Yamaha FJ-09 Sport Tourer Update

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The bags appear to be a bit of an afterthought, but I suppose that comes with the territory in the sporty ST market.
I believe the sidebag 'base' is the same as the FJR sidebag and just the lid is different. So an FJR owner could just put the FJR sidebags on the FJ-09 if they didn't mind the look and wanted the increased storage.

And if you go to Yammie's website and look under accessories for the FJ-09, a functional rear rack is available as well as a topcase that attaches to that rear rack.

Cool bike. I was glad to see the ABS and very glad to see they increased the fuel capacity. I was afraid they would cheap out and use the same modest tank of the FZ-09.

Now, no chatter on the new R1? It has a gyro for crying out loud!

 
Now, no chatter on the new R1? It has a gyro for crying out loud!
Yah, I drooled at the R1 webpage for awhile but decided that it would reduce my life expectancy too much. Either because I tried to outride my skillset or the reaction I would get when I brought it home. Beautiful!!

 
SkooterG, Yes, the R1 & R1M are cool! How about a demo ride on one of those?!

How long of a wait to have factory cruise control on the FJ-09?

Sure wouldn't mind seeing a FJ-09 Touring model with cruise, grip warmers & bags.

 
SkooterG, Yes, the R1 & R1M are cool! How about a demo ride on one of those?!
How long of a wait to have factory cruise control on the FJ-09?

Sure wouldn't mind seeing a FJ-09 Touring model with cruise, grip warmers & bags.

From what I hear, with the new R1, it will no longer be in the Demo fleet. Probably a good thing.

It is too bad that the FJ-09 doesn't have cruise control. But the heated grips and bags are available as accessories.

 
From what I hear, with the new R1, it will no longer be in the Demo fleet. Probably a good thing.
It is too bad that the FJ-09 doesn't have cruise control. But the heated grips and bags are available as accessories.
I wouldn't blame them from not having the new R1's in the fleet.

If it was only as easy as plug-n-play to add cruise on the 09, otherwise they got a good thing going.

 
How long of a wait to have factory cruise control on the FJ-09?

Sure wouldn't mind seeing a FJ-09 Touring model with cruise, grip warmers & bags.
The FJ-09 is too much like the FZ-09, very small with cheap suspension. I'm not a BMW fan but if I wanted a light weight touring bike it would look like the S 1000 XR (that was introduced today).

 
Scooter - 2 questions?

1. Which bikes will be in the demo tour this year, and if the FJ-09 is NOT one of them, could you please bring one anyway?

2. When are you coming to Baton Rouge again?

 
Who wants to lube a chain every day on a road trip? Not me.
Then don't, because it is not needed.

Or if you are looking for a reason not to buy a bike with chain drive then don't do that.

But nobody needs to lube a chain every day. That is just silliness
Depends how many miles you ride Fred.

If the bike has a center stand lubing is easy, we're just spoiled from the shaft drive.

 
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Chain drive wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.It does need at least a 5 1/2 gal tank to qualify as a sport tourer.
Agreed that the range needs to be adequate, but what if the 900cc engine gets 50 mpg? Then a 4.5 - 5 gallon tank would be more than adequate and have a smaller weight penalty to boot.

I'm not saying that it will get that kind of fuel mileage. I'm astounded at how poor most bikes' mileage is considering their small weight and low rolling resistance.

Hey Fred,

It's been a long time since I owned a bike that had a chain. How is it that the modern chain doesn't require much lube? Years ago, my bike had an automatic oiler. What a mess it made, but of course I put up with it figuring it would enable my chain to last longer. Can you shed some light on need to lube the chain of a bike like the FZ09?
I recently made a post in another thread that I will copy & paste here.

Isn't lubing the chain 2 or 3 times a day sort of inconvenient?
It depends on who you ask.

Some people think you still need to lube your chain at every gas stop. That kind of thinking is mostly a hold over from the past when chains were not as advanced as they are today.

If you look at the wear points on a drive chain, it is primarily at the pin / roller interface, where the male pins on the outer half chain links run through the hollow rollers of the inner half links. On modern drive chain that area is pre-lubricated with heavy grease and sealed with o-rings. When the chain is in use the rollers contact the teeth of the sprocket and roll down the ramps of the teeth, so there is no friction or wear on those teeth unless / until you lose the sealed lubrication and the rollers start to seize up.

On a properly aligned driveline there is minimal contact of the chain plates with the sides of the sprockets, only enough to keep the chain centered on them, so the wear there should also also be minimal. The main thing you are doing by lubricating a modern o-ring chain is weather protection, helping to keep the chain from rusting, and keeping the o-rings sealed and lubricated from the outside so they do not wear out and lose their internal lube.

One of the worst things that you can do to a chain is to clean it too much. Scrubbing a chain with solvent and a brush is a great way to force dirt behind the o-rings, which is the beginning of the end for your chain. You are much better off using a relatively dry type of lubricant that does not attract dirt and doesn't need a lot of cleaning. When you do clean it, using a light oil (WD40 as an example) and rags is preferable to brush scrubbing or soaking in cleaner / solvent.

I have taken to using Dupont Teflon Spray lube ion my chains for several reasons. It sprays on thin and clear, and dries to a waxy paste that coats the chain, but will not fling off and make a mess. It also doesn't seem to attract nearly as much dirt as some of the gooey spray lubes do. I find that I do not have to clean the chain nearly as often, which as described above, is a very good thing.

I tend to just spray my chains every now and then with the Dupont stuff without cleaning. Not even every day, if there has been no rain. Maybe twice a season I will clean the chain when I am cleaning the rest of the bike. And my chains last as long or longer than most other folks. 20-30k miles is a reasonable expectation, though I have heard of 50k miles and more on some bikes using the same regimen. The cost is equivalent to a set of tires, not such a big deal.
You are right, chain oilers are a messy PITA. But they really are not needed on modern o-ring chains. Convincing some folks that this is the case isn't always easy, hence chain oilers are still bought and sold today. Empirical evidence shows they are not doing much except making a big mess. If I believed that I needed to use one, or religiously lube my chain at every rest stop, I would feel as negative about drive chains as some other folks seem to.

Here's a good analogy: Using a chain oiler, or lubing your drive chain religiously at every opportunity, is a lot like greasing the driveshaft splines on an FJR1300: It's not going to hurt anything, but it isn't really accomplishing much either.
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I lube my FZ1 chain about once per month, or maybe once every 1000 miles. Maybe not necessary but I do it at that interval and I changed my first chain out at 25,000 miles. Might have had more life (didn't bother to check it for stretch, just "looked" to be wearing out) but the change of chain and sprockets ran about $175 for a 530 setup. its certainly more expensive than lubing the FJR drive, but way cheaper than replacing a BMW final drive, so maybe its somewhere in the middle.....

As the PITA scale , I consider it a minor

 
The MSRP of the FJ-09 at $10,490.00 without saddle bags. It comes with a center stand. Hard saddle bags and the mounts, a touring windscreen, and a 12V accessory plug will add $800.00 to the bill. Certainly on this forum, we can ALL agree that these accessories would be required if we were to even consider this bike. This brings the total to $11,300.00. Comparing this to the 2015 FJR1300A at $15,890.00 puts the FJ-09 at about 30% cheaper. Of course, it's still a little bit Apples and Oranges, but other comparisons could also be made:

(For comparison purposes, each bike shown would be equipped with hard saddle bags, a center stand, a 12V accessory socket, and a touring windscreen).

1. V-strom 1000 - $13,999.00 plus $290.00 for a center stand = $14,289.00

2. Versys 1000 - $12,799.00 plus $262.00 for a touring screen and 12V socket = $13,061.00

From a chassis perspective, each of these bikes has very similar suspension travel, "adjustability" (windscreen, handlebars, seat, etc), fuel capacity and mileage, ABS, overall weight, etc. We don't have numbers on performance yet, but if we take numbers from the FZ-09, I'd venture the Yamaha will have no problems keeping up with the Versys or the V-Strom.

I'd look for the magazine to do a shootout cover article between these 3 bikes and I'd be very interested in reading it.

We could also compare the VFR800 and the Ninja 1000, but I think those bikes are much more sporty and in a separate class.

On paper, I'd put the price point for the FJ-09 at a bargain. Considering it's FZ-09 roots, I'm not all that surprised.

 
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hppants, hard saddlebags are listed as "each" so for a pair of bags and the lower bag mount kit & locks it comes to @ $1235 for those items. It comes standard with a 12v outlet near the gauges.

Very interested to see one in person, a chance for a demo ride probably won't happen until next Spring for me.

 
Xcsp - I do see that the FJ-09 has a 12V accessory socket - thanks for pointing that out. Trims $37.00 off the price.

But on Yamaha's website, under the accessories, I don't see where it says that the saddle bags are sold separately. I see that the bag LINERS are sold separately. Can you clarify that for me?

 
Xcsp - I do see that the FJ-09 has a 12V accessory socket - thanks for pointing that out. Trims $37.00 off the price.
But on Yamaha's website, under the accessories, I don't see where it says that the saddle bags are sold separately. I see that the bag LINERS are sold separately. Can you clarify that for me?
It doesn't clarify if it's a pair or each but if you click on the bags for more info and go to the product page and select the "options" button it has a selection for left and one for right which have different part #'s and for each they list the price at $532.99.

Regarding locks, that's another one that isn't clearly stated if the bags come with or w/o them.

 
I'd seen the pics, but hadn't noted the model designation. Looks a lot more Multistrada or mutant FZ1 than FJ-anything. I know it's overly picky, but the designation is stoopid. Excepting the FJR, which they haven't f'd up, Yamaha's styling has gone busy on everything; that's my beef on the xx-09 and 07. Looks like good brakes and suspension. Anybody notice saddle height?

 
Anybody notice saddle height?
33.3" and 33.9" (adjustable) It's not an adventure bike, why the tall seat heights.

Specs here: https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/sport/products/modelspecs/721/0/specs.aspx
I think the purpose of the taller seat is to provide a more upright seating position.

It is going to be interesting to see if this bike sells well. The FJ-09 is priced 31% higher than the FZ-09 yet the FJ-09 has neither cruise control nor heated seat as options. I think the FJ-09 would sell better had it been optioned more like a FJR.

 
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