beemerdons
Certifiable Old Fart
Beemerphile Gary "Mudslide" Miller got a new FJR! Many of you know Gary from Southwest FJR Forum rides, still has his K1200RS but also 2014 FJR!
Left to Right below: "Gisele" Papa Chuy's K1600GT, "Mudslide" with his new red ES and Al D. of AZ Beemers Club on a brunch ride to Payson last week!
So after having a ride up to Payson last week and a very spirited ride to Prescott this morning I've put just 1000 miles on this new red beauty. Thought I would put a few comparisons out there, which you current FJR owners would already know about with the exception of the electronic suspension. My first impressions of the bike are mixed. There are things that I like & a couple of things that I liked better on my old 1100RT. Overall I love the bike and am still extremely happy that I bought it.
Ergonomics: When I took the FJR in for the 600 mile service, I had them move the 3-position handle bars from the factory-set center position to the furthest back position, closest to me. It allows me to sit straight up, which is what I like & what I need for distance riding. The down side is that no matter what position the bars are in, the width of the bars on an FJR is much shorter than any BMW that I have ridden. This makes for harder work putting the FJR into corners, but more on that later. The bike weighs close to what my RT did and feels solid & stable at highway speeds & in corning. Wind protection is not nearly as good as the RT. I'll be shopping for a taller, wider windshield. The stock seat is actually very comfortable for shorter, cooler rides but after several hours & coming back into the blast zone of Phoenix, it starts eat into your arse a little. I will also be shopping for another saddle. I've always loved my Rick Mayer seats but in light of his recent demise I will probably opt for a Lamm as they are almost identical in design.
Power & Handling: This bike has balls all day & in any gear. My 1100 was getting very tired and the on-demand power difference is like night & day, much like my 1200 RS has. I'm sure anyone with a BMW 12, 13 or 1600 gets to enjoy the same. Again the handling on highways and freeways feels smooth & solid, it just needs better wind protection. Cornering this puppy is very different from my RT. And again because of the shorter handle bar base, you have to work harder to corner this bike. The Beemers, you can 'flick' into the corners at will where this one has a tendency to 'roll' into the corners slightly slower but plants in there very well once there. In my opinion, this is due to the beemers having a feeling of higher center of gravity, where the FJR feels like it has a lower COG. It's something I will have to get used to. I definitely felt more confident cornering my RT than I do this FJR, but hopefully this too shall pass. I did manage to burn most of my chicken strips off the rear tire today, so that was fun. And speaking of tires, the stock Bridgestones will never see these rims again after they are used up. I'm a Z8 or Pilot fan for sure & will try both to see which one suits the bike best for me. The brakes on this bike are excellent, just as good as the Beemer Brembos IMO, however the ABS is not as efficient, as I got some sudden rear wheel slippage when I was downshifting & rear-wheel braking coming into corners at speed. Nothing severe but enough to say OK, maybe I shouldn't go into these corners quite that fast.
Controls: When I first got the bike, I was a little concerned about how many computer screens there were to flip through & the potential distraction that would be on the fly. I hardly ever read an owner's manual the way I read this one. I spent half a day reading the book & sitting on the bike learning all the screens over & over again until I learned them well. Now that I know exactly what is there & how to navigate through them, it is easy-peasy to get to what you want while riding. The one thing I absolutely hate is having to navigate to a certain screen to put the electric windshield up & down where on the BMW's you have the separate button that is there to use at any time. Once I learned all the settings for the electronic suspension, it is easy to change that on the fly, as well as the Sport & Tour mode. I've read differences in opinion on the FJR Forums regarding the effectiveness of the electronic suspension. Some guys rave about it & others say they can't even tell the difference. I personally like it and can feel a difference. You can switch between Soft, Standard & Hard & each one can be adjusted to 7 different damping settings from -3 to +3, but it only lets you chose 3 different presets to put in there & use on the fly, so I set mine up for one of each; Soft +3, Std 0, & Hard -3 and I can definitely feel the difference between the Soft & Hard, where the middle standard setting is subtle & nearly unrecognizable. The Ohlins shocks I had on my RT were Godlike but they were also 2 & 1/2 times more expensive than my $1000 electronic suspension on this bike & on the Ohlins you can't change them on the fly. So it's a mixed bag of nuts for some & a can of worms for others but I like that feature. When you flip that baby from Tour to Sport mode, it takes the gradual onslot of horsepower from Tour mode and really sticks it to the rear wheel in Sport. You better hang on to your britches when you crack that throttle in Sport Mode.
I'm sure more things will come to light as I truck on down the road but so far my opinion is this:
Do I love my new FJR - Hell yes!!!
Will I miss my old RT - Hell yes!!!
And just a dirty little secret - someone else out there is enjoying a brand new bike as well!!! SSSSHHHHHHH!
Left to Right below: "Gisele" Papa Chuy's K1600GT, "Mudslide" with his new red ES and Al D. of AZ Beemers Club on a brunch ride to Payson last week!
So after having a ride up to Payson last week and a very spirited ride to Prescott this morning I've put just 1000 miles on this new red beauty. Thought I would put a few comparisons out there, which you current FJR owners would already know about with the exception of the electronic suspension. My first impressions of the bike are mixed. There are things that I like & a couple of things that I liked better on my old 1100RT. Overall I love the bike and am still extremely happy that I bought it.
Ergonomics: When I took the FJR in for the 600 mile service, I had them move the 3-position handle bars from the factory-set center position to the furthest back position, closest to me. It allows me to sit straight up, which is what I like & what I need for distance riding. The down side is that no matter what position the bars are in, the width of the bars on an FJR is much shorter than any BMW that I have ridden. This makes for harder work putting the FJR into corners, but more on that later. The bike weighs close to what my RT did and feels solid & stable at highway speeds & in corning. Wind protection is not nearly as good as the RT. I'll be shopping for a taller, wider windshield. The stock seat is actually very comfortable for shorter, cooler rides but after several hours & coming back into the blast zone of Phoenix, it starts eat into your arse a little. I will also be shopping for another saddle. I've always loved my Rick Mayer seats but in light of his recent demise I will probably opt for a Lamm as they are almost identical in design.
Power & Handling: This bike has balls all day & in any gear. My 1100 was getting very tired and the on-demand power difference is like night & day, much like my 1200 RS has. I'm sure anyone with a BMW 12, 13 or 1600 gets to enjoy the same. Again the handling on highways and freeways feels smooth & solid, it just needs better wind protection. Cornering this puppy is very different from my RT. And again because of the shorter handle bar base, you have to work harder to corner this bike. The Beemers, you can 'flick' into the corners at will where this one has a tendency to 'roll' into the corners slightly slower but plants in there very well once there. In my opinion, this is due to the beemers having a feeling of higher center of gravity, where the FJR feels like it has a lower COG. It's something I will have to get used to. I definitely felt more confident cornering my RT than I do this FJR, but hopefully this too shall pass. I did manage to burn most of my chicken strips off the rear tire today, so that was fun. And speaking of tires, the stock Bridgestones will never see these rims again after they are used up. I'm a Z8 or Pilot fan for sure & will try both to see which one suits the bike best for me. The brakes on this bike are excellent, just as good as the Beemer Brembos IMO, however the ABS is not as efficient, as I got some sudden rear wheel slippage when I was downshifting & rear-wheel braking coming into corners at speed. Nothing severe but enough to say OK, maybe I shouldn't go into these corners quite that fast.
Controls: When I first got the bike, I was a little concerned about how many computer screens there were to flip through & the potential distraction that would be on the fly. I hardly ever read an owner's manual the way I read this one. I spent half a day reading the book & sitting on the bike learning all the screens over & over again until I learned them well. Now that I know exactly what is there & how to navigate through them, it is easy-peasy to get to what you want while riding. The one thing I absolutely hate is having to navigate to a certain screen to put the electric windshield up & down where on the BMW's you have the separate button that is there to use at any time. Once I learned all the settings for the electronic suspension, it is easy to change that on the fly, as well as the Sport & Tour mode. I've read differences in opinion on the FJR Forums regarding the effectiveness of the electronic suspension. Some guys rave about it & others say they can't even tell the difference. I personally like it and can feel a difference. You can switch between Soft, Standard & Hard & each one can be adjusted to 7 different damping settings from -3 to +3, but it only lets you chose 3 different presets to put in there & use on the fly, so I set mine up for one of each; Soft +3, Std 0, & Hard -3 and I can definitely feel the difference between the Soft & Hard, where the middle standard setting is subtle & nearly unrecognizable. The Ohlins shocks I had on my RT were Godlike but they were also 2 & 1/2 times more expensive than my $1000 electronic suspension on this bike & on the Ohlins you can't change them on the fly. So it's a mixed bag of nuts for some & a can of worms for others but I like that feature. When you flip that baby from Tour to Sport mode, it takes the gradual onslot of horsepower from Tour mode and really sticks it to the rear wheel in Sport. You better hang on to your britches when you crack that throttle in Sport Mode.
I'm sure more things will come to light as I truck on down the road but so far my opinion is this:
Do I love my new FJR - Hell yes!!!
Will I miss my old RT - Hell yes!!!
And just a dirty little secret - someone else out there is enjoying a brand new bike as well!!! SSSSHHHHHHH!
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