Compared to other bikes you have owned what do you like most and the least about the fjr.

[HotRodZilla]

Dislike: This bike in not maintenance friendly in any sense of the word...(one shouldn't have to tear a bike apart to replace the air filter, etc.) and it's a tire eater.

Not maint friendly??

Try doing a valve adjustment on a Connie 14 and get back to me!

The FJR doesn't use tires any faster than any other bike I've ever owned, tire wear I've found is more about HOW you ride, what PSI you use and the road surface where you ride.

I don't have a Connie, and won't.... To me, what you've just expressed is that the Connie is worse in some respects. I like my FJR, but to do any sort of maintenance requires tearing off panels, fasterners and doing some digging. Have you replaced a headlight bulb yet? How about doing the forks..? It shouldn't take pulling off panels to change a fuse... On every other bike I've owned simple maintenance actions took minutes, not hours. We all have opinions, and mine is that Yamaha didn't offer simple ways to perform some of the routine maintenance actions I easily did on other bikes. I attribute the tire wear to the weight and torque of the FJR, and that sometimes I enjoy using that torque. I keep my rear tire at 42 psi and the front at 39 psi. I get about 6K on the rear tire... Other bikes I've own offered about 10K. I'm not complaining about the tire wear, just noting that the FJR uses tires faster to me...

Sorry man, but you are preaching to the wrong crowd. Many of us enjoy our FJRs simply because of the ease of maintenance. The things you are mentioning are not really "maintanance." If your bike is blowing fuses, something is wrong, and that would fall under the 'repair' title. So far, I have never blown a fuse on my bike and have had zero need to get to the fuse panel...Because my bike is properly maintained.

The battery could be in a better spot, but after the first couple tries, it only takes a couple minutes to get to. I replace my battery at almost 6 years old and it took me less than 20 minutes. Pretty easy I'd say.

Oil changes are crazy easy. Spark plug changes are crazy easy. Drive shaft maintenance is crazy easy. Lubing the levers, brake pedal, removing the tires, bleeding the clutch and front brakes...All crazy easy.

Getting to the air filter is somewhat of a PITA, as is accessing the rear brake reservoir, but most maintenance stuff, that needs to be seen to regularly, is easy.

I don't get the whole gripe about removing body panels anyway. There are plenty of bikes that don't have fairings. If you don't want to have to remove any body panels, go buy one of those. A faired bike is going to require the removal of panels for some kind of maintenance/repair, no matter the brand or how engenious the engineers were.

As always, this is simply a difference of opinion, and different peoples' definition of difficult may vary greatly. So have at it.

 

[RavFJR]

Sorry man, but you are preaching to the wrong crowd. Many of us enjoy our FJRs simply because of the ease of maintenance. The things you are mentioning are not really "maintanance." If your bike is blowing fuses, something is wrong, and that would fall under the 'repair' title. So far, I have never blown a fuse on my bike and have had zero need to get to the fuse panel...Because my bike is properly maintained.

As always, this is simply a difference of opinion, and different peoples' definition of difficult may vary greatly. So have at it

 

[RavFJR]

My machine locked up while posting, so here's my response...

I'm not preaching to any crowd, just offering my opinion - like you did. Let's agree to disagree and move on... And no, I've never blown a single fuse on my FJR, and it is also well maintained. My observation is that one shouldn't have to pull fasteners and panels to get to the fuses.

 

[DrWing]

Maybe I'm crazy or just rode sport bikes for to many years, I just dig everything about this bike! Even the stock seat. Go figure.

Dislikes: Still have to pay for gas and tires.

 

[tuggy]

Dislikes: Still have to pay for gas and tires.

If you find a way round that one DO let me know!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Dislikes: Still have to pay for gas and tires.

If you find a way round that one DO let me know!

Oh but I have found a way! I wait until Dad is not home and I go swap my ST1300 for his FJR.

Of course I have to do all the maintenance work on the FJR anyway. At least I don't have to pay for it.

 

[art miller]

LIKE: smoothnessDISLIKE: tirelife

Put PR2's on the bike and you will have no dislike!!!

 

[RichDoyle]

Haven't had it long - just a few weeks. Mostly I like the power and smoothness. Regular maintenance looks straightforward. For reference, my previous 4 bikes were all Hondas: ST1100, 2 ST1300's, and a NT700, stretching over a total of 19 years.

As I expected, gas mileage is on a par with my ST1300's; the ST1100 was somewhat better than both these, and, of course the NT has them all beat by ~ 10 MPG. ST's have larger fuel tanks, so greater range, but the FJR is acceptable and better than the NT in this regard.

I like that the FJR is considerably lighter than the ST's. Heavier than the NT, naturally, but closer to its weight then to the ST's.

What I don't like is the battery and fuse location, of course. Not likely to have to get in there very often, but I'd hate to blow a fuse on some dark night.

Another thing is the headlight adjuster knobs. On my '13 they are ridiculously stiff and in a crappy location. Almost impossible to move them. And apparently the knobs need to be removed to get to the aforementioned fuses, which means you want to take care to leave them in a position with the attachment screws facing down.

The OEM travel trunk is supposed to be 50 liters, but I strongly question that. I'm tempted to fill each half with water and measure the amount to confirm/refute my suspicions. Adequate size for my current needs, but not more.

 

[FJRMGM]

I like that the FJR uses regular gasoline instead of premium.

I figure that in 99k miles of riding that has saved me somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 in reduced fuel costs.

 

[CA G-Man]

Another thing is the headlight adjuster knobs. On my '13 they are ridiculously stiff and in a crappy location. Almost impossible to move them. And apparently the knobs need to be removed to get to the aforementioned fuses, which means you want to take care to leave them in a position with the attachment screws facing down.

I struggled with the adjustment knobs when I tried to adjust them while astride the bike. Then I figured out that it's much easier to do it from in front or to the side of the bike using the opposite hand (i.e. adjust the left knob with the right hand and vice-versa in a kind of a "reach around" style.

Not that I disagree that the knobs/panel system could be designed better, but I've never had a big problem with the set screws in the knobs. I just take 'em right out and put them in my magnetic tray with all the other bolts, etc. when I'm stripping it down.

 

[RichDoyle]

Another thing is the headlight adjuster knobs. On my '13 they are ridiculously stiff and in a crappy location. Almost impossible to move them. And apparently the knobs need to be removed to get to the aforementioned fuses, which means you want to take care to leave them in a position with the attachment screws facing down.

I struggled with the adjustment knobs when I tried to adjust them while astride the bike. Then I figured out that it's much easier to do it from in front or to the side of the bike using the opposite hand (i.e. adjust the left knob with the right hand and vice-versa in a kind of a "reach around" style.

Not that I disagree that the knobs/panel system could be designed better, but I've never had a big problem with the set screws in the knobs. I just take 'em right out and put them in my magnetic tray with all the other bolts, etc. when I'm stripping it down.

I've tried all kinds of things, either hand on either knob. The location prevents you from getting a good grip on it and still be able to turn it. I was suggesting that one leave the set screws in the open so you don't have the added chore of needing to turn the knobs to position the set screws for removal.

 

[HotRodZilla]

What are you talking about set screws?? Just unscrew the metal couplers from the back and leave the knobs in place. Set screws?? You guys are crazy!!

 

[CA G-Man]

Another thing is the headlight adjuster knobs. On my '13 they are ridiculously stiff and in a crappy location. Almost impossible to move them. And apparently the knobs need to be removed to get to the aforementioned fuses, which means you want to take care to leave them in a position with the attachment screws facing down.

I struggled with the adjustment knobs when I tried to adjust them while astride the bike. Then I figured out that it's much easier to do it from in front or to the side of the bike using the opposite hand (i.e. adjust the left knob with the right hand and vice-versa in a kind of a "reach around" style.

Not that I disagree that the knobs/panel system could be designed better, but I've never had a big problem with the set screws in the knobs. I just take 'em right out and put them in my magnetic tray with all the other bolts, etc. when I'm stripping it down.

I've tried all kinds of things, either hand on either knob. The location prevents you from getting a good grip on it and still be able to turn it. I was suggesting that one leave the set screws in the open so you don't have the added chore of needing to turn the knobs to position the set screws for removal.

Ah... I see. Only problem is that by limiting the range of "set" position you may not get the headlight set just where you want it (granted they're not that sensitive, but a quarter turn does make a noticeable difference. I prefer to just spin them around if (okay...when) I need to to remove them. Anyhow I think we're agreed that this feature could have been done better.

You may be glad to know that if you lose a knob (but still have the set screw) it will only cost you $5.69 CDN to replace it (DAMHIK). Although I really don't know how THAT could ever happen when accessing the battery in a bit of a rush...

 

[RichDoyle]

Well, I'll be digging around for one of two things: a different kind of knob for adjusting the headlights or a tool that will improve leverage on these ridiculously tight adjustment devices. I suspect my bike is abnormally difficult in this regard. I'm not kidding when I say I can't move the knobs. I was able to move them a little bit but I need to lower the headlights some more and can't budge the knobs at all.

 

[flagstaff]

Likes:

- reliabilty

- power

- lots of bike for the money\

Dislikes:

- battery and associated wiring location

- cluttered, difficult to access nose area

- speedometer difficult to read (should have 360 degree sweep instead of 270, no need to show 190mph, scale is often in shadow created by speedometer housing)

- both stock screens

- alternator capacity too small

- center stand

- linked brakes!!!

 

[CA G-Man]

Well, I'll be digging around for one of two things: a different kind of knob for adjusting the headlights or a tool that will improve leverage on these ridiculously tight adjustment devices. I suspect my bike is abnormally difficult in this regard. I'm not kidding when I say I can't move the knobs. I was able to move them a little bit but I need to lower the headlights some more and can't budge the knobs at all.

Yeah... it sounds like you might want to go back to your dealer on that one. Mine certainly don't spin around but they're not that tight. If you can twist the cap off a twist top bottle you can easily turn the headlight knobs (I usually just use thumb and forefinger). Forgive the stupid question, but you haven't turned them to a hard stop have you (you've tried turning both ways...)?

 

[RichDoyle]

Well, I'll be digging around for one of two things: a different kind of knob for adjusting the headlights or a tool that will improve leverage on these ridiculously tight adjustment devices. I suspect my bike is abnormally difficult in this regard. I'm not kidding when I say I can't move the knobs. I was able to move them a little bit but I need to lower the headlights some more and can't budge the knobs at all.

Yeah... it sounds like you might want to go back to your dealer on that one. Mine certainly don't spin around but they're not that tight. If you can twist the cap off a twist top bottle you can easily turn the headlight knobs (I usually just use thumb and forefinger). Forgive the stupid question, but you haven't turned them to a hard stop have you (you've tried turning both ways...)?

Yup, can't seem to move it either way. And it better not be a hard stop. The lights are still too high. On high beam its main illumination at 100 yds. down the road would be of a raccoon 20 ft. up a tree.

 

[AKjitsu]

Good: Rock solid reliable mount. Eats miles; 240 at a gulp. Climb back on. Hit the switch. Go.

Wall of bad weather ahead? Just bore through it.

Checklist for return from a long trip: Put the kickstand down and walk in the house.

Bad: ******* cruise control

******* battery access (easily remedied).

 

[ice_station_zebra]

Best: FJR is powerful, reliable and handles really well. Decent wind/fairing protection and saddlebag capacity. Runs on regular gas and is the least expensive to maintain and operate of all the bikes I've ever owned. Lots of great supporting forums (especially this one) and social/rally events.

Worst: difficulty removing fairings, weak rear rack and non-cancelling turn signals.

 

[RichDoyle]

Cobbed together a rig to easily turn the headlight adjusters. I have a kind of screwdriver-handle 3/8" drive extension + a 27 mm socket plus some rag stuffed between the knobs and the socket and I can turn the things fairly easily. After some rotating back and forth I can rotate them somewhat without it. Not fully functional, but better. Maybe if I cycle them back and forth a bunch they'll be reasonably workable.

I'll likely modify the right front fairing such that the battery and fuses are more readily accessible. Anyone done this already? Ideas stolen gratefully