MartyO
Well-known member
Well I’ve managed to put 1700 miles on my 2014 ES now in 3 weeks. I’m enjoying the bike a lot. It is comforting hopping off my 2006 and being very familiar with the FJR the new one felt great right away. Hands down the biggest change I notice is the suspension.
I’ve adjusted suspension on my dirt bikes for years and on my 06 FJR. I try to let the bikes performance tell me what adjustment is needed and adjust a little at a time. So far the Yamaha and KYB engineers seem to have the ES settings dialed in very well. At first I didn’t feel the need to adjust the preset setting in the up and down range yet. I find that even without bags, the 1-up with luggage setting on hard gives me the sporty feel that I like (I weigh 195). At first this setting seemed just a little stiff feeling in the rear spring rate without bags but it worked well. But now I don’t feel the rear is too stiff. I have been on a rough road and switched to standard on the fly to smooth out the bumps on the straight section and this worked great. What I like most in the 1-up with luggage on hard, is the solid feel without wallow even in the high speed bumpy corners, just a great solid, controlled line, every time. I was riding 2-up with luggage on hard with my adult daughter. I switched from hard to soft on the freeway and we both felt the difference, she immediately said we were floating down the road. This is a little too soft for me.
I went on a 200 mile ride today with my fast friend who rides a C14. Did a lot of twisties both tight and fast sweepers. On the high speed sweepers with bumps I felt I needed to firm it up just a little. When we stopped I dialed in 1-up with luggage on hard +1. This seemed to be the sweet spot today. This bike handles very well and inspires confidence. On acceleration it stuck right with the C14. In the tight twisties I gapped him a little. It was a good day.
I thought at first that I would drive around in touring mode all the time as sport felt abrupt. In tour the bike feels slower than my 06. In sport it feels faster than my 06. I found I like sport. I can be smooth as glass even in sport mode and barely have to move the throttle. Throttle response is spot on and the bike runs very well. Wick it up in the higher RPM’s and it pulls like crazy. I have used tour mode in wet conditions and it works great. It takes the edge off the throttle response as a little bump of the throttle in sport makes the bike jump. The only little thing I’ve noticed with the throttle by wire is very slow speed, like just keeping momentum while waiting for a light to change to keep your feet up. It kind of goes slow with a series of little blips on and off, doesn’t stall, and easy to manage with slipping the clutch, just a little different than my cabled throttle.
I never had cruise control or heated grips before, I’m sold on both. The cruise is much better than my old throttle lock to rest the right hand, you can button speed up and down with the left hand, very handy way to go. Heated grips are just great, who knew. You have to have a smart left thumb with all the gadgets but I’m getting the hang of it. Honked my horn cancelling the cruise once or twice.
The brakes feel a little better than my 06. They’re powerful and work well like my 06 but the antilock feels a little more refined and less intrusive. Very hard braking I can feel some slight antilock pulsing but not nearly as pronounced as my 06. I know somewhere along the way Yamaha improved the antilock and I can feel the difference.
I miss my Cee Bailey +2 reverse flip windshield. I’m tall and the seat is on high and there is no quiet zone with the stock windshield. It does take the wind blast off the body but my helmet stays in the wind. I’m looking at the Cee Bailey sport shield for the 2013+ bikes, I don’t want one too tall. If anybody has tried one, let me know what you think.
Getting better mileage than my 06. Maybe I’m not flogging it enough yet.
I’ve adjusted suspension on my dirt bikes for years and on my 06 FJR. I try to let the bikes performance tell me what adjustment is needed and adjust a little at a time. So far the Yamaha and KYB engineers seem to have the ES settings dialed in very well. At first I didn’t feel the need to adjust the preset setting in the up and down range yet. I find that even without bags, the 1-up with luggage setting on hard gives me the sporty feel that I like (I weigh 195). At first this setting seemed just a little stiff feeling in the rear spring rate without bags but it worked well. But now I don’t feel the rear is too stiff. I have been on a rough road and switched to standard on the fly to smooth out the bumps on the straight section and this worked great. What I like most in the 1-up with luggage on hard, is the solid feel without wallow even in the high speed bumpy corners, just a great solid, controlled line, every time. I was riding 2-up with luggage on hard with my adult daughter. I switched from hard to soft on the freeway and we both felt the difference, she immediately said we were floating down the road. This is a little too soft for me.
I went on a 200 mile ride today with my fast friend who rides a C14. Did a lot of twisties both tight and fast sweepers. On the high speed sweepers with bumps I felt I needed to firm it up just a little. When we stopped I dialed in 1-up with luggage on hard +1. This seemed to be the sweet spot today. This bike handles very well and inspires confidence. On acceleration it stuck right with the C14. In the tight twisties I gapped him a little. It was a good day.
I thought at first that I would drive around in touring mode all the time as sport felt abrupt. In tour the bike feels slower than my 06. In sport it feels faster than my 06. I found I like sport. I can be smooth as glass even in sport mode and barely have to move the throttle. Throttle response is spot on and the bike runs very well. Wick it up in the higher RPM’s and it pulls like crazy. I have used tour mode in wet conditions and it works great. It takes the edge off the throttle response as a little bump of the throttle in sport makes the bike jump. The only little thing I’ve noticed with the throttle by wire is very slow speed, like just keeping momentum while waiting for a light to change to keep your feet up. It kind of goes slow with a series of little blips on and off, doesn’t stall, and easy to manage with slipping the clutch, just a little different than my cabled throttle.
I never had cruise control or heated grips before, I’m sold on both. The cruise is much better than my old throttle lock to rest the right hand, you can button speed up and down with the left hand, very handy way to go. Heated grips are just great, who knew. You have to have a smart left thumb with all the gadgets but I’m getting the hang of it. Honked my horn cancelling the cruise once or twice.
The brakes feel a little better than my 06. They’re powerful and work well like my 06 but the antilock feels a little more refined and less intrusive. Very hard braking I can feel some slight antilock pulsing but not nearly as pronounced as my 06. I know somewhere along the way Yamaha improved the antilock and I can feel the difference.
I miss my Cee Bailey +2 reverse flip windshield. I’m tall and the seat is on high and there is no quiet zone with the stock windshield. It does take the wind blast off the body but my helmet stays in the wind. I’m looking at the Cee Bailey sport shield for the 2013+ bikes, I don’t want one too tall. If anybody has tried one, let me know what you think.
Getting better mileage than my 06. Maybe I’m not flogging it enough yet.
