Long Term Reliability

[Dickf]

Recently a poster inquired about long term reliability of the FJR. I am an owner of an '06AE. I like the motorcycle, and consider it a typically well engineered and well-built Japanese motorcycle.

However. All of this new equipment is heavily reliant on electronics, including a large number of electrical connectors. Further, there are a number of "safety" reasons the manufacturer placed inhibit switches on the motorcycle (think sidestand). I recall a car magazine reporting that a fellow (magazine writer) was visiting a buddy over a weekend and prepared to leave Sunday night. The car would not start. These two mechanically adept guys couldn't even find the coil. Monday they contacted the dealer. Seems the problem was the "distributor" which contained the coil among other things. $800. The car was just out of warranty, but the manufacturer (Mazda) goodwilled it. At the end of the article, the writer pointed out that if the car had been, say, a 1950s vintage, he would probably have gotten home on Sunday night, rather than the following Wednesday.

The point I am trying to make is that I expect this sort of trouble with any kind of new equipment, especially after a few years. Without this electronic complexity we would not have the outstanding combination of power, low emissions, rideability, and gas mileage we get with the FJR. Nothing to do about it except get the YES warranty.

My 2 cents.

Dick Frederick

 

[dcarver]

I agree. I can always get home on my /2 BMW Airhead. If something goes wrong, it's ALL easy to fix. The FJ? I have AAA for that one. But then again, I'd much rather ride my 145 vs 42 hp, ABS vs drum shoe, regular using vs premium required gasoline, blah blah blah. The new bikes, IMHO, are all throw away bikes. I've stated before, and taken heat for, that long after the FJR genre is out of critical parts e.g. computers, my old 91 FLHTCU Harley and Beemers will still be running..

 

[ionbeam]

FWIW, one opinion:

I do expect good long term reliability out of my FJR. I expect the mechanicals to breeze past 100k miles without catastrophic failure of any non-maintenance part. I will also do my role and maintain my FJR to a standard no less than the service manual intervals and do some extra maintenance that may not be specified in the manual.

I also expect the electricals and electronics to be just as robust. I will not expose my motorcycle to salt -- either from winter roads or immersion at the ocean :blink: I will try not to pierce, displace or compromise wire insulation. I will not arc weld without disconnecting the ECU. I will not use a leaf blower to dry my motorcycle -- it drives water behind lenses, into connectors and other bad places.

I have pushed the electrical system and stator with farkles and paid the price -- so now I have an Electrosport stator. I knew the risks in advance and accepted them.

As far as diagnostics and repair of complex electro/mechanical systems I do have one complaint for Yamaha. Yamaha really should have put a diagnostic port on the ECU so we can view sensor data as the ECU sees them and view the program response from the ECU. I can plug my car's computer into a laptop and datalog everything the PCM (equivalent to ECU) sees and I can view everything the PCM does in response. As a bonus, I can alter many of the tables in the PCM to accommodate any changes that I've made, such as hi-flo exhaust, headers, bigger throttle body, K&N ram/cold air intake, bigger injectors and staggered rocker ratios.

I've fought with points & condensers, 4k mile interval lock-nut valve adjusters, gummed carbs, vacuum diaphragm petcocks, Lucas "Prince of Darkness" electrics, front and rear DRUM brakes, low voltage coils, kick 'n pray starters, yellow piddley headlights and vacuum diaphragm constant velocity carbs to name a few of the "good ol' days" systems.

I've never had a '60s/'70s motorcycle that ran so well, so long with so little effort or work on my part. My FJR has so far been easier to maintain and ride. I have no reservations about the FJR's technical systems or over-all vehicle reliability.

One other minor detail, I do work with electro/mechanical systems so I may be better equipped than many for road-side diagnostics and repair.

 

[dcarver]

I will not use a leaf blower to dry my motorcycle -- it drives water behind lenses, into connectors and other bad places.

Uh oh, I'm in trouble. How do you dry your bike? Rags only? I agree with everything IonBeam said.. much less daily maintenance required but IMHO at the expense of simplicity. FWIW, if one of my older bikes doesn't start, I have a chance of getting it going again; spark, fuel, compression, kick start levers... it's all easy. With newer bikes, take the FJR, what do you do? Hold the throttle wide open and pray it starts before the battery dies seems to be the only hope. Oh, that and a AAA card.. I sure wish IonBeam lived closer, he'd be my best riding bud! :lol:

 

[S76]

FWIW, I'm with ionbeam on this one. Yes, the new stuff is more technical to diagnose when it breaks, but it is so much more reliable than the older iron, not to mention just plain better at everything. Better gas mileage, better emisions, better brakes, better lights, better instrumentation. All due to the advancement in electronics. And reading the technical threads there are very very few problems with these bikes.

"They don't make them the way they used to" is often heard. Quite frankly I am glad.

 

[Luke]

+1!

 

[dbvolfan]

+1!

It may be tougher to diagnose but I'll take today's motorcycle/car over anything made in the 70's, maybe even 80's for that matter. I remember several cars we owned as a child that had rusted out floorboards (including a mercedes where I could actually see the road beneth the car if I peeled back the carpet), peeling vinyl roofs at 80k miles and in general they started falling apart at 80k miles. Now, my cars dont even feel broken in until 70k miles. If I dont get to 175k-200k miles before major issues start popping up I am disappointed. Back in the 70's I think you started to hit that mark around 100k miles

 

[Bustanut joker]

By 100 k most cars in the seventys were rusted in half and fogging for mosquitoes with 10w30 Plus the resale on most of them after that kind of mileage was about fivehundred bucks tops. Unless they were Muscle cars. Ah wait a minute, they didn't build those things after 72.

Sure you could do most any repairs- points, plugs etc. But I rather like the idea of not having to do this once or twice a year.

Gimme technology any day

:jester:

 

[BobG]

Actually even the trouble shooting isn't that difficult. But then again I also have an electronics back ground (PMEL). I seldom pull out any troubleshooting equipment I just look up the faults on the computer web pages and match the symptoms. I have yet to be wrong on the part I replaced.

I usually though, use dielectric grease on the connectors well before any connectivity problem shows up.

The bikes still needs spark, fuel, timing. Just how they are generated is different.

 

[dcarver]

Actually even the trouble shooting isn't that difficult. But then again I also have an electronics back ground (PMEL). I seldom pull out any troubleshooting equipment I just look up the faults on the computer web pages and match the symptoms. I have yet to be wrong on the part I replaced. I usually though, use dielectric grease on the connectors well before any connectivity problem shows up.

The bikes still needs spark, fuel, timing. Just how they are generated is different.

Hey cool, another PMEL guy! I'm in the biz too..

 

[Geezer]

When I first got my FJR I thought that over time the heat under the tank would eventually take it's toll on some of the plastic parts and electronics under the tank. I haven't heard anybody complain about this sort of problem yet so I won't worry about it.

 

[BobG]

dcarver

PMEL, it's a great field to be in.

I am retired now, but some times I miss the toys of the trade.