FJRiders.com

baowow wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:24 pm

FJRPittsburgh wrote:

Uncle Hud wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:08 pm Tracer 900 GT is also listed as 'supersport tourer' with integrated side bags, 12-volt outlet, heated grips, ABS, and cruise control.

FJR junior, or FJRJR?

Also a quick shifter, 3 power modes, 2 traction control modes, and a full color TFT dash. Really great bike for solo touring. Definitely more power off the line than the FJR without question. 150 lbs lighter than the FJR. It's a little taller to mount, but I find if I turn the front wheel all the way to the right, I can swing my leg over easily. Also no wrestling the center stand. The bike goes up on the center stand with ease. And boy is it fun in the twisties. I love my FJR for other reasons, but this bike has become my favorite. If you're lucky enough to own a sister bike for the FJR, the Tracer GT is it. Anyone visiting the Pittsburgh area is welcome to take it for a spin, but you have to give it back.

The chain maintenance is what turns me off about the tracer gt. If they put a shafty on it, that would be ideal. Of course you would lose a bit of power though. Shafty and Mary Kay pink and they have my money

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk

You know, except for my cb550 starter bike...all my bikes have been shaft driven...but I gotta believe it's no big deal to tour with a chain drive. It's been done it for decades, and knowing Yamaha, they are quite reliable I bet these days.

I won't be done with my beloved 13 for awhile...but I might make that switch when the time comes. I ain't getting any younger...

bill lumberg wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:59 pm Any precedent for Yamaha making FJR’s the same color 2 years in a row?

Yes. Yamaha had a beautiful blue on the 2006 A model and a rather bland cerulean silver on the AE model.

For 2007 they got a discount on some leftover purple brown poop color that after they applied it to the A model, they decided to stick with the Cerulean silver for the AE model.

The guy got fired that bought the poop color and they went to a standard Raven Black for 2008 and kept it for 2009 while the AE had Metallic Titanium/Liquid Silver for both of those years. Then in 2010 and 2011 they went back to boring silver for the A while discontinuing the AE, before finding some balls and bringing a real color back in 2012 in the Cobalt Blue.

Lots of "The sky is falling" posts on here. Yamaha has sold quite a few FJR's over the years and is a dominant player in the ST game, I really didn't see it going anywhere. And if it did, my 07 still ain't worn out. I can ride it for a long time more and then find me a leftover 2018 with low miles and ride that for a very long time. By that time there'll be some amazing stuff for sale in the motorcycle world.

Interesting. I had no idea. They must have bought a metric buttload of matte blue...

bill lumberg wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:35 pm Interesting. I had no idea. They must have bought a metric buttload of matte blue...

They sent their paint tech over to HD to learn how to do matte paint and such an investment required at least two years for the pay off.

Jasen is (as usual) incorrect regarding paint.

The Cerulean Silver is basically just a lack of color. Yamaha decided that with the bland personalities common to the prospective buyer of the AE models, Bland Silver would be appropriate. Since the entire bike was cheap they elected to cut costs on the paint by not putting in any pigment.

The Black Cherry of the '07 FJR was actually very expensive to produce. A .50 caliber ammo can is filled with a precise blend of Grizzly Bear blood, military rifle powder, used .45ACP shell casings and is mixed with the venom of water moccasins in a room where the Greatest Hits of ZZ Top play continuously. While the FJRs are being painted classic Clint Eastwood and John Wayne movies are shown on every wall of the paint booth. Obviously this paint was so expensive to produce and to apply that it was only able to be used for the awesome 2007 FJR standard model.

bill lumberg wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:54 pm Yamaha meant- watch the website for the next couple
of hours while we post what we didn’t realize that we forgot to. I believe that Festus precipitated this. Too close for coincidence.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 1:39 pm

Festus wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 1:36 pm I couldn't take it any longer. I sent Yamaha a message They sent one back that said :

"Over the next few months please continue to keep a CLOSE eye out on our website as new product may be announced."

I agree, it was me that pushed them into releasing it. You are all welcome. Just trying to pull my weight around here. My work here is done for now.

What?

No more FJR resurrections?

Redfish wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:52 pm Jasen is (as usual) correct regarding paint.

The Ass-fault gray is basically just a lack of color. Yamaha decided that with the bland personalities common to the prospective buyer of that year, Bland Gray would be appropriate. Since the entire bike was cheap they elected to cut costs on the paint by not putting in any pigment.

The Galaxy Blue of the '05 FJR was actually very expensive to produce. A .50 caliber ammo can is filled with a precise blend of Grizzly Bear blood, military rifle powder, used .45ACP shell casings and is mixed with the venom of water moccasins in a room where the Greatest Hits of ZZ Top play continuously. While the FJRs are being painted classic Clint Eastwood and John Wayne movies are shown on every wall of the paint booth. Obviously this paint was so expensive to produce and to apply that it was only able to be used for the awesome 2005 FJR.

Mr Redfish was correct on most parts of this, but some small details had to be corrected. He nailed the process, but the years were off by a bit.

Yep! The Tracer GT is chain drive. Nice thick heavy duty chain. If the bike we're shaft drive, it would lose some of it's impressive power.

Chain maintenance on this bike is so simple. Put her up on the center stand, spin the wheel while spraying some good chain wax on the chain. No mess, and only a couple of minutes to complete the job. Doesn't bother me at all to complete this easy task and get rewarded with more horsepower to the rear wheel. I don't regret buying this chain driven beauty in the least.

FJRPittsburgh wrote: ↑Tue Nov 06, 2018 8:30 am Yep! The Tracer GT is chain drive. Nice thick heavy duty chain. If the bike we're shaft drive, it would lose some of it's impressive power.

Chain maintenance on this bike is so simple. Put her up on the center stand, spin the wheel while spraying some good chain wax on the chain. No mess, and only a couple of minutes to complete the job. Doesn't bother me at all to complete this easy task and get rewarded with more horsepower to the rear wheel. I don't regret buying this chain driven beauty in the least.

The chain maintenance for sport tourers argument has been dead for ages. Improvements in metallurgy and machining killed it. Its the same reason a raging piece of shit car that dies at 50K is essentially non-existant and why cheap Honda's and Toyota's can run 300K on one oil change.

Ya, you gotta give them a squirt once in while, you wipe off your bike right? Give it a squirt. BTW, for those that don't know, chain lube main function isn't as a lubricant, its that the oil/was acts as coolant. Their sealed you know! What good is oil gonna do when it can't get there.

You guys are right. Cleaning and lubing a road bike chain is better than cleaning and lubing a dirt bike chain. I hate cleaning and lubing the klr chain.

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk

IMO, the chain "lube" is mostly a rust/corrosion preventative. The lube is inside the O-rings and once that's gone, then the chain is gone too.

I'm disappointed in Yamaha. Not only have they ignored the market, they have ignored their loyal customers. Three Two (dumbass Pants) simple improvements could have been made to the FJR with very minimal R/D and virtually zero production costs:

1. Beef up the rear rack such that it will hold what everyone puts in the top box.
2. Get rid of that ridiculously inferior black paint on the wheels, and powder coat them.

At minimum, a fresh color would have sparked some interest.

The S/T market is dead, dead, dead, man. Sooner or later, we will all be riding adventure bikes or pirate ships....

I'm not disappointed at all. Someone is out there right now thinking about buying a new FJR.

I will buy that lightly used FJR in due time.

My rear subframe has never cracked in 15 years of ownership...and I load up my FJR pretty good. NOT a problem. I also want any weight down low in the sidebags where it belongs...not up high. I use the top box for storing light things like mcy gear.

I've never picked or not picked an FJR because of a color or not a color...but I've been happy with the ones I've owned. I just love riding across the country to places I've always wanted to visit...and pass that train of vehicles in sportin style...before getting to the curvy roads I'm looking forward to.

Hppants wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:40 pm But a new color would have been nice ...

A new color is only a few hundred dollars more at a reputable neighborhood paint shop.

Since we're on the subject, has anyone seen a wrapped motorcycle in person? I'm seriously thinking about it, to cover all my 'oopsie' scrapes and gouges. (Not like this, exactly, but there are thousands of possibilities.)

That vinyl will only last until you practice in that parking garage next Hud. Better to just keep it grey and unappealing...as you wouldn't want a bunch of shredded GT Bees mad at you.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Tue Nov 06, 2018 9:49 am I'm not disappointed at all. Someone is out there right now thinking about buying a new FJR.

I will by that lightly used FJR in due time.

This.

I have a few parts wrapped on my bike. I thought about doing the whole thing but the mirrors will be a HUGE pain, specifically the stalks. If I had black mirrors it'd be a no brainer. I put out a feeler for folks with black mirrors that put FZ1 mirrors on a while back but got nothing back except recommendations to put stupid ugly FZ1 mirrors on my bike when the FJR mirrors look better and work perfectly fine for me.

As for chain maintenance, you can also go with the "Lazy sack of shit gixxerjasen" plan. Which is to really not do anything with it. My stock FZ1 chain needed replacing at 20K miles after not really being cared for at all. Most who take care of their chain report needing to change it in the 15k-25k range. I do a better job now, but really, chains are so good nowadays that it really isn't an issue. But hey, there's folks out there worried about their splines too.

Hppants wrote: ↑Tue Nov 06, 2018 9:39 am 2. Get rid of that ridiculously inferior black paint on the wheels, and powder coat them.
The S/T market is dead, dead, dead, man. Sooner or later, we will all be riding adventure bikes or pirate ships....

My wheels look like they've been attacked by roving heards of rabid beavers.

And we forget, because were involved in it, that the Sport Touring market is a niche market of a niche market and likely accounts for less than a couple of percent of annual sales.

bungie4 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:59 am

Hppants wrote: ↑Tue Nov 06, 2018 9:39 am 2. Get rid of that ridiculously inferior black paint on the wheels, and powder coat them.

My wheels look like they've been attacked by roving heards of rabid beavers.

Uncle Hud wrote: ↑Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:26 am A new color is only a few hundred dollars more at a reputable neighborhood paint shop.

Same as what Hud posted, regarding powder coating your wheels.

I never set out for a red one. That’s what I got a deal on when I decided to buy one new. I’m perfectly happy that I can get a leftover 18 or new 19 ES in stealth blue. And that Shoei makes a matching helmet.

Hppants wrote: ↑Tue Nov 06, 2018 9:39 am IMO, the chain "lube" is mostly a rust/corrosion preventative. The lube is inside the O-rings and once that's gone, then the chain is gone too.

I'm disappointed in Yamaha. Not only have they ignored the market, they have ignored their loyal customers. Three Two (dumbass Pants) simple improvements could have been made to the FJR with very minimal R/D and virtually zero production costs:

1. Beef up the rear rack such that it will hold what everyone puts in the top box.
2. Get rid of that ridiculously inferior black paint on the wheels, and powder coat them.

At minimum, a fresh color would have sparked some interest.

The S/T market is dead, dead, dead, man. Sooner or later, we will all be riding adventure bikes or pirate ships....

I would add one. Make the mirror break point outside of the fairing.

I'm thinking the matte blue didn't move well, and they're getting rid of them before the 2020 arrives. The 2020 might be the news maker.