New Owner, couple questions

[BlackB12]

Well I finally bought an FJR after lurking here for about 3 months! Great bike, but it could be better. First, is there a difference in the brakepads or brake systems between the ABS and the non-ABS version? The reason I ask is that the stock 04 FJR I test rode had much stronger front brake performance than my ABS 05. Maybe the previous owner of mine never properly bedded in the brakes and they are now glazed a bit. I don't know.

Second, what is the recommended static sag measurement you guys are running. Should it be the standard 30mm front and rear like sportbikes?

Finally, my last bike had Racetech springs and valves and it was rock solid handling. Am I beating a dead horse trying to tune the stock forks on the FJR? I've seen in other posts the the stock valving sucks for spirited riding.

Mike

 

[ionbeam]

I can speak for the brakes -- I own an '04 and the first time I rode an '05 I thought there was something wrong with the brakes, the lever was soft and spongy with a lot of travel. Turns out that is the way the '05 brakes feel. FWIW, the front caliper assembly on the '05 has a different number from the '04 but all the other parts are the same. While the '05 owners were fine with the brake feel I really don't like it. One '05 owner felt that my '04 brake lever feel was too solid and made it feel like they could inadvertently over brake.

You can make the FJR suspension much better but you can't do much about the real limiting factor: the FJR is a porky, lead ass, heavy weight battle cruiser. The FJR is good for what it is but it will never be an R1. But, the R1 is a dedicated single purpose machine whereas the FJR provides a good balance for several very different riding styles.

Alan

 

[BlackB12]

Well that stinks about the brakes. I gladly would have taken more positive lever feel over ABS.

 

[radman]

16,000 miles on my 05ABS and never a failure to stop yet. Incredible, but true.

 

[3dogs]

You need to bleed your front brakes. My 05 had the same front lever feel that you describe. When I changed the brake fluid the lever felt completely different. Use a Mity-Vac, suck the old fluid out while adding new fluid.

 

[ionbeam]

I offered to bleed the brakes for my '05 friend but he liked his brakes the way they were. On that other Board several had tried bleeding their brakes but it didn't help. For sure try bleeding the brakes.

Alan

 

[Colin24]

Try using the lever "hand-size" adjustment. Its the little round dial near the pivot of the front brake letter with digits 1 through 5 (maybe 6 cant remember right now). By pushing the lever out you can turn this dial. It is used to adjust how far out the lever sits from the handlebar.

I have an '05 FJR with ABS and (found quite to my amazement) that the adjustment on this dial can change the perceived firmness of the brakes. I think the softness I was feeling occured when the lever was adjusted close to the handlebar. When you applied the brakes the lever would bottom out before having generated full braking pressure. When the lever is adjusted far away from the handlebars it would be applying full pressure before the lever travelled all way back to the handlebars.

Try playing around and see what works/feels best.

FWIW. After a little over a year with this bike there is now NO WAY I am ever going back to a bike without ABS. As far as I am concerned Yamaha hit the nail on the head with the ABS system on the '04 and '05 FJR's. Independant brakes allowing me full control over front and rear, but when the shit hits the fan and you need to stop. Just squeeze and you _will_ stop.

- Colin

 

[gypsy]

FWIW. After a little over a year with this bike there is now NO WAY I am ever going back to a bike without ABS.

Amen brother!!

 

[BlackB12]

Yeah I tried adjusting the lever farther out to no avail. Still has a wooden feel to it. It's fine for now as it gets the bike stopped just fine, you just have to squeeze harder than the 04 I rode. I'll bleed the brakes and see what happens.

Mike

 

[twowheelnut]

When I brought my '05 in for it's 4k, the brake and clutch fluids were black - shot. After the change, I felt a noticable difference in braking feel. Change the fluid.

And if you truly want to ride a bike with wooden brake feel, try any Harley with non-floating disks.

 

[FJRottie]

Another reason why the 04s are the best. h34r:

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Second, what is the recommended static sag measurement you guys are running.  Should it be the standard 30mm front and rear like sportbikes? 
Finally, my last bike had Racetech springs and valves and it was rock solid handling.  Am I beating a dead horse trying to tune the stock forks on the FJR?  I've seen in other posts the the stock valving sucks for spirited riding. 

Mike

Good luck if you can get it down to anywhere near 30mm! At 15k, my springs are toast! I cranked my preload adjusters in all the way and still had about 38mm sag. And that was with my narrow 155 pound ass and no riding gear on it. A fork job (I said fork job you pervs <_< ) is high on my priority list for this winter. You only get two choices with the stock shock...really shitty or a little less shitty. I'd really like to buy a shock too, but just don't think I can afford it now. I don't think you'll ever get the desired results out of these forks bone-stock, but I think they can be massaged into being pretty good performers. I don't think gold valves are a necesity, but if your wallet can handle it, more power to ya. I'm just gonna try a revalve, respring, fresh oil job and see how it turns out. I'll NEVER understand why the oems put such shitty springs in from the factory! How much more could it really cost per unit to put in good ones?

[/soapbox]

 

[BlackB12]

I have to say I am spoiled by my Racetech setup I had on the Bandit. The Bandit had the crappiest setup of any stock bike I've ever ridden. After getting the right spring and valve settings from RT it transformed the Bandit into one rock solid, yet compliant ride. I tried some recommended fork settings last night and it is better. Sounds like I'll have to respring this winter which is no problem to do, I just need to save up my $$.

The rear shock on the bike now is a Wilburs, but I'm pretty sure it's the wrong spring rate for me. THe previous owner weighed 180 pounds while I weigh 250 pounds in gear and most likely will ride more aggressive than the previous owner. I need to call Wilburs and find out what spring and valve setup they built for this guy.

Mike

 

[Randy]

Mike,

FWIW, I had just bled the brakes about 1000 miles before you rode it. When I bled them, I also maniacly cleaned the calipers and took an emory cloth to the rotors. I used Motul RBF600 brake fluid. The pads are still stock. Might just need some quick maintenance on them to bring them up to speed.

 

[FJR-Dude]

BlackB12, as DD said, you'll never be able to set the sag right on the bike with the stock springs. And as you may well already know, if you can't get that set right, messing with everything else won't fix anything.

I am currently 1/2 way to a full upgrade on my 05. I just had the forks upgraded and a Penske is on the way. The front end improvement was monstrous. And once I get the back end set up the bike will be leaps and bounds easier to ride quickly. I've had the chance to ride a nicely dialed in 04 and it has fantastic.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

I am currently 1/2 way to a full upgrade on my 05. I just had the forks upgraded and a Penske is on the way. The front end improvement was monstrous. And once I get the back end set up the bike will be leaps and bounds easier to ride quickly. I've had the chance to ride a nicely dialed in 04 and it has fantastic.

So who did your forks, and does the aforementioned Penske have remote preload adjustment?? I'd have to say that's an absolute necesity if you carry a passenger often. I was gonna make some calls once layup season sets in to Racetech, Lindemanns, and Traxxion Dynamics to see what each had to say about the FJR forks. It's kind of a given that Racetech is gonna want to sell you gold valves, which ups the ante a bunch! I still believe they're nice, but not necesary. So who did yours, what'd they ding you for it, and what'd ya get fer your $$$$$$??

 

[FJR-Dude]

I had my forks done by a guy named Curtis Pell who owns/is California Suspension Works in Palo Alto. He is also an FJR owner.

And no, none of the Penske's have a "remote" preload adjuster. However, they do have a preload adjuster and they can be adjusted for ride height as well.

Though I do NOT believe this is something you can do without a shim kit.

Certainly, the Ohlins has the easiest to operate preload adjuster....but it also costs nearly $200 more. BTW - I have had Ohlins in the past, and am in no way biased against them.

Oh yah, Traxxion sells a tool that makes preload adjusment on their shocks very simple. Costs $7.

I will give you a short summary of what I just went through regarding suspension upgrade decision making. I spent a good month or so calling, talking, debating.

This is not my first suspension upgrade to say the least.

I contacted Penske (know a good guy who works there and I've been to their shop in Georgia) California Suspension Works (another good guy who knows his stuff) Aftershocks in Palo Alto, yet another very respected suspension place. Traxxion hooked me up with "their guy" out here whom with I spent 2 hours on the phone. Very professional guy as well.

Almost too much.

Bottom line? Basically everyone had a slightly different solution.

First off, Traxxion has not done any FJR forks yet. The guy I was put in contact in San Jose (Not JL) with was interested in doing the AK20 cartridges on my bike,

and so was I. But...Traxxion needed a set of forks to work with for "awhile" and I was not interested.

That said, my contact at Traxxion has just picked up an FJR so I doubt it will be long before they have something "off the shelf" for the bike.

I also spoke to Aftershocks, and their fix is to install R/T springs, and just the rebound damper valves from R/T. Not the compression valving. Yet another option.

I did not contact Lindemann. While I have had work done by him many many years ago, I no longer consider him an option for non-race applications.

Too many bad stories to bother.

In the end, I went with CSW. Why? Basically because I know the guy, know his rep with the FZ1 owners, and got to ride his bike and see how the front end worked after a full R/T upgrade. Also, I've seen (and now have) the stock valving units. They are crap. The oil flow holes are maybe 1mm in size. I simply cannot see how they cannot move enough oil to work correctly. As much as I respect Phil Douglas at Afterhocks, and while it would have cost me $100 less, I went the other route.

Also, Curtis convinced me (and he had to work at it) that he could make the stock springs work by cutting a small amount off of them to stiffen them instead of getting R/T springs.

While this is standard procedure for many bikes (Lindeman has done this for me several times before) I had heard from other tuners that this was not a good option on the FJR.

But...I decided to try it anyway.

So far? So great.

But I won't be able to give a full report till I get the shock installed.

Cost for the CSW upgrade (spring cut, Racetech compression and rebound valving and labor) is around $650

 

[RadioHowie]

Another reason why the 04s are the best.  h34r:

I'll be damned! Rottie and I agree on sumthin'!

 

[BlackB12]

Cost for the CSW upgrade (spring cut, Racetech compression and rebound valving and labor) is around $650

Thanks for that info. What was the total for all the parts? I'm assuming the RT springs are still around $100.

Mike