What did you do to your FJR today?

[BkerChuck]

The 2014 turned 75k this afternoon. Changed oil and filter and put it aside. Time to start riding the 2013 again.

[Hppants]

300 miles today on the fjr with two buddies. Nice ride in northeast LA.

Got a hotel in Vicksburg, MS. Too cold to camp this trip. More tomorrow.

Stay thirsty, my friends…

[Hppants]

Another terrific ride today throughout the Mississippi bluff country. 225 miles today, I hit my favorites in the area. Little chilly early this morning, but the heated liner was toasty.

Home tomorrow. Nice trip to scrub off the rest of my RS4s.

Stay thirsty, my friends….

[fontanaman]

Another terrific ride today throughout the Mississippi bluff country. 225 miles today, I hit my favorites in the area. Little chilly early this morning, but the heated liner was toasty.

Home tomorrow. Nice trip to scrub off the rest of my RS4s.

Stay thirsty, my friends….

How many miles did you get out of the RS4s?

[Hppants]

Another terrific ride today throughout the Mississippi bluff country. 225 miles today, I hit my favorites in the area. Little chilly early this morning, but the heated liner was toasty.

Home tomorrow. Nice trip to scrub off the rest of my RS4s.

Stay thirsty, my friends….

How many miles did you get out of the RS4s?

I’m at 5800 on the rear, it’s got about 400-500 left. The front will go a bit more than that and it’s holding its shape nicely.

So… RS4 lasts about 15% more than the RS3 and costs about 20% more. It does feel a bit more complaint than the 3. Overall, a wash, I’d say. I’ll try another set for more data.

[Festus]

I'm crossing 9,000 on my first set of RS4's. Probably 300-500 left in them.

[raYzerman]

My guess is the RS4 is a slightly softer compound than the RS3, which for my preference was a bit too hard (geared more for mileage than grip IMHO). At least for wet and cooler riding. Maybe now I'll be swayed to try the RS4.

[raYzerman]

I should put this in the Complaint thread....... Call it a public service announcement then... and a Wanted ad... So I accepted a job on a 2015A FJR to replace the fork seals. There's a wee design issue with the 2013-15A models in that several have broken the compression valve at the bottom of the cartridge on the right hand fork. It's weak, and been discussed a few times on FJROwners. Yamaha does not sell cartridges or complete forks for these bikes. Design was changed in 2016, but those cartridges don't or suspected to not fit.. the whole fork has different part numbers. We'll see.

Anyway, I was taking care not to use impact gun, it all came apart normally, no issues at all. As I (lightly) was installing the bottom bolt in the cartridge, the freakin' compression valve broke. There are options but all will take over a month to resolve...... bike is parked inside my shop door with no forks and no way to move it.

Seals were replaced by a local dealer 20k kms. ago. Did not replace the totally worn out lower bushings, I suspect they did not even have the forks apart and did it hydraulically. I hate dealers. The broken part of the valve had evidence of a pre-existing crack... could have been broken by Yamaha (KYB) during initial assembly... again, weak design, torque spec too high. We'll never prove it either way.

So, looking for (a) a cartridge 2013-15A in any condition (can use lower section of the cartridge), (b) complete right fork in any condition, (c) complete set of Gen2 forks in good condition, (d) a set of Andreani cartridges (U$600). AFAIK, no one (e.g. RaceTech) makes replacement valving, but we still need to pursue with others (Cogent says they don't). RaceTech lists a kit, but the photos are all wrong, should call them to clarify. Just going to keep calm and work through the options....

Edit added - no need to discuss here, I'll start a separate thread for that because it's a whole topic unto itself.

[FJRoss]

I should put this in the Complaint thread....... Call it a public service announcement then... and a Wanted ad... So I accepted a job on a 2015A FJR to replace the fork seals. There's a wee design issue with the 2013-15A models in that several have broken the compression valve at the bottom of the cartridge on the right hand fork. It's weak, and been discussed a few times on FJROwners. Yamaha does not sell cartridges or complete forks for these bikes. Design was changed in 2016, but those cartridges don't or suspected to not fit.. the whole fork has different part numbers. We'll see.

Anyway, I was taking care not to use impact gun, it all came apart normally, no issues at all. As I (lightly) was installing the bottom bolt in the cartridge, the freakin' compression valve broke. There are options but all will take over a month to resolve...... bike is parked inside my shop door with no forks and no way to move it.

Seals were replaced by a local dealer 20k kms. ago. Did not replace the totally worn out lower bushings, I suspect they did not even have the forks apart and did it hydraulically. I hate dealers. The broken part of the valve had evidence of a pre-existing crack... could have been broken by Yamaha (KYB) during initial assembly... again, weak design, torque spec too high. We'll never prove it either way.

So, looking for (a) a cartridge 2013-15A in any condition (can use lower section of the cartridge), (b) complete right fork in any condition, (c) complete set of Gen2 forks in good condition, (d) a set of Andreani cartridges (U$600). AFAIK, no one (e.g. RaceTech) makes replacement valving, but we still need to pursue with others (Cogent says they don't). RaceTech lists a kit, but the photos are all wrong, should call them to clarify. Just going to keep calm and work through the options....

Does Traxxion Dynamics have anything for the Gen III forks?

[raYzerman]

We'll discuss elsewhere, but yes, AK-20's (~U$1250) plus ~$450 machining the left fork. Not going there. Andreani's direct bolt-in.

[N4HHE]

Does Traxxion Dynamics have anything for the Gen III forks?

Am thinking they would be a good place to ask about the guts of forks they have upgraded. Not everyone wants their old parts returned.

[gixxerjasen]

Does Traxxion Dynamics have anything for the Gen III forks?

Am thinking they would be a good place to ask about the guts of forks they have upgraded. Not everyone wants their old parts returned.

And not everyone that gets their old parts back wants to put them in ever again, could be good to look for that as well.

[Hppants]

Another 200 easy miles today, making the 3-day total at 700 miles. Home safe - terrific trip. Ride report forthcoming.

I'm right at 6,000 miles on my RS4s and upon closer inspection, they are both about done. Maybe one more 250 miles day out of back, 500 on the front, but no more. The front held its shape beautifully all the way down to the wear bars.

I ordered another set of RS4s today from ebay. Was able to apply a $15 "Christmas Ebay coupon". Cost including shipping was $378 plus tax, $409 to the door. I could not find a set of RS3s for that price and I'm done shopping for any other tire for the FJR.... for now.

The RS4 is a LOT more compliant than the RS3, especially the front. The FJR will happily eat them just like any other. They will last a little bit longer than the RS3, but I didn't get what I hoped to get. Otherwise, I have zero complaints.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

[Toter]

I'm crossing 9,000 on my first set of RS4's. Probably 300-500 left in them.

That's really good mileage. Have you been really mild on these? Post above has them done at 6k.

[Dan Cooper]

Another 200 easy miles today, making the 3-day total at 700 miles. Home safe - terrific trip. Ride report forthcoming.

I'm right at 6,000 miles on my RS4s and upon closer inspection, they are both about done. Maybe one more 250 miles day out of back, 500 on the front, but no more. The front held its shape beautifully all the way down to the wear bars.

I ordered another set of RS4s today from ebay. Was able to apply a $15 "Christmas Ebay coupon". Cost including shipping was $378 plus tax, $409 to the door. I could not find a set of RS3s for that price and I'm done shopping for any other tire for the FJR.... for now.

The RS4 is a LOT more compliant than the RS3, especially the front. The FJR will happily eat them just like any other. They will last a little bit longer than the RS3, but I didn't get what I hoped to get. Otherwise, I have zero complaints.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

You could put a link in there for the rest of us who may be interested in RS4s!!

dan

[Festus]

I'm crossing 9,000 on my first set of RS4's. Probably 300-500 left in them.

That's really good mileage. Have you been really mild on these? Post above has them done at 6k.

I can’t say that’ll I’ve ever been mild on them. Probably the opposite, they increased my confidence enough that there is wear to the very edge of the tire. I think it’s a combination of road surface and throttle and braking technique that yields different numbers for people. That’s my guess. Could be totally wrong.

[Hppants]

Yeah - I gave up years ago on trying to analyze it. Pants must be hella hard on tires and i ride the bike to eat 'em up.

A riding buddy that moved 200 miles away was with us on this recent trip. He was behind me for 3 days and about 500 miles. Sitting around on the evening of Day 2, he came right out and said "Joey, you sure don't brake much in the twisties. So far, I've only seen your brake lights twice."

It's true, I use a LOT of engine braking. The twistier the road gets, the lower gear (even relatively speaking) I go. The only time I have to grab some brake is if the curve surprises me (decreasing radius curve, etc). Of course, the big FJR has PLENTY of compression to whoa you down.

Perhaps among other things, I'm scraping off the coast side of the tread as much as the pull side.

Damm - 9,000 miles would be almost 50% better. I can only wish. Perhaps the biggest issue is planning longer tours. To this day, if I think the tour is going to be more than 5,000 miles, I have to at least consider a tire change somewhere along the way. (sigh)

[Festus]

Post some photos of the tires, it would be interesting to see the wear. I'll post mine next time I can grab a couple of photos. I'm a big engine brake guy too. Trying to change that, but it's a slow process to retrain myself.

[wheatonFJR]

When I was touring cross country, I'd get 7000-7500 miles on a PR4 rear. Day rides on the mountain roads of Appalachia with a buddy or three, if I got 4500 miles on the rear PR4, I'd be shocked. 3-4k would be typical, and got 1800 miles on the only Pirelli Angel I ever used. Never again. PR4 GTs were my tire of choice, good grip and easy to install with the Nomar...which became a prime consideration after shattering my right collarbone in March of 2019.

I did nothing on either FJR today.

[Toter]

Post some photos of the tires, it would be interesting to see the wear. I'll post mine next time I can grab a couple of photos. I'm a big engine brake guy too. Trying to change that, but it's a slow process to retrain myself.

What's wrong with engine braking? Is it supposed to be better to brake more heavily to set corner entry speed, or engine brake? What do the track day instructors teach? To me, engine braking is more confidence inspiring. But, I'm slow as F#$k!