buying high mileage FJR

[trepetti]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but I hate to create posts that are already addressing my question.

I have a high mileage FZ6 that I put about 78,000 miles since I bought her in 2012. Looking to replace her with an FJR, but my budget limits me to about $4,500. New to the FJR world, and everyone is telling me to get a Gen2.

So the mileage question is: "How much is too much"? I do all my own work, and aside from the 40,000 mile valve check/adjust, everything else looks routine.

I want a daily driver, and I know there are no guarantees, but where is the danger line? Is an 08, 60k bike too close to end of life? I understand that maintenance is the key, but they are not always available.

My thinking is that, if I get an over 40K without proof of maintenance, I will do the valve check as a precaution. Other than that, and barring any obvious issues (loose head bearings, wheel bearings, etc.), what is your experience with reliability as the FJR gets older?

Thanks

 

[Niehart]

You might want to PM Panman, Kevin, who has over 120000 on 2007 FJR for questions & pointers.

 

[Oldjeep]

$4500 ought to get you a Gen 2 with not a lot of miles on it. Just keep looking around and be ready to buy when one comes up. Granted, I bought mine 3 years ago - but I paid 4200 for a 2007 with 16K miles on it

 

[RossKean]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but I hate to create posts that are already addressing my question.

I have a high mileage FZ6 that I put about 78,000 miles since I bought her in 2012. Looking to replace her with an FJR, but my budget limits me to about $4,500. New to the FJR world, and everyone is telling me to get a Gen2.

So the mileage question is: "How much is too much"? I do all my own work, and aside from the 40,000 mile valve check/adjust, everything else looks routine.

I want a daily driver, and I know there are no guarantees, but where is the danger line? Is an 08, 60k bike too close to end of life? I understand that maintenance is the key, but they are not always available.

My thinking is that, if I get an over 40K without proof of maintenance, I will do the valve check as a precaution. Other than that, and barring any obvious issues (loose head bearings, wheel bearings, etc.), what is your experience with reliability as the FJR gets older?

Thanks

Over 40,000 isn't a big issue - rarely major problems before 150,000 or so. (I sold my '07 with 185,000 miles and very few issues, 100,000 and zero problems on my 2011).
Early Gen II ('06 and '07) are more likely to have electrical grounding issues (ground" spiders") than later Gen II. Also more likely to have ABS issues although it isn't common. Expect the usual with respect to brake pads, fork seals/bushings etc. Look for a bike with upgraded seats/windshield/aux lighting etc. With a used bike, pre-existing farkels reduce the eventual cost of ownership.
Gen III bikes with modest miles may be within your budget as well.

 

[escapefjrtist]

An '08 with 60k still has many (s)miles left in it. As you eluded to, maintenance is everything so if the the machine has been taken care of I wouldn't worry.

If you can stretch the budget a bit, there's a nice looking '12 in the classifieds. Great buy for someone.

Happy hunting!

~G

 

[trepetti]

$4500 ought to get you a Gen 2 with not a lot of miles on it. Just keep looking around and be ready to buy when one comes up. Granted, I bought mine 3 years ago - but I paid 4200 for a 2007 with 16K miles on it

Thanks. I think part of the problem is that this is a crappy time to buy a motorcycle. I figure that demand is highest during riding season....

 

[trepetti]

Over 40,000 isn't a big issue - rarely major problems before 150,000 or so. (I sold my '07 with 185,000 miles and very few issues, 100,000 and zero problems on my 2011).
Early Gen II ('06 and '07) are more likely to have electrical grounding issues (ground" spiders") than later Gen II. Also more likely to have ABS issues although it isn't common. Expect the usual with respect to brake pads, fork seals/bushings etc. Look for a bike with upgraded seats/windshield/aux lighting etc. With a used bike, pre-existing farkels reduce the eventual cost of ownership.
Gen III bikes with modest miles may be within your budget as well.

Thanks. What is a ground 'spider'. Sounds like something that might terrify an 'electro-arachnophobic'.

 

[RossKean]

Yamaha chose to use connectors that brought up to six grounds together. Some circuits carried enough current that these connectors failed - especially if they got dirty or oxidized. Hours of reading here if you search "spider". Affected 2006 - 2008 the most. There are 8 different spiders but two are more likely to be problematic. Yamaha had a recall for one of them.

Generally not terribly difficult to repair but (rarely) could leave you stranded.

 

[trepetti]

I see some pics in other threads. I have 1 of those on the FZ6, never knew what to call it. Learn something new every day.....

 

[RossKean]

I see some pics in other threads. I have 1 of those on the FZ6, never knew what to call it. Learn something new every day.....

They are not necessarily problematic. Only if they are overloaded. They have sufficient capacity in theory, but sometimes fail because they are already close to the edge and connections are imperfect. Yamaha made a design error in judgment.

 

[torch]

My thinking is that, if I get an over 40K without proof of maintenance, I will do the valve check as a precaution. Other than that, and barring any obvious issues (loose head bearings, wheel bearings, etc.), what is your experience with reliability as the FJR gets older?

Ok, just to clarify: If we are talking MILES, then the recommended valve check is around 25,000mi. If we are talking KILOMETERS then the recommended valve check is 40,000kms.

I'm in Canada (as is Ross, above) so I'll talk kilometers.

Yamaha's recommended intervals are very conservative. In some cases, insanely conservative (change plugs at 10,000kms???) Many FJRs have gone 2 or 3 times the interval before needing a single shim changed. IIRC, on my first FJR I changed one the first check, none the second and 2 or 3 that were technically still in spec but right on the edge on the third check. So one shim that was actually out of spec in 120,000kms. Kind of makes me wonder if it really was or if I goofed up the measurement.

I rode that Gen 1 bike well over 300,000kms. I replaced the ignition switch. Twice. I replaced the waterpump seal. I wore out the turn signal switch and had to replace that. I had the sidestand switch fail at a fuel stop and had to hotwire that until it could be replaced. I broke one leg off the centerstand because Yamaha didn't get that right until 2004. I replaced the starter motor for pretty much the same reason. I replaced the radiator because I should have added a guard like everyone else did.

The stainless steel exhaust system eventually succumbed to vibration cracks at various points and times. I welded the cracks as they occurred until I finally gave up and replaced it end to end with seconds from eBay. I replaced the camchain tensioner because everybody else was too, but honestly could not find anything wrong with the original. Must have been a bad batch after mine was made.

And tires. Lots and lots of tires. I think 38 in total? Sometimes I wore out the rear first, other times I wore out the front first. I never could get the hang of wearing them both out at the same time. So some of them had a little bit of meat left on the bone, but then, a few were past their best-before date too. I eased her home with cords showing through the rear at the end one particular trip -- I found it a highly effective way to raise my stress level. It was the only time I worried if the FJR was going to make it home.

I gave the bike to my son when I got the Gen2. He's still riding it and the damn thing still outpulls a Gen2 gear for gear. He just had to replace the waterpump seal -- again. Darn things seem to wear out every 170 or 180,000kms. Fortunately FJRs are fairly easy to work on -- you don't even have to drain the engine oil, just put it on the sidestand, drain the coolant and remove the lower right fairing panel. It's right there. Compare to any other touring bike by any other manufacturer.

So, 60k? Even in miles? My advice is buy it, lube it, check the valves, throw in some iridium plugs that will last until the next valve check and start wearing out tires.

 

[Inlaw1]

06 with 112K miles on it. Performed the valve services at the recommended 26K miles each time. It's never needed an adjustment. Yamaha valve train is amongst the most reliable. No other issues with the bike, runs like new and I wouldn't be afraid to take it across country (and while I don't abuse my bikes, I don't baby them either). Other than tires, the bigger items I have had to do is fork seals, swing arm bushings, brake pads. Still on the same headset bearings. No water pump / fuel pump issues. This bike had the spider recall done and nothing along those lines have popped up.

So, for the right price, a high mileage bike that's been taken care of will make a great daily.

 

[Diablo1]

I bought my 2006 Gen 2 for $4500 with 38,000 miles. Now it has 77,000 miles. Bike needed a ground spider repair, new ignition switch and a clutch slave during my ownership. Other than that, just normal routine maintenance - spark plugs, air filters, oil changes, tires, valve checks with no shims needed but installed new cam chain tensioner to avoid potential problems. I won’t even check the valves again for at least 75,000 more miles. It’s like a 2 wheel Toyota Camry.

 

[Super13]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but I hate to create posts that are already addressing my question.

I have a high mileage FZ6 that I put about 78,000 miles since I bought her in 2012. Looking to replace her with an FJR, but my budget limits me to about $4,500. New to the FJR world, and everyone is telling me to get a Gen2.

So the mileage question is: "How much is too much"? I do all my own work, and aside from the 40,000 mile valve check/adjust, everything else looks routine.

I want a daily driver, and I know there are no guarantees, but where is the danger line? Is an 08, 60k bike too close to end of life? I understand that maintenance is the key, but they are not always available.

My thinking is that, if I get an over 40K without proof of maintenance, I will do the valve check as a precaution. Other than that, and barring any obvious issues (loose head bearings, wheel bearings, etc.), what is your experience with reliability as the FJR gets older?

Thanks

+1 for the Gen2.

 

[robcig]

+1 for the Gen2.

+2 for the Gen 2.

 

[rbentnail]

+3 for the gen2. My 2007 has 140,xxx miles and still runs great.

 

[RossKean]

295,000 km (185,000 mi.) on my Gen II 2007 when I sold it. As far as I can recall, the only issues beyond "consumables" were one "spider bite" (and one other electrical grounding problem), one toasted headlight socket, one plugged MAP sensor line (free fix), a radiator pinhole leak (fixable), a cracked coolant overflow tank (replaced), two sets of fork seals/bushings, gear indicator switch, one set of front wheel bearings and one worn shifter rubber. There were ignition switch, ground "spider" and ECU factory recalls on the '07.

I replaced the cam chain tensioner out of an abundance of caution because of reports of a few failures in Gen I and early Gen II models (up to '08).
One battery, a few miscellaneous light bulbs, couple sets of brake pads, oil, filters, coolant, clutch/brake fluids, sparkplugs, gear lube, lots of tires. The bike saw the dealer for one of the fork seal jobs and the wheel bearings when I didn't have time or parts before a trip. Dealer did the recalls as well. Did the rest myself.

My 2011 has been truly exceptional - currently at 160,000 km (100,000 mi.). Factory recall for the ignition switch. There was a recall for the front brake switch but I never had it done. Other than consumables (including one set of brake pads), I have replaced one set of fork seals/bushings and one shifter rubber. Period! Not even a headlight bulb and the 12 year old battery is still the original (but will need to be replaced next season, I think).

Neither bike has needed anything replaced in the engine, clutch, transmission, final drive, frame, water pump, thermostat, sensors, braking system, levers, coolant hoses, hydraulic plumbing, coils/wires, charging system, exhaust, starter, injectors etc.

Bottom line - don't worry about a few miles on a used FJR as long as there is some evidence that it was properly maintained and not abused.

 

[BlakeCG]

$4500 ought to get you a Gen 2 with not a lot of miles on it. Just keep looking around and be ready to buy when one comes up. Granted, I bought mine 3 years ago - but I paid 4200 for a 2007 with 16K miles on it

Same! I bought mine 3 years ago, $4,200 with 14k miles. New tires was all she needed. $4,500 will certainly get you a lot of FJR.

 

[Oldjeep]

Same! I bought mine 3 years ago, $4,200 with 14k miles. New tires was all she needed. $4,500 will certainly get you a lot of FJR.

I did new tires, battery and cct on mine. In addition did plugs, oil, filter because it had been sitting around a lot and the PO was one of those people who thought starting the unused bike up once a month was a good idea. Been a good bike so far.

 

[BlakeCG]

I did new tires, battery and cct on mine. In addition did plugs, oil, filter because it had been sitting around a lot and the PO was one of those people who thought starting the unused bike up once a month was a good idea. Been a good bike so far.

well, yeah - the owner had just changed the oil and filter, I changed the spark plugs due to age... mine had the original tires still on her! I'm now on my third set.