What's Up With The FJR?

[Maywannayamaha1300]

I just brought my bike into my dealer on Friday for my 600 mile maintenance...the oil had been changed at 300 miles. The bike started running a bit rough. It became so jerky lately that it was hard to control. At idle it was not making a smooth sound. When quickly twisting the throttle in neutral, it revs like something is scraping/grinding inside the engine....judging by the sound....like there's friction somewhere.

Is it just my bike? Lately it seems there has been a lot of complaints about jerkiness, not to mention throttle tightness.....making the bike hard to control or ride smoothly. A clutch that has an on/of feel as opposed to a smooth engagement.

I ask you all....is this a great bike ? It seems everyone buys it and then attempts to "FIX" it. Are other bikes better built from the factory? Is Honda or BMW better straight from the dealer?

I have only ridden a Suzuki Boulevard c50 cruiser before this bike. I don't have a lot to compare with.

Maybe my throttle bodies are out of sync? What would that feel like? All I know is my bike is under warranty and it's up to the dealer to figure out and correct.

By the way, does anyone have a Dealer they can recommend who knows FJRs and get's them running right? ....Somewhere around the tri-state area? I live in Long Island.

My dealer doesn't seem to be too up on this model. Not to say that they couldn't get it right....they'll be working on it shortly. Although, I was ther on Friday and I gave the service guy the barbarian jumper mod info (I printed for them). He did say that one time for an R6 they had to get the Yamaha rep in to do a certain procedure because they were both unfamiliar an under equipped to handle.

Please answer with as much useful info as possible to help this confused 2006 FJR owner wondering if he made the right purchase.

Thank you!

P.S. One of my saddle bag inner bags has already come apart on the inside....I haven't even stuffed it yet...

 

[bramfrank]

From your 'scraping' description, it sounds like something is 'not right' with your bike. Unfortunately, from your comments, the stealer isn't going to be particularly pro-active in helping solve the problem. Is there a 'better' dealer out there you can see? Call around and find out.

The FJR is in very limited distribution in North America, especially when compared with cruisers and sport bikes. Your service shop may have sold just the one you ride - compared with dozens of R1s and similar machines - and even then, good techs are hard to find.

As to changing things - that's the nature of the hobby/sport. One aspect is in making the machine fit YOU (your car may well have electric adjustable seats and a tilt-telescopic steering wheel - bikes aren't so simply adjusted).

Then there's the personalisation aspects - our rides don't come with cruise control, sound systems and so on - I suppose you could spend an extra $5-10K or a lot more and get a BMW model that does provide some of that as standard, but why?

 

[Maywannayamaha1300]

FJR may soon be for sale!

 

[Rickster]

Not sure I'm the best person to answer this being also a noob, but here's my $.02

First - find a dealer and/or wrench with experience with the FJR, sounds like your dealer may not have much experience.

I'm not sure how much experience riding you have, so it's difficult to comment on how 'jerky' it is. You mentioned riding a c50, the FJR would be very different.

The greatness of a bike depends on what you intended purpose is -- if you want a Sport Tourer, the FJR is a great bike. If you want to go to track days, the FJR 1300 would not be a very good fit.

On this forum, people are passionate about their FJR's, so there is a lot of info, and most people are trying to perfect their rides, not necessarily 'fix' it; however, there are some documented issues that people or Yamaha fix. This is a 'limited' production run motorcycle, and not mass produced -- so I would expect some issues to arrise when the bikes are delivered to the public.

For example: 600 sportbikes are produced in much greater numbers, and have fairly 'known' intended purpose -- to go fast. Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki/Kawasaki produce far greater numbers of these motorcycles, and I would have to assume that they spend more $$ on factory tooling etc (not to mention that they are not as complicated).

If sport touring is what you want to do, I'd hang in there for a while at least (you've only got 600 miles or so) -- find a dealer/mechanic familiar with the FJR to either correct any issues, or verify that it is working properly -- then decide if it's the right bike for you.

 

[Maywannayamaha1300]

Is there a better dealer out there? That's what I would like to know....hopefully in the tri-state area. Anyone?

I want to do sport touring...the bike has become less smooth than when it was new....

 

[Rickster]

Is there a better dealer out there? That's what I would like to know....hopefully in the tri-state area. Anyone?

I'm not familiar with that area (I'm in the SouthEast), but look at DealerFeedbackClicky

and correction on my prior post, im only a noob to the FJR, been riding motorcycles (mostly sport bikes) since '85.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Try Hanovers in Whipany NJ. have heard they know the fjr

:jester:

 

[skyway]

I just brought my bike into my dealer on Friday for my 600 mile maintenance...the oil had been changed at 300 miles. The bike started running a bit rough. It became so jerky lately that it was hard to control. At idle it was not making a smooth sound. When quickly twisting the throttle in neutral, it revs like something is scraping/grinding inside the engine....judging by the sound....like there's friction somewhere.

Just a guess, but have the tech check the TPS. Really difficult to comment on any sounds without actually hearing the bike.

P.S. One of my saddle bag inner bags has already come apart on the inside....I haven't even stuffed it yet...

That's what your warranty is for, get it replaced ASAP.

If all else fails, ship it out to CA to me and I'll break 'er in gently for you. :evilsmiley03:

 

[Maywannayamaha1300]

anyone on here ever return an FJR to the dealer? what's Yamaha's return policy? Lemon law?

 

[FJR1300]

what's Yamaha's return policy?

Yamaha doesn't have a "return policy" but your dealer might be able to help you if you upgrade to another bike.

Lemon law?

It varies from state to state, so not knowing what state you are in... I can't be specific. There are essentially three sets of laws that apply to defective vehicles and products in the United States.

• The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is a Federal Law that protects the buyer of any product that costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty. Here is a summary of the Act in layman's language, and here is a more detailed explanation of the Act from the FTC.
• The Uniform Commercial Code or UCC has been adopted in all 50 states and covers contracts dealing with the sale of products.
• Summary of State Lemon Laws here and individual State Lemon Laws begin here.

A general example of a State Lemon Law (California Civil Code Section 1793.22)

 

[shuswaper]

Well...I sure as hell am disapointed about the `06 and it`s inherent problems. I was looking forward to dumping my deep frying `04 next spring on an `07. No can do, now that the chickens are coming home to roost. Aside from being a cooler machine to ride, it seems the bike is actually worse than the pre`06s in terms of throttle transitions, clutch lever effort, throttle effort etc. Can somebody please tell me : how is it that after 4 (or is it 5?) production years, they still haven`t gotten this bike right yet. There is no damn way I guy should have to spend so much time and money to get a brand new bike to run properly! :assassin:

 

[GunMD]

anyone on here ever return an FJR to the dealer? what's Yamaha's return policy? Lemon law?

Wow, lets hope it doesn't come to this. Your posts don't make it clear to me just how long you've been dealing with this, but I imagine that it can be taken care of in a reasonable amount of time. Once you get 'er dialed in I think you'll be very happy with this bike. Don't take "we don't know" as a final answer and get rid of it based on that alone.

Well...I sure as hell am disappointed about the `06 and it`s inherent problems. I was looking forward to dumping my deep frying `04 next spring on an `07. No can do, now that the chickens are coming home to roost. Aside from being a cooler machine to ride, it seems the bike is actually worse than the pre`06s in terms of throttle transitions, clutch lever effort, throttle effort etc. Can somebody please tell me : how is it that after 4 (or is it 5?) production years, they still haven`t gotten this bike right yet. There is no damn way I guy should have to spend so much time and money to get a brand new bike to run properly!

Whoa, hold on now. Do some historical research and I think you'll find plenty of comments about surging, overagressive throttle return springs, etc. Some of the very things you're mentioning here have been "issues" on previous year models. But it's important to realize that not ALL FJRs (not even the majority) ever have any of these "problems". What you think is to much throttle return may be just right for me. I have an OhFive and haven't changed a thing...no heat fix, no risers, no throttle return mods, no aftermarket windshield...and I ride it fairly often. So don't throw the towel in just yet.

 

[temp357]

Who changed the oil at 300 miles and what kind of oil did you use?

1) is the clutch slipping

2) did the dealer perform a tbs at 600 miles

3) have them check the tps while they are at it

 

[Ari Rankum]

Well...I sure as hell am disapointed about the `06 and it`s inherent problems. I was looking forward to dumping my deep frying `04 next spring on an `07. No can do, now that the chickens are coming home to roost. Aside from being a cooler machine to ride, it seems the bike is actually worse than the pre`06s in terms of throttle transitions, clutch lever effort, throttle effort etc. Can somebody please tell me : how is it that after 4 (or is it 5?) production years, they still haven`t gotten this bike right yet. There is no damn way I guy should have to spend so much time and money to get a brand new bike to run properly! :assassin:

I find my '06 to be less smooth than my '05. I'm still willing to believe that making some adjustments to the adjustables will make the bike comparable to the '05. I rode the '04 K12GT and the '05 ST1300 before buying my '05 FJR. Hands down, the smoothest was the ST1300. It had the best small-input throttle response of the 3 by a lot. But, while I wanted smooth, it was not all I wanted. I also wanted grunt, suspension, brakes, and FUN. The FJR took the rest of the categories. If you want smooth, you may want to throw a leg over an ST1300.

There are some improvements in the 06, though. I think the suspension and the seat are better. I find myself searching for a missing 6th gear a lot less. In fact, I'm frequently downshifting into 4th under 70mph. The heat problem IS solved. I was out in 90+ yesterday with a near empty tank and me boyos were quite comfortable.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Well...I sure as hell am disapointed about the `06 and it`s inherent problems. I was looking forward to dumping my deep frying `04 next spring on an `07. No can do, now that the chickens are coming home to roost. Aside from being a cooler machine to ride, it seems the bike is actually worse than the pre`06s in terms of throttle transitions, clutch lever effort, throttle effort etc. Can somebody please tell me : how is it that after 4 (or is it 5?) production years, they still haven`t gotten this bike right yet. There is no damn way I guy should have to spend so much time and money to get a brand new bike to run properly! :assassin:

 

[skyway]

Hold on there now, new '06 owners. It has been my experience with my '04 that as the miles pile on, so the bike smooths out considerably.

2 things in life I guarantee for certain about owning any motorcycle.

1: Nothing is perfect, ever, but it can can come damn close.

2: Think the grass is any greener on the other side? I got news for you, IT 'AINT!

Get over it and ride the phucking thing already, geez. Lots of noise in the whining department, how about working as hard on the ride report area of the forum?

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Well that reply didn't go well :dribble:

Let me try again...

I have only owned the '06, and that only has 1400 miles on it. So a caveat emptor is acknowledged. But the throttle response is fine for me. Transitions are smooth, and my mechanic at the shop sprayed some lube in the clutch pin area (he says it makes WD-40 seem like sandpaper), and I have no problems since. The heat is no prob., the windshield works fine for me. The seat is too wide at the tank end for me but a simple mod. and some adjustments to taste on motorcycles are to be expected. One non-essential fastener was missing on delivery but happily and easily replaced. The shift in and out of first is messy and clunky at times, but shifting faster at higher revs as suggested in another thread has helped alot. I have had great luck thus far with the Z6 tires since I dialed in the pressure right (though I will replace those ASAP given the reports of problems). It is an awesome bike. All bikes have issues. If you want to try another brand go for it, but the '06 is a powerhouse with fewer things to dislike than any other bike I've owned.

Just my experience, but thus far the seat is the only thing I can see that I NEED to change.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

I want to do sport touring...

I'd suggest you do just that -- get outa town and cross a few state boundaries -- that's just what the FJR's best at. And, don't worry -- it's under warranty and they'll fix anything that fails. But, you may find that it won't fail -- it may cross as many of those state boundaries as you can find (and, in the process, some of its "niggling faults" may become less onerous?).

 

[C&C]

A couple of things to consider. First, get the throttle body syn done; that may help things tremedously. Secondly, if you're trying to rev the bike before it has warmed up, you're going to get a jerky throttle response because the ECM doesn't allow for high/quick reving until it has determined the bike is at proper temperature. Obviously if it doesn't rev, after a warmup, you may have a problem, but I wouldn't give up on this bike so easily. If it's not broke great, if it needs just a little TLC, get it done, your efforts will be rewarded.