Is there an easy heat fix for the 05?

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TalioGladius

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2006
Messages
65
Reaction score
1
Location
Austin, TX
The heat coming off of my tank has become unbearable combined with the summer heat. I can't touch my legs to the side of the bike, and even still it turns my inner thighs red.

Does Yamaha have a recall for this, or is there some other easy fix?

 
use the 'search' function...you will find many pages of info....but since you asked:

-No, there is no recall

-Some people have placed a foil sided 'blanket' under the tank, (cut to fit) obtained from various sources such as JC Whitney, Aircraft Spruce & Supply, and others. Some have used similar materials from hardware/home center stores

-You can also add self-adhesive foil material obtained from Summit or Jegs (ThermoTec)

-Keep in mind when the fuel level drops below half the heat becomes much worse

-One member is testing some lexan deflectors he retrofitted to direct air onto the tank at speed (Baker air wings) that he has reported great results with and will offer for sale apparently fairly soon.

-Another owner recently used foiled-backed bubble wrap to place around the aft section of the tank, then concealed it with a tank 'bra'; last I saw he had not submitted photos (yet)

Research the above info for pics of the other items.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The heat coming off of my tank has become unbearable combined with the summer heat. I can't touch my legs to the side of the bike, and even still it turns my inner thighs red.
Does Yamaha have a recall for this, or is there some other easy fix?
Burning your skin? Are you at least wearing long pants?
But you said easy, not mentioning cheap - so the 'easy' fix is to trade up to an '06! :yahoo:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The heat coming off of my tank has become unbearable combined with the summer heat. I can't touch my legs to the side of the bike, and even still it turns my inner thighs red.

Does Yamaha have a recall for this, or is there some other easy fix?
Burning your skin? Are you at least wearing long pants?
But you said easy, not mentioning cheap - so the 'easy' fix is to trade up to an '06! :yahoo:
Long pants are no help. I had on jeans during my SS1K last week and got 1st degree burns, with blisters where my legs contacted the tank. FWIW, I also wore mesh on my way down to San Jose, and after 700 miles, had light burns on my legs as well. They didn't hurt - didn't even know until I changed in to shorts, so it must have been a slow cooking process.

06's are not "easy" for everyone, BTW. I like my custom seat and cruise control. I'm also almost done paying for my 04.

 
I understood they were "warm" but they cannot be hot enough to actually burn you can they? I mean holy ****.

I'm not a lawyer and have never ridden a pre-06 for any length of time but if you can actually get burned by parts that would normally touch the rider (not talking about the pipes) through gear or not, to me that would seem actionable and negligent.

 
I have an 05. I put the Frost King insulated tape on the bottom of the tank and the strip foam insulation where the tank meets the frame. The tank definately gets warm. My opinion, no where near warm enough to result in measureable burns. That said, rode last night in hi humidity and 90+ degree weather and the tank was - well, warm! Gotta tell you, it sure felt good when I filled my tank from 1/4 full. Tanks was nice and cool. At least some of the heat problem comes from the doggone frame. Don't have an infrared temp dohiggie, but after a ride and shutdown I can't touch the frame under the gas tank for even a second. It stays that way for a pretty good lenght of time and I can't imagine what temp it is, but it sure throws out a lot of heat.

I find I notice the heat somewhat less when wearing my mesh tex than when wearing jeans (last night). Bottom line for me is that the heat is certainly noticeable, but not to distraction.

 
I have an 05. I put the Frost King insulated tape on the bottom of the tank and the strip foam insulation where the tank meets the frame. The tank definately gets warm. My opinion, no where near warm enough to result in measureable burns. That said, rode last night in hi humidity and 90+ degree weather and the tank was - well, warm! Gotta tell you, it sure felt good when I filled my tank from 1/4 full. Tanks was nice and cool. At least some of the heat problem comes from the doggone frame. Don't have an infrared temp dohiggie, but after a ride and shutdown I can't touch the frame under the gas tank for even a second. It stays that way for a pretty good lenght of time and I can't imagine what temp it is, but it sure throws out a lot of heat.I find I notice the heat somewhat less when wearing my mesh tex than when wearing jeans (last night). Bottom line for me is that the heat is certainly noticeable, but not to distraction.

If you fill a pot will boiling water, would you touch the outside of the pot?

Last Sunday was the first time I rode all day, and it was in the crazy heat in California. Never had that kind of heat before. However, at one stop, the gas was boiling. I have a metal container with boiling fluid in it between my knees. It's perfectly reasonable to expect burns.

It made me think over the winter that I will need to add some insulation under the tank beyond what Yamaha added to the '04.

 
I understood they were "warm" but they cannot be hot enough to actually burn you can they? I mean holy ****.
I'm not a lawyer and have never ridden a pre-06 for any length of time but if you can actually get burned by parts that would normally touch the rider (not talking about the pipes) through gear or not, to me that would seem actionable and negligent.
Renegade,

It depends on the bike and the rider, some bikes are warmer than others and some riders are not as heat tolerant. I had an 05 and it was SO hot I only put 1500 miles on it over a 9 month period. That bike was hot enough to actually burn me , so if it was over 75 degrees outside, I would not ride it. When I heard that the 06 was going to fix this problem, I went back to my dealer and placed my order. I have the 06 now, and it is wonderful. Glad to see that Yamaha did fix it. I know that there are a number of "heat fixes" for the hot ones and that is great. I just did not want to have to "fix" my bike to ride it without getting burned. ;)

 
FJRJeff - why wait until winter to add the insulation? Not really that big of a deal. Hardest part is taking the tank off. Memory isn't always dead on, but I think it took about 1.5 - 2 hours from start to riding out the garage to see how it worked. There are pictures somewhere on the process - I took some when I did that I'd be happy to share with you.

 
You don't even really need to take the tank off. I just propped mine up and attached the self-sticking insulation to the underside. Not as neat or clean, perhaps, but it worked for me.

 
Just when I think I've heard it all, we get riders cooking body parts from the heat, next thing ya know you'll be cooking dinners or sumpin on em. :lol: Why don't you sensative skin guys just go out and buy spree's or someother scooter/moped machines? <_< It's been upper eightys lower nintys here an my mesh tech britches are workin out just fine even without the nomex liners :lol:

:jester:

 
Patient: Doc it hurts when I do this

Doc: Don't do that!

Have you tried not sitting on the tank and not touching the tank with your thighs? It's only a matter of scooting back about an inch and moving your knees outboard about an inch.... :glare:

 
FJRJeff - why wait until winter to add the insulation? Not really that big of a deal. Hardest part is taking the tank off. Memory isn't always dead on, but I think it took about 1.5 - 2 hours from start to riding out the garage to see how it worked. There are pictures somewhere on the process - I took some when I did that I'd be happy to share with you.
I like to ride it right now. As I said, it's never been a problem in the past on short rides, and I don't have any longer ones planned that may result in additional burns, so just not a real high priority. If it happened every time I rode, I'd have a problem, but that was the first time, and the weather was unusually hot.

Just when I think I've heard it all, we get riders cooking body parts from the heat, next thing ya know you'll be cooking dinners or sumpin on em. :lol: Why don't you sensative skin guys just go out and buy spree's or someother scooter/moped machines? <_< It's been upper eightys lower nintys here an my mesh tech britches are workin out just fine even without the nomex liners :lol:
:jester:
You think I'm kidding or something? I still have red marks on my right leg from last Sunday.

Wow, upper 80's low 90s. BFD.

I rode 19 hours, through temps as high as 114, and Castaic California reported 130. I'd have LOVED some of the cool air you're in....

I'm happy to be back in my mid 70s Pacific NW weather. You can keep the hot stuff.

Patient: Doc it hurts when I do this
Doc: Don't do that!

Have you tried not sitting on the tank and not touching the tank with your thighs? It's only a matter of scooting back about an inch and moving your knees outboard about an inch.... :glare:
Doesn't work for me. I try riding with my legs out some to catch some air, and it works great, but I can't keep them there, especially in twisties. The tank was fine until 11 or 12, then it just got hot. I think the ambient air temp combined with running the bike hard all day just overloaded it.

 
There are lots of mods to do to reduce the heat. The easiest is to take off the black fairing panel on the left inside just outboard of the radiator. It abuts the glove box. Another rider on the listserv, Will Hoctor, told me about this. I took this piece off before riding 2k through the Rockies then across Montana. Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and E. Wa. were hot but I did notice less heat coming off the bike with this piece off.

Oh, and keep the tank full.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You think I'm kidding or something? I still have red marks on my right leg from last Sunday.

Wow, upper 80's low 90s. BFD.

I rode 19 hours, through temps as high as 114, and Castaic California reported 130. I'd have LOVED some of the cool air you're in....

I'm happy to be back in my mid 70s Pacific NW weather. You can keep the hot stuff.

BFD? 130? the thermometer musta be in direct sunlight laying on the pavment as I checked for recorded temps that high and found none. My thought on this leans more towards the heat from the roadway than heat from the bike. :eek:

btw this probably won't get a whole lot of attention from the west coasters -where the heat tends to be the highest- as there all at WFO this weekend. Plus this issue is in the single digit legit complaint file. :lol:

Like I said sooner or later somebodys gonna cook a potroast or some type of dinner on a feejer, then the

world will beat a path to yamahas door :yahoo:

nuff said

B

:jester:

 
> BFD? 130? the thermometer musta be in direct sunlight laying on the pavment as I checked for recorded

> temps that high and found none. My thought on this leans more towards the heat from the roadway than heat

> from the bike. :eek:

Weather.com has since corrected their listing to 103. On Monday, it said 130 (I originally recorded 106).

I took each of my receipts when I got back and looked up, by zip code the temps. 114 appears to be the highest on the 23rd (https://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/USCA0922?from=search)

Either way, it's friggin' hot, and with the humidity that was on down there, my cooling vest was one notch this side of useless.

 
I measured the frame temperature once with an IR thermometer and with four bars and fan running both sides were over 175F. I can't remember the exact reading but it was HOT...

Very hot!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
As Bounce said, riding pants make a big difference. Jeans are not riding pants. I get cooked pretty good on a hot day's ride in jeans but almost don't notice the tank in the same weather (except at stops) if I'm wearing my Cordura pants over some shorts.

 
Top