If you ride a BMW do NOT consider the FJR as a replacement

[Bueller]

It's too boring because you'll never get to fix anything

I bought mine with 6500 miles on it. I'm reasonably sure the previous owner didn't do much more than change the oil once or twice and put a set of tires on it. I now have 11,000 + miles on it.

Since the maintenance schedule calls for a throttle body sync and plug check/replacement at 8,000 miles and I neglected to do the work, I figured I'd better have a look to see what kind of shape everything was in since I had a little free time today. I unbolted and propped up the gas tank. I then pulled the plugs and checked the gap. They all looked great, so I just made minor adjustments to the gap. I wonder why Yamaha specifies replacement at 8000 miles? Then I checked throttle body sync. It was barely off, probably not even out of spec. So I ran it for a bit, made a minor adjustment to two of the throttle bodies, and put everything back together. All said it probably took about an hour. How boring. If only it needed a clutch, slave cylinder, and transmission seals at this mileage like my '02 R1150 RT did. Then I'd be able to keep myself occupied today.

(yawn)

I think I'll go take a nap

[bill pierce]

Just wait until the first valve adjustment comes, that will keep you busy for a day. That is if you have the correct shims in stock.

Yamaha does make a great machine.

[Javarilla]

Originally Posted by Bueller

It's too boring because you'll never get to fix anything

I bought mine with 6500 miles on it. I'm reasonably sure the previous owner didn't do much more than change the oil once or twice and put a set of tires on it. I now have 11,000 + miles on it.

Since the maintenance schedule calls for a throttle body sync and plug check/replacement at 8,000 miles and I neglected to do the work, I figured I'd better have a look to see what kind of shape everything was in since I had a little free time today. I unbolted and propped up the gas tank. I then pulled the plugs and checked the gap. They all looked great, so I just made minor adjustments to the gap. I wonder why Yamaha specifies replacement at 8000 miles? Then I checked throttle body sync. It was barely off, probably not even out of spec. So I ran it for a bit, made a minor adjustment to two of the throttle bodies, and put everything back together. All said it probably took about an hour. How boring. If only it needed a clutch, slave cylinder, and transmission seals at this mileage like my '02 R1150 RT did. Then I'd be able to keep myself occupied today.

(yawn)

I think I'll go take a nap

Sweet. I was all lookie-lou-in' at an FJR, RT and GT (I don't like that big water sump in the top of the Kawi) - then got completely side tracked by the wood I sprouted astride a 'busa...

Maintenance is a thing for me.

Even washin' a machine is beyond me.

[kootenay kid]

Wow! 11000 miles and no problems. Amazing.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by bill pierce

Just wait until the first valve adjustment comes, that will keep you busy for a day. That is if you have the correct shims in stock.

Yamaha does make a great machine.

I figure about an hour to get things apart to check clearances. Most of the time they don't need adjustment. And if I'm one of the unlucky ones that does have to adjust the valves it really doesn't look any worse than any other shim-equipped valve train I've worked on. If I have to adjust them every time it's still not that bad, considering it's only every 26,600 miles.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by kootenay kid

Wow! 11000 miles and no problems. Amazing.

Yes, I know 11,000 miles is no big deal. But I'm comparing that to the following:

1) '00 R1100 RT. Purchased brand new. Broke a driveshaft at 5400 miles and was in the shop for 6 weeks. Had an oil leak at the sight glass at 8,000 miles. The transmission raked going into 2nd gear at anything above 4000 rpm. Surged like a bitch. Still, I loved the bike and put 40k on it before I sold it. By that point the suspension was wasted and every time I changed the final drive oil the drain plug was full of metal shavings and the oil shimmered. I knew what was eventually going to happen.

2) 2004 R1150 GS. By the time it had 10,000 miles it pinged like a bitch and was plagued with an intermittent ABS fault/warning light that no one ever did figure out, at least while I owned it (20,000 miles). Had a voracious appetite for oil.

3) '02 R1150 RT purchased used with 5800 miles on it. Surged like a bitch, lost a clutch at 11,000 miles due to slave cylinder/transmission seal leakage.

4) '07 R1200 RT. Loved the bike, but it had a multitude of issues. I can't go into details, but let's just say by 12,000 miles an arrangement was made so that I no longer owned it. Shame, really. That bike fit me better than any bike I've ever owned.

So while 11,000 miles is no big deal and you felt the need to sarcastically point that out, you can see what my basis of comparison is.

[Javarilla]

What mileage are you getting - and have you had to mod the machine for any reason?

[bill pierce]

I guess your a lot faster than me. On the Yamaha I had, the body work tank, radiator, carbs, coils, and valve cover had to be removed. Then when they needed adjustment, the cams had to come out.

I would keep notes on which shims were in each location so that the next time I could order shims before I took it apart.

I never had mine hold adjustmet for 26,000 miles. Just my bad luck I guess.

P.S. I can check the valves on my BMW in 1/2 hr and they seldom need adjustment.

[Anorak]

What about a Guzzi V11? How do you like those?

[yooperbikemike]

Originally Posted by Bueller

Yes, I know 11,000 miles is no big deal. But I'm comparing that to the following:

1) '00 R1100 RT. Purchased brand new. Broke a driveshaft at 5400 miles and was in the shop for 6 weeks. Had an oil leak at the sight glass at 8,000 miles. The transmission raked going into 2nd gear at anything above 4000 rpm. Surged like a bitch. Still, I loved the bike and put 40k on it before I sold it. By that point the suspension was wasted and every time I changed the final drive oil the drain plug was full of metal shavings and the oil shimmered. I knew what was eventually going to happen.

2) 2004 R1150 GS. By the time it had 10,000 miles it pinged like a bitch and was plagued with an intermittent ABS fault/warning light that no one ever did figure out, at least while I owned it (20,000 miles). Had a voracious appetite for oil.

3) '02 R1150 RT purchased used with 5800 miles on it. Surged like a bitch, lost a clutch at 11,000 miles due to slave cylinder/transmission seal leakage.

4) '07 R1200 RT. Loved the bike, but it had a multitude of issues. I can't go into details, but let's just say by 12,000 miles an arrangement was made so that I no longer owned it. Shame, really. That bike fit me better than any bike I've ever owned.

Thank you for curing me of my desire to own a BMW.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by Javarilla

What mileage are you getting - and have you had to mod the machine for any reason?

Summer - about 44 mpg
Winter - about 41 mpg

I've made five mods.

1) I unwound the throttle return spring one revolution to make the throttle lighter.

2) I did the "Barbarian jumper mod" so I can adjust CO (mixture). The only reason I did this is because on very cold, rainy days (in the 30's) The engine would occasionally drop a cylinder under light throttle. Cranking up the co just a few points eliminated the issue. I'll probably return the CO to stock for the warmer weather if I notice any difference in summer mileage.

3) I replaced the factory ball-bearing style steering head bearings with tapered roller bearings. The bike had some front end shimmy at about 50 mph with no hands on the bars when I bought it. The tires only had about 200 miles on them, so I erroneously assumed it couldn't possibly be caused by bad tires. I pulled both wheels off and balanced them just to be sure, which made no difference. So I installed the tapered roller bearings because ball bearings tend to exacerbate shimmy and wobble (comparatively). The tapered bearings didn't fix the problem, but the bike does steer more nicely with tapered bearings. So I decided to live with it until I wore the tires out. A couple weeks ago I installed Pilot Roads, readjusted the steering head bearings, and the shimmy is gone

4) I got the factory ECU upgrade courtesy of Yamaha, even though I wasn't experiencing the "altitude sickness" problem that prompted Yamaha to release the replacement ECU.

5) I disconnected the "auto down" feature of the windshield every time the key is turned off. Whatever engineer decided the windshield should automatically retract to the lowest position every time the bike is shut off is an idiot.

I couldn't be happier with the bike. It isn't as plush as the '07 RT I loved so much, but it's a hell of a lot faster It isn't the barn door the RT is either, but the weather protection is plenty for any conditions I'll ride in (above zero with no ice on the road).

I changed the oil the other week. I used a Purolator Pure One car filter and Shell Rotella T synthetic oil. Lot of others on the FJR forum have been doing this for quite a while, so I felt it was reasonably safe. Total cost of a synthetic oil change was about 20 bucks!

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by yooperbikemike

Thank you for curing me of my desire to own a BMW.

Admittedly I left out three other BMW's we've owned:

2001 F650 GS - purchased with 600 miles on the clock. We (mostly the girlfriend) put about 30,000 miles on that bike. It ate two sets of fork seals, one fork tube, steering head bearings, rear wheel bearings, and we were never able to cure the surging. We sold it to get the '02 RT that ate the clutch

2005 K 1200 LT - purchased new. That bike was one of the best bikes I've ever owned. Ran like a swiss watch, unbelievably comfortable, and regularly returned 50-53 mpg. I actually got 59 mpg out of it once, cruising at about 50 miles an hour. I sold it because the girlfriend didn't like the RT (see above) and wanted another F650 GS. So I had to sell one of them, and anything I went to do on the K in terms of maintenance was a total pain in the ass and required hours of plastic removal. Looking back I probably should have kept it.

2005 F650 GS - purchased from Bake with around 7000 miles. Low fuel light malfunctioned, requiring replacement of the fuel pump assy. Hazard lights will dimly flash at times whenever they feel like it. Otherwise it's a good bike so far, but we only have about 15,000 miles on it.

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by Fluorescentbrown

What about a Guzzi V11? How do you like those?

Smartass!

[scorch]

Originally Posted by kootenay kid

Wow! 11000 miles and no problems. Amazing.

Please post up again when you get to 100k Bueller

[dch]

Originally Posted by Bueller

It's too boring because you'll never get to fix anything

I bought mine with 6500 miles on it. I'm reasonably sure the previous owner didn't do much more than change the oil once or twice and put a set of tires on it. I now have 11,000 + miles on it.

Since the maintenance schedule calls for a throttle body sync and plug check/replacement at 8,000 miles and I neglected to do the work, I figured I'd better have a look to see what kind of shape everything was in since I had a little free time today. I unbolted and propped up the gas tank. I then pulled the plugs and checked the gap. They all looked great, so I just made minor adjustments to the gap. I wonder why Yamaha specifies replacement at 8000 miles? Then I checked throttle body sync. It was barely off, probably not even out of spec. So I ran it for a bit, made a minor adjustment to two of the throttle bodies, and put everything back together. All said it probably took about an hour. How boring. If only it needed a clutch, slave cylinder, and transmission seals at this mileage like my '02 R1150 RT did. Then I'd be able to keep myself occupied today.

(yawn)

I think I'll go take a nap

I bought a FJR new in Sept. of 05 and have put 37,400 mi. on it to date. Changed oil and put tires on it basically. I do change the FD oil and lube the splines on every rear tire change. Took it in to the dealer to do the valve adjustment @ 26,000 mi., did not need adjustment, and put a new air cleaner on it. Thats it! Love the bike, it just fits me. Can't wait till it warms up a little to get ridin again. Shouldn't be too much longer now.

DCH