Now, change your forum handle to "Greyfish"!
Or, "Smokefish"!
(hmmmmmmmmm.....smoked fish!)
Can't change my name Howie, would not be right. But I do have some experience grilling fish, if you are ever in the neighborhood. And I use oak wood with the charcoal so I guess the Redfish does get smoked.
I like "Ghost Fish Hunter"
It has a particular je ne sais quoi to it... muted, reserved, understated... I don't want need to tell you how cool I am.
I think these gray ghosts will have that ethereal quality, which the "Party All Night", "My Hair is on Fire" reds may never achieve. Same way that the B3's never reached the same "maturity level" that some of the later FJRs did.
I'm perfectly OK with that, and I'm pretty darned sure that Andrew is too.
Enjoy the new bike, Andrew. What a great time to be alive.
Fred, I keep remembering that pic of you Smiling!!! next to your new red bike. I want to experience that feeling.
The biggest strike against my ST1300 was that it was not "cool". The FJR will definitely tell everyone how cool I am. Unless I remove my helmet, then I am just an ugly bald guy that never smiles.
They, the dealer, did good, fish. I see the even put the saddle bag hole covers on for you.
Yessir, and they kept the side cases in a box instead of on the bike so no one would scratch them. I will be forever grateful for that. I had no issues with them displaying the new bike but I did not want folks scratching up the tops of my bags.
R/H, Good luck with your new RIDE!! You will not miss the heat that ST1300 puts on the rider in the summer. Now, a few observations regarding your Grey Ghost. Is it the lighting in the dealer showroom or is that rust on the exhaust pipes? Get some naval jelly and remove that stuff and keep the metal waxed to prevent rust in the LA humid air. As you already know, the paint on the GenIII's is soft **** so get some 3M clear film and cover all painted area that could possibly come in contact with humans!!
After all that enjoy your long deserved new bike!!!
You know the engine heat on the ST1300 never bothered me until I made the decision to buy the new FJR. Once I made up my mind, that heat just irritated the heck out of me.
No rust, just the lighting.
The Gorgeous Liquid Graphite is not as soft as other Gen 3 paint. In fact, they say it is harder than any FJR paint yet and is heat resistant. The Liquid Graphite bikes are actually faster than other FJRs and needed a special paint to resist the high temps and friction of ultra high speed travel.
Yup...Call in sick.
Hell, if you want, I can call your boss and tell him we threw your ass in jail.
AND, a name change would be cool, even if "Redfish Hunter" has nothing to do with motorcycles. Go in the style of Dr. Seuss:
"One fish two fish three fish Dumbfish."
I seem to remember you looking pretty happy stuffing your face with Grilled Fish at my wife's table not long ago. I felt pretty clever that evening. Very well played though, well played indeed.
Very nice!! Hope you get the plant started up soon so you can get some days off to enjoy it. Are those "adjustable" side panels gloss black?
Yes, they are Gloss Black. My salesman was wanting to see them on his Candy (Lipstick) Red '14 A. I had to warn him NOT to be swapping any parts!
Afterall, this bike is *almost* as ugly as you are. F'ing perfect! Of course this does not bode well for that purty little bride of yours staying with you in the long term. She may have been able to cope with a fugly husband. But now with a fugly bike? Oh well, not to worry. That's what friends like me are for. I'll be happy to comfort her. My sympathies, errr.... congratulations my special needs friend.
No motorcycle I have ever seen is as ugly as me. Not even some of those new Hondas, hideous as they are. Mrs. Redfish is lucky to have me. Ugly as she is, no decent man would have her. Who wants to have something like that hanging around? She can't ride the FJR with me, I would have to install the rear tire off a dump truck and weld up the subframe with 2 inch angle iron. I know there is no proper setting in the ES menu for that kind of weight.
And a sincere thank you to all of you for your good wishes. This has been a long journey for me and it is far from over.