What did you do to your FJR today?

Talk about issues and questions specific to the FJR here.
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bungie4
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by bungie4 »

danh600 wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:33 am
fontanaman wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2019 1:29 am The past couple of weeks I have had my eye on a 2015 FJR ES for sale in Butte Montana with just under 10k miles for $7995. The dealership was not responsive to my requests for quality photos about about scratches on a saddle bags. (they did disclose they existed.) They said they would send me photos by email with better resolution of the scratches - they didn't. I called them more than once asking for better photos and they were non committal. Finally I said screw it and would drive seven hours to see the bike and scratches. So I asked to take the bike for a test drive when I arrived. They said I'd have to buy it first and could get my money back if I'd didn't like it. I said forget it.
And dealers wonder why business is declining.

In this day and time if a dealer doesn't want to send photos they are hiding something. I bet that bike had worse problems then described.
This is really getting to be a thing with me... Making it hard to spend my money with a business. This is another example.

Go to get my license stickers, sit there for 30 minutes only to be told, after I asked, why they weren't serving anybody - System is down. Not much I can do here except bitch and return.

Go to buy snow tires at Costco. They don't sell wheels in the store, I have to order them online and bring them in when I get my tires installed. But I can't buy my tires now because they won't hold them for more than 2 days. They won't guarantee that the chosen will tires will be stock beside right now. So I can buy them now and take them with me and bring the wheels and tires back on my install date. So I bought them at Canadian Tire for $12 more because they DID supply wheels.

Go to buy some deoderant - I have to hunt the entire store to find somebody to open the anti-theft guard. This is after I spend 20 minutes looking for some mens non-scented in the 8000 different kinds of deoderant they sell. Or, I can buy it for $2 at the dollar store.

Go to a different grocery store because its on my way (and actually closer to my home then my usual). I want a cart. I have to put a twoonie in the cart to get it to release. I don't have change. You expect me to walk in to the courtesy desk, stand there for 5 minutes and break a $20 to get a twoonie so I can spend my money in your store. f@$king HARD NO. I don't care that I'll get my twoonie back. Stop making it difficult!

.. and on and on... No wonder Amazon is steam-rollering the planet.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by wheatonFJR »

^^^Move to SC and save on the cost of snow tires. Heck, save on the cost of any tars...Bob's used tars are not too far away if you need some...and I hear their customer service is great. In any event, I should plug in the battery tender...if anybody works on my bike it will be griff or Duane. I've got a GPS to wire in and some electric gear that needs wiring into power.

You know...for when I do ride.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by danh600 »

I was on a trip one day. Had a flat tire in the car. Changed the tire and took the spare to a Sears Auto Center. It was the only thing opened it was some minor holiday.

So I pull in and the guy tells me they can't fix the tire. The computer is down. So the service manager and all the mechanics are standing around.

I offer to leave a $20, you fix my tire, write it up later and keep the change. Nope. They can't do that.
After an hour I offer $30. I just want the spare fixed so I can continue my cross country vacation.
Nope.

So I continue on with a flat spare. Found a tire store next to the hotel a few days later and got it repaired for $6.

I can't imagine not getting my job done because the computer is down.

Hell, we did payroll by hand the day after a hurricane because there was no power.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by bungie4 »

I can't wait for another Carrington event.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by Steel_Gin »

Put it away for the winter. :cry:
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by fontanaman »

I seem to have struck a chord about businesses lacking customer focus. So let's continue the conversation.

On Cycle Trader I have a saved search for FJRs and get emails when FJRs are added meeting the search criteria.

So the bike in Butte Montana pops up. The add includes 4 so so photos with glare from florescent lighting. So I call the dealer and ask if the bike has any dings and please send photos of the nicks and scratches if it does. They confirm there is a scratch on the left saddle bag and will send photos.

Three hour later no photos so I call again and I get the Sales Manager. I said I want to come over with the intent of buying the bike at the asking price if I can see some photos of the scratches they disclosed in the first phone call.

I am eager to get to Butte because the weather here has been very nice, blue skies blah blah and I am not keen driving 7 hours to Butte in a flipping snowstorm. Just send me some photos please. During the both calls they committed to send higher resolution photos by email rather than as a text message - that didn't happen. The only photos they send were these by text.

Image

Image

Not very good photos. Notice there is aftermarket pin striping so simply replacing the saddle bags outer shell is not a good option.

Yesterday I called the Sales Manager again and asked for better photos. Basically he said he'd try but wasn't sure how to do it. I wait 3 hours and no photos. So nuts to it I decided could drive over and hope for the best so I texted the Sales Manager and said ok I'll drive over but I want to take the bike for a test ride. The Sales Manager called and said no test rides without buying it he said and if you don't like it we will take it back. I am 64 years old and have been riding for 51 year. All I wanted was to make sure the bike was in good shape by taking it for a 15-30 minute ride, run through the gears and take it up to freeway speed. And the Sales Manager would not budge, saying there is gravel and calcium chloride on the roads and he does not recommend riding in these conditions and they have had test rides go wrong in the past. Hey I am a veteran rider, the temps are in the 50's and I have road in sand and gravel over those 51 years. Nuts I have rode dirt bikes on single track in the Cascade Mountains.

So I said well maybe next spring if it is there. Now I don't really care much at all. The could have put the bike outside in natural light and taken some better photos even with a damn cell phone. But no. Customer focus was appalling to non-existent. I guess they don't want to sell the bike.

Soon I will start some winter maintenance on the FJR. With 10 years and 107k I am considering changing engine coolant hoses, replacing engine coolant, do a valve check/adjustment as needed, change the spark plugs and perhaps service the relay arm. My 09 FJR is in very good running order. I was out with George (aka --G) in Oregon two months ago at Ray's Reuben Run. My 09 took less fuel than his 15 at every fuel stop. Last year George road my 09 a few miles and proclaimed it was in good shape. I may have to replace the starter motor eventually - there was a slow cranking issue while in Oregon with George now it is cranking fine. My 09 has a rebuild-able Penski and GPS suspension components and one could argue that is better than ES. The damn thing just runs well. Best bike I have ever had. The 15 is attractive because it has cruise control but that is about it over my 09. So nuts to the bike in Butte. If I want the shop to replace the starter motor then I get one from Ray and let them do the RnR and still be money ahead. Beside in this sport touring market who's wants to buy an high mileage 09 without electronic goodies? Not many.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by FJRoss »

Coolant hoses dried out or cracked on the '09? Never felt a need to change them (or hydraulic lines) on my '07 in the 10 years and almost 200,000 miles I put on it. Rubber bits on my '11 are still supple.

Rode the bike to work this morning and rode home in scattered snow flurries. Probably won't take it to work again before April but hope to get a couple more day rides in before I unhook the battery and throw a cover over it. Battery is getting a bit slow to crank engine on cold mornings so might be time for a replacement next year. Will do a mid winter top off charge and again in the spring and try it out before tossing it. Only nine years and 70,000 miles on this one so far - got over 10 years and a lot more miles on the OEM battery on the '07. (I have only owned this bike for 1.5 years but almost half the miles are mine.) I never use a battery tender.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by El Toro Joe »

Put it away...doesn't look like I'll be riding for a while
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by wheatonFJR »

El Toro Joe wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2019 7:53 pm Put it away...doesn't look like I'll be riding for a while
:cry:
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by morecowbell »

I took mine out for a 110 mile loop this morning. Highway 74 out of Palm Desert, breakfast in Idyllwild, 243 down to Banning and I10 back to the house. Hw 243 has been closed since Feb due to winter storm damage...just reopened last Friday. There are 16 miles of fresh smooth pavement now where miles of frost heaves would upset the suspension and rattle your teeth out. It's an absolute blast to ride now. Finally my damn CA tax dollars have been spent on something useful!
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Re: RE: Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by Toter »

fontanaman wrote:I don't mind living in a northern state. In the northern states summer daylight hours are longer than winter daylight hours in southern states. Of course if you don't mind riding in high heat an humidity in summer then ignore the previous sentence.

The past couple of weeks I have had my eye on a 2015 FJR ES for sale in Butte Montana with just under 10k miles for $7995. The dealership was not responsive to my requests for quality photos about about scratches on a saddle bags. (they did disclose they existed.) They said they would send me photos by email with better resolution of the scratches - they didn't. I called them more than once asking for better photos and they were non committal. Finally I said screw it and would drive seven hours to see the bike and scratches. So I asked to take the bike for a test drive when I arrived. They said I'd have to buy it first and could get my money back if I'd didn't like it. I said forget it.

I figured the new bike would cost me 7k after selling my 09. With this is mind I can have a lot of work done on my 09 by a dealer to fix any issues that I don't want to deal with. I do most of the maintenance myself so having a the rest done by a dealer to keep the bike going for 75k more miles will likely be less than 7k.
I feel your pain. I was lucky to find my 15 ES within 300 miles from a private seller. Bike had 13,000 miles and the previous owner had dropped it in a gravel lot at zero mph. A few scratches on left mirror, a couple of scars on engine cover, and a small dent in left pipe. Bike was immaculate otherwise and drove great. I rode it home. Been a happy camper ever since. It is a fabulous improvement in all ways over the 2006 I ordered new. Don't give up on a 15 ES. You can find one from a private owner. Yeah, dealers basically suck.

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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by fontanaman »

I have decided to keep my 09 FJR and have removed all saved searches from Cycle Trader.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by Pterodactyl »

I would have been willing to go to Butte to look at the bike for you and send pictures.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by bill lumberg »

Since mine is sitting under a full Nelson Rigg cover at the airport, I shopped from my hotel room and bought matte and regular wax off Amazon in anticipation of prewinter cleanup on Sunday. Gonna get a lot of crud on it the next few months.
Last edited by bill lumberg on Fri Nov 08, 2019 8:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by BkerChuck »

Rode mine to work today. Dug out my cold weather riding gear last night after work and used it this morning. 37 degrees but clean roads since the forecasted snow yesterday never happened. We got some rain but nothing that would be an issue today.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by El Toro Joe »

Snow and ice on the roads, along with 26 degree temps here...guess I'm done riding for a little while. :(
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by BkerChuck »

El Toro Joe wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 8:19 am Snow and ice on the roads, along with 26 degree temps here...guess I'm done riding for a little while. :(
Bummer Joe. They were calling for a chance of snow in my area yesterday but temps never even got close to freezing. It's colder today but nothing unmanageable. I know I'm not looking forward to this crap.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by danh600 »

bill lumberg wrote: Fri Nov 08, 2019 6:35 am Since mine is sitting under a full Nelson Rigg cover at the airport, I shopped from my hotel room and bought matte and regular wax off Amazon in anticipation of prewinter cleanup on Sunday. Gonna get a lot of crud on it the next few months.
How is that matte finish holding up?
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by danh600 »

All I did today to my FJR was dream about it!

Tomorrow have a nice ride planned. Cool front actually going through C. FL today.

Should be should be low 60s working up into the 70s for tomorrows ride.

Little chance of rain.

Haven't got to ride the FJR since coming home from SFO.
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Re: What did you do to your FJR today?

Post by CollingsBob »

It’s all covered up...fuel stabilizer in the tank, battery tender plugged in. It’s gonna be another long winter.
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