My 600 mile service experience

[Subcritical]

My 2008 was due for its 600 mile service. Since I have never really done any work on my past bike, I thought it was best to bring it to the dealer for the first service. The service manager told me that the throttle body synchronization was not necessary, unless there was some reason to do it (for example the bike is running rough). I told him that my idle was not steady - at idle the RPM surges maybe 100-150 RPM in either direction. He told me that it was normal, and that I shouldn't bother with the synch. He said that it's the nature of these engines to have an uneven idle. Is this correct? From what I have read in this forum, it seems that the sychronization may even out my idle.
So the dealer performed the first service, but I'm still wondering about the synchronization. After reading all the great technical posts here, I'm thinking of tackling this job myself. Do you think this is something I could handle as a first job? To be honest, I've never even changed the oil on a bike. Now I am pretty good with mechanical things, but I just never worked much on vehicles. I have read the posts about removing the tank and doing the synch, and I think I could handle it.

If I do tackle the job, I'll need to buy all the tools. I don't even have a torque wrench. (But Father's day is coming up, hmmm....)

Anyway, thanks for any advice.

I have the same bike as you. I picked it up last Friday. This morning the bike was running smooth as silk. This afternoon on my way home from work, the bike was running poorly at low RPM's (under 4000rpm). The bike has 300mi on it. I took it to the dealer this aftenoon and they told me it was normal engine harmonics. Funny. I don't believe them and I'm very disappointed at the dealer. The three CBR 9xx's I owned in the past never did this.

 

[Charlie Hoss]

JMW,
Not done on mine at 600, either. They hinted at it being done at the first major. After reading the responses, I think I'll do it myself, plus install heavier bar ends. My carpentry background puts my right hand almost asleep within the half hour.

Dan,

If you get up my way, I have the mercury sticks for the TBS if you don't.

Charlie

 

[garywayne]

Not trying to sound like a smart ass or anything but whats with all this service stuff? I had 2 ST1100's..about 40,000 on each with only 1 trip to the dealer (no throttle sysn needed..1 set of plugs, air filter and oil....St1300 same thing....1800 Goldwing same thing....now have 13,000 on the FJR and its only had oil and filter......runs good, smooth and great gas mileage. If I have to take the tank and crap off every 8,000 miles I don't want it...........again not trying to sound smart, just wondering if some are doing ALOT more than they need to be doing. If I want to fool with it every 6-8K I might as well be on a BMW (been there also).

Gary

 

[painman]

Not trying to sound like a smart ass or anything but whats with all this service stuff? I had 2 ST1100's..about 40,000 on each with only 1 trip to the dealer (no throttle sysn needed..1 set of plugs, air filter and oil....St1300 same thing....1800 Goldwing same thing....now have 13,000 on the FJR and its only had oil and filter......runs good, smooth and great gas mileage. If I have to take the tank and crap off every 8,000 miles I don't want it...........again not trying to sound smart, just wondering if some are doing ALOT more than they need to be doing. If I want to fool with it every 6-8K I might as well be on a BMW (been there also).
Gary

I hear what your saying Gary. Fact is most that own bikes, cars, boats etc. probably don't do that much maintainence on their equipment. Frankly bikes IMO need more attention than cars etc. just for safety reasons alone. Kinda like an airplane. Yes your bike could run for many miles with little or no maintainence but this just goes to show you what a solid and reliable piece the FJR is.

Personally I like my engine and chasis at or as close to the best it can be and I kind of like tinkering especially on bikes. I've found an ounce of prevention can cure many evils on down the road. And really compared to most other bikes the FJR service intervals are some of the best out there with not that much to keep up with.

But one big reason I keep the bike current with the service's is in case I have to use the Y.E.S warranty. I don't think Yamaha would be willing to step up to the plate for an owner if little or no maintainence was done with no paper work to back it up for something that showed total neglect vs one that had receipts and a record. I'm not an authority on this but I remember some members here who had problems because of this very issue. So if you're doing your own service's just keep a log of when they were done and what the miles were on the clock and keep "all" your receipts. It's really not that hard to do. PM. <>< :dntknw:

 

[garywayne]

Not trying to sound like a smart ass or anything but whats with all this service stuff? I had 2 ST1100's..about 40,000 on each with only 1 trip to the dealer (no throttle sysn needed..1 set of plugs, air filter and oil....St1300 same thing....1800 Goldwing same thing....now have 13,000 on the FJR and its only had oil and filter......runs good, smooth and great gas mileage. If I have to take the tank and crap off every 8,000 miles I don't want it...........again not trying to sound smart, just wondering if some are doing ALOT more than they need to be doing. If I want to fool with it every 6-8K I might as well be on a BMW (been there also).
Gary

I hear what your saying Gary. Fact is most that own bikes, cars, boats etc. probably don't do that much maintainence on their equipment. Frankly bikes IMO need more attention than cars etc. just for safety reasons alone. Kinda like an airplane. Yes your bike could run for many miles with little or no maintainence but this just goes to show you what a solid and reliable piece the FJR is.

Personally I like my engine and chasis at or as close to the best it can be and I kind of like tinkering especially on bikes. I've found an ounce of prevention can cure many evils on down the road. And really compared to most other bikes the FJR service intervals are some of the best out there with not that much to keep up with.

But one big reason I keep the bike current with the service's is in case I have to use the Y.E.S warranty. I don't think Yamaha would be willing to step up to the plate for an owner if little or no maintainence was done with no paper work to back it up for something that showed total neglect vs one that had receipts and a record. I'm not an authority on this but I remember some members here who had problems because of this very issue. So if you're doing your own service's just keep a log of when they were done and what the miles were on the clock and keep "all" your receipts. It's really not that hard to do. PM. <>< :dntknw:

Good points. I never seem to keep a bike more then 35-40K so I guess thats one reason I don't really get into doing everything by the book.

Gary

 

[twistedcricket]

I skipped the TBS at 600 and just had it done for the first time at the 8k service. Also had the ECU replaced at SFO... It's a little smoother than it was originally. I like the dealership I took the bike too (I just moved and they're too far away to ride to now) but they didn't have a Morgan although the mechanic had something similar.

i've heard good things about the local dealership here and I might cruise over to see if they can help a minor rough idle.... unless there's someone close to me with the tools

 

[El Toro]

I did my 600 mile service today. I used the official Yamaha FJR final drive lube ($32 for half a liter, enough to do two changes). I used some of my stock of BMW dino oil 10W40 API service SG. Got crush washers in the order for the final drive lube.

This was the easiest 600 mile service I've done in recent years. Same 17mm socket for engine drain and final drive fill and drain. Torques all in the range of the same torque wrench. Very well thought out by Yamaha. I really appreciate the simplicity.

I had the engine control module and shifter upgrades done on recall at the dealer yesterday.

I did not do the TBS because my idle is perfect hot or cold, and I've got almost no vibration in the bike at any rpm.

It was a pleasure to be able to run it out to 6000 during this second phase of break in. I can tell that when break in is over and I can ring it to the red line, that there will be plenty of excitement. The torque doesn't peak until 7000, so I have that to look forward to.

I said the other day that the best bike is always the next bike. I am starting to rethink this with the FJR. If I can figure out a way to head the ignition switch failure issue off at the pass, this may turn out to be my favorite, at least for a few years. Sure don't have any incentive to continue thinking about a leftover K1200GT in the Fall.

Yamaha has done an excellent job thinking most of this bike through... I am impressed, and that's tough to accomplish.

A run to Barber, with a stop at D&H for fun is in the offing. Probably within a week.

Sure wish I could get a seat that would hold up to more than a couple of hours. Everyone is building to order, and there is a pretty good wait. I may just tough it out til Fall. There are worse things that one could have to tough out.

Great bike!

 

[Foxhuntr]

I did my 600 mile service today. I used the official Yamaha FJR final drive lube ($32 for half a liter, enough to do two changes). I used some of my stock of BMW dino oil 10W40 API service SG. Got crush washers in the order for the final drive lube.
This was the easiest 600 mile service I've done in recent years. Same 17mm socket for engine drain and final drive fill and drain. Torques all in the range of the same torque wrench. Very well thought out by Yamaha. I really appreciate the simplicity.

I had the engine control module and shifter upgrades done on recall at the dealer yesterday.

I did not do the TBS because my idle is perfect hot or cold, and I've got almost no vibration in the bike at any rpm.

It was a pleasure to be able to run it out to 6000 during this second phase of break in. I can tell that when break in is over and I can ring it to the red line, that there will be plenty of excitement. The torque doesn't peak until 7000, so I have that to look forward to.

I said the other day that the best bike is always the next bike. I am starting to rethink this with the FJR. If I can figure out a way to head the ignition switch failure issue off at the pass, this may turn out to be my favorite, at least for a few years. Sure don't have any incentive to continue thinking about a leftover K1200GT in the Fall.

Yamaha has done an excellent job thinking most of this bike through... I am impressed, and that's tough to accomplish.

A run to Barber, with a stop at D&H for fun is in the offing. Probably within a week.

Sure wish I could get a seat that would hold up to more than a couple of hours. Everyone is building to order, and there is a pretty good wait. I may just tough it out til Fall. There are worse things that one could have to tough out.

Great bike!

Toro,

What shifter upgrades are you referring to??

 

[El Toro]

Toro,What shifter upgrades are you referring to??

My bike is a leftover 06 FJR13AEV. Before I bought it last week, I asked the dealer to check to be sure all recalls had been completed.

They ordered the parts on the day I bought the bike, i.e. June 10th. The parts came in June 17th.

The updates were

1. Electronic Gear Shift Actuator Update, which was part number 90891-20120-00 FJR1300AE shift stay support K, installed per Bulletin M2006-12A.

2. High Altitude ECM Update, which was part number 90891-30054-00 FJR1300 ECU kit.

There is also a recall to provide a stronger tail rack for top box installation, but they're sending these out with the top boxes now. I hate top boxes, so I'm not in a hurry for that one.

The shifter update was explained to me in the following way: "The stock bracing is not deficient, but with the new bracing, its even more rugged."

I think this is covered elsewhere on the FJR Forum, but when I searched using "recall" as the key word, I didn't uncover it. It may be over in the FAQs or Historical info section.

I was very happy with the bike before the recall work was done. I am happy with it now too.... in other words, it does not appear that the dealer buggared anything up. Gotta be thankful for the little things.

 

[LancasterFJR]

My 2008 was due for its 600 mile service. Since I have never really done any work on my past bike, I thought it was best to bring it to the dealer for the first service. The service manager told me that the throttle body synchronization was not necessary, unless there was some reason to do it (for example the bike is running rough). I told him that my idle was not steady - at idle the RPM surges maybe 100-150 RPM in either direction. He told me that it was normal, and that I shouldn't bother with the synch. He said that it's the nature of these engines to have an uneven idle. Is this correct? From what I have read in this forum, it seems that the sychronization may even out my idle.
So the dealer performed the first service, but I'm still wondering about the synchronization. After reading all the great technical posts here, I'm thinking of tackling this job myself. Do you think this is something I could handle as a first job? To be honest, I've never even changed the oil on a bike. Now I am pretty good with mechanical things, but I just never worked much on vehicles. I have read the posts about removing the tank and doing the synch, and I think I could handle it.

If I do tackle the job, I'll need to buy all the tools. I don't even have a torque wrench. (But Father's day is coming up, hmmm....)

Anyway, thanks for any advice.

I never use the dealer for anything but warranty work. I am not sure they do half what they are supposed to do, and they charge a lot. I just don't trust them. TBS is really simple and worth it. Sam

 

[rockhead]

I'm a long-time do-it-your-selfer, but I did take my new 06 AE to the dealer for service today. I had already changed the oil, but wanted them to check the TBs, steering head bearings, etc. They also replace the ECU per the recall. They checked the TB balance and the guy said that it was almost dead on. He said that since he went to the trouble of hooking the thing up he made a minor adjustment on one of the TBs.

I noticed no difference during the 60 mile ride home.