Fjroamer
Well-known member
...so, it's about time I get this thing serviced as it's running just a tad less crisp.
*** disclaimer: don't try this with your bike. I just put things off waaaaay to long!
'03 FJR #229 (received first day of first shipment of first year, mid July 2002) A week later I rode it over to (then) Sunnyside Yamaha, the first one they had ever seen as they had not received any as of that point. Picked up some filters, cap, sweatshirt, oil from Guru Glen, chatted w/ owner Dan Denchel for a bit and off I rode. (neat people over here, I thought to myself) This may very well have been (one of ) the first fJR's on Washington states' roads. What a thrill..., what a sweetie!
At that time, the fjrowners forum (mainly european) was the place to be. It seemed bikes should have a name back then as we were a small but enthusiastic and growing clan of Feejer owners. Stepping out my front door very early one Sat. morning and rolling up the garage door, a fine silvery/gray mist hung in the air. I rolled the bike out, preparing for an all day ride and briefly pondered.... hmmm.... "Misty Dawn". The name has stuck.
Oh..., back to the servicing. So, yesterday I take the bike over to Sunnydesertpowersidesports :blink: in Prosser for a tune up. At 500 miles I had a rudimentary initial service done at a Seattle area dealer. That was it! I have always changed oil and shaft oils very regularly and frequently (several times in the first 5,000 miles) and did not bother with the Motorman Break-in. Metalurgy and machining being what it is nowadays, there's a lot of hype going on with this. Engines of the 60's and 70's may benefit from these breakin procedures but... well, I digress! (Nor did I alter any mixture settings or or install engine add-ons with mapping changes)
Up until yesterday, I still had the orig. battery (July '02 to Sept '08) 6 yrs!!! always on a battery tender.
It finally died in the shop while doing compression testing (I knew it needed replacing and had prearranged for a new one anyways). Also, I had never done the valve adj. check, never a throttle body synch., still had (honestly!) the original spark plugs in which were a creamy brown but with a good bit of a gap from wear. This bike was still getting 50+mpg on the fwy. trip over for servicing!!!
Folks in the shop were a bit intrigued that the bike ran so well with the mileage and lack of tune up at 40,000 mi.. So was I! This would be a thorough (and most overdue) full service. Valves were all within spec., no adj needed. After reading Eric's story (OCFJR) on how long an engine will last, I requested a compression check. All over 90% spec., 195- 210 psi. The throttle body synch was out a bit (never having been done) so that was brought back to spec. Went with iridium plugs, new stock air filter (orig. was o.k. looking). A new (recall item) throttle position sensor was installed even though the orig. seemed to be working just fine.The ride home was so smoooooth. Misty was purring once again where she had lost just a bit of her snap. At steady 70+mph fwy, I got 52 mpg going back to Seattle.
This bike is/was not a ticker. Under sedate throttle hand, it's always yielded 50+ mpg and when playing hard, down in the low 40's. Steering head bearings are fine (checked and snugged up) and some tires had decel. wobble to different degrees which was a factor strictly of the tire, not of suspension or steering head. (current Pilot Road 2's have no wobble whatsoever and are proving to be the best I've had on the Feejer).
Why so trouble free and long lasting and good mileage??? I'm not an engineer or cert. mechanic but I offer these meager insights:
I seldom go out for brief jaunts, (to the store and back, around the block, or whatever). Seldomly do I ride less than an hour or more and a good day's ride is 400-600 miles (done a few SS1000's). So..,the engine is up to temp., no frequent start/stop to work the battery, no clutch dumping wheelie-ing antics or stoplight burnouts. Its seen triple digits (with a bit of discretion) several times, hit the rev limiter on more than a few occasions and climbed above 150 mph on one (test) occassion. Fuel.. always mid grade octane (usually Shell) and techron fuel system cleaner every 5,000 mi. or so. Always used Yamalube 20/40 and now Shell Rotella diesel 15/40. I'm not shy about pushing her through the canyons (blew a corner early on in her career) but tend to ride "fast smooth" as opposed to "insane erratic". All that and maybe...., just maybe, I was one of the lucky ones that got a bike that was buttoned up right right out of the factory.
...thoughts of trading up to a new FJR are quickly fading. There's been speculation (even Warchild hinted at this) that the Silver one's ('03) were the best running, & lightest (non ABS) model FJR's. (No need to start a war on that as it's more rider than machine) but with an upgraded suspension in the thought process, can I really do better with a new/er one??? I think not.... Life with Misty is good!!!
(and the folks at Desert Powersports are tops!!!!!!)
I think a lesser machine, with my lack of regular maintainence, would not be looking so good at this point..... but then I ponder OCFJR's dilemma..... What (if anything) did we do different??? I haven't the answer.......
o.k., catch you folks later! Roamer
*** disclaimer: don't try this with your bike. I just put things off waaaaay to long!
'03 FJR #229 (received first day of first shipment of first year, mid July 2002) A week later I rode it over to (then) Sunnyside Yamaha, the first one they had ever seen as they had not received any as of that point. Picked up some filters, cap, sweatshirt, oil from Guru Glen, chatted w/ owner Dan Denchel for a bit and off I rode. (neat people over here, I thought to myself) This may very well have been (one of ) the first fJR's on Washington states' roads. What a thrill..., what a sweetie!
At that time, the fjrowners forum (mainly european) was the place to be. It seemed bikes should have a name back then as we were a small but enthusiastic and growing clan of Feejer owners. Stepping out my front door very early one Sat. morning and rolling up the garage door, a fine silvery/gray mist hung in the air. I rolled the bike out, preparing for an all day ride and briefly pondered.... hmmm.... "Misty Dawn". The name has stuck.
Oh..., back to the servicing. So, yesterday I take the bike over to Sunnydesertpowersidesports :blink: in Prosser for a tune up. At 500 miles I had a rudimentary initial service done at a Seattle area dealer. That was it! I have always changed oil and shaft oils very regularly and frequently (several times in the first 5,000 miles) and did not bother with the Motorman Break-in. Metalurgy and machining being what it is nowadays, there's a lot of hype going on with this. Engines of the 60's and 70's may benefit from these breakin procedures but... well, I digress! (Nor did I alter any mixture settings or or install engine add-ons with mapping changes)
Up until yesterday, I still had the orig. battery (July '02 to Sept '08) 6 yrs!!! always on a battery tender.
It finally died in the shop while doing compression testing (I knew it needed replacing and had prearranged for a new one anyways). Also, I had never done the valve adj. check, never a throttle body synch., still had (honestly!) the original spark plugs in which were a creamy brown but with a good bit of a gap from wear. This bike was still getting 50+mpg on the fwy. trip over for servicing!!!
Folks in the shop were a bit intrigued that the bike ran so well with the mileage and lack of tune up at 40,000 mi.. So was I! This would be a thorough (and most overdue) full service. Valves were all within spec., no adj needed. After reading Eric's story (OCFJR) on how long an engine will last, I requested a compression check. All over 90% spec., 195- 210 psi. The throttle body synch was out a bit (never having been done) so that was brought back to spec. Went with iridium plugs, new stock air filter (orig. was o.k. looking). A new (recall item) throttle position sensor was installed even though the orig. seemed to be working just fine.The ride home was so smoooooth. Misty was purring once again where she had lost just a bit of her snap. At steady 70+mph fwy, I got 52 mpg going back to Seattle.
This bike is/was not a ticker. Under sedate throttle hand, it's always yielded 50+ mpg and when playing hard, down in the low 40's. Steering head bearings are fine (checked and snugged up) and some tires had decel. wobble to different degrees which was a factor strictly of the tire, not of suspension or steering head. (current Pilot Road 2's have no wobble whatsoever and are proving to be the best I've had on the Feejer).
Why so trouble free and long lasting and good mileage??? I'm not an engineer or cert. mechanic but I offer these meager insights:
I seldom go out for brief jaunts, (to the store and back, around the block, or whatever). Seldomly do I ride less than an hour or more and a good day's ride is 400-600 miles (done a few SS1000's). So..,the engine is up to temp., no frequent start/stop to work the battery, no clutch dumping wheelie-ing antics or stoplight burnouts. Its seen triple digits (with a bit of discretion) several times, hit the rev limiter on more than a few occasions and climbed above 150 mph on one (test) occassion. Fuel.. always mid grade octane (usually Shell) and techron fuel system cleaner every 5,000 mi. or so. Always used Yamalube 20/40 and now Shell Rotella diesel 15/40. I'm not shy about pushing her through the canyons (blew a corner early on in her career) but tend to ride "fast smooth" as opposed to "insane erratic". All that and maybe...., just maybe, I was one of the lucky ones that got a bike that was buttoned up right right out of the factory.
...thoughts of trading up to a new FJR are quickly fading. There's been speculation (even Warchild hinted at this) that the Silver one's ('03) were the best running, & lightest (non ABS) model FJR's. (No need to start a war on that as it's more rider than machine) but with an upgraded suspension in the thought process, can I really do better with a new/er one??? I think not.... Life with Misty is good!!!
(and the folks at Desert Powersports are tops!!!!!!)
I think a lesser machine, with my lack of regular maintainence, would not be looking so good at this point..... but then I ponder OCFJR's dilemma..... What (if anything) did we do different??? I haven't the answer.......
o.k., catch you folks later! Roamer
