At Wits end.. This close to selling New 2009 AE

[carpevita]

AE guys I need your help. Recently purchased a new 2009 AE and put 1500 miles on it. Fell in love with the AE thinking it would ride like a scooter in stop and go traffic, ie no clutch, a little twist of the throttle and off you go. The reality is a little different. When starting from a dead stop, 50-60% of the time, twist the throttle and get a clunk as the transmission engages and off you go. Its as if there is a little slop in transmission that has to be taken up before the bike begins to move. Starting off in 2nd gear reduces the occurence. Twisting the throttle ever so slowly also reduces but doesn't eliminate. I'm at the point now I wonder if there will be a clunk moving forward from every stop. Driving me crazy.

Tried talking to mechanics at various dealers. Have not come across one who ever worked on the AE and some did'nt even know there was an AE version. HELP! I dont want to sell this bike. The AE is great going from 2nd on up. Does anyone have this situation. Is the clunking normal.. If not, what can be done...

Any help would be appreciated... Dan

 

[Joe]

I have on 06 and never had any noise comming from the tranny.

When in 1st it just takes off like a normal cluch FJR.

I think you have a problem.

 

[carpevita]

I have on 06 and never had any noise comming from the tranny.

When in 1st it just takes off like a normal cluch FJR.

I think you have a problem.

Joe,

I'm not having a noise actually. The clunk is felt as the tranny engages.. When you start from a stop, does your bike move smoothly like a scooter? Dan

 

[TheZsdad]

IF the bike still under warranty take it in. Get your complaint written up. If they say it is normal

call Yamaha HQ and ask them if this is normal. I have never ridden an AE but because you say it happens

50-60 % of the time what is different the other 40-50 % of the time?

 

[FJRay]

I have only operated an AE a couple times and didn't feel any clunk. The trans is engaged all the time unless it's in neutral. you might try a little rear brake application to see if that helps but I don't think you will get it to ride like a scooter. Maybe you should just buy a scooter.

 

[escapefjrtist]

All FJRs have a little slop in the drive-train. On my standard clutch, I load the drive a little to take up the slop and then take off smoothly.

Good advice to have it written up for warranty purposes. It will at least establish a paper trail.

--G

 

[azitlies]

All FJRs have a little slop in the drive-train. On my standard clutch, I load the drive a little to take up the slop and then take off smoothly.

Good advice to have it written up for warranty purposes. It will at least establish a paper trail.

--G

+1

Same experience here with my A model fjr.

I would use the fjr for riding the demo's of the MSF ERC. When doing the "clutch control lane" there was always some slop in the drive train unless I was pretty heavy with the rear brake.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to try keeping a little throttle on and use the rear brake to stop? I've never ridden an AE so not real positive that will work as intended?

 

[TheZsdad]

Again never ridden an AE but have had cages that would do that if the idle was to low.

 

[wnyfjr]

If I try to crack the throttle on my '06 AE a bit too aggressively from a stand-still, I get a bit of a thunk, like there's slack in the driveline, but if I work the throttle smoothly, it's all good. I chalk mine up to sloppy work by the operator...(in my broadcast engineer days, we'd blame it on a short between the headphones).

 

[MrM0t0]

Is your idle set to 1100?

 

[carpevita]

If I try to crack the throttle on my '06 AE a bit too aggressively from a stand-still, I get a bit of a thunk, like there's slack in the driveline, but if I work the throttle smoothly, it's all good. I chalk mine up to sloppy work by the operator...(in my broadcast engineer days, we'd blame it on a short between the headphones).

Thats exactly what I'm talkin about! This limits my ability to jump off the line from a stand still without a thunk.Obviously with a manual clutch you can jump off the line with no problem. Wondering if this is a limitation of the design or needed adjustment or malfunction.Is there anyone out there with an AE that never thunks.....Smooth off the line no matter how hard you twist the throttle? Dan

PS> Idle set at 1100...

You guys might be seeing a 2009 FJR AE up for sale real cheap soon. Hope not. Though the 2012 Blue is a great color... Dan

 

[majicmaker]

Carp, that clunk has been there for the whole life of my bike. It's normal. You haven't had enough time to learn where that Sweet Spot is. You can take off like a bat out of Hell if you learn to feel that one spot. I learned it a long time ago and it doesn't happen anymore unless I forget to gently (a split second) think about it. If that's all that's making you crazy, forget about it and keep the bike. You won't be sorry, Trust Me!

 

[wfooshee]

I'm thinking you'd get the same clunk from a manually clutched bike if you whacked the clutch as hard as you can when you gassed it, rather than slipping it a little more.

Remember that you have no control over the clutch slippage beyond how much gas you give it. Hard gas is firm clutch engagement. Gentle gas is softer clutch engagement with more slip.

By grabbing lots of throttle you're telling the bike you want to go NOW!!!! and it drops the clutch hard. The thunk is the driveline slack taking up solidly, not the clutch or transmission.

EDIT: majicmaker beat me to it and said pretty much the same thing. Use just a bit less throttle until you find the magic amount that both shoots the bike and stays smooth.

 

[Makuna]

When starting from a dead stop, 50-60% of the time, twist the throttle and get a clunk as the transmission engages and off you go. Its as if there is a little slop in transmission that has to be taken up before the bike begins to move. Starting off in 2nd gear reduces the occurence. Twisting the throttle ever so slowly also reduces but doesn't eliminate. Any help would be appreciated... Dan

Do you start moving before the thunk or the thunk and then you start moving?

I have flet something like this when the bike is cold and I take off slow (stop and go traffic). The thunk felt like the computer decided that the feathering it was doing with the clutch (there is the same clutch in their as the A) wasn;t enough and just dumped it full on. I found that by using the rear brake and using the throttle to get moving and then removing rear brake worked best and I never had the problem again. Pretty stadard technique to use the rear brake to help the computer with slipping the clutch.

But full throttle start I never really felt it.

 

[carpevita]

Great info...

..Makes sense. Slack in the drivetrain. I've noticed the thunk can also happen when rolling. For ex, when slowing down agressively, brake on, throttle idle, downshift to 2 or 3, then quickly twist throttle to accelerate, Thunk. Do you guys experience this?

wfooshee and majicmaker, your explanations make a lot of sense. Looks like I have to learn the AE technique and back off my throttle application. I guess there will be times when a clunk is unavoidable (above)... Dan

 

[majicmaker]

EDIT: majicmaker beat me to it and said pretty much the same thing. Use just a bit less throttle until you find the magic amount that both shoots the bike and stays smooth.

Words of wisdom my fine feathered friend. I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[majicmaker]

Great info...

..Makes sense. Slack in the drivetrain. I've noticed the thunk can also happen when rolling. For ex, when slowing down agressively, brake on, throttle idle, downshift to 2 or 3, then quickly twist throttle to accelerate, Thunk. Do you guys experience this?

wfooshee and majicmaker, your explanations make a lot of sense. Looks like I have to learn the AE technique and back off my throttle application. I guess there will be times when a clunk is unavoidable (above)... Dan

Carp, Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes! All those things can happen if you ride this bike like you've ridden all the bikes in the past. It's a weee bit different. But, that difference will change your life and you'll wonder why in Hell did it take so long for you to get here!! :clapping: :lol:

 

[mcatrophy]

My opinion is different from many who have replied (nothing new there

).

There should be no clunk on moving from rest, it should be smooooth.

My '06 was smooth, never clunked. After its clutch soak.

Two reasons I can give you for a clunk at take-off, one is a sticking clutch (soaking will fix), the other is air in the hydraulic fluid, a bleed will fix.

My '10 doesn't clunk. Whether a gentle move-off in heavy traffic, or at a traffic-light grande prix.

So, get the clutch bled, if that doesn't help, get the clutch soaked. (Either order will do, but my bet is on the bleeding.)

 

[willboe]

My opinion is different from many who have replied (nothing new there

).

There should be no clunk on moving from rest, it should be smooooth.

My '06 was smooth, never clunked. After its clutch soak.

Two reasons I can give you for a clunk at take-off, one is a sticking clutch (soaking will fix), the other is air in the hydraulic fluid, a bleed will fix.

My '10 doesn't clunk. Whether a gentle move-off in heavy traffic, or at a traffic-light grande prix.

So, get the clutch bled, if that doesn't help, get the clutch soaked. (Either order will do, but my bet is on the bleeding.)

+1 here. My 06 has done that a couple of times (ONLY), when for some reason I stopped in a higher gear: 3rd, 4th, or 5th, and then click, click, clicked to 1rst. Try this with your 09: Reduce the idle closer to 1000 RPM, DO proper (engine braking) downshifts, and then take off 'FJR Smooth' (no clunk into gear, because it is already there). If that does not work, shift into neutral as soon as you are stopped, and then shift into first just before departing the stopped position (it SHOULD clunk a bit when shifting in). If it does not take off 'skooter smooth' then, you need: clutch plate soak, DIFFERENT motor oil, and/or bleed & replace clutch fluid with NEW dot 4 . . . Good luck

Emphasis: When slowing to stop: DOWNSHIFT INTO FIRST WHILE STILL ROLLING SO THE GEAR CAN FULLY ENGAGE. < I'll bet you 38 cents you are not doing this.