C14 and FJR comparison

[v65]

Damn, graham.....by the tone of what you got goin on there.....both the feej and the connie suck ass.

For $21000 they do!

 

[keithaba]

I think I'll part mine out for all you future crash club members.

Sweeeeet, I'm just getting back on the road again regularly! Now thats my type of insurance!

Holy Crap! $21,000, how much does the BMW cost????

 

[quietguy]

Comparo's are okay I guess... but just pick what turns you on and RIDE. Who cares which is best?

If you wanna blow $20+ get a Goldwing and shup.

:glare:

 

[ionbeam]

While out on a ride-about yesterday I came across a guy with a C14 that he has had for 6 days. He also has a FJR1300; ST1300; K12; and a Bandit in his garage :dribble:

He says that out of all his bikes, so far he likes the C14 better than any but the Bandit. He concedes that the Bandit in basically stock form is only good for vaporizing his driver's license one wheelie at a time and not so good for all day sport touring on twisties.

In no particular order, his personal observations are:

• The C14 handle bars are just right, no risers needed like his FJR
• The seating is better than the FJR
• the saddle bags are a bit bigger
• while he is sitting on the bike he doesn't see the exhaust pipe so it doesn't bother him
• he *hates* the 'glove box' in the center of the tank
• the plastic glove box is magnetic tank bag unfriendly, though he had his Yamaha tank bag installed ( the Canadian accessory bag) and the Yamaha straps held the bag in place over the plastic panel
• the mirrors offer very good viewing to the rear, no elbows or obstructions, however all he can see are the bags in the mirrors
• the C14 handles better than the FJR and he had just finished running a highway known for twisties (Kancamagus Hwy; Rt 112)
• the C14 has the feel of a lower center of gravity
• he feels that at mid rpms the FJR is stronger than the C14
• at higher rpms the C14 will stomp the FJR
• 6th gear on the C14 is strictly an OD, stone like acceleration
• his Bandit will pull in 6th gear with alacrity which contributes to his low opinion of the C14's 6th gear
• he says that the key fob thingy is ridiculous and he would change it for a regular key if he could
• he doesn't care about gas mileage, even though it is available on the display he has ignored it, has no clue as to range
• he 'doesn't do' mechanical work, no clue how a valve adjustment will be done or how plugs will be changed
• he didn't care about the tire pressure monitor one way or another
• he didn't care if the pressure monitor was at risk during tire changes, he feels that if it gets broken the tire changer will repair/replace it, but even if they didn't he wouldn't miss it -- many FJR owners may differ on this opinion :lol:
• he can't quite flat-foot his bike, I'd estimate that he has a 29-30" inseam, I didn't really study him too close
• when he and his son pulled away, his C14 and his son's FZ1 sounded exactly alike (FWIW)
• he says that he expects the C14 will be his preferred ride among his stable of bikes
• my wife observes that the passenger accommodations suck, unless I could do something to improve the passenger peg location she would not be riding on a C14
• the plastic rack on back is tiny, it does have lots of holes to accept bungies ([mom's voice] be careful with bungies, you could put your eye out with one of those things [/mom's voice])
• like the FJR, Canada gets all the good options, no good accessories available through US dealers

 

[quietguy]

Informative narrative, ionbeam... thanks.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

<snip>While out on a ride-about yesterday I came across a guy with a C14 that he has had for 6 days. ....He says ....

[*]the C14 handles better than the FJR

[*]the C14 has the feel of a lower center of gravity

Thanks, Ionbeam....informative.

One wonders if the two observations I've pulled-out are related? (see: current N-EPRT thread.....) :blink: :huh:

 

[FLOWBACK]

DIRKA DIRKA.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

DIRKA DIRKA.

Is that in regard to the apparent sycophancy...? Or, a comment on -- the (seemingly) vain attempt to initiate discussion on an N-EPRT topic in a more 'valid topic' area of the forum?

Either way, you may have apoint.... :dribble: :huh:

 

[keithaba]

[*]he doesn't care about gas mileage, even though it is available on the display he has ignored it, has no clue as to range[*]he 'doesn't do' mechanical work, no clue how a valve adjustment will be done or how plugs will be changed

Yeah if you can afford around $50,000 worth of motorcycles, something tells me your not going to have a problem with paying for gas or mechanical work.

 

[.paul]

Should be going with my big brother to buy his C-14 today

 

[FLOWBACK]

Let us know how that goes please.

 

[.paul]

Let us know how that goes please.

You bet, I'm excited for him.

 

[drew231506]

where can i see a picture of this thing without the bags?

 

[gainsi]

Interesting thread to date guys.

As an earlier FJR owner, I can't relate to the dodgy throttle, engine surging, shaft drive 'lash', altitude sickness that seems to plague the Gen II bikes. Question - why did Yamaha change the throttle springs etc that seem IMHO to be the root cause of a lot of the other problems - you solve THAT problem, & the drive line lash & surging have to be nullified or at least significantly improved ?!

I guess that means I'm largely in agreement with Scythian, OrangevaleFJR, v65 & Shadow, and I hope that Yamaha can help you Gen II owners with the problems they've manufactured into the bikes.

As for the Connie - if it moves the 'bar for anyone in their personal motorcycle quest, good on you & go for it. It does have some interesting features but personally I don't care how much Mumbo it has - it would have to do a LOT better than even 35mpg. Our country gas stations are too far apart for that to work for a 'Trans Continental Super Sports' bike.

Gainsy.

 

[.paul]

where can i see a picture of this thing without the bags?

Pretty sure you can goto Kwak's website and see them there, if not I'm more than happy to snap some pix of my brother's bike

 

[ndivita]

where can i see a picture of this thing without the bags?

Pretty sure you can goto Kwak's website and see them there, if not I'm more than happy to snap some pix of my brother's bike

I had an FZ1 and darted it cross country. Then I got the FJR. I am tempting fate riding an FJR, let alone any bike that will "stomp it." It goes as fast as I want to go. And it's better looking. And it runs flawlessly, knock on wood. And it is farkled to the point just where I want it, except the Zumo 450 I have my eye on in about six weeks. I'm sticking with the FJR. Not a hard decision. It does not get much better than the FJR, and if it does, it's not worth it.

 

[Bounce]

I finally figured out why I don't like those ridges on the body work. It makes the C14 look like a Chrysler Crossfire.

While i kinda like that look for that car, i don't particularly care for my bikes looking like they were designed by a car mfgr. it's why a duc thrills my visual sense and a GL1800 doesn't.

 

[DonRed7]

The wife called me in from the shop tonite to say that,... there was someone up at her work/friends that was visiting from CO on a C14. (i've been getting her on the back of the new FJR and she's loving it, and is now Very bike intune'd..shall we say ). So I took a spin up to the kennel to meet the bike/dude and too keep it short my visual impressions were that it had a made in Korea look to it "Hyosung" kinda fit and finish that did not impress me AT ALL,....Even to the point that this "new" bike looked dated 3 or 4 years even though it only had 4 months and 3500 miles on it...

After a 10 min chat with the owner(an older chap,...like 60+) I offered him a spin on the FJR and told him that i had to disqualify myself from taking his for a spin as i had a beer/two. He arrived back after a few minuites and was very impressed with two things 1) The stock seating/level/bar positioning as it related to his ride comfort and frustrations on the C14 and 2) Power delivery and middle range torque (which i found strange as a comment based on the 14's motor #'s)....

He seemed quite -out of sorts shall we say- that he haden't taken an FJR for a test drive before his purchase... :blink:

-Don

 

[Yamma Jamma]

I have never ridden a c14 but I do think that they are attractive and I am sure thay are a good bike. It is hard for me to imagin that the experiennce of riding the bikes is all that different. It is very hard for me to beleive that the KAWA out performs the Yammer in the curves by such a wide margin.

I used to hear Harley people talk about how great the ride was compared to my Honda Cruiser. And it wasn't.

Sorry Fred, I think they are comparable bikes, though for most significant aspects, your article presents the Kawa as walkaway superior. (i.e. comfort, performance and handling)

I doubt it.

I think you need to quit taking all the notes and over analyzing...just ride the bike.

 

[.paul]

One thing I really like about my brother's bike is how spot on the FI is. There's no stutter or any hesitation at all when revving the engine - I just revs the way you expect it should. Wish I could say the same for my bike, if I lightly twist the throttle a few times it'll cut off, rev the engine it hesitates every single time, guaranteed. Maybe its because I've got 5500 miles and haven't done the TBS, maybe not. Either way, it's pretty lame for a bike that has so much more development time. :-/ I mean, I still love the bike it's staying with me for the long haul.

I really like my brother's bike and I can't wait till he get's it broken in so we can get some rides before it gets too cold.

Excuse the cell phone pix: