Hi there, from me and my 2009 ex-police FJR

[Mau MaGau]

Hello hello hello, what's all this then?

A few months ago I settled on an FJR1300 as my first proper big bike.

When I first started riding, they were pretty common for police bikes. As a lowly despatch rider bimbling around London on a Diversion 600, I was always in awe of the calm but swift progress the cops could make through heavy traffic. So the FJR is a bit of a dream bike for me. And having one with a bit of history is nice too.

So far I've put around 5,000 miles on it, including a 2,000 mile trip from Land's End to John O'Groats and back a couple of weeks ago. I took the scenic route up over 3 days, and the quick route back in a day and a half. The bike ate every mile with ease.

I've given it an oil and coolant change, checked the valve gaps, synchronised throttle bodies, deleted the AIS, added a usb charger and phone mount, oh and removed all the police wiring. They just cut off all the good stuff like lights and sirens, but leave the wires getting in the way of everything else.

My only gripe with it is the off/on fuel cut. I've spent hours on this forum and others and it seems an Ivan flash is the proper solution. Being in the UK though, and not having the red key (Strangely the police haven't yet replied to email asking if they can have a look around for it), I'm a bit reluctant to send the ECU off. I'm looking into getting a US ECU (without immobiliser) to Ivan for a flash instead. Has anyone with an immobiliser converted to a non-immo ECU?

 

[RossKean]

Has anyone with an immobiliser converted to a non-immo ECU?

The USA bike doesn't have the immobilizer, but Canadian bikes do. What year is your bike? - appears to be a Gen II.
Edit: Nevermind, your title says 2009!
Have a look at the following thread. Inmate @torch had the Ivan flash done on his Canadian 2006 with immobilizer. I have no idea about converting a bike with immobilizer to one without. I suppose it should be easier than going the other way.

https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/ivan’s-flash-tuning.179325/#post-1447325
Oh, Welcome to the forum!

 

[Mau MaGau]

Thanks Ross, good to be here!
Hints both for and against whether the US ECU will play ball with a 'other country' ignition barrel so far. I fear I might need to resort to comparing wiring diagrams, and eventually just risking it.

 

[Pete-o]

Welcome to the club. I purchased an 06 that didn't run; as a (money making) winter project. Three thousand miles later, and I believe I've changed my mind. Now I'm considering selling my old steed.... They are just fun bikes, and my knees don't ache! I agree with purchasing a used ECU, then having it flashed. Money well spent from what I understand. Enjoy the ride and welcome aboard.

Pete-o

 

[fastpappy]

Welcome from the Big Apple and congrats on your new ride. Enjoy!

 

[SacramentoMike]

"Land's End to John O'Groats . . . and back". Kind of envy you. We have pretty fun roads here, too, but not that one. As I read about your new ride, I looked forward to seeing what the yellow and blue paint scheme on your bike would look like, but NOOOO. Guess they repaint, or something? Anyway, welcome from California.

 

[MVF]

Welcome! What's an "immobilizer"? It occurs to me that if you bought a U.S. ECU and had it flashed, and it didn't work, you could probably sell it. But I'd want to be pretty sure it wasn't going to fry anything when I hooked it up - can't help you there!

I've always wondered why we don't have FJR police bikes here - at least, I've never seen one.

 

[Mau MaGau]

Sadly they took the pretty stickers off the bike before auctioning it, along with all the pretty lights and fun sirens. Damn spoil sports. They used vinyl stickers, rather than a paint job.

I believe some Yamaha now do a specific police model in white, but this is just a standard FJR that was modified (seemingly by a bloke in a shed) with a fiberglass radio box to replace the rear seat, and all the flashy whizzbangs.

Oh and a calibrated speedometer, which they've left on, that's quite handy.

An immobilizer is a a system that disables the fuel injectors if a device around the key barrel doesn't detect an electronic chip that's embedded in the key. It prevents the bike from being hot wired. The ECU needs an encoded signal from the device in order to enable the injectors. I think it's only the US that doesn't have immobilizers?

In theory it's a sensible system. In reality who on earth hot wires a bike to steal it? So it's just a nuisance, especially because the ECUs are paired to the bike. If I swapped my ECU for another ECU with an immobilizer it wouldn't recognise my key, and refuse to start. Yamaha thought of this, and gave new owners a special red key (I hear they go faster), that can be used to reprogram the ECU to a new set of keys. Of course my bike came without that red key when I bought. And the original owners (the Scottish constabulary) seem so far to be not at all interested in rooting through their drawers to find it.

 

[MVF]

Wow, what a drag! I'm sure someone here knows how to make it work. Have you messaged Ivan?