PCIII or V

[Lou D]

Redfish, I just read your article about your dad`s bike with great delight. I am almost 60 and I ride with my son regularly. He is 26. I have a 2006 FJR that I`ve been riding for a year now. It`s my second bike that I`ve been taking on our longer trips. My first bike is a ZX14. I read with interest about your saga concerning the throttle response on your Dad`s FJR and finally realized that I experience the exact same hesitation. I thought it was the shaft drive causing this condition. Thanks for the posts on the fix and the great stories about you and your Dad. I`ll be ordering a PC5 soon. LD

 

[Redfish Hunter]

As it turns out, there is a little more to add to the story. The bike has worked wonderfully since the PC-V installation and I thought that all was well with the world. The other day a friend of mine bought a used BMW R1200RT and Dad and I met him for a day ride. During the course of a tire kicking session Dad told my buddy that he wished the throttle were a little more progressive. He said that now that the motor runs smoothly it takes a very precise throttle control to keep from running over the bike in front of him (ME!) in the tighter curves. He says that even though it is smooth, you get lots of power with a relatively small amount of throttle input.

While my first impulse was to tell the Old Man to not follow so close, my fear/respect kept my mouth shut. I ordered and installed a G2 with the 400 cam. It enables a much smoother initial throttle application. There is still more acceleration than my ST for a given amount of twist, but that kind of goes with the territory. I like it alot. Dad has not ridden it yet, he is on the coast running charters so I have the FJR.

We are leaving in a week to ride to TN/NC/GA/AL/MS so we will have a full evaluation of my labor. I will post a Ride Report with pics if I survive it.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

The first (and most cost effective) thing to try for Gen2 throttle abruptness, is the G2 replacement throttle sleeve. The curve of the cam on the throttle sleeve is modified to neutralize the progressive shape of the lobe down on the throttle body.

While I did not follow your advice exactly to the letter, I have now installed the G2. It works great. I really think that this bike needed both the Power Commander and the G2. I really appreciate your advice.

Also for what it is worth, I never had an issue with how the bike ran and performed stock. Yes it is more abrupt than my ST but it also is more powerful. I think that kind of goes together. Dad was having issues with it and once his confidence was shaken, I had to do something. If he is not satisfied now, the problem is not the bike.

 

[gixxerjasen]

It's funny. I did both at the same time and it was like night and day the difference. Now, for about 95% of my riding it's fine and I like it. However, there's still some times when I find it's still a tad abrupt. On my daily commute I have a turn to the right off the service road. I have to navigate it carefully as there's a manhole cover to avoid that is super slick if the company next door ran their sprinklers recently so I'm dodging that and making a turn that has a quick small steep uphill climb that immediately levels off. Trying to thread the needle, go from braking to gas and not launch the bike up the hill while turning, is a bit of a trick. It's doable but I find that it's never quite as smooth as I'd like it. Also, remember, mine is the AE so I don't have the ability to feather it with the clutch. Never had a problem in these situations on the FZ1 so I guess I still need to learn to use the back brake more in these situations like others have done.

Regardless, it's totally made the bike completely livable for all my riding.

 

[CAPT-KEVLAR]

How hard is it to install the G2 with the factory heated grips?

 

[gixxerjasen]

It's more complicated, because you can't just cut off the old grips and slap new ones on. You need to take care of the wires because folks have pulled them apart before. Then there's the process of getting them on and off. It took me and my wife and the air compressor and a bunch of youtube vids to get them off and on the tubes. Some folks have just crunched the stock tube because they don't care about reusing it, and that makes it easier to get the grip off. Getting it back on is the combination of technique and the right grip glue/lube. Taking note of orientation on the old tube is critical to having it go on right and have the wires in the right place on the new tube.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I disconnected the O2 sensor today. Hopefully the PC-V will do all that it is supposed to do now. I don't know if I will have time to report on this before my trip.

 

[CAPT-KEVLAR]

I disconnected the O2 sensor today. Hopefully the PC-V will do all that it is supposed to do now. I don't know if I will have time to report on this before my trip.

Yup, should work great. Have fun on your trip.

Jason, thanks for the info. Gonna scrap the stock grips so that should make it a lil easier.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Um, you are going to scrap your stock heated grips? You might be careful with them and resell them here. Do you realize what they cost from the dealer? Heck, if you are planning to cut them off, send em to me with the stock tube inside and I'll take em off your hands for when I wear mine out!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Pop and I took a short shakedown ride this morning. We are leaving Friday so I wanted him to ride it beforehand so I could undo whatever he did not like. He was very very very pleased. The tone of his voice through my helmet headset was enough to tell me the whole story. The term "controllable power" kept coming up along with an occasional "there's an awful lot of it!" I am going to call this one a complete success. He was so pleased that he did in fact let me wash the bike before he rode it home.

Of course he had the nerve to ask, "I wonder if that 2013 with the ride by wire throttle has any smoothness issues? I sure would like to see one in person..." :angry2:

 

[FjrSwed]

Took the PCV from bookshelf today and installed it, and unpluged the O2 senor cable. I'm not satisfied with how the cables ended up but but i get back to that later.

Most important i took a testdrive ! Omg... it was so much smoother !!! Cruisin in city traffic on 2 and 3 gear with almost no jerks at all. I fitted the G2 throttle a week ago, and i feel the difference on that, easier to controll the amount of gas when for example turning around a corner in slow speed. Good invested money !

Here's some pic on the cable from the PCV soon coming up. Just saw i need to upload them elsewhere.. lol

Always nice with a good book !!

Here's a picture on the cable from the PCV.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

For a moment I was confused and impressed with the color of that bike, then I remembered how to read...

Another benefit I had not anticipated, there was no Altitude Sickness. None. Of course the Cherohala Skyway only gets up to about 5400 feet at its highest, but the bike always stumbled and snorted there before. Dad reported zero issues this time. He felt he had total control over his throttle application. How much of this was placebo and how much was real I do not know. I don't care either. His bike is working very well, he is very happy. Money well spent.

 

[FjrSwed]

Darn, my pictures did not last long...

Guess i have to get register to a proper website for my picture to last longer. Admins please clean up my non working images in my post above. I can't edit it any more.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Darn, my pictures did not last long...

Guess i have to get register to a proper website for my picture to last longer. Admins please clean up my non working images in my post above. I can't edit it any more.

I still see the ones posted above with the book holding up the tank. Love that color.

 

[FjrSwed]

Darn, my pictures did not last long...

Guess i have to get register to a proper website for my picture to last longer. Admins please clean up my non working images in my post above. I can't edit it any more.

I still see the ones posted above with the book holding up the tank. Love that color.

Hi Hunter

Must be my computer at work, always been a unstable network. Thx Hunter, yea i could not resist this color. I stands out abit, is it available in the Us?

 

[Redfish Hunter]

No, that color was never available to us here in the U.S. We were allowed one color per year with the exception of the AE. It was always a different color than the standard clutch version.