other rides?

[Korr]

I only have the XS, but if i had money/time i'd make me a cafe bike out of a 70's honda cb750. somehting similar to this, but less shiny

[Brent]

dual sport

2002 BMW R1150GS Adventure
2003 Suzuki DR650

Hi Giggity,
From the dual purpose nature of those 2 bikes, I would guess that you keep going after the pavement ends.

Ever take an XS11 off road? Any mods to help it go off road better?

I have been looking at (not buying) a Moto Guzzi Stelvio 1200. (Longitudinal crank, heavy for a dirt bike...) I hear smaller & lighter is better. Still, I like to ride far away sometimes.

What say you?

[GNEPIG]

Yup,.. I got another new one and it's a blast to ride:



Also got me a new gun:

[motoman]

Part of majority........Honda ST 1100..........Absolutely the best do-it-all-well scoot out there.....still...

[Roy Bean]

I've been using this bike for a test pig for engines. I've had three engines on it this year and am ready to install another one.

[Dan Hodges]

New Rides

I bought a new FJR-1300 in August and it's a very nice ride. I've since installed a set of Staintune Mufflers which give it a nice mellow throaty sound but not much more in the way of power, 4 to 6 hp supposedly from the dyno test I've seen from others.

The FJR makes about 10 horsepower less than a Kawasaki C-14 but the FJR is 40 pounds lighter, holds more gas and is in my eyes a lot better looking and last but not least, more comfortable.

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and others might not agree with me.

I sold my beloved V-Max which broke my heart but I don't have room for three bikes and I'm sure as hell not getting rid of my XS Super Special and so the FJR better be good because it's too late to go back now.

[XJOK2PLAY]

I bought a new FJR-1300 in August

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and others might not agree with me.

I sold my beloved V-Max which broke my heart but I don't have room for three bikes and I'm sure as hell not getting rid of my XS Super Special and so the FJR better be good because it's too late to go back now.

Hey, Dan!
Cool acquisition... I've been eyeing the same bike as well for a while now!
What options did you get on it? Sidebags & trunk?

Is cruise control available on that one? I've got a suggestion for you if it's not that I think you'll like... if you don't already know about it...

Sorry to hear about the V-Max... those are really quick bikes...

Ya know... the one thing about the stock Connie that I can't stand the look of is that ugly huge single muffler!!!
But after you get a decent dual setup on it... she looks pretty good!
That one of Cody's hauls some serious azz....

I think you'll like that FJR... looked pretty sweet to me. Congrats.
Send me a PM, we'll talk more about the C.C.
Bob

[Dan Hodges]

Hey, Dan!
Cool acquisition... I've been eyeing the same bike as well for a while now!
What options did you get on it? Sidebags & trunk?

Is cruise control available on that one? I've got a suggestion for you if it's not that I think you'll like... if you don't already know about it...

Sorry to hear about the V-Max... those are really quick bikes...

Ya know... the one thing about the stock Connie that I can't stand the look of is that ugly huge single muffler!!!
But after you get a decent dual setup on it... she looks pretty good!
That one of Cody's hauls some serious azz....

I think you'll like that FJR... looked pretty sweet to me. Congrats.
Send me a PM, we'll talk more about the C.C.
Bob

The FJR comes with hard bags which are easily removable and I have removed mine for regular riding because they weigh 30 pounds for both. Yamaha also sells a trunk for the FJR which you can view on Yamaha's web site but I would not be caught dead with it on mine.......way too bogus and Wing Dingus.

I have installed the "Vista Cruise" cruise control combination like I had on the V-Max and like I have on my XS and it works perfectly.

Cody installed the head pipes from another model Kawasaki which had two pipes from the factory on his C-14 and that plus some other tweaks netted something like 149 Dyno horsepower which is a lot.

A couple of guys from the FJR forum have made 140 hp with FJR's without going into the motors but the FJR has very mild cams duration wise, only 225 degrees at .040 lift and consequently will never match the power of the C-14 on the top end without a cam change however Mega-Cycle or Web will grind you a new cam on your cores but you have to be carefull when using big cams in the FJR because it's geared really high and too much cam will kill the bottom end.

I did a lot of research on these things before I bought mine and the FJR won out however the 09 sport touring K-1300 GT BMW has more oats than either the C-14 or FJR, a lot more but it's more fragile, cost a lot more money and I have a very friendly and helpful Yamaha dealer here that will help me if I have a problem, not so for a Beemer.

I don't think the C-14 is ugly but it's not as slick as the FJR looks wise and after riding both I like the feel of the FJR better from a comfort and handling standpoint and drag strip times are similiar but the C-14 is definitely faster on the top end however from a 70 mph to 100 mph roll on in top gear on the Interstate in top gear the FJR felt faster to me and the magazine test reflect the same but the FJR has a 5 speed with a 3.91 top gear vs the 6th. gear in the C-14 which is 3.40.

In this same type of contest my V-Max felt pretty stout but it was geared much lower with a 4.70 top gear ratio in 5th. gear. The V-Max would run about 145 but I was never able to get 150 mph out of it and I tried several times however in October I had the FJR out on the same stretch of Interstate that I do my high speed test on and with only 1,000 miles on the clock it fetched 145 mph with ease and had a **** load left and it was dead smooth, unlike Mr. Max who at times would fetch a high speed wobble at 140 or so and scare the crap out of me.

At 5,000 rpm the FJR is running 95 mph and will get 45 mpg cruising a steady 85-90 mph with the electric windshield in the fully raised position and it will be the Mack Daddy for those long straight highways that traverse the American west.

Last but not least, the FJR is much easier to work on than a C-14 with it's VVT and yada,yada,yada.

[GNEPIG]

I bought a new FJR-1300 in August and it's a very nice ride. I've since installed a set of Staintune Mufflers which give it a nice mellow throaty sound but not much more in the way of power, 4 to 6 hp supposedly from the dyno test I've seen from others.

The FJR makes about 10 horsepower less than a Kawasaki C-14 but the FJR is 40 pounds lighter, holds more gas and is in my eyes a lot better looking and last but not least, more comfortable.

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and others might not agree with me.

I sold my beloved V-Max which broke my heart but I don't have room for three bikes and I'm sure as hell not getting rid of my XS Super Special and so the FJR better be good because it's too late to go back now.

Congratulations Dan, I have heard lots of talk about how nice the FJR is and after a bit of research also, would chose the FJR over the C 14 for the same reasons you have stated= lighter/better gas milage/easier to maintain and such. The only thing I have not done is the test rides to see which fits better and feels like a nicer ride to me.
That VMax was so cool and butt loads of fun, but it is too narrowly focused, it was the obvious pick to trade...

So now for the most important question: what color did you get?

[Dan Hodges]

Congratulations Dan, I have heard lots of talk about how nice the FJR is and after a bit of research also, would chose the FJR over the C 14 for the same reasons you have stated= lighter/better gas milage/easier to maintain and such. The only thing I have not done is the test rides to see which fits better and feels like a nicer ride to me.
That VMax was so cool and butt loads of fun, but it is too narrowly focused, it was the obvious pick to trade...

So now for the most important question: what color did you get?

I started seriously looking at the sport touring market in 07 and at that time the FJR was offered in Maroon which was gorgeous but I wanted a black one and at that time the BMW was still a 1200. In 08 Yamaha offered the FJR in black with silver trim but by that time I had begun to hear rumors that Yammi was going to ante up some more power and I kept waiting and by 2010 I realized that nothing more was coming power wise however the 2010 was all silver and the 09's were all black including the wheels and so the search was on to find a new 08 and luckily for me I found one at a small dealer in Jefferson City, Missouri and so I got my black and silver FJR after all but I almost waited too late to get the color combination I wanted.

There is a large Kawasaki dealer close to where I live and I test rode two different C-14's, one with ABS and one without and although both were very nice, I simply didn't like their looks nor did I care for the electronic doo dads that they had and honestly, neither felt as strong as the 07 FJR I tested when rolling on the throttle in the top two gears from 60 mph to 100 mph when I had to shut down for traffic on I-70. The GenI FJR's were a little lighter (non ABS) and geared a tick lower than the GenII's, 06 and later but didn't have as nice of windshield, adjustable handlebars nor the same louvers in the fairing to keep the heat off the driver.

The Gen II FJR is a very refined piece and in box stock form is very competive with a box stock C-14 except on the very top end. The C-14 responds better to after market exhaust than the FJR does because the C-14 has more cam duration than the FJR plus the exhaust system on the FJR is dead on for the combination however I have put a set of Australian made Staintune mufflers on mine because of their sound but I'll take the additional 5 hp and 10 lbs. less weight and they bolt on just like stock.....they are ultra cool.

Over the years I took several long trips out west on my V-Max and with the Corbin seat it wasn't that bad comfort wise other than your fannie cooked from sitting on top of the rear cylinder and it was a pain putting gas in it plus the fact it only held 4 gallons which isn't kosher out west. I'm an old guy and have owned a slew of motorcycles and I can honestly say, my Max was hands down the coolest bike I've ever owned, warts and all.

Hopefully my new Fejjer will be half as bullet proof as Max was, but it will have to be a dandy to top Mr. Max.

I'll have to keep my XS, I've got too much money in the stupid thing to get rid of it.

I think you would love the FJR, I really like mine.

Dan

[Dan Hodges]

Black Stallion

I started seriously looking at the sport touring market in 07 and at that time the FJR was offered in Maroon which was gorgeous but I wanted a black one and at that time the BMW was still a 1200. In 08 Yamaha offered the FJR in black with silver trim but by that time I had begun to hear rumors that Yammi was going to ante up some more power and I kept waiting and by 2010 I realized that nothing more was coming power wise however the 2010 was all silver and the 09's were all black including the wheels and so the search was on to find a new 08 and luckily for me I found one at a small dealer in Jefferson City, Missouri and so I got my black and silver FJR after all but I almost waited too late to get the color combination I wanted.

There is a large Kawasaki dealer close to where I live and I test rode two different C-14's, one with ABS and one without and although both were very nice, I simply didn't like their looks nor did I care for the electronic doo dads that they had and honestly, neither felt as strong as the 07 FJR I tested when rolling on the throttle in the top two gears from 60 mph to 100 mph when I had to shut down for traffic on I-70. The GenI FJR's were a little lighter (non ABS) and geared a tick lower than the GenII's, 06 and later but didn't have as nice of windshield, adjustable handlebars nor the same louvers in the fairing to keep the heat off the driver.

The Gen II FJR is a very refined piece and in box stock form is very competive with a box stock C-14 except on the very top end. The C-14 responds better to after market exhaust than the FJR does because the C-14 has more cam duration than the FJR plus the exhaust system on the FJR is dead on for the combination however I have put a set of Australian made Staintune mufflers on mine because of their sound but I'll take the additional 5 hp and 10 lbs. less weight and they bolt on just like stock.....they are ultra cool.

Over the years I took several long trips out west on my V-Max and with the Corbin seat it wasn't that bad comfort wise other than your fannie cooked from sitting on top of the rear cylinder and it was a pain putting gas in it plus the fact it only held 4 gallons which isn't kosher out west. I'm an old guy and have owned a slew of motorcycles and I can honestly say, my Max was hands down the coolest bike I've ever owned, warts and all.

Hopefully my new Fejjer will be half as bullet proof as Max was, but it will have to be a dandy to top Mr. Max.

I'll have to keep my XS, I've got too much money in the stupid thing to get rid of it.

I think you would love the FJR, I really like mine.

Dan

A picture of my new steed.

[Dan Hodges]

Bagged

A picture of my new steed.

Another angle wearing the stock Beetle Bags which look bogus, weigh 30 lbs. but hold a lot of stuff. The bags go on and off easily and I prefer it bagless for most of my riding. The 08 FJR weighs 642 lbs. wet but without the bags and the additition of the Staintune mufflers it only weighs 600 lbs. fully gassed which makes for a nimble sport touring bike.

[cywelchjr]

Another angle wearing the stock Beetle Bags which look bogus, weigh 30 lbs. but hold a lot of stuff. The bags go on and off easily and I prefer it bagless for most of my riding. The 08 FJR weighs 642 lbs. wet but without the bags and the additition of the Staintune mufflers it only weighs 600 lbs. fully gassed which makes for a nimble sport touring bike.

I think those bags look good. I've been thinking about an FJR for quite a while, so now you've got me thinking about it again.

[Rickrod3]

79 XS 650SF

Real fun around town bike.
Could ride it all day long @ 40 to 50 MPH on a two lane road.

Rick

[MindWebs]

My S1 is a blast in the twisties, but vibrates way to much for distance.
I had a 78(i Think?) Yam XT500 that was my most multitalented bike.
on road, off road, short trip, long trip, it did it all...
just hated the front drum brakes.