North SF Bay dealer recommendation?

[Further]

I'm new to the San Fran. North Bay, specifically Santa Rosa. I'm trying to find a Yamaha dealer I can trust for future work. Any North Bay FJR owners who know of, and can recommend a Sonoma Co. dealer?

For years I lived in SF and had a great FJR whisperer named Gail at Mission Motorcycles. They closed and I went to Berkeley Yamaha. The Santa Rosa Yamaha dealer is Factory Powersports. I had a new front PR3 installed by them several months ago when I had no garage space to do it myself. Their shop rate is high and I wasn't overly impressed by the shop. So I'm hoping to find a better alternative. Hopefully someone who's had their hands on an FJR before and not just ATVs and boats and R1's.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dravnx]

Your FJR is a pretty basic machine. I've never used them because I do all my own work but I've always heard good things about The Motorcycle Shop. Some of my friends have used them and the owner Bryan is a good supporter of the Northbay riding community.

https://www.the-motorcycle-shop.com/

I'm in Santa Rosa too.

When the weather gets a bit nicer, come on down to our Thursday eve Bike Night. 6:30 till we get bored. At the Starbucks in front of Costco on Santa Rosa Ave.

 

[BigDogRaven]

I've been here a few times. Always been happy:

https://www.mammothmotorsports.com/

 

[dravnx]

I've had some negative experiences at Mammoth. You can PM me if you want details.

 

[dravnx]

Go over to Barf, the Bay Area Riders Forum and introduce yourself. A great group of riders, mostly SF centered but we have a pretty big North Bay contingent.

https://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/

 

[bruinFJRguy]

The personal invite and recommendation to tap into BARF are both good suggestions.

I lived in Santa Rosa and visited the Santa Rosa dealer several times. I think they were at the time called Santa Rosa Powesports. A couple of the guys were nice enough, but I never was given a reason to spend my money there. They were high in price, refused to negotiate, friendly on the sales front (despite the lack of flex), no glaring attractive qualities in my discussion with the shop.

Instead I bought a brand new FJ-09 at K&B Powersports in Petaluma. Kevin and his son Brandon were both swell to deal with. The parts guy was part of the woodwork. Kevin's wife was sweet and charming. The techs i talked to seemed knowledgeable. That place would be my first stop, aside from the friendly fjrforum friend's garage.

Good luck!

 

[dravnx]

+1 on K&B. I don't know how long you've been gone but they moved north. They are still on Petaluma Blvd but they built their own building. Very impressive. I bought my FJR from Brandon. Mike in parts is a great resource too.

 

[Further]

Thanks everyone for the great input. I have an appointment today with the Motorcycle Shop to put a new PR4 on the rear wheel I'm bringing in. I get a good feeling from them. We'll see. Maybe I'll use them for more "light duty" service, and go down to K&B for bigger things like valves, etc., since they actually put hands on an FJR now and then. My only problem with K&B is distance, since the wifey has to shuttle me to and from when I leave the bike.

dravnx, I'll take you up on Bike Night some time. Thanks. Would be nice to get to know a few local riders, since I'm pretty new to Sonoma, and the only riders I know up here are a few NorCal BMW guys, and ya know, those guys have a fetish with camping, and eating bad food outta cans.

Thanks again. Cheers.

 

[bruinFJRguy]

+1 on K&B. I don't know how long you've been gone but they moved north. They are still on Petaluma Blvd but they built their own building. Very impressive. I bought my FJR from Brandon. Mike in parts is a great resource too.

I bought my FJ09 in May of 2015. It was an older (I think) red building on the east side of the road. I think it was the previous location they had taken over.

Glad to hear they have been successful. I don't know who Mike is, but I imagine it is the same parts guy I'm referring to. He was probably in his early 60s, gray hair, really friendly. We were talking about the leftover 13 fz1 on the floor. I had had. Couple gen1s and he still had his gen1. At the time we spoke I was actually comparing the FJR and the C14. He steered me towards the FJR due to Kawi's more finicky service schedule. Wound up I got the FJ09 shortly afterwards. But the FJR never left my brain and i traded the fj09 for my 15 FJR one year to the day! By sheer coincidence no less; I didn't even realize until I got it home. No regrets, really, but I could have saved some money just getting the FJR first!

 

[Further]

bruinFJRguy - What was your impression of the FJ 09? I'm not riding 2-up as much as I used to and might go to the Tracer GT, (new iteration of the FJ 09) at some future date. Don't feel compelled to lug around an extra 160 pounds needlessly, (much as I like my FJR).

 

[bruinFJRguy]

bruinFJRguy - What was your impression of the FJ 09? I'm not riding 2-up as much as I used to and might go to the Tracer GT, (new iteration of the FJ 09) at some future date. Don't feel compelled to lug around an extra 160 pounds needlessly, (much as I like my FJR).

I didn't recognize the name "The Motorcycle Shop" at first. I have no firsthand experience with them, but I do recall having them recommended to me by my boss at the time; he was an avid enthusiast that owned several bikes and was acquainted with the owner. I would have confidence in the shop for most jobs, I think. I might go to the dealer for major engine work; I'm not sure valves qualify as "major." While a valve job is a bit over my head, it is something I would probably tackle with the time and a proper work-space. The Motorcycle Shop is probably qualified.

As for the FJ-09 vs FJR, I definitely have opinions; some favorable, some not so much, some conflicting. The FJ-09 was a very "good" bike, but far from a perfect bike. There were many things I did not like. As I think I alluded to above, to do it again I would have saved the $6k I lost on it and would have just got the FJR to start with. That said, I've thought about revisiting the FJ-09 as a supplemental bike to the FJR, and I am intrigued by what improvements the Tracer seems to offer. Ultimately, though, I think I got it right when I switched. And as much as the FJ-09 is a "fun" bike, I don't think I'd want to switch back and have the FJ-09 as my main bike instead of the FJR. I'll PM you with more specifics.