Test rode an FJR today

[the ferret]

I had scheduled an extended ride today on an 07 FJR at my local Yammie dealer. So we show up with our helmets. The bike is gassed up and ready to go. I ask if there is anything specific that I need to know and the dealer tells me it's just like my FZ1 except for the electric windshield. My wife and I mount up and I fire it up. The clutch pull is a lot heavier than the FZ1's even though it is hydrauic and the throttle is really stiff compared to the FZ1 (I had read about the stiff throttle on the FJR boards but it was much stiffer than I had imagined). Anyhow the bike sounds big and powerful as we take off. First thing I hit is the freeway a couple blocks away. On the freeway we can feel the comfort in the ergos (seat good, pegs good, bars are ok) and play with the windshield full down it feels like my FZ1 with the air hitting me in the chin, up the airstream moves to the top of my faceshield and it becomes a lot quieter and with a whole lot less air. In between full down and full up sucked and really buffeted my head and was noisy.This bike is fast and hard to keep at the speed limit even on the freeway. I only go 10 miles or so and my right arm is already tired of holding that stiff throttle open. We jumped off the freeway and hit some twisties. The bike feels ponderous and not at all flickable. I make the side to side transitions with some effort. Again the bike wants to run faster than I want and the stiff throttle is making me work extra hard and so is the stiff clutch. Would hate to get caught in stop and go traffic on this bike. By the 27 mile mark my right elbow hurts and my right thumb and first two fingers are tingling. After another 10 miles of twisties I am not enjoying this ride at all. However my wife is loving it. The rear seat is very comfortable for her, she has plenty of room and the footpegs are not positioned too badly at all for her knees. We hit some straight 2 lane with notorious expansion joints and the FJR takes them in stride, much smoother than any other bike we have ridden. Coming up on a small town we stop at the big yellow M for lunch. I tell my wife how dissapointed I am in the bike. At this point my right shoulder, and right elbow are both hurting and the numb finger thing isn't making me happy, and my left bicep is getting sore to boot from the stiff clutch. My wife is loving the passenger accomodations and is ready to write a check for the bike.

After lunch we head down the 2 lane for another couple miles playing with the windshield some more before hitting the twisties back toward the shop. Again I am not comfortable with the general bulk of this bike and my inability to make left to right to left transitions comfortably.Honestly it feels like a tank to me. We pull into the shop and are met by the dealer. I express my regrets but this won't be bike #47 for me. I am really dissapointed.

Hope to get a ride on the new 1250 Bandit one of these days. I had originally wanted one but due to a lack of availabilty at local dealers and the fact that it's a chain drive had decided to go with the FJR (mainly because of the shaft drive.)

Has anyone here ridden both and can compare them?

[pmackie]

Hey Ferret

Check out this thread...it may have some useful info

http://forums.banditalley.net/viewtopic.php?t=9240&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

[Sven]

...stiff throttle......In between full down and full up sucked and really buffeted my head and was noisy...This bike is fast and hard to keep at the speed limit even on the freeway. I only go 10 miles or so and my right arm is already tired of holding that stiff throttle open.... feels ponderous and not at all flickable...Would hate to get caught in stop and go traffic on this bike...

I am in Denver for the 3rd (and final, darn it) of a series of seminars.  In June I rented a 2004 BMW R1150RT.  This time, I got an 2007 FJR 1300.  Overall, this bike rocks!

Friday, I went over to Florissent Fossil Beds, Cripple Creek, and Royal Gorge.  Saturday I went down to Cortez...as of Sunday morning, am waiting for temps in Cortez to rise above freezing so I can go to Four Corners and Mesa Verde.

What I like:  Almost everything.  It starts up with no coddling, no choke.  It's almost silent when idling, and pretty quiet at anything other than highest speeds.  (And speaking of speed, if my B12 seems happiest at 70 MPH, the FJR seems happiest at 90 MHP.)  Shifts as smooth as butter, and power is delivered smoothly.  Seating is about as comfortable as my B12...I put in about 450 miles yesterday and as sore as I would be on the B12.  The FJR just seems more nimble...it seems to want to lean into the curves without my help.

I also like a few very small things...like the longer footpegs so I can easily clear the shift/brake pedals when I am cruising on the highway.  I also like the shorted u-turn radius...I don't know how the wheelbase compares with my B12, but I am able to make a tighter turn...could be mental on my part.

What could be improved:  Grip position--My thumbs go numb unless I tuck my elbows into my sides and lean forward a bit...the grips point downward and that's not how I'm built.  Also, as you mentioned, the windscreen--it's great when all the way down, and when all the way up, but in between is noisy and buffeting.  Also, why does it retract every time you turn the engine off?  It should stay set.

Haven't had any stop-n-go traffic, but have done some in-town riding, and no complaints about that.

[the ferret]

Paul and Sven..I pretty much agree with the reviews posted only i am really suprised no one mentionted the stiff throttle or clutch.

I noticed the shifter was in close to the engine on the fjr. At first that bothered me, because I couldn't find it,  but once I got used to tucking my toe toward the engine, it was nice having more foot room.

Heat is definitly not an issue on the 07 FJR. It was 90 here yesterday and I felt no discomfort from the engine heat.

There is no way I could be happy with the FJR as my only ride. If they fixed the throttle and clutch I could be happy riding it out west and back. This bike is made for long open stretches IMO.

The bags were nice and easily removed and reinstalled.
One more thing I didn't care foron the FJR. The speedometer ruuns up to 180 (who knows it may need it... I never run over 80 mph though)

Most of my riding is below 60. At 60 mph on most of my bikes 60 has the needle about straight up and down. On this one at 60 the needle was at about the 7:00 position and when going thru speed zones of 35-45 mph the needle is lower than that. It was difficult for me to find and difficult to keep an eye on when watching so as not to speed (as I said speeding is REAL easy n the FJR) If they had rotated the dial face around to have 180 at say 5:00, the speedometer would have been a lot more useful for me.

I miss my old Suzuki 850 G. Big flat comfortable seat for both me and my wife, good bars, 5.8 gallon tank and shaft drive.  

[the ferret]

Oh and I forgot to mention the brakes. The brakes on the FJR will suck the eyeballs out of your head if you apply them with more than 2 fingers. Good golly molly what a set of binders.

[Pidgey]

I read and hear good things about the bike apart from that auto clutch set up they have on the AE.  

[the ferret]

Yea I think that it just goes to show no matter how good of a review something gets, it's not necessarily the best bike for everybody.

[Sven]

Did another 250 today...Hovenweep National Monument, Four Corners Monument, and Mesa Verde National Monument.

I found that riding shorter stretches helped a lot with the thumbs numbnesses...or maybe I am learning to hold my hands in the "FJR" position.

As mentioned above, the ABS brakes are very responsive.

I guess the throttle does seem a little harder to turn than I am used to, but it didn't stand out until you mentioned it.

I forgot to mention that I like the saddle being (or at least feeling) slightly lower than my usual ride.

While I'm not trading el bandido in for the FJR, and depsite the FJR's minor annoyances, I wouldn't mind having one.

[pmackie]

hey Sven

The FJR just seems more nimble...it seems to want to lean into the curves without my help.

Maybe you need to adjust your B12 a bit? Most people find the Bandit more nimble. On your Bandit, you can drop the triple trees down (raise the tubes up in the clamps 1/2 - 3/4") and/or add some additional preload to the rear shock to tighten up the steering some more.

Just a thought. I haven't ridden an FJR, but I like you idea of renting one and going for a ride. I'll have to consider this in '08, as I might consider upgrading next year, and I'm unsure of what I want.

[Sven]

Maybe you need to adjust your B12 a bit? Most people find the Bandit more nimble. On your Bandit, you can drop the triple trees down (raise the tubes up in the clamps 1/2 - 3/4") and/or add some additional preload to the rear shock to tighten up the steering some more.

Hmm...not that I have any complaints about el bandido, but this could be a winter project for me.  We don't have much winter in TN, but I'm scheduling some foot surgery that will keep me off the bike in the deepest of winter.  (You can see where my priorities lay.)

I have rented from TourBikes.com.  Mostly has BMWs in Denver, takes a few bikes to Austin TX for the winter.  It's hard to find rentals that are not Hardleys or Honders.

[SteelD]

What I like:  Almost everything.  It starts up with no coddling, no choke.  It's almost silent when idling, and pretty quiet at anything other than highest speeds.  (And speaking of speed, if my B12 seems happiest at 70 MPH, the FJR seems happiest at 90 MHP.)  Shifts as smooth as butter, and power is delivered smoothly.

I've gone from FJR to a B1250. I've never had a B12 so can't comment on that. However, the B1250 has FI and starts and runs even better than my old FJR. The B1250 is even quieter than my FJR, has power delivery as smooth as an FJR though the shifts are similar.

The FJR just seems more nimble...it seems to want to lean into the curves without my help.

Not compared to my B1250. In comparison, the FJR feels top-heavy. When I moved to the FJR from an FZS600, I noticed that it took a more conscious effort to haul it round corners. Now I'm on a B1250, I enjoy riding much more because it is so nimble and flickable and I find myself leaning it over further with more confidence than I ever did on my FJR.

The B1250 isn't perfect. I'd much rather have a shaft drive but then the paint started bubbling on the shaft drive housing of the FJR (a common problem in some parts). The seat is much better on the FJR, it has better storage space, the luggage is properly integrated, weather protection is much better and the screen works. However, whether the difference in price between the two bikes justifies the extras I'm not sure. I enjoyed doing distances on the FJR but on the new Bandit, I just enjoy the riding a lot more. If it's touring then the FJR is the better, if it's for short-distance commuting, town work or just for fun, then the Bandit is my choice.

[Sven]

Today I logged another 437 miles on the FJR before turning it back in.  A few final thoughts after 1416 miles in four days:

---The angle of the grips didn’t bother me today, but my knees and butt are sore.  The seat gets pretty hard after a couple days!
--Rode through rush hour traffic this afternoon in Denver with no concerns.
--Yesterday, atop Mesa Verde and with only a single bar left on the gas-o-meter, I was sweating bullets.  But while the larger gas tank adds wet weight to the bike, I appreciate the 250-mile range.
--This bike has a Givi topcase on the tail.  It’s a huge mother that helds everything I needed for four days on the road, but it spoils the bike’s looks.  I have never used a Givi before, and was impressed with how easy it was to mount-demount it as needed.

The most interesting things was that sometime about mid-day, I realized I was not thinking “this bike”…I was thinking “MY bike”.  Guess I got pretty used to it.

[the ferret]

1416 miles is a pretty decent test ride  

[Sven]

BTW, for those who are interested, I rented the FJR and the BWM R1150RT from Colorado Tour Bikes.  Check them out at http://www.tourbikes.com.  They have been good to work with, and have been taking some bikes to Austin TX for winter rentals...want to start a Mexico rental location, too.  They are physcially located in Aurora (Denver) CO.  

Checkout their website, and be prepared for rental prices that are nothing like those for a car.  But the rentals are on a 24-hour clock, instead of a calendar day, so that makes it a little better.

[terrebandit]

is there a known fix for the stiff throttle?  Not all of you are complaining about it so its not a universal problem, apparently.