Squids United: 2015 FJ09

[Tyler.M]

I bought a thing. 

It's been awhile, but I'm back. A few mods over the winter months but for now, just behold this beautiful Japanese sport touring beauty. 

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Alright so, deets. 

Picked up this minty first gen FJ off a friend up in NOVA. He's owned it since new and is the previous owner we all wish we could find: All the records were in order, high quality mods and garage kept. It's got about 12k miles on the clock, pretty new tires and 5 months left on the extended factory warranty. 

Current mods: 

Givi panniers with top case and side cases. 
FJ.com quickshifter with ECU flash
M4 exhaust
Throttle lock
Puig windscreen 
Puig frame sliders
Puig swing arm spools
 

Over the winter, I'm going to add a skid plate and a rear shock I believe.  It may be fashioned as a  sport tourer but ground clearance is about the same as your average R6 so it can bottom out and rip out the oil drain plug. Yeah, not good. Other than than, I 'm just going to do some basic maintenance and start racking up the miles when we have one of these weird warm days and start using this as my main mount to work and back.

[Kaan]

depending on the tires... these were meant to be ridden year round. dont wait for a warm day.

[Tyler.M]

depending on the tires... these were meant to be ridden year round. dont wait for a warm day.

True. Tires are decent 3 seasons and seemed fine yesterday at 42f. Heated grips are a necessity though, think that will be my first upgrade.

[Kaan]

depending on the tires... these were meant to be ridden year round. dont wait for a warm day.

True. Tires are decent 3 seasons and seemed fine yesterday at 42f. Heated grips are a necessity though, think that will be my first upgrade.

My R6 has zero heated anything or auxiliary outputs... and i rode it 365 for years. i did have unvented gloves for winter and closed the vents on my boots.

[JPolen01]

depending on the tires... these were meant to be ridden year round. dont wait for a warm day.

True. Tires are decent 3 seasons and seemed fine yesterday at 42f. Heated grips are a necessity though, think that will be my first upgrade.

My R6 has zero heated anything or auxiliary outputs... and i rode it 365 for years. i did have unvented gloves for winter and closed the vents on my boots.

I hate this argument. Because I suffered, you should.

This thing looks fun Tyler. Have fun adventuring!

[Kaan]

depending on the tires... these were meant to be ridden year round. dont wait for a warm day.

True. Tires are decent 3 seasons and seemed fine yesterday at 42f. Heated grips are a necessity though, think that will be my first upgrade.

My R6 has zero heated anything or auxiliary outputs... and i rode it 365 for years. i did have unvented gloves for winter and closed the vents on my boots.

I hate this argument. Because I suffered, you should.

This thing looks fun Tyler. Have fun adventuring!

i never suffered in the winter. simple gear adjustments save you from bike mods. maybe some simple thermals under your pants and non vented gloves... thats all you really need. If you get cold just blast up over 100 and the adrenaline will warm you  

I suffered MUCH more in the summer because i refuse to give up my leather jacket after my accident.

[Tyler.M]

depending on the tires... these were meant to be ridden year round. dont wait for a warm day.

True. Tires are decent 3 seasons and seemed fine yesterday at 42f. Heated grips are a necessity though, think that will be my first upgrade.

My R6 has zero heated anything or auxiliary outputs... and i rode it 365 for years. i did have unvented gloves for winter and closed the vents on my boots.

I hate this argument. Because I suffered, you should.

This thing looks fun Tyler. Have fun adventuring!

i never suffered in the winter. simple gear adjustments save you from bike mods. maybe some simple thermals under your pants and non vented gloves... thats all you really need. If you get cold just blast up over 100 and the adrenaline will warm you  

I suffered MUCH more in the summer because i refuse to give up my leather jacket after my accident.

I got a good Alpinestars Suit with a removable thermal and my boots with a nice set of wool socks keeps me decently warm down to 30f. I just get cold hands and absolutely hate cold hands. I hate wearing thicker gloves usually so it seems like a bar mitt and a heated grip combo might work well. Heated grips would be nice too in those rare instances its 60 degrees in the Burg and 30's when I go to a higher elevation in WVA.

[Kaan]

I was just wearing leather with carbon armor Alpine Stars... no vents. One thing that is important is being able to put your glove ends into your sleeves to help keep any drafts.

I also tend not to get cold very easily... but you can also build up your tolerance to the cold by taking short rides in the bitter cold.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Get the grips. They're well worth it for cold commuting. Loved having them on my SV when I was commuting to DC. Any decent 4 season jacket will be fine with a light under layer. Do whatever you gotta do to ride as much as you can!

[Tyler.M]

Get the grips. They're well worth it for cold commuting. Loved having them on my SV when I was commuting to DC. Any decent 4 season jacket will be fine with a light under layer. Do whatever you gotta do to ride as much as you can!

Gonna pull the trigger this week and install ASAP! Nice thing is that they were offered as an option so the Yamaha OEM ones can be controlled via the ECU which is a nice (and clean) feature. I'm OCD about stuff looking stock so....

[Tyler.M]

Crash protection installed, Givi crash bars and SW Motech belly pan. The drain plug on the 15's is the lowest point of contact on the bike so when you bottom out you get a nice little surprise oil slick. Pretty common problem and loads of FJ owners have had it happen to them. You can change out the oil pan that places the drain plug on the side but I don't like the feeling of my oil pan bottoming out either and would do this anyways. It's no replacement for a true ADV custom skid plate but it'll help with potholes and the like.

Best thing about working on bikes is that it's easy. This took me about 2 hours this morning and I was able to ride to work. Gotta love it.

Heated grips are here, just waiting on a 12mm allen key from Amazon.

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[Tyler.M]

Heated grips are going on tomorrow. Cruise control is shipping from Australia but probably won't be here in time for next week when I attempt the longest ride I've ever done and go to Atlanta for a few days.

New boots from Alpinestars arrived today, too. Should be a good replacement for my SMX-Plus boots that were more racing oriented and pre-curved for a full tuck position. Also, not water proof. I need to do a separate post just covering my gear.

[Tyler.M]

So, you learn a lot about a bike after a 1100 miles in 2 day period. I rode to Atlanta last Thursday and came back Sunday. Surprisingly not as bad as I anticipated and I just about made regular cager time (I can be a stupid pedant now that I'm back on two wheels and refer to people who drive cars as "cagers" heh). My gear held up well, and suprisingly my Sena 20s unit didn't require a recharge on the 9 hour trip down. BUT that seat was feeling real rough and my right hand cramped up something awful by the time I made it to South Carolina. Still, I'm able to ride for about 2.5 hours without really needed to stop when I'm just super slabbing it, which I think is pretty good for a middle-weight Japanese bike built on a sportier chassis. I was expecting to be in agony after about the first hour due to discomfort but I was able to push through.

Top and side cases worked well and I could fit everything, including my laptop in them without having to wear a backpack. I do want to figure out a better hydration system since I can be on the bike for so long. I already have a camelbak but I don't want to wear a backpack. Maybe a small kriega strapped to my passenger seat or something like that.

Heated grips worked well and I got extended wind deflectors for the stock handguards from Givi that really helped deflecting wind (and I think looks pretty cool).

Cruise control system will be this week. It's a pretty lengthy installation. I also put a deposit down on a custom molded seat from a guy in TN but it won't be til August that I get it. I purchased a lightly used rear shock and I"m getting it adjusted to my weight by a suspension guy in Indiana (it looks freaking sweet and has an external reservoir which I'm a sucker for) Then, I'm saving up for new front fork cartridges. After that, the bike will be pretty much sorted and will have a fully adjustable suspension, heated grips, cruise control and be much more comfortable. Pair that with just about the perfect motor and I'm not really sure I could ask for another bike that is such a good all-arounder.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Great ride report! I am without a steed right now thinking my next ride might be more touring focused. The DRZ was great around town, but fuck-all trying to ride over 65mph. Still fun for hooning around RVA.

[JPolen01]

How does the custom seat molding process work since it's not local? Do you have to send him a picture of your ass? Sit in a mold and mail it to him?

[Tyler.M]

Great ride report! I am without a steed right now thinking my next ride might be more touring focused. The DRZ was great around town, but fuck-all trying to ride over 65mph. Still fun for hooning around RVA.

DRZ are fun, if I ever get into offroad stuff, either that or a KLR would be my pick. I'm still trying to figure out what sort of rider I am, I haven't really tried much long distance sport touring before this trip and I enjoy it, so far.

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How does the custom seat molding process work since it's not local? Do you have to send him a picture of your ass? Sit in a mold and mail it to him?

Yeah, bare ass shot with a banana for scale.

Nah, I send him some pictures of me sitting on the bike from both sides about 6 feet away. Then I send him weight and height measurements. He takes that and creates a seat. He gets rave reviews from the Tracer community and it's half the cost of a comparable Sargent and third the cost of a Corbin. Hence why he's backlogged to August.

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Also some photos. Note the hand guard wind deflector extensions. I love having a bike with an actual aftermarket, that's a big reason I got rid of the 919. Also installed an aluminum chain guard.

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[Tyler.M]

Bike is in the shop currently getting the last bit of some basic recall work done. I really don't like the local Yamaha dealer in the 'Burg, but gotta do what you gotta do. When the first question they ask when you drop it off for warranty work is "did you buy it here?" just anticipate it'll be there for the long haul.

Rear shock has yet to be installed, mainly because I'm lazy and working insane overtime right now. I think I've worked nearly everyday for the past 4 months to take advantage of quarantine hazard pay and....really what else are you gonna do? In that time though, I installed the cruise control unit which works great and will make long distant travelling much easier in the future.

Only thing left is to send off my seat pan and upgrade my front shocks which is pricey but needed. After that, the REAL work begins on becoming a better rider and getting comfortable with mountain runs and trail braking. It's fun throwing parts at a thing but I really need to invest time in getting better.

I have another trip set up for Georgia the week of July 4th and want to take my time a bit than just super-slabbing it like I did back in February. Maybe make it a two day trip down and do some overnight camping or something. Hopefully the service work will be done by then.

[Tyler.M]

Finally got her back. No drama here, but I did get that rear shock replaced with a K-Tech Razor-R. Pretty decent unit with full adjustability and external reservoir. Now I just need to set it up tomorrow and start putting in some seat time again on the weekend.

[Tyler.M]

Mileage: 13,740

I originally had the grandiose idea to commute to work EVERYDAY but 90 to 100 degree weather in that wonderful Virginia humidity means I got swamp ass before I make it to Staunton. So, I've been plucking around in the mornings on some back roads, which means it's cooler outside and there's less traffic. It also means I'm more inclined to make coffee plans since I can throw my caffeine jitters into some canyon (hills?) carving.

I've been working out some suspension adjustments and I'm getting closer to getting it dialed in. Sag in the rear is set to 37mm without me in full gear and the front is at 43mm which is the best I could get it on stock suspension. I'm working on paying attention to the rear of the bike and seeing how one click on rebound and preload seems to feel, and I've noticed that I prefer going a bit more aggressive on rebound and softer on preload which really seems to smooth everything out. I've got a fairly decent loop with a good blend of new pavement, rough stuff, long wide sweepers and tight kiss-your-ass turns and do a few laps, make some adjustments and do a few more. So far, so good.

I'm noticing that the notchy throttle response that everyone complains about on the early FJ09's and FZ09s is pretty warranted; trying to roll throttle on after fully coming off of it before entering a corner gets you this weird little burble of throttle before it seems to roll into smooth acclearation. You don't notice it much when you're gunning it but you will if you try to gradually add some throttle as you're approaching apex. I've just been riding in STD mode, but I've heard A is even worse. My bike has an ECU flash for the quickshifter that is also supposed to help with the throttle response (allegedly) but I'm hesistant to add any extra flashes/cpu's or whatever (like a powercommander) to my system as things are running well as is and I don't want my additional systems to start interacting and counteract eachother/cause faults..I think this is one of Yamaha's first attempts at throttle by wire in a non-homologation sort of bike but it's just too jumpy. I can probably fix it just by changing my right hand control.

This bike is insanely fast and I forget how even a bike like this with 115ish horsepower can give you tunnel vision at half 3/4 throttle. I'm not confident enough to WOT it at all and I see myself shifting gears way earlier than I get to redline. The quickshifter makes it sort of easy so I don't even think about it.

I'm due for an oil change and a sprocket/chain change at some point. I might be able to get through the season on the current chain and make that a winter project.

[Tyler.M]

Sent out my seat to a seat builder in TN, hopefully should get it back soon.

Also, we're planning a little weekend trip in September with some MM riders if anyone wants to join. Planning a three-day weekend in WVA with some camping someplace. If you're interested, let me know. Might get bored later and post an event in the forums, idk.