"P" Position on Gen 3 ignition - WTH?

[Wlfman]

I don't have my paper manual in front of me, but the online manual mentions no P and doesn't show it in the diagram.

The 2013 Manual has it on pages 4-1 and 4-2

 

[08FJR4ME]

If you own a Gen III, you WILL accidentally kill your battery when you turn the key to far and walk away thinking you've locked the forks.
I've done it twice.

Just another reason why Gen1's are superior

And Gen2's,

 

[2ducs]

If you own a Gen III, you WILL accidentally kill your battery when you turn the key to far and walk away thinking you've locked the forks.
I've done it twice.

Nope, won't happen to me as both my Ducati's has the "P" position and I'm always weary of it. Been there before and no more!

BTW members, I'm new here with a '15 Gen III. Loved the color of it here at the local dealer and went to sit on it four times over a two month period. I went out of town to look at a trade-in FJR and the salesman looked down on me and said I was too small to ride a FJR! Five six. So, on the following Sat, I had my wife drive me to the local dealer and I got the new one. OH MAN I love that bike! Cheers

WG

 

[Bill Lumberg]

You'll probably look normal on an FJR. The bike looks normal with no one on it, but most full-growed adults look oversized on an FJR, or maybe the bike looks small. Visually the 883 of the sport tourer world. Never been able to figure out exactly why. You made a great choice. I love mine.

Back on topic, I invoked the mystical "P" feature for the first time last night. While I've studied every detail of the bike, it's capabilities, mundane service and adjustment lore, and menu adjustments, I, until this thread, never showed any interest in the writing around the keyhole. I wonder how long the average battery would run the lights in "P" mode before getting too low to start.

 

[mcatrophy]

...Back on topic, I invoked the mystical "P" feature for the first time last night. While I've studied every detail of the bike, its capabilities, mundane service and adjustment lore, and menu adjustments, I, until this thread, never showed any interest in the writing around the keyhole. I wonder how long the average battery would run the lights in "P" mode before getting too low to start.

I tried to answer that question here, 1.5 amps draw, so maybe safe for a very low number of hours.

 

[fredkreykes]

Been there, done that

A terrible feature

Very difficult to jump or push start when dead

Wonderful wife was nice enough to hook trailer behind pickup and rescue me

I may never locks the forks again

 

[Denver_FJR]

Park position has always been on Eurpean FJRs.
In the UK at least, it's been a legal requirement to have parking lights on at night when parked on the road more than a certain distance from a lamppost, so Yamaha have always made that provision.

I guess Yamaha have simply homologated the U.S. Gen III to be like the rest of the world.

I noticed the European Teneres have a "parking" key position too. Figured it was some requirement over there. Isn't cross-over technology a great thing?

 

[CA G-Man]

Wow, I had no idea this was a big issue for people... or that most people, it seems, don't lock their forks. Sure, any bike can be picked up by enough guys or by a picker truck, by why make it easier to steal? Depending on the parking circumstances, it can also be much easier for vandals, ne'er-do-wells, and mischief-makers to push the bike over if the forks aren't locked. Properly angle-parked with the rear wheel at a 45 degree angle to the curb and the forks locked it takes a lot of force to push the bike over.

I guess I'm quite deliberate in turning the key to the desired point - particularly since I have to use the Canadian-style key made from notoriously soft metal (but that's the topic of another thread).

 

[Old Guy]

I've had many bikes with a "P" position on the switch, but the others put it on the other side of the switch where you'd have to be trying to hit it to use it. I've pretty much formed the habit of turning mine to "P" then back one click before removing the key. So far, so good.

 

[roger dodger]

Maybe in the next Gen... Mama Yama will switch the tail lights to LEDs. Then they can be brighter AND more energy efficient to prevent dead batteries.

 

[RichDoyle]

I'm not particularly worried about accidentally leaving the bike in "P" (I've also had numerous bikes with this provision placed just beyond the fork-lock setting and never had a problem). But FWIW my 2 LED tail light bulbs together draw ~ 200 mA in running light mode. So 10 hours = 2 amp-hours.

Of course, if my bike were to sit like this over, say a weekend, well ...

 

[Wemi]

Park position has always been on Eurpean FJRs.In the UK at least, it's been a legal requirement to have parking lights on at night when parked on the road more than a certain distance from a lamppost, so Yamaha have always made that provision.I guess Yamaha have simply homologated the U.S. Gen III to be like the rest of the world.

The European vehicles have had marker lights for many years. I suspect Yamaha added this feature in conjunction with the LED eye brow feature on the headlight area. Perhaps it was decided this feature is now standard on all GenIII bikes. How did the earlier Gen European FJR's light the front of the bike in P? Surely it would not be full on headlights.

Parking lamps (bulbs) in the outside upper corners in the headlights. They are always on with the ignition and only on in the park position of the key.