Ventilation panels on Gen 3 FJR

[carpevita]

Anyone adjust the side ventilation panels on their Gen 3 fjr. Wondering if they will provide any extra wind deflection in the open outward position. I'm curious if they provide a warmer ride in the winter for your legs.. Thanks Dan

 

[FJRTom]

Yes, I move them out on cold days. I think it increases the warmth and comfort by at least a factor of 0.0000000001%. And they look just fine in that position, too. BWTHDIK!

 

[Wlfman]

Yes, I put them in the out position in cold weather. I can feel a slight difference in temps and wind on my knees.

 

[Bungie]

A gee whiz marketing feature that effectively doesn't do a damn thing.

 

[CA G-Man]

^^This. Except I do use the right side vent for easy access/easy tuck-away of my battery tender pig-tail.

 

[MCRIDER007]

Anyone adjust the side ventilation panels on their Gen 3 fjr. Wondering if they will provide any extra wind deflection in the open outward position. I'm curious if they provide a warmer ride in the winter for your legs.. Thanks Dan

I just spent 45 minutes adjusting the side panels which is really a 5 minute job if you know how to do it. They work just like the GEN2 side panels except it is a much cleaner look. The purpose would be much clearer if Yamaha referred to them as "IN" or "OUT" because there isn't anything that is open or closed and all you are doing is increasing the width of the lower faring by about an inch on each side. Does moving them to the OUT position do anything? My experience is that when you are riding in cool temperatures and your legs are just barely comfortable, having the vents in the OUT position to give more wind protection can increase your leg's comfort zone by 5-10F.

 

[Pterodactyl]

No so long ago someone had a post about a tip over. It as that poster's opinion that having the vents in the open/out position caused them to sustain damage that would not of occured had they been in the closed/in position.

 

[MCRIDER007]

No so long ago someone had a post about a tip over. It as that poster's opinion that having the vents in the open/out position caused them to sustain damage that would not of occured had they been in the closed/in position.

I think that is correct, the flip side is that vents will protect the painted surface of the upper fairing. I think it will be a lot easier to repair/ replace the vents.

 

[RichDoyle]

Anyone adjust the side ventilation panels on their Gen 3 fjr. Wondering if they will provide any extra wind deflection in the open outward position. I'm curious if they provide a warmer ride in the winter for your legs.. Thanks Dan

I just spent 45 minutes adjusting the side panels which is really a 5 minute job if you know how to do it. They work just like the GEN2 side panels except it is a much cleaner look. The purpose would be much clearer if Yamaha referred to them as "IN" or "OUT" because there isn't anything that is open or closed and all you are doing is increasing the width of the lower faring by about an inch on each side. Does moving them to the OUT position do anything? My experience is that when you are riding in cool temperatures and your legs are just barely comfortable, having the vents in the OUT position to give more wind protection can increase your leg's comfort zone by 5-10F.

This seems about right. Right now I'm often riding in the dark with temps about 45 F. I performed an experiment the last few days. With the deflectors "in" my lower legs and (especially) feet were a bit cold. Not numbing, screaming cold, but enough to notice and be a bit uncomfortable in the long run. Feeling around the fairing with my bare hands while riding I couldn't detect any warm air making it to these regions. With them "out" there was clearly warm air being deposited at my ankles and feet. I couldn't detect any differences anywhere else, but I can say that at these temperatures I have been riding the last few days with them out and feel no sense of being cold anywhere, including feet/toes/ankles. From a temperature standpoint I might as well be in my car.

In all these cases I am riding with the handgrips set at 4 (out of 10) and Hippo Hands. No heated gear otherwise and I am wearing an Olympia mesh jacket (with liner in) and Olympia riding pants with no liner. (FWIW grip heat setting at 5 gets the grips uncomfortably warm for me. I haven't tried them higher.)

One other thing - I have skinny legs. So the deflection aspect may be more effective for me than some others.

 

[carpevita]

Anyone adjust the side ventilation panels on their Gen 3 fjr. Wondering if they will provide any extra wind deflection in the open outward position. I'm curious if they provide a warmer ride in the winter for your legs.. Thanks Dan

I just spent 45 minutes adjusting the side panels which is really a 5 minute job if you know how to do it. They work just like the GEN2 side panels except it is a much cleaner look. The purpose would be much clearer if Yamaha referred to them as "IN" or "OUT" because there isn't anything that is open or closed and all you are doing is increasing the width of the lower faring by about an inch on each side. Does moving them to the OUT position do anything? My experience is that when you are riding in cool temperatures and your legs are just barely comfortable, having the vents in the OUT position to give more wind protection can increase your leg's comfort zone by 5-10F.

This seems about right. Right now I'm often riding in the dark with temps about 45 F. I performed an experiment the last few days. With the deflectors "in" my lower legs and (especially) feet were a bit cold. Not numbing, screaming cold, but enough to notice and be a bit uncomfortable in the long run. Feeling around the fairing with my bare hands while riding I couldn't detect any warm air making it to these regions. With them "out" there was clearly warm air being deposited at my ankles and feet. I couldn't detect any differences anywhere else, but I can say that at these temperatures I have been riding the last few days with them out and feel no sense of being cold anywhere, including feet/toes/ankles. From a temperature standpoint I might as well be in my car.

In all these cases I am riding with the handgrips set at 4 (out of 10) and Hippo Hands. No heated gear otherwise and I am wearing an Olympia mesh jacket (with liner in) and Olympia riding pants with no liner. (FWIW grip heat setting at 5 gets the grips uncomfortably warm for me. I haven't tried them higher.)

One other thing - I have skinny legs. So the deflection aspect may be more effective for me than some others.

Thanks for that analysis. I was test riding a K 1400 Concours and a 2013 FJR at around 45 degrees. At 6' 4", I did notice my knees a little colder on the FJR. I would love to ride the FJR year round up here in the Norh East.. Wondering, any ideas for an after market mod to increase the wind deflection for the legs during the winter months? Dan

 

[El Toro Joe]

Pick up some good gear...last Thanksgiving weekend, a few of us met in Marion VA. When we left Sunday morning...it was 16 degrees out. I rode 6.5 hrs home, with no heated gear. You CAN do it.

 

[20valves]

A gee whiz marketing feature that effectively doesn't do a damn thing.

Well, that's going a bit far. It obviously give more wind protection for legs, not a lot, but some. And it's easy to adjust.

 

[HotRodZilla]

A gee whiz marketing feature that effectively doesn't do a damn thing.

Well, that's going a bit far. It obviously give more wind protection for legs, not a lot, but some. And it's easy to adjust.

No it's not...On the GenII bikes, it is a stupid addition that does absolutely nothing and looks like crap in the process. They added adjustable fairings so they can say they did, but they don't really do anything. In other words, "A gee whiz marketing feature that effectively doesnt' do a damn thing."

Maybe you 13 owners have better results.

 

[ionbeam]

...it is a stupid addition that does absolutely nothing...They added adjustable fairings so they can say they did, but they don't really do anything. In other words, "A gee whiz marketing feature that effectively doesnt' do a damn thing."

That is called chindogu. I worked with Japanese engineers for ~20 years, the force of chindogu designs is strong with many of them.

 

[HotRodZilla]

...it is a stupid addition that does absolutely nothing...They added adjustable fairings so they can say they did, but they don't really do anything. In other words, "A gee whiz marketing feature that effectively doesnt' do a damn thing."

That is called chindogu. I worked with Japanese engineers for ~20 years, the force of chindogu designs is strong with many of them.

Yeah...We've talked about this before, because I openly hate those things...Just one more thing to take off, break, lose when doing work. Lol...Oh well, IF that was the worst of my problems, life would be grand!!

 

[deanw]

Footshields are available in Europe (and maybe Canada?) Beyond that, design it; if it's a good idea, they will come.

 

[20valves]

Maybe you 13 owners have better results.

Yep.

 

[networkguy]

Last winter I noticed no difference between the two. Given, it only get to about 39 here, but still. I just leave them in the closed/down position coz I think it looks better. I did notice a difference on my gen2, but not gen3.

 

[Gruncle]

I thought I would try opening the vents for a ride tomorrow to see how effective they are. Left side came off OK but when I turned the dzus fasteners on the right side the little metal clip the fastener goes into came off in two pieces. Anyone know what the part number is for the clip???