FJR not what is cracked up to be

[Fore Stroke]

Twenty eight thousand miles and only routine service and lots of tires. Can set the vista cruiser at any speed and let go of the bars and ride the bike like my old schwinn. Sorry to hear you can't work out the problems. But there was a yamaha v-max snowmobile, that after getting yanked by the dealer for the umteenth time, I called Yamaha and told them where they could pick up the p.o.s. and I never wanted to see it again. I never had to, they called the dealer and told them to fix it if they had to give me a new one. They wanted it right, call them. These are not usual problems. fred jr.

Thanks, I may do that. I am actually taking it back to dealer I bought it from. They are 3 1/2 hours away is the main issue. I am hopefull they are better at servicing the bike then the central OH dealers.

Heet:

Who did you buy from? There's a Yamaha dealer straight down Route 23 from Delaware in Lewis Center - bought my FJR there, as well as my previous Triumph.

If these are warranty issues and it sound like some if not all could be, call Jeff Hinds at Hinds Motorsports - 740-548-5448, or ask to speak to Steve, the Service Manager.

I love my FJR but haven't had any problems; certainly none like you experienced (I have numb hands, but hey, I'm old!) And if you've dealt with Hinds and aren't happy, do what was suggested above and call Mamma Yamma. Properly set up and operating correctly, this is one fine motor scooter.

Good luck -

Don

 

[Fore Stroke]

My suggestion is to find another FJR owner in your area and swap bikes to see if it the bike it self.
It could a lemon.... Just the bike itself not the model.

That would be me. I'm in Powell...right next door practically. PM me, let me look at with you.

I suspect the steering head and suspension may need to be adjusted. Also surging can be fixed. Have you tried the wally map??

One ride on my 03 and you'll be changing your attitude about the FJR. Nothing comes close!

THREAD HIJACK: Yamaholic, was that you northbound on 270 tonight about 5:30 - I stuck my hand up in recognition of another FJR - I was exiting @ 161/Sunbury Roadl; black cherry 07.........

And now back to our regular programming......

 

[fjr183]

Heet,

I've had 2 fjr's (03 w/88000 miles and a 06 w/47000 miles). Both were better than the problems your having.

Sometimes I've had the same make and model tire give problems. I've even had an old cupped tire not wobble, then put on new tires of the same make and model and get a wobble in that range.

The steering head bearings may need to be checked and/or adjusted.

I am not able to brag on the merits of a PC111. Never felt the bike preformed that bad, and I wanted to keep the O2 sensor.

I also, don't live that far from you (south of Lancaster), and would be glad to talk/email on the side. ([email protected])

Fred

 

[bp2643]

Had to sprint to finally get to the end of this string-lol, nothing like a "heater" to get the gang riled up, eh?

I can say my 03 has no wobble, really at any speed. I often take hands off the bars to glove up, etc, at different speeds. I too would have head bearings checked, then make sure your front and rear suspension settings are at Factory recommended settings. When I sold MCs, I always recommended gradual suspension setting changes to gauge results.

Regarding the low RPM hesitation, I can only think you may have a lean stumble from stock fuel/air mixture in FI? I think dealer set up is likely the overall reason for your dissatisfaction and you may have better luck with new dealer. My FJR is set pretty lean for Denver altitude, but have smooth power delivery at all RPMs.

Good luck, and don't give up just yet.

 

[painman]

That's pretty cool Heet, you got people coming out of the woodwork on this one. Hey, it could just be you got a Friday bike. Not to worry though, do just what all the others said, just kidding, really just play around with it and work out the bugs. Much info to be gained here to do just about anything. Good luck and now get to work. PM. <><

 

[Harald]

i had a bad girlfriend once.ALL GIRLS ARE BAD!

derek

Did your girlfriend have a frontend wobble when you rode her too?

That's a situation where I'd be disappointed if there wasn't any front end wobble! :yahoo:

 

[krashdragon]

Although I sold my 05 FJR this year, I never had any of the problems you mention.

Bought it used, the previous owner did not do the throttle mod, I thot the throttle was fine.

Had 15,000 miles on the original tires, even cupped and worn, no shake, although I don't usually ride no hands.

And lots of power.... gotta watch that in Ohio.... too many cops!

It's actually the easiest bike to ride I have ever been on, although my riding experience is limited, only owned about

15 bikes or so. Down to three at the moment. I did lower the FJR tho, I'm short. Because of that, my mech suggested I reduce the tire pressure to 36-38 front/rear. Seemed to work, from Wyoming to Ohio, the cupping started to even out, no noticeable shake or vibration.

I did have the grip puppies on, got used to fat grips from riding my Harley.

I also must admit I really only rode one decent trip, from Cleveland to Napa Vally and back.

I have both side cases, the top case and the rear seat loaded with stuff, yes, including a hair dryer! <BG>

No problems..... except for the Utah Hiway cop that flashed his lights at me to slow down.

Oh and parking on freshly paved blacktop at an Arizona motel in the middle of July, the sidestand sunk, but that little part on the sidestand kept it from falling over, was just leaning a lot.

Good luck finding out what's wrong with your FJR.

You should not be having so many problems.

Cleveland Akron Honda in seems to have some good mechs. They worked on both my FJR and my Triumph.

https://www.ohiomotorcycle.com/

My best suggestion, contact Mama Yammy....

Mary

 

[doddsy]

my 06 ae also suffers from the head wobbles, likewise when decelerating from 50, heard somewher that it can be cured with replacement aftermarket tapered head bearings. I just dont let go of the bars!

 

[double_entendre]

Just because the FJR is a mass-produced machine doesn't mean the only variable is the rider - the tech that I take my Feejer to says that my 06A runs much smoother than another guy's 06A (with similar metrage and type of usage) and he's been working with Yamaha to figure out what the problem is as he hasn't been able to find it despite adjusting everything there is to adjust (including the TBS). Sometimes the factory doesn't quite get it right (would there be a need for a warrantee if it did?), the number of oopsies probably being proportionate to the number of units produced.

Well obviously it's time to tear the engine apart and do a complete balance & blueprint.

Rancho

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

50 times now, people have summed up everything that had to be said in this thread.

 

[twowheelnut]

... but who's counting?

:lol:

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

<snip>..... except for the Utah Hiway cop that flashed his lights at me to slow down.

You were traveling at the perfect speed -- any faster and you'd of gotten a ticket, any slower and you'd be wastng time....

 

[FJRandy]

i had a bad girlfriend once.ALL GIRLS ARE BAD!

derek

Did your girlfriend have a frontend wobble when you rode her too?

More like a rear end wobble.

 

[quietguy]

i had a bad girlfriend once.ALL GIRLS ARE BAD!

derek

Did your girlfriend have a frontend wobble when you rode her too?

More like a rear end wobble.

My former g/f had all of that.. (which I enjoyed), but talked wayyyy too much. So, I put her on ebay.

 

[wildman]

OK.... I'll add my 2cents and then shut up. I live in OH near Heet. I met up with him at lunch today and we swapped bikes. I also have an 06. Only difference is I have 9k miles, Heet has 6k.

First off, everything that has been mentioned on the board has been checked except actually removing the head bearings, tires, new tires, balanced, rebalanced, breaks, disks, pre load, damping blah blah blah.

I rode the bike 1/4 mile and knew there was something wrong. For those of you who have not 'experienced' the wobble, I can only say scaaaaarrryyy. Also, if you have this wobble or anything like it, it is NOT normal for the feej or any other bike. I'm not the veteran that some of you are, but I've ridden my share of bikes and never had one do this. Heet and I both tried to MAKE my bike do this and we could not. I echo what somebody said earlier in the thread, my 06 is like my old Schwinn, I could ride it all day with no hands. I did hands off decels (multiple times) from 80 mph from 70 mph from 60 and from 50, on level ground, going down exit ramps and under heavy rear breaking (theres something that will build your trust in your bike set up) Pull your hands off of the the bars at 4000 rpm in 4 gear and apply heavy rear brake. Straight as an arrow, no wobble, no shimmy, just a smile.

Now Heets bike, on the other hand. Pulled out of the parking lot (with the engine missing terribly but I won't go into that now) accelerated (liesurely) to 50mph, lifted my hands of the bars and immediately they started to wobble. The first 3 times I did this for only a second (too scaaarrrry). finally let it go for two seconds and observed the wobble rapidly grow wider and wider. I'm gonna guess 3-4 seconds max and your picking pavement out of your teeth. Its like some sort of resonant frequency from hell or something.

Heet was real nice about it, we rode about 5 miles and switched back. He said if he was on my bike any longer, he would just have to keep it.

Now if it was just the hands off wobble that would be one thing, but I think I could feel the wobble (faintly) with hands on. It may have just been the different tires, but his bike just felt different also. Can't explain it, just different. We both like mine better.

so anyway, Heets bike is at dealer in IN now, and if they can't/wont/dont fix it, I move that we get a bunch of forum members together and go out there and take turns kicking some arse.

wildman

 

[TruWrecks]

Nothing like a troll to get everyone all heated up! Notice the name "Heet"? It all sounds a bit suspicious to me. But than again, everything sounds suspicious to me.

 

[bluerocket]

I am not whining; I am looking for hopefully answers to my concerns and to see if others have had the same issues and how they may have corrected them.

Now, now. Why don't you take a step back and try to be just a bit objective, if you can.

The wording and tone of your initial post was not positive, hopeful, nor in any way asking for help in solving any problems.

It was the post of a disgruntled owner in a very negative state of mind, and surely fit within the category of whining. That kind of post on a forum where 95-98% love our FJRs is going to illicit all kinds of negative feedback. NOT helpful advice.

I agree, ask for help and most guys will give you the shirt off their back. Whine and you will be laughed at. It's man nature.

 

[twowheelnut]

..man nature.

Ooooh! I like that! :good: :lol:

 

[bramfrank]

I listed a number of the 'solutions' back on page two. Simply put, it is a balance/bearing/alignment problem because, yes, at 30-50 mph the front end is resonant. Some tire brands wobble more than others - The Concours 10 with Avons is notorious for this type of problem.

Check the wheel to be certain it is true - make sure that the tire is true as well. Check the balance with an accurate dynamic spin-balancer designed for motorcycles. Check the forks - individually. The swing arm could be bent or a bearing damaged.

Wildman said the bike is missing badly - what does that say about the dealer?

Does your state have a Lemon Law?

My offer is up to $2K, but only if you include the top box.

 

[clutchless1]

I have been reading about different bikes having a front end wobble, some of the older Wings had this wobble. Honda decided to put ballast in the front of the bike to cure this wobble problem, but that was for one or two years and quite a while ago. I've even heard of people tightening the stem nut a little more than spec, they said the front end acts like it has a dampener on it. I say if there is a problem they need to find out what is causing it and fix it the right way. These little fixes aren't for a new bike that's never been right from the beginning. Locate a shop that can fix your bike...................You paid Yamaha for a new bike and at the price they suggested you pay, you kept your end up, make them fix your bike the way it's supposed to be. DO NOT pay all of this money for a product and walk away from it saying it's a POS. You and most everyone else knows you will take a nasty loss doing it this way. The only way I would say to someone sell your bike is if you absolutely hate it, then sell it because you'll never be happy with it. I know at one time you must have enjoyed your FJR, look at all of the little add on toys. Remember those days and make them fix your bike. If a shop says they can't fix it, take it some place else........All shops don't have lazy stupid mechanics. Keep a daily log of what and who is doing what to your bike (it will come in handy, ask Sean and myself....That's another story)

I personally know your pain when it comes to something you know is wrong with your bike that others aren't experiencing, it sounds to them like you're crying (walk a mile in your shoes first before climbing all over you). I had a totally different problem than you face with yours right now, the most important thing is you need to make a decision to see if you really believe in this bike. If you really feel like this is the worst POS you've ever had, it doesn't fit your frame, you don't like the riding position, or for some other reason you don't like the bike do yourself and get rid of it. A few months ago I was right there with you, I owned a bike that spent more time in a repair shop than it did on the road where it belonged (and it was summer) I hated that bike, Yamaha and everything assoiated with FJR. Once I decided I really had no choice other than to have the bike repaired. The first decision I made was to take more of a hands on approach calling every other day to see what had been done, and making sure the repair shop had anything they needed from Yamaha (I asked a ton of questions). The second thing I decided to do was give the bike a chance to see if it really was what I had been reading about. From my own personal experience I will say if you stick this thing through and find a shop that can locate the problem you have and fix it, I believe you will be very happy with the end result.

I will also say after reading about the shop from where you purchased the bike being so far from your house, yeah that really sucks. But this shop that's so far away, do they have people there who know what's going on mechanically with your bike? Does this shop have a good history of fine knowledgeable mechanics that do quality work? That in itself would be well worth the trip alone.

Stick in there......Good Luck