What did you do to your FJR today?

[Blueridgerider]

Thanks everyone for the great comments and feedback. I really appreciate it. These are definitely Road 5 GT's. I have been running 38/42 so going forward I will definitely increase the front pressure to at least 40psi. I spoke with the local Powersports place today and they also have the Pirelli Angel GT's in stock. He says the GT of both Michelin and Pirelli is more of a dual compound made for more highway type riding, harder in the center and soft on the side. Most of you probably know that, I did not. From the photo I put here earlier the front did have some tread in the center left with the sides bald as top of my head. The rear still had some life but not much.

As I said earlier most all of the miles I put on the FJR are in the mountains and I am beginning to believe there is not a front tire available that is not going to wear out first from the forces put on it with aggressive riding in the twisties. Of the 7K miles I put in those tires, 3,500 were on trips to the mountains with hard aggressive miles beating the hell out of the front. The other 3,500 miles were 200 miles loops also in the mountains also so I do not think there is a magic tire that is going to do much better. Given that I am going with the Pirelli's which are also less expensive. Why not try them.

I spoke with Traxxion and its about $2,700 for their AK20's and Penski adjustable rear shock. As I said earlier, I had that upgrade on my Wing (a must on the bike for aggressive riding) and put the AK's in my Z900 which made a huge difference. The Z is an 8,000 relatively inexpensive great bike with a cheap suspension so now I can keep my teeth intact as the stock suspension would rattle and grind them down on rough surfaces. As a retired guy now, I hate to spend that kind of $$ but this is the last bike I will own and I have not been all that pleased with its handling so Visa, Its Everywhere You Want To Be. 18 month no interest CC will do the trick. I know it will help the bike a lot but not sure if its $2,700 worth of improvement. I met a fine gent at last years EOM who had done a Traxxion upgrade. If he or anyone else is out there and can provide feedback on how much it helped the bike out I would appreciate hearing that before I pull the trigger. Thanks again to you all.

[Blueridgerider]

Braking going into turns means bike will stand up. Try slowing down a tad, going in slower and falling in, then accelerate out.
Upgrading the fork springs is the best bang for the buck ever. Aftermarket shock next.

Thanks Ray, I really am not hitting these thousands of miles of twisties like sport bikes at the Gap, I usually use engine braking to get me to the speed I want going in with some trail braking in the curve as needed but rarely brake hard going in and do not touch the front in a turn. Once in the turn safely I throttle out pretty aggressively. Not sure if others do the same but works for me.

As Bill said, just doing 80% of your riding in that type of environment is going to eat any tire up and am now just going to have to accept that fact. Coming from the flatlands of Va Beach to the endless twisties of this area its a no brainer for this kind of tire wear. A shock at first, but now I am not going to expect anything different. I will keep trying different tires to see what works best over time. I will gladly pay for new tires as what else is better than that type of riding? In my life its at the top of my list for sure.

[wheatonFJR]

Talk to Ray, the know it all Canadien. He will have all sorts of incremental advice that MAY save you money.

[wheatonFJR]

BRR, seems like we have a similar style of riding. But my front lasts longer. I’m not smart like the others so I can’t help much except be a bad example.

[HotRodZilla]

Thanks everyone for the great comments and feedback. I really appreciate it. These are definitely Road 5 GT's. I have been running 38/42 so going forward I will definitely increase the front pressure to at least 40psi. I spoke with the local Powersports place today and they also have the Pirelli Angel GT's in stock. He says the GT of both Michelin and Pirelli is more of a dual compound made for more highway type riding, harder in the center and soft on the side. Most of you probably know that, I did not. From the photo I put here earlier the front did have some tread in the center left with the sides bald as top of my head. The rear still had some life but not much.

As I said earlier most all of the miles I put on the FJR are in the mountains and I am beginning to believe there is not a front tire available that is not going to wear out first from the forces put on it with aggressive riding in the twisties. Of the 7K miles I put in those tires, 3,500 were on trips to the mountains with hard aggressive miles beating the hell out of the front. The other 3,500 miles were 200 miles loops also in the mountains also so I do not think there is a magic tire that is going to do much better. Given that I am going with the Pirelli's which are also less expensive. Why not try them.

I spoke with Traxxion and its about $2,700 for their AK20's and Penski adjustable rear shock. As I said earlier, I had that upgrade on my Wing (a must on the bike for aggressive riding) and put the AK's in my Z900 which made a huge difference. The Z is an 8,000 relatively inexpensive great bike with a cheap suspension so now I can keep my teeth intact as the stock suspension would rattle and grind them down on rough surfaces. As a retired guy now, I hate to spend that kind of $$ but this is the last bike I will own and I have not been all that pleased with its handling so Visa, Its Everywhere You Want To Be. 18 month no interest CC will do the trick. I know it will help the bike a lot but not sure if its $2,700 worth of improvement. I met a fine gent at last years EOM who had done a Traxxion upgrade. If he or anyone else is out there and can provide feedback on how much it helped the bike out I would appreciate hearing that before I pull the trigger. Thanks again to you all.

I have to stop glossing over stuff. Haha. I never paid attention that you had 7k on those tires and the last 2k burned them up. I THOUGHT you said that tire was destroyed in 2k. Sheesh.

I have bot gotten 7k out of a Michelin yet. Actually, the ONLY tire I've had that has seen 7k are the BT30GTs.

[Blueridgerider]

Went with the Pirelli GT’s and had them put on yesterday. What was supposed to be a one hour wait turned into a 4 hour cluster Fk. I get on the bike pumped up to have new rubber and even with my All Ball tapered bearings the bike felt like it had a loose lug nut, vibration that was different from a wobble so after a 30 minute ride I headed back over there only to be told after they rode it again that it was fine. Fine? No way. Then the service manager in very condescending way says, “You know your not supposed to take your hands off the bars” Man my veins started to stick out and BP rising fast and called him out on it immediately. You have to be kidding me! No way I am leaving with the bike that way. Will call the CC company and do whatever I need to. Take care of it or expect me to not let up. So the mechanic comes out and says he probably improperly balanced it as they had to use weights they normally don’t use. Out of the so called good ones. How Nice.

So after 4 hours I get on the bike actually expecting a continued fight as I thought it was more likely a bad tire as that’s happened twice before to me over the years but the bike was rock solid. Sorry I did not balance the tires probably he says. OK shit happens and at least you were honest. BP back to normal but could not help but look at the tech who said my bike was fine after a test ride and wonder how he could say that. Idiot.

When I first purchased the bike and brought it in for tires they returned it to me with a damaged mirror and denied that as well. Looked like the mirror hit a wall being pushed in or out of the service bay. Would not admit it or replace it but ended up splitting the cost with me for a new one. Again really had to fight them until they did something. Could not prove it as they said I brought it in that way. No way. Had just bought the bike and they were admiring it and how pristine it was before they brought it into the bay. Unreal.

I know what everyone is thinking, Why go there after all that? Well this is the only place close to me that has great tire prices and normally will do it in an hour. They really do sell them at cost as I have shopped all over comparing cost and labor. After all this I feel they will be taking extra care of my bike now when I come in as they know I won’t stand for shoddy work. They probably say “Oh Shit” when they see me coming in now as well. Anyway looking forward to giving the Pirelli’s a try. They look like good tires and the reviews are good. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

A little post edit, after sending this just now I go check Fobo and he put 33 psi in the rear tire! Mechanical Malpractice is what it is. If this is what happens to me imagine those who do not check their bikes over. Something should be done as they are unsafe.

[FJRoss]

For what it's worth, the Pirelli Angel GT front tire is the only one in the 185,000 mile ownership of my '07 FJR that induced a significant headshake. Not in the beginning and not related to balance. Hope yours is just the balance.

[Blueridgerider]

For what it's worth, the Pirelli Angel GT front tire is the only one in the 185,000 mile ownership of my '07 FJR that induced a significant headshake. Not in the beginning and not related to balance. Hope yours is just the balance.

It certainly seemed like that was going to be the case yesterday. But after he rebalanced the tire I really put it through the paces and it was rock solid. I had the dreaded wobble with the PR4's until I put in the tapered bearings and never had any problem since. For the bike to shake with the All Balls in there I knew something had to be seriously wrong. So even at 33 psi in the rear it was great so I am hoping for the best. Thanks

[gixxerjasen]

Damn, stories like that and my own experiences are why I bought a tire changer. I mean, I can damage my bike, scratch my rims, improperly fill and balance a tire all by myself, for free! Sounds frustrating for sure.

[danh600]

Rode mine about 250 miles today. Been riding the MT09 for a couple of weeks. At first the FJR felt big, but after a few miles we got in the groove.

Did oil and rear end fluid change this week. She is ready for SFO.

[wheatonFJR]

Balanced the new rear tire and installed. Hope to balance and install the front tonight or tomorrow. Would like to change the brake and clutch fluids and change the rear erl. Looking at the weather forecast...looks good in these here parts this coming weekend.

[extrememarine]

ditto - that story is exactly why I have a tire changer and do most stuff myself with bike maintenance (or lure Rayzerman over with coffee and donuts).

Damn, stories like that and my own experiences are why I bought a tire changer. I mean, I can damage my bike, scratch my rims, improperly fill and balance a tire all by myself, for free! Sounds frustrating for sure.

[wheatonFJR]

ditto - that story is exactly why I have a tire changer and do most stuff myself with bike maintenance (or lure Rayzerman over with coffee and donuts).

Damn, stories like that and my own experiences are why I bought a tire changer. I mean, I can damage my bike, scratch my rims, improperly fill and balance a tire all by myself, for free! Sounds frustrating for sure.

Does RaYzerman need the coffee and donuts to bribe the border patrol?

[N4HHE]

Balanced the new rear tire and installed. Hope to balance and install the front tonight or tomorrow. Would like to change the brake and clutch fluids and change the rear erl. Looking at the weather forecast...looks good in these here parts this coming weekend.

I hope you install the tire before you balance it!

[gixxerjasen]

This thread went two days without an update and almost slipped to the second page of active topics. WTF people!?

[bill lumberg]

Okay Jasen. I’ll play your game. Today, checked the oil and the coolant levels. The oil, I checked because I once owned a BMW RT. And when it ran, it burned oil. So I check out of habit.

The coolant level was checked because I replaced my coolant last week.

Today, I learned that a paper towel left against the headers (wedged down around the overflow bottle neck, to catch drips during the day-after coolant-replacement administrative coolant level check and top-up), will only char, not fully ignite.

Can you imagine how excited I would have been to
end a bombing run into Atlanta to find fire inside the bike. What a f@$king nightmare. And you ask why I don’t do my own valve checks. Sweet Jesus. I’m a menace to machinery.

[bill lumberg]

Glad you and the bike are okay. I’ve bought one new fjr with a great dealer experience, and one with a terrible dealer experience. And both sold the bike with 20-something pounds in the tires. Just awesome.

Went with the Pirelli GT’s and had them put on yesterday. What was supposed to be a one hour wait turned into a 4 hour cluster Fk. I get on the bike pumped up to have new rubber and even with my All Ball tapered bearings the bike felt like it had a loose lug nut, vibration that was different from a wobble so after a 30 minute ride I headed back over there only to be told after they rode it again that it was fine. Fine? No way. Then the service manager in very condescending way says, “You know your not supposed to take your hands off the bars” Man my veins started to stick out and BP rising fast and called him out on it immediately. You have to be kidding me! No way I am leaving with the bike that way. Will call the CC company and do whatever I need to. Take care of it or expect me to not let up. So the mechanic comes out and says he probably improperly balanced it as they had to use weights they normally don’t use. Out of the so called good ones. How Nice.

So after 4 hours I get on the bike actually expecting a continued fight as I thought it was more likely a bad tire as that’s happened twice before to me over the years but the bike was rock solid. Sorry I did not balance the tires probably he says. OK shit happens and at least you were honest. BP back to normal but could not help but look at the tech who said my bike was fine after a test ride and wonder how he could say that. Idiot.

When I first purchased the bike and brought it in for tires they returned it to me with a damaged mirror and denied that as well. Looked like the mirror hit a wall being pushed in or out of the service bay. Would not admit it or replace it but ended up splitting the cost with me for a new one. Again really had to fight them until they did something. Could not prove it as they said I brought it in that way. No way. Had just bought the bike and they were admiring it and how pristine it was before they brought it into the bay. Unreal.

I know what everyone is thinking, Why go there after all that? Well this is the only place close to me that has great tire prices and normally will do it in an hour. They really do sell them at cost as I have shopped all over comparing cost and labor. After all this I feel they will be taking extra care of my bike now when I come in as they know I won’t stand for shoddy work. They probably say “Oh Shit” when they see me coming in now as well. Anyway looking forward to giving the Pirelli’s a try. They look like good tires and the reviews are good. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

A little post edit, after sending this just now I go check Fobo and he put 33 psi in the rear tire! Mechanical Malpractice is what it is. If this is what happens to me imagine those who do not check their bikes over. Something should be done as they are unsafe.

[gixxerjasen]

Can you imagine how excited I would have been to end a bombing run into Atlanta to find fire inside the bike.

Been there, seen that.

[wheatonFJR]

Can you imagine how excited I would have been to end a bombing run into Atlanta to find fire inside the bike.

Been there, seen that.

Im guessing that Honda singed his azz.

[wheatonFJR]

Okay Jasen. I’ll play your game. Today, checked the oil and the coolant levels. The oil, I checked because I once owned a BMW RT. And when it ran, it burned oil. So I check out of habit.

The coolant level was checked because I replaced my coolant last week.

Today, I learned that a paper towel left against the headers (wedged down around the overflow bottle neck, to catch drips during the day-after coolant-replacement administrative coolant level check and top-up), will only char, not fully ignite.

Can you imagine how excited I would have been to
end a bombing run into Atlanta to find fire inside the bike. What a f@$king nightmare. And you ask why I don’t do my own valve checks. Sweet Jesus. I’m a menace to machinery.

You are a mere amateur in that menace department compared to me. The only reason I'm alive today is because, after griff laughs, he fixes my shit.