FJR1300 Thread

[FindingMyWay]

I do love those FJRs.. Here's a photo I took of the lineup of Gendarme motos during my trip to the 2008 Tour de France. Location: Lavelanet, before the start of Stage 12. It was just plain awe-inspiring to watch the Gendarmes ride through the Pyrénées.

[996DL]

As always, it's amazing the prices you folks manage to find used 2nd gen FJR's for, in the USA !
Long and low and heavy enough, that combined with 48mm forks, it'll ride out wind storms the way God intended a motorcycle should...

Number 1 on my short list, for replacing my flying billboard, Zega equipped DL1000 someday.
2nd gen FJR's in Canada are generally close to $12,000, enjoy those amazing bargains !

996DL

[McNeal]

Originally Posted by 996DL

Long and low and heavy enough, that combined with 48mm forks, it'll ride out wind storms the way God intended a motorcycle should...

If funny that you should talk about wind storms. I've got a Ducati ST3 which I just got back out on the road after a long winter. Yesterday and today I've been bounced around by the wind (I think the ST3 is almost 125lbs lighter) and wondered if it wouldn't be more enjoyable to ride something with a little more weight. At the same time I've had this bike for 6 years and while I've talked about trading it in I have never done so. I wish I could own multiple bikes since there is something about a Ducati which is just so much fun to ride and ride hard.

[996DL]

Originally Posted by McNeal

If funny that you should talk about wind storms. I've got a Ducati ST3 which I just got back out on the road after a long winter. Yesterday and today I've been bounced around by the wind (I think the ST3 is almost 125lbs lighter) and wondered if it wouldn't be more enjoyable to ride something with a little more weight.

On the windy prairies and the nearby Rockies, I've run into instances where I couldn't even pull over to the side of the road on the Vee (Red Deer thunderstorm), without chancing on being blown into the ditch...
Apparently the 950/990 Adventurer's can even be worse, hard to imagine...

Every owner of FJR's I've approached, has said their bikes just hunker down, lean over and soldier through the worst of my region's, extreme windy conditions. I'd settle for that !

996DL

[markjenn]

Originally Posted by 996DL

Every owner of FJR's I've approached, has said their bikes just hunker down, lean over and soldier through the worst of my region's, extreme windy conditions. I'd settle for that !

I've ridden some pretty strong winds and the FJR is as good as anything I've ridden. Of course, a lot of that simply has to do with a low-slung chassis and lots of weight, but the bike has pretty good aero and excellent stability right out of the box.

- Mark

[McNeal]

Originally Posted by 996DL

On the windy prairies and the nearby Rockies, I've run into instances where I couldn't even pull over to the side of the road on the Vee (Red Deer thunderstorm), without chancing on being blown into the ditch...
Apparently the 950/990 Adventurer's can even be worse, hard to imagine...

There were a few times yesterday I thought the bike and I were going to swap positions. I'm sure a FJR would be a lot more stable. Of course, today I went through a few corners at speeds I doubt a larger bike would handle as well. That's not to say the FJR is a slouch in the handling department. Lighter bikes are typically more confidence inspiring. All bike have there pluses and minus.

[Wreckchecker]

As far as cross-winds, I've ridden across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in MD when they've prohibited trucks and RVs from crossing. The Feej will get beat up by the gusts, and there were times I was leaned pretty far over to stay straight. But I never ever was worried about losing control. I think the Ducati ST2 would have done about the same and definitely would not have even tried on the KLR.

A number of folks who originally bought the Gen1 FJRs were like me and moving from the Ducati ST series. I loved the Duck and wish I could've kept both at the time. The FJR may not have the newest bells and plastic, I would like to have an electric cruise rather than the throttle lock, but it's still better than most of what I'd consider and I've never regretted buying either my Gen1 or Gen2.

The first gen C14s had a lot of rough fit/finish stuff, such as all of the unfinished plastic and fit of the fairing gaps. This year's C14 is a really nice bike and I sure understand why people buy them. But to ME it's like the BMW K12GT series in that the wide tank feels like sitting with a concrete block between my legs. The ergos also didn't fit me in other ways. The C14 may be a bit lighter in weight but I find with the higher bags, the FJR center of gravity is lower, so that comes to a wash. As a commuter and compared to the Gen1 FJR I had, the C14 bags make it wider, plus the C14 valve interval (3-4X per year for me!!!) and gas mileage were a flat turn-off when I was looking at buying the Gen2 FJR or something else. Again, the C14 is a great bike and clearly a lot of people like them, it just didn't do it for me.

Try them all and there WILL be a flavor you like. They're all good. Heck, my boss still likes his ST13 Honda.

[cardingtr]

On one of our Sunday morning rides where I topped 132mph the wind was about 30-40 miles from our 9 o'clock. Everybody complained of the wind except the 3 of us on FJRs.

[LuciferMutt]

About how much does the FJR1300 weigh wet? Some quick searching shows just shy of 600 lbs, does that sound about right to you owners?

[Blakebird]

Originally Posted by DevilNinjaDog

About how much does the FJR1300 weigh wet? Some quick searching shows just shy of 600 lbs, does that sound about right to you owners?

Dry weight for the A is 582, and 593 I think for the AE.

[Bug R]

Originally Posted by DevilNinjaDog

About how much does the FJR1300 weigh wet? Some quick searching shows just shy of 600 lbs, does that sound about right to you owners?

Depends
Chris

[Putts]

Originally Posted by Bug R

Depends
Chris

Is that a car tire on your rear?

[JimNtexas]

Interesting ya'll mention wind and the FJR. Just this weekend I took my first overnight trip on my FJR.

I rode from Austin Texas to the White Sands Missie range in New Mexico for the semi-annual Trinity Site public day.



I put just shy of 1500 miles on my 2008 Advanced Edition FJR.

I had two days of really strong cross winds, according to the TV weather guy there were gusts to 50+ mph recorded along my route.

The FJR was pretty much unperturbed by all but the two really super strong gusts that tried to tear my helmet off.

In those two events the bike did a slight weave and then continued on at 70mph. Mostly I just leaned very slightly into the wind and the bike otherwise ignored the wind.

I shutter to think how my Ninja 250 would have reacted.

Unlike the FJR, this rider got kind of tired out by terrific noise generated in my HJC modular helmet (yes I wore ear plugs) and the general feeling of being beat about my head and shoulders .

[Sticky Throttle]

Originally Posted by DevilNinjaDog

About how much does the FJR1300 weigh wet? Some quick searching shows just shy of 600 lbs, does that sound about right to you owners?

635 lbs wet. And, yes, it's pretty solid in stiff cross winds. Great bike stock. Even better with suspension dialed in.

[markjenn]

Originally Posted by Sticky Throttle

635 lbs wet.

Optimistic. CW measured 609 lbs dry for a Gen1. Add in 40-lbs for fuel and you're at 650 or so. And the Gen2 bikes are widely reported to be 15 or so lbs heavier, so figure 665 for a Gen2.

- Mark