FJRiders.com

Changed oil, filter, and final drive oil on the 2014 at 70k miles.

On Tuesday I rode with the local BMW riders. It was a nice ride. At lunch we were discussing suspension. I learned a fellow with a 2022 or 2023 R1250RT had his suspension flashed twice to resolve a pogo sticking issue. Unless I joined this group I would have never known.

The same guy also discussed a service issue at the local BMW shop, the only one in Spokane. Some guys in this group drive 2 - 3 hours to avoid the local dealer.

Why is this relevant. Well I have considered buying a BMW and selling the FJR. Now not so much.

I am not thrilled with the suspension on my FJR but the rest of the bike is perfect. If I got a BMW it is likely I'd miss the FJR for all it good characteristics. And having a motorcycle with suspension behavior dependent on a flash or some electronics I can't control is a place I don't want to go. And with only one local BMW dealer who's service reputation is questionable - well you get the picture.



It was a ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ great day to be on the FJR.

Sounds like someone needs to drop some money at Traxxion instead of BMW.

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2024 2:21 pm Sounds like someone needs to drop some money at Traxxion instead of BMW.

I went to the Traxxion Dynamics website and didn't see any products offered for a 17-ES. As far as I know there are too few places that offer replacement springs but I am skeptical of just beefing up the spring. I bet Yamaha engineered the the stock shock damping for the 680# spring and going to an 850# or other spring would just overpower the damping, pogo pogo pogo.

Thanks for the idea though.

Oh yea, duh, I always forget about the ES.

You need to get together with CraigRegs and go for a test ride on his HyperPro progressive spring. While they don't publish the spring rates, I suspect it is a tad stronger than the OEM spring.

Just a little experience on the Versys 1000 (non ES), the shock has crappy damping and was very sensitive to the slightest of adjustments.... Keep in mind it weighs 100lbs. less than an FJR, so lighter springs in order...... I upgraded the spring from OEM 650 to 750 and found myself running at zero preload and still could not dial it in. What fixed it was a Hyperpro progressive spring, but I felt it mighta been more like a 700 lb. spring. I did have to dial in about 10 clicks of preload (out of a total of 21 available). My thought is the progressive spring compensated for the poor damping adjustment.

BTW, Craig should post up his thoughts now.........

Put an RS4 on the front. RS4s were on back order for the rear. So I just stuck an RS3 on the back.
I need to find the invoice but I think I got close to 10k out of the RS3s. They wore good to the end. Front was done, rear had a little life.

I did more trips on them than curvy roads.

I mix and match tires and brands all the time...... no worries.

raYzerman wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2024 7:33 pm I mix and match tires and brands all the time...... no worries.

I like a T32GT on the front and PR4GT on the rear.

Finally let the dealer touch my 2014 and had the brake switch recall done. Couple of weeks ago they had my Goldwing wheels to put on new tires and marked one of them up pretty good. Same tech (supposedly the best one) did the recall. Looks good as far as I can tell.

D-Eagle wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 3:19 pm Finally let the dealer touch my 2014 and had the brake switch recall done. Couple of weeks ago they had my Goldwing wheels to put on new tires and marked one of them up pretty good. Same tech (supposedly the best one) did the recall. Looks good as far as I can tell.

You're braver than I. I don't trust any of those bass turds so I replaced the switch myself. I'd rather have no "recall complete" record than more broken and dented shit on my bike.

rbentnail wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 5:53 am

D-Eagle wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 3:19 pm Finally let the dealer touch my 2014 and had the brake switch recall done. Couple of weeks ago they had my Goldwing wheels to put on new tires and marked one of them up pretty good. Same tech (supposedly the best one) did the recall. Looks good as far as I can tell.

You're braver than I. I don't trust any of those bass turds so I replaced the switch myself. I'd rather have no "recall complete" record than more broken and dented shit on my bike.

I know. It's why I waited so long. But was worried the brake switch would stop the cruise from working someday, and I certainly didn't trust myself to do it. Quick test afterwards with cruise set successfully at 83 mph. (That's for you Wheaton!)

D-Eagle wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 8:11 am

rbentnail wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 5:53 am

D-Eagle wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 3:19 pm Finally let the dealer touch my 2014 and had the brake switch recall done. Couple of weeks ago they had my Goldwing wheels to put on new tires and marked one of them up pretty good. Same tech (supposedly the best one) did the recall. Looks good as far as I can tell.

You're braver than I. I don't trust any of those bass turds so I replaced the switch myself. I'd rather have no "recall complete" record than more broken and dented shit on my bike.

I know. It's why I waited so long. But was worried the brake switch would stop the cruise from working someday, and I certainly didn't trust myself to do it. Quick test afterwards with cruise set successfully at 83 mph. (That's for you Wheaton!)

They butchered my 2013 when they did that recall. Stripped a screw, left off pop pins and broke a tab on the side panel.

No way I would let a dealer do the transmission recall and keep a bike.

D-Eagle wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 8:11 am

rbentnail wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 5:53 am

D-Eagle wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 3:19 pm Finally let the dealer touch my 2014 and had the brake switch recall done. Couple of weeks ago they had my Goldwing wheels to put on new tires and marked one of them up pretty good. Same tech (supposedly the best one) did the recall. Looks good as far as I can tell.

You're braver than I. I don't trust any of those bass turds so I replaced the switch myself. I'd rather have no "recall complete" record than more broken and dented shit on my bike.

I know. It's why I waited so long. But was worried the brake switch would stop the cruise from working someday, and I certainly didn't trust myself to do it. Quick test afterwards with cruise set successfully at 83 mph. (That's for you Wheaton!)

I drive 55. No worries.

danh600 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 8:49 am

D-Eagle wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 8:11 am

rbentnail wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 5:53 am
You're braver than I. I don't trust any of those bass turds so I replaced the switch myself. I'd rather have no "recall complete" record than more broken and dented shit on my bike.

I know. It's why I waited so long. But was worried the brake switch would stop the cruise from working someday, and I certainly didn't trust myself to do it. Quick test afterwards with cruise set successfully at 83 mph. (That's for you Wheaton!)

They butchered my 2013 when they did that recall. Stripped a screw, left off pop pins and broke a tab on the side panel.

No way I would let a dealer do the transmission recall and keep a bike.

Took my scooter to the shop recently for the switch recall. Stripped all the necessary plastic off before going to the shop and scoped out the job beforehand. Should have taken them no more than 10 minutes to do their part, they said give them an hour. Their policy that I couldn't observe the work led me to take the scooter back. Went home and did the work myself. No damaged plastics, no missing fasteners, got it done like I wanted it. It's an easy job, but it's a poor design to make the brake light switch plug into the harness under the nose plastic.

dan

Dan Cooper wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 10:50 am it's a poor design to make the brake light switch plug into the harness under the nose plastic.

Theoretically, you shouldn't ever have to mess with it, so the connector location shouldn't matter. The design fault lies in the switch that is being recalled.

danh600 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 8:49 am They butchered my 2013 when they did that recall. Stripped a screw, left off pop pins and broke a tab on the side panel.

I guess I won't know for sure until I need to take the plastic off sometime. But at first glance it looked good.
I don't know how people trust these guys to tear into the transmission for the recall. But man there were a lot of success stories and happy customers. But I'm in the same camp with you on that Dan.

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 11:02 am

Dan Cooper wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 10:50 am it's a poor design to make the brake light switch plug into the harness under the nose plastic.

Theoretically, you shouldn't ever have to mess with it, so the connector location shouldn't matter. The design fault lies in the switch that is being recalled.

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is. -- Albert Einstein

The design of the switch isn't the problem, the manufacturing of the switch is the problem.
Design should not take production efficiency only into account but should also take service efficiency into account.
No reason that connector couldn't have been 2 -3 inches from the switch with no scooter disassembly needed.

How many scooter parts that theoretically we shouldn't have to mess with have we had to mess with, and the job been made unnecessarily difficult because of poor design???

I still don't trust people I don't know to work on my scooter with the same level of care that I give it, and my life depends on it.

In the old days the brake switch had connectors on it and the wires plugged onto the switch. No need to fish 2 feet of wire under the skins and through the wiring mess of the dash. No reason it had to be so hard today. Sure, I know it isn't the old days and time marches on. Some things get "better", and some things get left behind. Sometimes some of those things left behind were really good things that get replaced with crap.

Put theory in one hand and s**t in the other and see which one carries more weight!!


dan

The switch problem was a bad choice of plating on the contacts.... the new switch is better. The old ones we had to use contact cleaner on them a little more often than we'd like. Even then they'd go intermittent.... no issues since it was replaced on my '14.

After the recall was fixed, I rode it to work an hour away. One of the nice things about having two motorcycles, is you get a reminder of what you have. After riding the Goldwing two up all last weekend, it's fun to get on the FJR again. The Wing is pretty quick for the size. But evidently I forgot what it feels like to hammer the throttle at 80 mph on the FJR. That engine is just a beast, and it made me appreciate the FJR all over again. I've tried to get my wife to buy into that theory with a mistress and how I'll appreciate her more after riding the other one. I'm told I'm limited to motorcycles.