08 First Impressions

[pgrhodes1]

Hi All,

Lowered my 08 Raven and finally had a chance to ride her solo and here are my impressions:

First, I would NEVER have ridden this bike without lowering it. I killed her at a stop sign and would have lost her for sure if I had not had both feet on the ground. Even lowered she handles better than any bike I have ever ridden so it works for me. I live on a gravel road and she handled much better than the FZ1 I just sold. She did not bottom out on the bumps in the road (which are many) or getting up on the driveway slab. She is VERY smooth and has lots of power. LOVE the windshield. Will need to adjust to the clucth. It is dead on and a little tricky. The throttle is very stiff so a Vista cruise control and a throttle rocker will be necessary.

I noticed on take off I can't seem to give her enough gas and she chatters. Is this just something I need to adjust too or has anyone else run into this??

Overall, I LOVE this bike and can’t wait to go on my first long ride.

Thanks,

Penny

 

[SouthernCruizer]

Penny, not sure why it chatters on take off...there is more than enough power at 1100-1300 RPM to let out clutch slowly and take off smoothly. You can literally leave it at idle on smooth pavement and let out clutch slowly and the bike will go. Are you maybe riding the clutch a little too long and pulling it back in losing momentum? Just a thought.

 

[FJRONAMISSION]

update your profile.... you own a FJR now

 

[pgrhodes1]

Penny, not sure why it chatters on take off...there is more than enough power at 1100-1300 RPM to let out clutch slowly and take off smoothly. You can literally leave it at idle on smooth pavement and let out clutch slowly and the bike will go. Are you maybe riding the clutch a little too long and pulling it back in losing momentum? Just a thought.

That could be. This bike has a whole different feel to it and I'm trying too hard not to make any mistakes. Will try leaving the clutch alone and giving her a little more gas. The FZ was so touchy on the gas that I learned to to give her very little if I didn't want the front wheel in the air....

Thanks so much for your input.

Penny

 

[majicmaker]

Penny,

Welcome to the Wonderful World of FJR's.

You are going to love it!!

Good people and good info all over this site!

You are one of us now!!

 

[Bigbeavk]

Good news to here I hope you enjoy her. I've had my 07 for a month now and after adding a few things like G2 throttle tube, Throttle spring fix, sliders, grip puppies, it's now becoming a lot easier to get the feel of hitting the perfect shift. I've found that from 1st to 2nd to 3rd just might be a little harder to get right than shifting further. These baby's seem to thrive on shifting in the 3000 to 4000 rangeor higher cuz they like movin out and havin fun. It's a totaly different feel when shifting with a little higher rpm. It just makes you wanna go faster. Keep taking your time, be carefull and you will find the right feel. Make sure you check the forum calssified section also. There are plenty of great deals going on so you can add a few goodies and save some money.

 

[Hutchuf]

Hi All,
Lowered my 08 Raven and finally had a chance to ride her solo and here are my impressions:

First, I would NEVER have ridden this bike without lowering it. I killed her at a stop sign and would have lost her for sure if I had not had both feet on the ground. Even lowered she handles better than any bike I have ever ridden so it works for me. I live on a gravel road and she handled much better than the FZ1 I just sold. She did not bottom out on the bumps in the road (which are many) or getting up on the driveway slab. She is VERY smooth and has lots of power. LOVE the windshield. Will need to adjust to the clucth. It is dead on and a little tricky. The throttle is very stiff so a Vista cruise control and a throttle rocker will be necessary.

I noticed on take off I can't seem to give her enough gas and she chatters. Is this just something I need to adjust too or has anyone else run into this??

Overall, I LOVE this bike and can’t wait to go on my first long ride.

Thanks,

Penny

Try adjusting your idle to 1100rpm's if it's not already there. Many of the 08's were said to be delivered at an idle of 900rpms and everyone including myself who adjusted it and extra 200 has seen a vast improvement. It's extremely easy to do, about 15 seconds once you find the idle screw.

 

[AFCJER]

The throttle is very stiff so a Vista cruise control and a throttle rocker will be necessary.

Penny, Congrats and glad you’re enjoying your new ride. I put a vista cruise on and it had trouble holding the throttle in place before I released the throttle spring a turn. After releasing some tension I'm very happy with the throttle feel and the Vista holds much better as well.

There a lot of info here on doing the spring release if you deicide to. I found Rickster's post on getting under the tank helpful for the procedure as well.

 

[jnor]

Welcome to the forum Penny.....lots of good info here !!!

 

[doctorJ]

Penny, not sure why it chatters on take off...there is more than enough power at 1100-1300 RPM to let out clutch slowly and take off smoothly. You can literally leave it at idle on smooth pavement and let out clutch slowly and the bike will go. Are you maybe riding the clutch a little too long and pulling it back in losing momentum? Just a thought.

That could be. This bike has a whole different feel to it and I'm trying too hard not to make any mistakes. Will try leaving the clutch alone and giving her a little more gas. The FZ was so touchy on the gas that I learned to to give her very little if I didn't want the front wheel in the air....

Thanks so much for your input.

Penny

Penny, I've got an 08 also and have had the experience of it dying on me a couple of times when I start out because I am used to my ST1300 and how it engages with throttle and clutch. I have learned that it is just different, and it could be you are adjusting to it being different from your FZ1. My bike now has about 3700 mi. on it and I'm adjusting to the difference pretty well. So my take would to just be patient and get used to it.

doctorj

 

[Lowcountry Joe]

Penny...congrats on ur new 08. Just keep riding and you will get the feel of it. Clutch/throttle control is as much art as it is coordination. You will eventually "feel" your gear transitions get smoother. Another helpful thing to think about is that the bike really likes to get to 5th gear pretty fast. The owners manual indicates the shift from 4th to 5th to occur around the 31 mph speed, but of course that's just a recommendation and we all shift at different speeds. Point is, the bike seems to shift much smoother when your shift speed is closer to manual recommendations (page 5-3). And of course as the bike breaks in it you will notice that what were issues early-on may become non-issues.. The idea of double-checking your idle RPM is a good idea. Mine came from the dealer adjusted just fine..When I fire up the bike, tach indicates around 1500, then as I sit on the bike and let it warm up and get the oil moving around, the RPMs slowly decrease down to the 1100 mark. Once the bike is all warmed up, it hangs around the 900 or 1000 area. Mine runs fine at this RPM, and unless I start having runability issues, I plan on leaving the idle adjustment alone.

Wearing of gloves, not wearing gloves, changing grips, adding grip covers or puppies will all have some effect on your clutch/throttle coordination until you ride a few miles and re-adjust. This is all normal. These are just my experiences and as such are worth relatively little.

Good fortune and ride safe,

Joe

 

[madjackdog]

Hi Penny. Sounds like you're having fun. Next year my brother and I will be traveling to the Seeley lake area of MT. Lots of great roads for riding. Can't wait.

 

[charon76]

Congratulation on your new bike. There are a few litlle things that take some getting used to on this bike. It doesn't take long and soon enough you won't even notice them.

 

[jzzmusician]

Yeah, I know what you mean.

I got mine about a month ago. 2500 miles later I can say that the FJR is, contrary to popular belief, a bit boring. Pull away from a dead stop, shift into third at about 80 mph, get up to fifth while you're slowing down. It gets old after awhile. Leaving it in 5th and blasting by that slow guy you've been following for 20 miles. Again, it gets boring. Hittin' the twisties, leaning left, right, and accelerating hard out of the corners....well, the bike does what you want it to. Again, boring.

Then you ride 100 miles for breakfast, another 125 for lunch and make 200 miles back in time for dinner and a beer. Yeah, you guessed it, boring. After awhile you get used to the look of the bike, the power, the handling, and even your grin as you effortlessly motor your way down the road.

Oh well. I guess I like boring.

Bob

 

[pgrhodes1]

Hi All,

Thanks so much for your replies. I rode her 200 miles on Friday and she now feels like a part of me. Her name is Jazz and I REALLY like this bike.

I noticed that my neck and back started to hurt after a while. I have the risers and have the bars set in the holes closest to me; however, do any of you know if I can get after market handlebars with a little more pull back??

Thanks,

Penny

 

[FightOrFlight]

Penny:

You may want to check out the Heli Triple Clamp. A little pricey, but a wonderful addition to my '08. I believe this could get the bars where you want/need them.

 

[majicmaker]

Penny,

The ache in the neck and back is common after a good days ride especially if you haven't ridden in a while.

Muscles are being jolted that haven't been jolted in awhile. Keep riding! it will go away.

Just like the aches you get after exercising for the first time in a long time. Happens to me too.

This bike is Sweeeeeet! The more you ride it, The better you feel! How nice is that?