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New to these bikes. Wrecked an EX500 ten years ago and finally getting back in the saddle. Advice? 2014 FZ-09

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2K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  TPMJB 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

New poster here. About ten years ago I got absolutely wrecked when an SUV pulled out in front of me. Broke a bunch of ribs, back in a few places, shattered my elbow, brain bleed, etc. I've recovered almost completely since then and want to get back on.

I'm buying a MINT FZ-09 in Texas on Saturday and while it's a bit more power than I'm used to (coming from a 500cc bike) I think I'll be able to handle it. With that said, what are some good resources for this bike? What's a typical maintenance schedule look like?

The EX500 had a wiki for just about every bit of maintenance we had to do to the thing. Good bike, but I don't want another bike almost as old as I am ;)
 
#2 ·
In my opinion, you found the best resource for the bike here. The forum has a load of people that are very knowledgeable and very helpful.

I'm not at my home computer but I'm sure someone can link the service manual and owners manual for the bike here shortly. That'll give you the best idea for the maintenance schedule. They're not too bad, though. Oil, filter, chain cleaning and inspection are the "day-to-day" ones. Valve checks and throttle syncs are the important longer term ones. Otherwise it's a pretty straightforward bike.
 
#3 ·
Awesome! It's only got 4k miles on it, so it's basically mint. I don't think I'll need to screw with valve checks/throttle clearance for a while if I'm only riding 10 miles to work with the occasional weekend trip (not many, wife doesn't have the life insurance policy yet :) )
 
#4 ·
Just wondering, have you ridden anything in the 10 years since your crash? What level of experience did you have before the crash?

The FZ is as reliable as anything on the road today, and pretty easy to maintain. There are a couple of updates you’ll want to make sure have been done to it, which people will get into in this thread.

But I’m more interested in your skill level, experience, and mental preparation. If you were a fairly new rider back then, and haven’t ridden since, I would think about starting from scratch with an MSF course, etc. But that depends on what you tell us. So fill us in... 🙂
 
#5 ·
I rode 3 years before the crash and about two years after the crash. I've since taken the basic Riders course and learned a little bit but most of it I already knew. I pretty much lived and breathed motorcycle before the accident. I'm a lot less Reckless than my youth, though the accident was completely the fault of the SUV driver. Still I could have gotten in a lot of trouble with the way I rode before.

Let me tell you guys though, fake elbows are no joke.
 
#6 ·
If there is one thing I've learned, the power of the bike does not matter one iota. My best analogy for this is a gun. A gun in your hand does not kill, it is your brain, telling your finger to pull the trigger that kills. Same with a 200cc bike or 2 liter bike. It is your brain telling your hand to rip the throttle that will kill you.

You can simply calibrate your head to only open the throttle the appropriate amount to give you safe traveling speeds. Now, there is the problem, your brain, your personality, your experience, your level of psycho, your level of machismo, risk taker, etc. That's what needs to be changed, fixed, trained.

And old lady with a V8 Caddy will drive like an old lady. A young buck with a tiny 4 cylinder Honda Civic can wreak havoc on a high way.

Get the MSF Basic course again... then intermediate... then advanced... never stop learning. The day you do stop learning... bad things will happen.
 
#8 ·
If there is one thing I've learned, the power of the bike does not matter one iota. My best analogy for this is a gun. A gun in your hand does not kill, it is your brain, telling your finger to pull the trigger that kills. Same with a 200cc bike or 2 liter bike. It is your brain telling your hand to rip the throttle that will kill you.

You can simply calibrate your head to only open the throttle the appropriate amount to give you safe traveling speeds. Now, there is the problem, your brain, your personality, your experience, your level of psycho, your level of machismo, risk taker, etc. That's what needs to be changed, fixed, trained.

And old lady with a V8 Caddy will drive like an old lady. A young buck with a tiny 4 cylinder Honda Civic can wreak havoc on a high way.

Get the MSF Basic course again... then intermediate... then advanced... never stop learning. The day you do stop learning... bad things will happen.
I don't think I need the basic course, but what is in the intermediate/advanced courses? I may be interested in those if I have time.
 
#7 · (Edited)
The best resource for the bike is this forum along with an owners manual and workshop manual. Basic information will be found in the owners manual...scroll down to post 7 for the link to online manuals.

 
#16 ·
The FZ-09 is a very trackable bike. Find a track close to you that does motorcycle track days. Then look for a local (usually Ex-) racer that puts on instructional/coaching track days. You will likely be in the novice group to start...
Your cornering proficiency and riding enjoyment will multiply exponentially! A side effect is you will become a safer, more competent street rider.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
 
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#17 ·
The best thing I've done to my 2014 FZ-09 was to have the ECU flashed by Ivan's Performance Products. It really made it more easy to modulate the throttle and greatly diminished the abrupt fuel cutoff when rolling off the throttle. Shipped my ECU to them during the winter non-riding season and got it back in few days. Dropped it back in with no other changes to my stock configuration bike. Totally smoother. Cost about $350 as I recall. Haven't seen noticeable change in the fuel mileage.
 
#18 ·
I agree with mjsizmore about an ecu reflash. I had mine done by Vcyclenut and am happy with the result.
although the Yamaha upgrade did help quite a bit by itself.
there’s pretty much a general consensus on this site that the chain tension listed in the book is much too tight, the rear axle torque spec is too tight, and the one up riding tire pressure recommendation is too high
I would take some time trying to dial in the suspension as well as you can, and maybe even move the forks up in the triple clamps a bit - but only if you feel competent to do it.
even though there’s low mileage on the bike, you might want to flush the brake lines and put in new fluid. Maybe even some high-performance front brake pads.
also, practice using the horn whenever there’s no traffic around, because it’s in a stupid place and you want to be able to locate it rapidly without having to think about it.
if you do much long-haul stuff, you might want to get a smaller rear sprocket. I can’t remember why, but there’s some problem, or potential problem with a larger countershaft sprocket.
I got a short wind screen, and I’m glad I did. I also got a (Much) brighter Phillips headlight bulb, and it’s a cheap, though very welcome modification. Changing it was a bit of a chore though. The service manual and the owners manual showed two completely different methods of changing the bulb, I don’t remember which one is better but I’ve done it both ways and one is much much easier than the other.
somewhere there was a PDF on this site years ago that was the factory service manual I printed it out and I’m glad I did
I got crash bars, or whatever they’re called on my bike and I’m glad I did. I’ve managed to drop it on both sides. Put dings in the handlebar ends, but not the tank. Most recently, while taking it off the rear stand after having forgotten to put the side stand down. Also put a ding in my car‘a fender. Oops!
 
#20 ·
I agree with mjsizmore about an ecu reflash. I had mine done by Vcyclenut and am happy with the result.
although the Yamaha upgrade did help quite a bit by itself.
there’s pretty much a general consensus on this site that the chain tension listed in the book is much too tight, the rear axle torque spec is too tight, and the one up riding tire pressure recommendation is too high
I would take some time trying to dial in the suspension as well as you can, and maybe even move the forks up in the triple clamps a bit - but only if you feel competent to do it.
even though there’s low mileage on the bike, you might want to flush the brake lines and put in new fluid. Maybe even some high-performance front brake pads.
also, practice using the horn whenever there’s no traffic around, because it’s in a stupid place and you want to be able to locate it rapidly without having to think about it.
if you do much long-haul stuff, you might want to get a smaller rear sprocket. I can’t remember why, but there’s some problem, or potential problem with a larger countershaft sprocket.
I got a short wind screen, and I’m glad I did. I also got a (Much) brighter Phillips headlight bulb, and it’s a cheap, though very welcome modification. Changing it was a bit of a chore though. The service manual and the owners manual showed two completely different methods of changing the bulb, I don’t remember which one is better but I’ve done it both ways and one is much much easier than the other.
somewhere there was a PDF on this site years ago that was the factory service manual I printed it out and I’m glad I did
I got crash bars, or whatever they’re called on my bike and I’m glad I did. I’ve managed to drop it on both sides. Put dings in the handlebar ends, but not the tank. Most recently, while taking it off the rear stand after having forgotten to put the side stand down. Also put a ding in my car‘a fender. Oops!
Yeah, the horn is in a really dumb place. I went to use it a few times and missed my chance.

I'm not confident on doing that much to it yet. The ECU flash I'll consider.

Windscreen is an aftermarket one as well as the seat. They feel pretty comfortable to me.

Oh, something I did notice is it seems to run pretty rough going from 0-15 and after that it smooths out. I read in another thread that it may be something to do with the cam chain tensioner? I typically ride it in mode B now as that seems to run a lot smoother.
 
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