Still not sure what I am going to do with the FJR yet?
I can give you first hand advice about what to do with the FJR.
KEEP IT
I bought a new K1600GTL last December. Its fun to have the latest and greatest, and it was a treat to have a 6 cylinder in-line water cooled motorcycle with every bell & whistle known to man.
However, I picked up a new "leftover" FJR in February, and side by side, riding one immediately after the other on the same 50 to 100 mile loops, I preferred the FJR.
With my K1600GTL, every time I would come back from a ride, I'd think to myself "what great onboard storage, what wonderful wind protection, what cool gadgets." Just like when I used to come back from rides on my old ST1100.
The power to weight ratios are about the same for the FJR and the K1600. The GT's lower weight compared to the GTL turns out to be mostly because they take the bags off for the weighing of the GT, and the gas tanks are actually the same size in the US model, and the engines are the same tune, although there are slight differences in the suspension setting choices and maybe in traction control .... but the punchline is that K1600GT vs. K1600GTL vs. FJR, I'm happiest with the FJR.
By July I was ready to trade the K1600GTL, and I did - for a new K1300S to replace the one I'd traded to them for the privilege of the 4,000 mile test ride (I keep a lot of bikes and rarely put more than 4000 miles a year on any single one). This deal included cash back to me, and so I've also re-acquired a Rocket III Touring like the other bike I'd traded to get the K1600.
I do not miss the K1600GTL. I would miss my FJR if I were to make the mistake of getting rid of it again. Obviously, YMMV.
The new Gen III FJR even has cruise control, and I'll bet it works reliably. A lot of guys, including me, had cruise control failures, and in my case, they could not diagnose the problem (which they thought was in the instrument cluster) without getting two special cables shipped in from Germany. Then when they figured it out, the final diagnosis was the left multi-switch as in most other cases of failure. But since the left multi-switch had been replaced with a new part number, and since so many of them were needed for production and repairs, they were back ordered.
I like BMW and will still carry some water for them from time to time ... but I don't think you can beat the FJR.
