Shopping for '03, in AZ (Hot), hear there's shin heat ?

[AZ Greg]

Hello to the forum. I've been riding dirt and street for 25 years. Last street bikes were a ZX9R, Hayabusa, and a VTX1800 (hoping to slow down a bit). I'm impressed with the FJR and will probably purchase an '03 this weekend. But have heard there were hot air flow issues in the early models that were fixed in '06. Being from AZ it'll be 115 degrees some days when I ride, so hoping for some wisdom from the wise. Plan to read the FAQ ya'll have before bugging the forum formally. But if anyone has a quick fix or suggestion for me I'd appreciate it.

best regards,

Greg

 

[SkooterG]

From one Greg to another - Welcome to the nuthouse!

Gen I model FJRs (03-05) do have a bit of heat being directed on the rider. They did improve upon this for the Gen II models (06 and later)

That being said, the heat bothers some, but in no way does it bother everybody.

Also, not all FJRs are created equal. I have two 04 FJRs and one is hot and one is not.

Regardless, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You usually don't hear of us Arizonians whining about the heat. If you are ridin in 105+ temps (as I regularly do) then it's just plain friggin hot.

If you are short, it will be worse as you will ride right against the tank which gets warm. There are also some home-grown 'fixes' you can do to mitigate the perceived heat if necessary.

Clicky HERE for a good summary of the heat issue.

Congrats on getting an FJR. You WILL love it.

Greg

 

[beemerdons]

AZ Greg: Our esteemed SkooterG has given you some excellent advice regarding the heat issues on the 2003 Yamaha FJR.

My "Ms. Lucy Liu" is a very early serial number model and is hot, but following Greg's good advice the heat can be mitigated.

Of the many fixes that Greg has offered, there are two he mentioned I did over five years ago; and a fix he didn't mention.

1) Insulating blanket foam under the gas tank; easily done and made a huge difference. 2) Foam rubber weather stripping insulation between the tank-seat, made a change. 3) The last fix is so easy it's like falling off a log: Keep the gas tank as full as is reasonably smart. For example, we hit 108 here in Phoenix yesterday. Nice enough at 6 am when I rode Lucy from my home in Chandler at Ray & McQueen to my office at Metro Mechanical just south of the AZ State Capitol on 19th & Grant.

When I walked out of Metro's building at 3 pm it was cooking at 108 and the tank was half full. Rode to the Circle K gas station a mile away and by topping off the tank to the brim, Lucy Liu was much cooler for the 30 mile ride on my way home.

 

[quicksilver]

Specifically, if left shin heat is an issue, the Chromeit fix takes care of it.

$5 worth of aluminum sheet cut and folded to a simple pattern.

One drill hole in the aluminum sheet gives a mounting point.

Then it bolts in with one bolt/nut.

It blocks the intake of air flow which comes pouring out the low left side.

Mine has been mounted for ~5 years.....

 

[AZ Greg]

Specifically, if left shin heat is an issue, the Chromeit fix takes care of it.
$5 worth of aluminum sheet cut and folded to a simple pattern.

One drill hole in the aluminum sheet gives a mounting point.

Then it bolts in with one bolt/nut.

It blocks the intake of air flow which comes pouring out the low left side.

Mine has been mounted for ~5 years.....

Excellent tips ! Thanks to all of you - glad to hear some fellow AZ types. I've always ridden through the summers so I'm not too worried - especially now with all the inputs. Thanks again.

Greg

 

[Bustanut joker]

The heat issue is overblown IMHO. The fellas with mangina issues are the only ones yakin 'bout the heat.

Oh yeah it's Friday :yahoo:

:jester: