Average FJR Guy Riding style: Poll Part II

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Hazards and drawbacks you faced while on FJR / multiple options possible

  • no drops no tickets - knock on wood nothing so far

    Votes: 86 45.5%
  • minor garage drop / low speed crash with no major loss

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Major crash

    Votes: 14 7.4%
  • Speeding tickets

    Votes: 48 25.4%
  • Breakdown and getting stranded

    Votes: 5 2.6%
  • bike got stolen

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    189

Fjr doc

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Hi, just wanted to continue with further getting into more details mainly just for fun and some because just curious.. Thanks to many feejers for answering first basic profile poll. The first set of questions was to get basic foundation which we can some what guesstimate. The poll questions and answers i tried to make very basic and easy to answer. To avoid too many numerous options tried to clump into bigger groups.

This one we will look at the riding style and some habits. I can only do four questions and few options hence will try to make it count by asking the most simple and direct stuff. You will feel like all the options can be the right one for you, but really ask yourself what will be the answer that suits you the most.

Once again all answers are hidden as in no one can see the choices you made.

Link to the first poll if you still havent answered them https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/170681-average-fjr-guy-demographic-part-i/

 
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i ride "the pace" very spirited, but never drag anything. would that be aggressive, or the back road ?? everyone has a different idea of what is sane and fun pace. ??

part B on the miles, thats on the FJR ?? got my 16 in september, had a c14 before this one. 98k in 6 years from new.

 
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Ok, I'm biting (bored at the moment).

Style answer is easy for me, "back road twisty touring at a sane and fun pace. journey matters" describes what I like pretty much perfectly.

Kind of riding: More difficult to choose one option, but I suppose solo on my own is 51%, group with friends/family 49% preference. I've never ridden with my Better Half, and She never will. That probably would have been pretty high had it been possible.

Smiles/miles: Although I prefer 250 per day (and ticked that box), most of my miles are less than that. the majority of my fun rides are within meal-range of home, typically 40-60 miles. But I do have some very nice roads nearby.

Hazards ...

Several zero speed "garage" drops of little consequence, one 15 mph low-side (very embarrassing) that cost me some plastic.

One zero speed drop on a gravel slope on which I was stupidly and inexpertly attempting a U-turn, I managed to allow the bike to stop, it tipped over hard and slid on the gravel. That cost my insurance company over £3000 (around $4000) parts and labour. I'm really ashamed of myself for this one.

I've never been hurt beyond a bruise on my hip (the low-side) and my ego (all of them).

 
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Question 2 is tough for me because my real answer isn't listed. My wife rides her own bike and generally we enjoy riding together. I picked solo as I'm riding my own bike and 2 bikes doesn't constitute a group.I know you're limited when creating a poll so I'll try to play along to the best of my abilities.

 
Like to ride solo, looking for that Zen moment, but a ride with one or two others is good too.

Yes I have dropped my bike, crashed my bike, and gotten a speeding ticket(or two).

Then again the miles on the bike are half again miles the on my car.

 
Question 2 is tough for me because my real answer isn't listed. My wife rides her own bike and generally we enjoy riding together. I picked solo as I'm riding my own bike and 2 bikes doesn't constitute a group.I know you're limited when creating a poll so I'll try to play along to the best of my abilities.
Kind of the same for me. My wife has her own bike. We do lots of rides just the two of us. But it is never 2 up. So I choose solo.

 
It seems so far, my responses are in line with the majority here. My repaired stator case and scratch on the bags attest to a low-speed inconsequential crash. As far as traffic tickets, I have had a surprising number of roadside chats without the requirement for a court appearance. So, close but no.

 
I like to ride as fast as my skill and comfort level allow. My comfort level varies quite a bit from day to day, and even within a day of riding. I have ridden with enough FJR people to have an opinion of what fast is, and on my best day I can not keep up with the fast people.

Solo riding is best, but I also enjoy riding with a group. It's all good. Miles per day depends a lot on the roads and whether I am alone or with others. Some days, in the mountains, I'll go out and burn up a tank of gas and then fill up as I head home. Other days, particularly in the flat lands, I can happily ride a thousand miles or more and only stop because I know I should get some sleep.

Knowing my ability allowed me to answer the last question as no major crash. My only crash was a deer strike at about 30 MPH and I consider it minor because I was not injured and the bike was in good enough condition that I was able to ride home.

 
I answered for when I'm on the FJR. My preference now is riding on the track - as ball's out as I can muster and still trying to get faster
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Just set my personal best lap at Thunderhill in October so its still possible, even at my advanced years..
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Dang wish I could go back and edit and specify the total miles - referring to FJR only / not total lifetime miles

And the riding in sane and safe pace > like the famous "pace"

and also to change 2 up riding to > riding 2 up or riding with better half (separate bike) .. may be one of the mods can help.

good distribution, still some what expected curve. What surprising for me was as of now almost 1 in 4 FJR guys got a speeding ticket > still our insurance is dirt cheap > probably since major crashes only 4%
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hope to see more data and kill this dayum winter crap with more fjr rider related statistics / Hope mods and other users don't mind these simple easy polls. I have few more sections to cover then will compress and brief them all to a simple output. Then I will go hide in corner

 
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(snip)
good distribution, still some what expected curve. What surprising for me was as of now almost 1 in 4 FJR guys got a speeding ticket > still our insurance is dirt cheap > probably since major crashes only 4%
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Up until the last couple of years, I would get a speeding ticket every year. It was always outside of my home state and they never showed up on my driving record, so they did not affect my insurance rates. I know about reciprocity among states regarding reporting tickets to a driver's home state, but it has not happened to me. I always ride with a radar detector and most of the tickets happened while I was experiencing a failure to hear the detector for one technical reason or another. I do have a reliable setup now.
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I really enjoy riding with my Mate, Festar, at a spirited but sane pace. I've not yet been stopped by a LEO nor have i received a performance award,but probably have deserved one or two. I'll probably get an award in Canada on the KLR next June.

 
Almost nothing! Hit a deer didn't go down.

Drove to that spot today in cage and looked around. I really had little time to react blind hill. I was very lucky.

 
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Back road twistie riding at a spirited pace is most desired but I do end up slab-droning in order to travel to far away places (or commuting).

My wife likes to ride but she is getting to the age that getting on and off is troublesome for her so she basically gave it up. She is cool with that. No problems with me having fun though.

I have not reached my comfort limit yet as far as miles go. I have done several 500+ mile days but stop only becuse my riding buddies have had enough. I am planning a 3-4 day ride this late spring/early summer to SoCal which will necessitate a couple of long days in the saddle to get to where I'm going (and returning). My Seth Laam seat makes it all possible.

Logged 0ver 30k miles on the 2014 so far.

No dings, scratches or tickets. I could have been ticketed many, many times but somehow flew under the radar screen. This inludes a 130mph blast on a straight road in Washington State and as I was decelerating up a short hill I crested it and saw the back of a State Trooper car parked with a radar gun. I don't know how I got out of that one unless he was pointing it forward only.

Dan

 
I like to think I'm smarter than my youthful riding days in Germany, straffing the excellent roads of the Aachen/Koln/Dusseldorf region in the late '70s. I have slowed down to a brisk but mostly legal pace, especially when two-up. Crashed several times in Germany, all but one my fault.

Dropped the '14 on I20 near Birmingham, AL, scratched the left mirror housing, engine case, and rashed the side case a bit. Nothing I'm gonna fix. My fault, of course, in a bumper to bumper traffic jam in 100 degree F weather. We were stop and go for an hour before the drop. Lane 2 of 4, a bit of off-camber, and bam, next thing I know we're on the deck. Wife helped me pick it up, cycled the key to reset fuel pump and away we went. I searched Youtube for a video of some ******* dropping a bike on I20, found nothing. Got lucky😀

We have done several 700-mile days, but we try to keep it to 600 or less now. We have 30K miles on the '14, only issue has been the TPS failure at 25K.

 
Like others here, I prefer riding with Theresa, each on our own bike.[Hmm, sounds like I'm saying the other guys like to ride with Theresa.] I checked "Alone" since we do not chat. The intercom is for "Lunch?, Pit Stop?" and the like. Both of us like twisty roads at a sane, but somewhat challenging pace. No tickets yet but been stopped a few times. She's never has an accident (touch wood!). I've had four. Worst was hitting a dog that got caught between the front wheel and fairing, leading to a flip, five crushed ribs, my first helicopter ride and $6500 in repairs on a rented bike.
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The BMW's we had before the FJR's stranded us more times than I care to recall. Not sure how many miles total, probably over 300k, >200k in recent years. 90K miles on Yamaha's, 10k on a 1982 (?) Maxim 550, 70K on a 1983 Midnight Maxim, 10k on the FJR I got at the end of April. Rest on BMW's. Theresa is probably 150k total (all since we met in 2002).

Enough said. Time to dig into Christmas goodies. Merry Christmas to all.

 
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