Creative Solution to Aging Gen 1 Issues

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Most excellent, congrats Matt!
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--G

 
You drank the red koolaid? What have you gone and done???
It's not like I darksided or something.....

But I did REALLY bad things to two separate Dunlop Roadsmart II's in a 24 hour period recently on the '05 and it may have hastened her retirement a bit. That said it was a fun day last month and my return to Nevada last weekend for a little 2400 mile 32 hour rally just made me realize the '14 is the logical next step to FJR Nirvana-ness.

 
I looked at the 2014 a couple of weekends ago at Adventure Motorsports in Monroe while having the 24000 mile maintenance done. It was inside under the flourescents so the color didn't really show off and the body styling didn't grab me like the Gen II does. I am intrigued by the shock. Less expensive and the few reports I've read that mention it seem pretty positive. Seems like it might be a lower cost option than the Penske/Ohlins choices. I ride solo, my weight is pretty steady around 155 lbs and think the Penske/Ohlins options might be overkill for me.

 
I haven't had much chance to ride because of mid-week responsibilities, but have done the work commute thing and have a whopping 47 miles on the bike at this point. The little things that are slightly different than my '05 are clearly more than the sum of its parts for this '14. It's simply incredible!

The engine and fueling management is clearly refined. I never minded the ever-so-slight surge I had with my '05s (including one with a Power Commander) until I rode this one that is butter smooth.

The windshield and aerodynamics are also a notch above. Although I haven't decided yet I can imagine not actually needing an aftermarket windshield. They've clearly done even more wind tunnel testing since Gen 1 and it shows.

The sucker is wider. I can feel my knees slightly farther apart, but not that it's an issue.

One of the few things I did last night in the garage was raise the seat to the higher position. Kind of a weird little mechanism I'd never paid attention on Gen 2, but the effect is more comfortable knee position for my 6'4" frame.

It will take a little getting used to the turn signals. Slightly different spot and slightly less real estate than my Gen 1, but I'll get used to it. Another nice little touch is the starter. Part of the kill switch and just press down part of it as a momentary starter. Nice touch!

When I flicked on the cruise control this morning and felt tension on my right hand disappear I actually sighed, "Ahhhhh." This feature is going to be one of my favorites. I had spent yesterday torn on whether to turn the cruise button off or tape the brakes to disengage, but then read the manual late in the afternoon and learned that twisting the throttle past neutral turns it off. Yet another nice touch.

The ES part of the bike is also nice so far. I haven't tried all the 7 sub settings part of each setting, but enjoy the Soft setting going down concrete highways and Hard for around town. More to come for sure.

I'm not sure I'm a fan of the turn indicators yet. They're kinda fuzzy little lights disconnected from the dash experience...and kind of weak. I think I like my super bright Gen 1 indicators more at this point, but so far this is one of few things I can find as a niggle. The other is there not being a boss on the right side for a mirror...which means I'm going to be short one RAM mount location until I find an alternative. Again, small stuff in the bigger scheme of where Yamaha has clearly been following exploits of LD riders and baking new features into their product.

Tonight I'm hoping to customize an information display screens. There's a treasure trove of rally goodies in there.

Other decisions are going to be what color choice I make for powdercoating various items I'll be adding (e.g. light brackets). I'm thinking either a matte black like the plastic, darker gray to match the side panels, or slightly lighter gray they've painted the engine. There will be no intentional yellow on this bike...don't worry. :)

 
You can also disengage the cruise by pulling in the clutch, even just slightly. This is my preferred method since you can hold the throttle open so when you release the cruise you do not have a sudden change in speed.

Keep us apprised of your discoveries as you ride her more.

 
Nice man...... appreciate some of the tidbits of info you dropped on the new machine.... I love hearing more about the little stuff....

 
Congrats, Matt, and glad to hear the '05 rally bike still has a home and is going strong at near 170K. And congrats on your recent 3rd place rally finish. Going to put 2,500 on my '05m (only 47K on it) this week - Northern Cascades, Vancouver Island and all of southern BC. Sam Park, who you remember, I'm sure, is going along on his new KTM 1190 Adventure.

 
You can also disengage the cruise by pulling in the clutch, even just slightly. This is my preferred method since you can hold the throttle open so when you release the cruise you do not have a sudden change in speed. Keep us apprised of your discoveries as you ride her more.
I've found by pressing the "decel" button and rolling the throttle forward makes it a seamless transition when going off of cruise and slowing down.

 
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I need to clean my glasses; I first read the bike's name as "Deep Throat"!
& along those same lines, a fellow rider friend has a shirt that says "If my bike could blow me I'd never go home"
& along those same lines, a fellow rider friend has a shirt that says "If my bike could blow me I'd never go home". Congrats to ya'. If'n I had the extra coin laying around I'd buy.......... a car! I could really use a new car. A new bike??? Hopefully one day. In the mean time... I have a new tire to wear out on my Gen 1. Go Liquid Silver! 102,000 miles & still going strong.

 
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I'm with Allen_C on the cruise disengage. Hold the throttle, quickly pull in the clutch about half way, then smoothly release it. No decel lurch. No brake light flash. My passenger never even notices I've been using the cruise. Smooth as buttah.

So Iggness. What have you done with your Gen 1's?

 
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Dang mother Yam for coming out with the one color that would tempt me to a new machine.........that is just drop dead gorgeous.............

 
I've seen the Yamaha advertising... "Conquer Road", 'Conquer Trail", etc. but I don't remember "Conquer Cornfield!" ;-)

 
for sure - great shots, excellent color and balance with the surroundings.....

What are you using for your camera and lenses.... ?

 
For some reason hitting "Quote" does not include the content of the post I want to refer to. (?)

Anyway, I am trying to comment on Allen_C's post. Nifty idea, I'll have to try that.

Dan

 
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