Ok, so I guess I just can't be an Odot/Bustanut/Beemerdons villiage idiot.............
1200 miles on his rotundness's '13 FJR. 12,000 miles on my '09 FJR which is what I am primarily comparing it to. They are both very similar as far as I am concerned, but there are obviously some differences. I rode his '13 FJR for 35 miles, all straight and low density urban riding (turning) except for when I would do the 'weaves' when no oncoming traffic was around.
Engine/Tranny
Both bikes' engines are smooth. Tough call. I would need to spend more time on the '13 and going back and forth, but I give my '09 an ever so slight advantage. I spent about 50/50 going back and forth between Sport and Tour mode on the '13, and Ye Olde Fart thinks it's smoother in 'Tour'. I didn't notice but I was not really paying attention to that. Maybe my '09 is a really good one. One thing I have learned is that all FJRs are not created equal.
Throttle response and on/off transitions are super smooth in 'Tour' mode on the '13. No need for a PCIII on this thing. Just a slight advantage over the '09 which is really smooth too, especially compared to all three Gen I FJRs I have had. In 'Sport' it's much different. Still smooth, but very responsive and 'lively'. It's not bad or abrupt like a Gen I or 06 or 07 FJR can be, as it's controllable, but it's fun, and it's quick. I would have to ride several hundred miles on a '13 FJR before I would figure out when and where I would be in each mode on a regular basis. The good thing is it's SUPER EASY to change between the two. Kudos Yammie!!!! (But I got a nagging itch.....)
As for Butt Dyno power, my best SWAG is that my 09 is similar to the 13 in 'Tour' mode, but in 'Sport' mode the '13 feels much snappier in the initial roll-on acceleration department. For exactly *one* data point, I did pull just a bit ahead of Fairlaner and his '13 with my '09 when dragging from a light back in December. But his was in 'Tour' mode. (Stupid Brit :tease: )
The '13 tranny shifts smoother than my '09. I have zero complaints
* about shifting with my '09, as it is very smooth and better than the Gen I, but the '13 is just a bit better. Seamless. Smooth as butter......
* One exception: My '09 has the annoying habit of
sometimes not wanting to shift into 1st gear when stopped and in neutral. I have to put the clutch into the friction zone and release it again to get that successful shift into first. None of my Gen Is ever did this. Annoys the crap out of me when it happens.
Instrumentation/Ergos/Controls
Windshield on the '13 is the best yet. They REALLY did a good job of lessening the low pressure area on the back side of the screen which reduces turbulence and the 'pull' forward. That being said, the stock screen is too small for me, and if I had a '13 I would be hounding Rifle to get a Gen III screen in production. They are my preferred screen. I like their larger size and the extra tilt back they give the windscreen. As with all the other Gens of FJRs, I think the stock screen is too vertical and far away from the rider in the full up position. Not a big deal. It's still a huge improvement. Guess I am just used to Rifles.
Instrumentation..... Holy Cow! Lots new here. Lots going on here. Takes a while to get used to all the displays and information available sometimes diverting too much attention to what you are supposed to be doing - riding and paying attention. So the following are a lot of my
subjective anal-retentive opinions based on what I like. Others may feel completely opposite. No doubt LAF will call me a whiny old lady.
I absolutely love the digital speedometer readout. Easy and quick to find speed. Wish the tach was a bit bigger. Smaller means less fine detail and harder to see at a glance. The turn signal indicator lights are pathetic!!! Worse than the Gen II, which is worse than the Gen I. I predict a lot of old lady whiners bitching about the lack of self-cancelling turn signals on the Gen III.
Coolant gauge - I don't like the coolant temperature being displayed as an actual temperature (number) in the multi-function display. First of all, you might have to toggle to see the info, and the bar style gauge of the Gen I and II are just so much easier to interpret at a glance. What does a number of 170 mean? I don't need to be trying to figure out and memorize what numbers correspond to 'cool', 'warm', 'hot', and 'oh shit'. Frankly I much prefer the coolant readout on the Gen I over the Gen II also with it's less (and much bigger) bars. Much easier to interpret. I also prefer the fuel gauge on the Gen I for the same reasons. I'll give the Gen III the nod over the Gen II here for the fuel gauge, but it's not as obvious as I would like, or perhaps I just hadn't trained myself to look at it regularly yet. Multi-function display is coolio!! Lots of good info there, relatively easy to access with the handlebar switches, and able to be customized. Well done Yammie! (But you screwed the pooch somewhere else...... more on that later.) A very quick observation without many data points is that the '13 Gen III seems to get better fuel mileage (according to their instantaneous mpg readouts) than my '09 at putting around speeds of 40-50 mph. I saw mid 60s on the '13, where mine will be in the mid 50s.
The last thing I have to say about the instrumentation is an observed flaw. Not a biggie, but it is there. For most of the readouts, the LCD screen is is approximately 1/4" deeper than the clear plastic protective lens over them, and even more so than the plastic framing around the various readouts. I observed that this caused some 'shadows' on the LCD screens at times which made the info 'in the shadow' more difficult to read (Primarily on the Multi-function display) Depending on sun angle, this could be a minor PITA.
Cruise controls works absolutely GREAT, except for whatever idiots at Yamaha that decided to limit the stupid freaking thing to 82mph
indicated, or 80mph
actual!!!! ***breathe**** There. I feel much better now.
ya Fred!
Heated grips were fairly hot on level 3, warm on level 2, and couldn't feel any heat on level 1. It was 55 out or so and didn't really need them. But I have been told that you can actually customize how much heat is available for each of the three settings. Again, well done Yammie!!! ( Why-O-why couldn't you get the cruise control right?)
After trying, primarily to save $$$$, and riding my '09 several thousand miles without, I finally decided I needed handlebar risers. I noticed the lack of them on the '13 right away. Humpty-Dumpty had them on his tuity-fruity 03 FJR Lucy Lui, but says he doesn't need them on the '13.
As has been reported, throttle feel/resistance on the '13 is sublime. Excellent job Yammie!!! (Now about that cruise control?????)
View out the stock mirrors seems just a tad better on the '13 than the '09, though that may very well have to do something with the Heli Risers and/or light brackets on my '09. I am ok with the stock mirrors on my Gen I, but I may have to try the Twisted Throttle extenders on my Gen II. Remember that unlike His Old Decrepitness, I am a svelte figure and a hansom devil to boot!
Suspension
With only a little time on the '13 Gen III, I am going to say I really didn't notice much difference here compared to my '09 Gen II. For clarification, my 09 suspension is stock. My 04 suspension is upgraded front and rear and dialed in. I didn't love my 09's ride quality when I first got it thinking it was too harsh (but with good, quick handling), but after playing with the adjusters I have it set up now where I am fairly happy with it. Well, right away I noticed the '13 was off a bit. A bit of harshness with the factory settings (though not quite as much as my 09), but also a bit of feeling of skipping or jitteriness on small and moderate bumps and road imperfections. Not horrendous, but significantly worse than my dialed in 09, so I knew it had room for improvement with the adjusters.
After riding it I adjusted rebound damping only using the bounce method (which I was taught by Lee Parks and that has worked well for me.) I adjusted the forks by adding rebound damping from 11 clicks down to 4, and reduced the shock rebound damping from 11 clicks to 17. I didn't ride it after I made the adjustments unfortunately, but the un-sophisticated butt dyno of Jabba The Hut said it was improved. When he gets back from playing Poncho Villa in Mexico, and assuming his co-riders don't bury him in a shallow grave somewhere in the deserts of Baja, we are going to go for another comparative ride (so he can buy me lunch and beer) and I'll get to see what improvements were made. I'll also take SAG measurements and play with his front preload, and perhaps mess with compression damping a bit also.
Handling
Turn in was good, quick and crisp. Need more saddle time going back and forth to be definitive, but perhaps just a 'thin wafer mint' better on the '13 than the '09. Handling was neutral also, not taking a lot of effort and pressure to maintain a lean. Where do some of these moto-journos get there critical comments from??? More on this later.
What kind of surprised me a little bit was I lacked confidence at the more extreme lean angles on the '13 FJR compared to my '04 and my '09. I'm talking near peg scraping lean angles. Not sure what is going on here. To me the FJR just didn't feel good nor planted when leaned way over. Not sure if this is tire type, tire pressure, or if the improperly adjusted suspension is the reason. Will need to do some more evaluating on this in the future.
Overall, the '13 FJR is a great bike and a nice improvement over the Gen II. I could see having one in my garage someday next to my Gen I and Gen II FJRs except for ............... wait for it .............. here it comes ............. THAT FUCKING STUPID CRUISE CONTROL.
So now for the kicker..........
The reason for this ride was to go visit some fellow Iron Butt Rally veterans who are Yamaha Demo dudes and were at a Phoenix area dealership with the Yamaha Demo Truck. Not sure why (since I had just got off of the Beached Whale's '13 FJR) , but one of the bikes I demo'd was the '13 FJR they had for a demo. I think it had a little over 2,000 miles on it.
Well guess what? It handled like crap! Turn in took all kinds of initial effort and just felt bad. And if I recall correctly, once leaned over it immediately required significant counter pressure to keep it up. Again, felt BAD. I was like WTF???? El Pendejo Grande's '13 didn't feel at all like this. After the demo ride I asked 4 X IBR vet and Yammie Demo guy Kerry Willey about the handling (he is also an 04 FJR owner) and he agreed it was not the best. He also made some comment about some years he would be surprised if anyone who demo'd an FJR actually went out and bought one due to the various demo FJR's handling woes. He and the others seem to think it is from the bikes being very snugly tied down most of the time and compressing the suspension. I don't know if is that, or tires, or what, but something wasn't right. Just to be sure I wasn't going cuckcoo, I had Kerry ride my '09 FJR. He came back with all kinds of good things to say about how light and neutral the steering and handling was. So it wasn't just me.
Well, I did the bounce test for rebound damping adjustment on that demo FJR and interestingly enough I made almost the identical changes to that FJR that I made to El Glotón Uno's '13 FJR. I increased fork rebound damping from 11 clicks to 3 clicks (his was 11 to 4), and decreased shock rebound damping from 10 clicks to 16 clicks (his was 11 to 17). I didn't ride that FJR again, but both Kerry and the other 4 X IBR vet, former FJR owner, and Yammie Demo guy, Pete did and they both said the handling was improved. I really wonder by how much handling was improved and WTF was wrong with that 2k mile FJR Demo?
The other thing I noticed was that the demo '13 FJR's fork preload was set to a relatively soft setting of 4 of 5 lines, where on my '09 (with supposedly softer spring rates), I had to set preload at the stiffest setting of 1 of 5 lines to get proper SAG for my svelte 180 lb Adonis like figure. So I wonder if adding preload on the forks of that '13 FJR demo would have helped. I didn't even look where preoad was set to on the Blimp's '13 FJR figuring I would deal with that on another day when I could take proper measurements.
Just baffled by that new, low-mile '13 FJR's crappy handling, as compared to mi bastard step-pappy's '13 FJR, and my '09 FJR. Is this why some moto-journos are critical of the handling in their reviews of the '13 FJR?
Looking forward to further testing. And booger placement.
Very creative...
