Ya know, sometimes I miss the old ways...

[Downeaster]

One of the common complaints about my FJ09 is snatchy fueling and excessive engine braking. It IS a little difficult to control the throttle smoothly, especially at low speeds. This is because, apparently for emissions reasons, when you back off the throttle the injectors cut off completely. LOT of engine braking. Opening the throttle back up without chain snatch takes some practice.

So, there's a company out in Washington that will re-flash your ECU to correct these things and will also change several other settings to your specification or a custom flash if you've gone to an aftermarket exhaust or suchlike.

They're having a sale so I'm going to have their basic stock flash done which will cure the snatchy throttle issue and also have them remove the electronic speed limiter and lower the "fan on" point to 200°. Even in Maine, the bike will go north of 220° at a stop light in July.

The ECU is under the gas tank.

Removing the gas tank on my 1979 Yamaha XS650:

Open seat
Take off one fuel line.
Remove one bolt.
Remove tank.

Removing the gas tank on my 2016 Yamaha FJ09:

Upper Tank Trim. (4 fasteners)
Upper Tank Shroud. (4 fasteners and 2 rubber bung mounts)
Rear Tank Shroud. (4 fasteners)
Lower Tank Shrouds.(3 fasteners, a bung mount and some velcro on each side)
Turn Signal Panels.(3 fasteners, an electrical connector, a bung mount and a clip on each side)
Rear tank mount bolts.(2 fasteners)
Front tank mount bolts.(2 fasteners)

Just so I can lift the tank up far enough to undo two multipin connectors and slide the ECU out. And I cheated and just propped the tank up while removing the ECU instead of unhooking yet another connector and two hoses from the fuel pump and taking the tank all the way off.

Fortunately, there was a tutorial. Sufferin' Teapot, there's a lot of plastic on that bike.

Almost makes me want to go back to carburetors. Almost...

 

[MaxPete]

DE - you might want to check out a web channel called Two Wheel Obsession.

The chap who produces it is a pretty adept bike mechanic and he has both an FJR and an FZ09 (a 2016, I think) - and he does all sorts of service tasks and farkles on them and documents all of his work with videos that are well done (by that I mean no unnecessary cussing or stupid rock&roll music blaring in the background).

He is a professional photographer and does a really good job of explaining what he's doing and why. I must admit that I don't always agree with some of his procedures and his knowledge of engineering is....quaint - but he does get the job done and you might pick up a few tips from his videos. His bikes are meticulously maintained and I learn something just about everything time I watch.

Pete

 

[Downeaster]

Thanks MP, I'll check it out.

 

[gggGary]

What ever you do, don't buy a late model BMW.... Well I had a K1200 the service note was always start at the other end of the bike. Remove 10 interconnected pieces of plastic, each with 5 or more DIFFERENT length screws.

 

[Downeaster]

What ever you do, don't buy a late model BMW....

Given my advanced antiquity and the price point of Beemers, I'd say there ain't much danger of that...

 

[Jim]

the service note was always start at the other end of the bike.

Makes ya wonder 'bout engineers don't it. Had to replace the input shaft seal on a Renault transaxle once. Seal was pressed in from the inside. You had to disassemble the entire transaxle. Reassembly was straight forward: Suspend seal 'bout 2ft in the air and assemble transaxle around it. Never again....

 

[Downeaster]

Reassembly was straight forward: Suspend seal 'bout 2ft in the air and assemble transaxle around it. Never again....

ROFLMAO! Been there a couple of times. One of my favorites was the instructions for taking the governor apart on an old Farmall: "Disassembly will be apparent upon inspection." Maybe for YOU, shifferbrains...

 

[Jim]

"Disassembly will be apparent upon inspection." Maybe for YOU, shifferbrains...

Heh... we could do this all day. I had an airplane manual tell me one time.... "Failure of this unit is not expected/anticipated. Therefor, no provisions for replacement have been provided." Errr... thanks mr. engineer....

 

[azman857]

AAAwww Even in the 70's with the Beemers bikes(/5-/7) were built with the battery suspended in the air and the frame/bike was built around it.

 

[Downeaster]

Heh... we could do this all day. I had an airplane manual tell me one time.... "Failure of this unit is not expected/anticipated. Therefor, no provisions for replacement have been provided." Errr... thanks mr. engineer....

Obviously a young and naive engineer that had not been properly introduced to Mr. Murphy.

I've often said that engineers should be required to turn wrenches for a few years before they're allowed to design anything more complicated than a breadbox.

 

[MaxPete]

That BMW story sounds a teensy bit like my ST1300 - except that it never seems to break (almost). I did have a clutch slave cylinder failure which would have cost <wait for it...>.....<are you sitting down>.....nearly $1800 in labour to replace a $75 part that is the about the size of two stacked-together Oreo cookies.

I have the factory service manual and it reads like this:

1. Bleed all fluid from the clutch hydraulic system.
2. Remove engine from frame (See Section 7.2). [6-7 hours labour]
3. Remove three (3) 6mm bolts holding slave cylinder to engine case. [20 seconds labour]
4. Replace slave cylinder assembly. [0.1 hours labour]
   
5. Install engine in frame (See Section 7.2). [6-7 hours labour]
6. Refill and bleed clutch hydraulic system. [0.75 hours labour]

That’s it - easy-peasy and only 14-16 hours labour = $1800 or so.

Holy sh!t - NFW was I doing that! That’s about 1/3 of the value of the whole danged bike - FFS

I replaced the slave cylinder with a helper - in 2 hours (without removing the engine) and it cost me the $75 part plus about half a dozen beers and a medium sized pizza.

Pete

EDIT: Downeaster you are absofrickin’lutely right. The worst thing in a design office is some arrogant little prick with a brand new diploma - who has never fixed his/her own bicycle. What a bloody menace.

 

[yamageddon]

AAAwww Even in the 70's with the Beemers bikes(/5-/7) were built with the battery suspended in the air and the frame/bike was built around it.

I know! You're right! I had an R60/6. I can remember that I changed a battery once, but I can't remember if I just unscrewed the subframe or did a Houdini act to change it....

 

[yamageddon]

I think there's a war going on between designers and engineers for years now. You can also see this in the car manifacturing which sometimes results in ridiculous things. I have to disassemble half of my car when I want to change a simple H4 lightbulb....and don't even think of accidently dropping that spring that holds the bulb. This will end in removing the front bumper, grille and whatnot...Great if you're a dealer, you can go rich on hourly wages for just a $5 light bulb!

 

[Downeaster]

Okay, one more war story...

Early on in my Navy career, I was a teletype repairman. Old, 50's era Model 28 electromechanical teletypes. The maintenance schedule called for quarterly disassembly, cleaning in a specified solution in a sonic cleaner, lube, reassemble and adjust.

The sonic cleaner in this case was the size of a large chest freezer, usually located in a separate room because the noise would rattle your fillings. We called it the "sonic boomer". Well, one day it quit booming. All the crusty old techs gathered around, dug out the tech manuals and started poring over schematics and parts diagrams, talking about hysteresis loops and frequency-coupling and all sorts of esoteric electronic gobbledegook like that.

Me, a lowly E4, been in the Navy all damn day, I pipe up and say "The transducer has come unbonded from the tank". Such a simple solution was immediately pooh-poohed and I was banished from the room.

Several hours later, the pontificating ended and the disassembly began. Anybody care to guess what the problem was? Bueller?

 

[Jim]

hange a simple H4 lightbulb....and don't even think of accidently dropping that spring that holds the bulb. This will end in removing the front bumper, grille and whatnot...

I believe that's Murphy's #237.....
"Any fastener dropped inside an aircraft will automatically seek the most inaccessible point in the aircraft."

 

[yamageddon]

I believe that's Murphy's #237.....
"Any fastener dropped inside an aircraft will automatically seek the most inaccessible point in the aircraft."

LOL!
*making note: remember Murphy's #237*

 

[weaselbeak]

You guys could appreciate the new V7 Guzzi. My son had the TO bearing on his start squealing a little, so he replaced it. Pulled the rear end off the bike for access (it's an odd thing, not what you expect), and a small number of bolts. New push shaft & bearing in and superlubed, put back together. Whole thing took an hour, cost 50 bucks. Most newer bikes scare me to think about it.

 

[fredintoon]

AAAwww Even in the 70's with the Beemers bikes(/5-/7) were built with the battery suspended in the air and the frame/bike was built around it.

Hi azman,
back in the mid 1980's I (briefly, sold it to pay daughter's college tuition then she dropped out, forgiven her long since but I'll never let her forget)
had a BMW R90/5. Bought it from a neighbor, pushed it home, charged it's battery, pumped up it's weather-rotted tires and took it for a test ride.
Wasn't overly impressed, thing had very little left after 110kph. Then I realised that it's speedo was in mph. Slowly and carefully rode it back home.
But yeah, the battery went flat again an hour later and I had to unbolt the rear subframe to remove it. My fix? install an XS650 battery. Small enough
to remove, fits battery carrier snugly enough when padded with plywood. But the really annoying thing? 22mm diameter handlebars! Why not 7/8" like
every other bike, eh? Oh the shimming and sanding that it takes to fit 7/8" bars. It almost stops you sneering at the BMW's twistgrip design.
Bevel gears and a chain & link just so the cable goes in sideways fer Chrissake!

 

[Downeaster]

BTW, if any of you guys have a ECU controlled bike and are thinking of having the ECU reprogrammed, I can HIGHLY recommend 2 Wheel Dynoworks in Kirkland, WA. I mailed the ECU out USPS Priority Monday the 12th, they got it Wednesday, flashed it and popped it back in the mail the same day and it should be back here either tomorrow or Saturday and back in the bike.

Hard to beat that kind of service.

 

[weaselbeak]

As a kid I hung around a bike shop that mainly serviced Harleys. A few guys were building a chopper and when they were finishing up they found the battery could not be installed without pulling the rear wheel and then some the way it was built. They cussed for like an hour, drinking beer and fuming over the lack of foresight. One guy's wife looked at it and asked if it had electric start. No. Then why not just get a smaller battery? Red faces everywhere, problem solved. They then proceeded to crank it up with no oil in it, not sure if it did a lot of damage, but couldn't have helped any.