New to me, 2003 FJR1300

[Bonz]

Ahhh... Now I get you. Didn't know the work was going to be done at the shop. For sure better to swap out the bearings than work with the old ones from a $$ and cents standpoint.

Summers are my time off, once school starts (mid-late August) I am a no-go for cool stuff like traveling to rally's.

I just got a set of stick coils/harness for the ZRX and a ZX11 ECU to put on the bike. Stick coils from a ZX14 will clean up the area under the tank and save a pound or so of weight. The ZX11 ECU raises the rev limit 1000 rpm and with the valve springs from a ZX11, gives more headroom up top when running ZZR1200 cams and pistons that I have ready to install...

I also have had the stock rear shocks custom valved and sprung for my weight/riding style along with stiffer/better fork springs. Really helped the bike's ride and handlng.

I really wish for the hot-rod in me that the XS would respond to mods like the ZRX!

[HalfCentury]

Ahhh... Now I get you. Didn't know the work was going to be done at the shop. For sure better to swap out the bearings than work with the old ones from a $$ and cents standpoint.

Summers are my time off, once school starts (mid-late August) I am a no-go for cool stuff like traveling to rally's.

I just got a set of stick coils/harness for the ZRX and a ZX11 ECU to put on the bike. Stick coils from a ZX14 will clean up the area under the tank and save a pound or so of weight. The ZX11 ECU raises the rev limit 1000 rpm and with the valve springs from a ZX11, gives more headroom up top when running ZZR1200 cams and pistons that I have ready to install...

I also have had the stock rear shocks custom valved and sprung for my weight/riding style along with stiffer/better fork springs. Really helped the bike's ride and handlng.

I really wish for the hot-rod in me that the XS would respond to mods like the ZRX!

I was almost a secondary math teacher. I was almost finished with a program, and was hired into my current job which I am thrilled with. I was an unemployed engineer and was tired of being laid off in the tech downturn cycles. I was enrolled in a 16 week program to become certified to teach secondary math. I passed the Praxis II math test and Virginia's English literacy test.

The ZRX seems to me to be XS1100-ish with the benefit 20 years of evolution. I seriously looked at some for sale in adjoining states. There are just too few to allow deals. I ended up deciding to not want another naked rocket. I wanted a bagger.

The FJR is a happy medium. Its 145 HP has three roomy luggage pieces that can be taken off quickly for some fun twisty riding locally.

My vacation time is limited to 3 weeks total per year which is generous for a new-ish. Employer. Usually its 2 week a year until 5 years. At 5 years in this job I will get 4 weeks. I will be trying a couple of 1-week vacations on the bike so it will be not-very-far forays.

I hope to see pictures of your rally. I have never been to one of these so am looking forward.

[Bonz]

Cool! I took the PLACE (Colorado specific) test in both Business and Social Studies. I am doing student teaching this semester in business and marketing, as I will still need a few add'l social studies college credits to get certified in that area (I was an Economics major).

The FJR is a strong one, 145 hp at the crank is a good amount! The current cycle mags put it around 128-130 hp at the wheel. Yamaha rated the XS at 95 hp at the crank and the rear wheel gets around 82-ish. The ZRX with the mods is at the rear wheel on a dyno, so not sure what the number would be at the crank. Chain drive would lessen the amount lost at the rear wheel, so I suspect it's in the 150 hp range at the crank.

I am really getting the bug for a Sport Tourer, loved the ST1300 I had for everything but the fact it is kinda generic feeling in the Honda way. The main draw was the V4 engine, but it is a good but heavier than the FJR or C14 and sounded like the Jetson's space car at idle and when pulling away. A ZZR1200 is not out of the realm, I know that engine and carbs like the back of my hand since the ZRX is the same engine and I have grafted the ZZR carbs onto the Rex.

[HalfCentury]

Cool! I took the PLACE (Colorado specific) test in both Business and Social Studies. I am doing student teaching this semester in business and marketing, as I will still need a few add'l social studies college credits to get certified in that area (I was an Economics major).

The FJR is a strong one, 145 hp at the crank is a good amount! The current cycle mags put it around 128-130 hp at the wheel. Yamaha rated the XS at 95 hp at the crank and the rear wheel gets around 82-ish. The ZRX with the mods is at the rear wheel on a dyno, so not sure what the number would be at the crank. Chain drive would lessen the amount lost at the rear wheel, so I suspect it's in the 150 hp range at the crank.

I am really getting the bug for a Sport Tourer, loved the ST1300 I had for everything but the fact it is kinda generic feeling in the Honda way. The main draw was the V4 engine, but it is a good but heavier than the FJR or C14 and sounded like the Jetson's space car at idle and when pulling away. A ZZR1200 is not out of the realm, I know that engine and carbs like the back of my hand since the ZRX is the same engine and I have grafted the ZZR carbs onto the Rex.

I was a business major first time through. Hated account practice. Went back for an engineering degree. Love the work but it has been cyclical layoffs since the DOT COM recession.

You can hear exactly what the FJR sounds like accelerating in the first couple of minutes here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XFvZzGThBI
I think this is the Jetsons sound you allude to with the ST1300.

Now you have me wanting to ride a ZRX.

[Bonz]

Yeah, the ZRX is just plain fun. It was originally designed and sold in the Japanese market with a 100 hp maximum. So when it came to the USA as an 1100 in '99-'00, it made in the low-mid 90's for hp. Guys figured quickly that the ZX11 (fastest production bike for a decade or more, 130 hp) cams and pistons (.5 pt higher comp than stock) were drop-in replacements for the stock ZRX parts. Combined with an aftermarket header and slip-on exhaust, it became an easy upgrade to 130 hp and mid-high 70 ft/lbs of torque. Then guys bored it to 1109cc and 12:1 compression pistons pushing into the 140 Hp range and high 70/low 80 ft/lb ball park. Steel cylinder sleeves so the bore was easy-peasey.

The 1200 came along in '01, with Nikasil cylinder coating for tighter tolerances and stock hp went up to the 110-115 range with 80 ft/lbs torque very low in the rpm range. A full exhaust system and jet kit make it a 130 hp/85 ft/lb machine. Then the ZZR1200 comes along in '02 (fastest bike at the time, just like the ld ZX11 it replaced) and the same thing starts all over with cams and pistons from the ZZR. Pushes it (without high compression pistons) into the 140 hp range and a few ft/lbs more torque. Add 12:1 stock bore pistons and it's 150 at the rear wheel. Bore it out to 1224cc and replate the cylinder bores, and you are at 160- 165 Hp and well into the 90 ft/lb arena.

The cool thing I found out by grafting on the CVK40 carbs from the ZX11/ZZR1200, it is a 12 hp and 9 ft/lb gain (a fellow board member on the ZRXOA used my carb set up and that is the gain he got vs the stock carbs on the same dyno but on different days) on a fully piped and jetted 1200 with without cracking open even a valve cover. Stock internal engine putting out 138 Hp and 85 ft/lbs torque by just bolting stuff on is pretty cool. The stock ZZR1200 puts out around the same power and weighs 100 lbs more. But the ZZR is a JATO rocket strapped to your butt at high speed with the aerodynamics and ram-air effect that bike has to boost hp well into the 145+ range at the rear wheel.

Ok, enough of the ZRX stuff... I love that bike as much or more than the XS honestly because of how well it responds to mods and looks 100% stock from just a few feet away. A true sleeper!

[HalfCentury]

For those who are interested, the 2003 FJR1300 has new tires. Pirelli Angel GTs are proudly installed. The handling is enormously better than the bald and cupped Michelens.

I had the wheel bearings installed. The old ones were frozen and were destroyed in the extraction process.

New brake shoes on both front calipers. New spark plugs. All fluids changed including forks.

The windscreen had a PO hack removed and it is now operating great.

I rode it home 20 miles Friday. I rode it yesterday about 50 miles on country roads.

The handling and power are tremendous. The driver comfort compared to my XJ1100 is poor. My hands and right shoulder were in pain soon into the ride.

I have ordered a handlebar riser kit from LSL/Spiegler. It is pricey, but I can change out bars at will wit this kit if the supplied bars are not to my liking.

I measured the handlebar pullback on my XJ1100 vs the FJR1300. The grips on the FJR are 6 inches farther forward. This explains the uncomfortable feeling of doing eternal pushups while driving the FJR.

The seat is no treat either. My XJ1100 has a Corbin seat and I am spoiled. If I can solve the riding position problem, I will go after a custom seat.

[IanDMacDonald]

Having a large stable of bikes in my posession, I'm used to several different types of riding positions. The FJR has a more upright riding position compared to the R1, or FZ1. On the Daytona, it has the LSL bar conversion kit that converts to the 7/8" bars. It throws off the whole riding geometry. It's not natural, and if the bike ever crashes, the tank is getting hurt, as the detents are not utilized. The LSL kits are among the best though.

[tomcos67]

good thread !

Really enjoyed this thread.! Bonz knows his stuff.!!! Here are two guys that love there bikes .!Thank you .great read.!!!Peace.!

[Bonz]

Now I have a set of ZRX1200 stock 36mm carbs that are a basic straight bolt on to the XS1100... Dang, got me thinking...

[HalfCentury]

Now I have a set of ZRX1200 stock 36mm carbs that are a basic straight bolt on to the XS1100... Dang, got me thinking...

Have you ever had your XS1100 measured on a dyno?

[Bonz]

I haven't run the XS1100 on the dyno. Everything I have looked up and searched for shows low-80 Hp at the rear wheel and low 60-ft/lbs as well. Since my SG is bone stock, I figure it is in the same ball park as all the others.

The work I have followed on the XS1100 over the years on this forum says the cost/benefit is really low, meaning not much in terms of appreciable gains with a stock motor or even an over-bore. Full header systems don't improve on the stock system. However, the ZRX carbs may help boost intake efficiency and give a performance increase. The ZRX carb swap onto the XS has been done on this forum a number of times, but I havent seen a dyno chart. However, I would suspect improving the intake side of things with more modern carbs can only help in terms of response and driveability based on my experience and what I have read.

Honestly, I like my SG bone stock being such a clean example. There is not really a gain to make me grin anymore than I already get from riding the XS, so stock it will most likely remain.

[tomcos67]

Hey Bonz.!!! I Recently purchased honda shadow Spirit. 1100.2006.8900.mi.I think I mentioned to you I was concerned it being a dog in comparison to my 80sg stock.
As I know it is a different animal ,more cruiser type.Which is fine bye me not complaining. Love the forward controls and big seat and position. Not like I ve have really rode it yet. ie around the block,sand and salt on roads yet.
Let's get to the question. You tried to explain about torque or the way it's geared .It might not be to bad .Overall what do you like or dislike about that type bike vtwin,shaft drive.?Thank you.

[IanDMacDonald]

Those Shadows were the baby cruisers, compared to the bigger VTX 1800's. Torque was in the low-side of the spectrum. The Shadow uses the same shaft-drive as the Yammy. No-comparison in power between the two, Yammy wins. Fun bike to putz-around on, but I think the XS's will always be in a league of their own as-far as being a universal bike that u can do anything with.

[Bonz]

Thanks for telling us about your new to you bike! I don't remember what thread that was, however the Shadow will have good grunt down low and not as much steam up top, whereas the XS will cover it in spades for top end but really isn't all that strong below 3000-3500 rpm. Once up and running at highway speeds, the XS would run away from the shadow but the shadow will get you anywhere you need to go!

The shaft drive will give you maintenance free riding, and the V-Twin will have lots of torque down low in the rpm range, and a real relaxed ride. Like you have already noticed, it is comfy and spread out riding position.

At the 2011 Durango Rally, one fellow had a Shadow 700 from the mid-80's and kept up everywhere/all the time with the XS's, no problem. You have a good one, enjoy it!

[tomcos67]

Thanks Men.!! That's why I'll keep the xs, so I can go fast if I have to...love my xs.!peace.!