pivot points . . . tomorrow I'll be cleaning the air filter. The FJR Forum and Yamaha Service Manual and FJRTech website all make it a lot easier. It's really not as daunting as I thought it might be . . . just requires a little more care for body panels, and patience with delicate parts and torque specs.
BTW . . the clutch operates a lot smoother with fresh fluid and brake fluid shouldn't be a nice amber color like a Sam Adams . . . MityVac made it a lot easier.

May attempt to change my fork oil next and drive shaft lube next

Just bought a used '07 a couple of months ago and decided to do as much of my own maintenance as I can. Started out with an oil change - almost too easy! Rear diff lube - much easier than on my Venture with nothing in the way. Next was iridium spark plugs - not too bad once I got to them but what a PITA getting there! The channel for the plugs was too narrow for my sparkplug socket but (for the first time ever) I used a tool in the bike's toolkit - the Yamaha stamped metal sparkplug socket actually works well! Old (original) plugs at 17,000 miles were pretty worn and the gap was opened well beyond spec.

Decided to try running the PCIII with the O2 sensor connected and hooking it up was really easy - once I found it in the rats nest of wiring under the tank. Air filter (K&N) cleaning was a bit of a challenge - gotta push a bunch of wiring out of the way to get the box off. Coolant change was a nightmare. Took the lower left cowling off and realized I might have managed with it in place - man, what a lot of fasteners for a piece of plastic; but I think I got everything back the way its supposed to go; signal light even still works.

Just have to bleed the clutch and brakes. This "should" be a piece of cake since the bleeders are all readily accessable. Just need to remove the right side cover for the rear brake reservoir. No speed bleeders or Mityvac so I'll have to do it the old fashioned way.

I'm going to build some sort of front-end stand and learn something about changing tires. The FJR uses up enough rubber that I can save some serious coin with a set of tire spoons, rim protectors and a home-made bead breaker. I guess I'll have to spend a bit on a tire balancer. Can't see buying a tire changer for 2-3 sets of skins per year but I may change my tune after the first attempt.

I have to say that the various "How to's" on this forum, the FJR Tech site, the service manual and many different discussion threads helped a lot. One of the most important lessons is that the Yamaha "methods" for certain maintenance items may not be the easiest or most practical.

Ross

 

[jmdaniel]

Air filter (K&N) cleaning was a bit of a challenge - gotta push a bunch of wiring out of the way to get the box off.

You're not kidding, I checked my air filter last night, and it was a PITA getting back together, especially with these man mitts I have been blessed with.

 

[RossKean]

Air filter (K&N) cleaning was a bit of a challenge - gotta push a bunch of wiring out of the way to get the box off.

You're not kidding, I checked my air filter last night, and it was a PITA getting back together, especially with these man mitts I have been blessed with.

Yah - I got the filter out and it really didn't need cleaning at all. Did it anyway since I expect it will be a year or two before I try that one again.