jjsC6
Well-known member
First a little info to help understand where I'm coming from and what's important to me in a bike. I'm 57 years old, started riding in 1971. I rode seriously for about 16 years after that, including about three years of roadracing in the early/mid '80's. I'm also a huge car nut, and a huge speed junkie. When I was out of motorcycles for 17 years I was into "Cigarette" boats.
When I got back into bikes just over five years ago, the new crotch rockets were a little too extreme for me - especially living in Houston where getting to a handful of twisties and back is an all day ride - so I decided Sport Touring bikes were the way to go. For a few practical reasons, my first was a 2004 ST1300. Six months later my wife had discovered she liked riding on the back of bikes so we bought a Goldwing to go with the ST. At that time, I knew I wanted an FJR to replace the ST1300 as it was more performance oriented than the GW.
In the past three and a half years I've put 42,000 miles on the FJR. I've done two trips to the Smokey Mtns, one to the Rockies and one to Big Bend in west Texas on the FJR. A typical Saturday for me is 300-350 miles with a good friend of mine who also had a FJR (and he also has a Ducati 1198S). He and I picked up our 2010 Concours together, and we ride together almost all the time. We find the twisties and run them pretty hard. And seldom do I get home that my GPS doesn't show a max speed of over 135.
As many of you now know, we picked up our 2010 Concours two weeks ago yesterday. I now have about 850 miles on mine. I still have the FJR, so today I took it out for a 200 mile run - the first time I've ridden it since getting the Concours. I'm now ready to give some impressions. Keep in mind that I love the FJR and selling it is going to be like losing a good friend. I also still have a Goldwing - a 2009 loaded Nav/ABS model, but it is really just my two-up bike.
PERFORMANCE:
I've rolled into the Concours a few times, but admit that it's been pretty limited and I have not really wacked it through the gears as I have the FJR many, many times. But my impression now is pretty much what I've read. They are very close in acceleration. I don't feel much difference, but I'm willing on believing that the Concours is slightly faster. I don't think anyone would pick one over the other based on acceleration.
BTW, the FJR's had some off-idle hesitation that made accelerating out of low speed curves a bit discomforting after backing off the throttle. I had fixed this with a Power Commander and some other tweaks. The Concours needs no such tweaks.
HANDLING:
I thought the FJR handled quite well - especially after switching to Avon Storms a couple of years ago. I've ground about 3/4" off the footpeg feeler over time on the FJR and always felt good about the handling. The Concours seems to be a little more nimble and turns in easier. The FJR seems to take a set in the curves and hold it a little better. That also means that the Concours is a little easier to adjust lines in curves. To me these are tradeoffs, but I think I'm going to give the nod to the Concours in handling (this was a surprise to me).
Along the lines of handling, the Concours rides stiffer than the FJR, and at this point I'll have to fiddle with the suspension a bit. On choppy pavement I'd prefer a little more suspension compliance - in that regard I prefer the FJR right now. But adjusting the suspension may be all that is needed.
COMFORT:
This entails several facets of the bike. And the one that is my least favorite aspect of the Concours. It sits a lot higher and has a different feel at first. I am 5'9" on a good day, and I prefer the ergos of the FJR. The FJR fits me like a glove. In fairness, once I'm out on the open road on the Concours, I get used to it. But I'd still rather be sitting down in the bike like I do on the FJR - not on top of it like the Concours. I'm working on a fix for it that I'll be able to report on very soon (different seat, obviously).
Overall seat comfort is interesting. Riding the FJR today I realized that the FJR seat is much firmer. I've been very happy with the stock seat comfort on the FJR. I've done a couple of 300 mile days on the Concours now and really am pretty satisfied with the stock seat on it, but as indicated above it will probably be replaced by a lower seat.
Other ergonomics are okay on both bikes. The Concours has a little more leg room as a result of it sitting up higher, but again, I'm okay with both. Ditto the reach to the handlebars.
OTHER:
No contest on smoothness of the drivetrain. The Concours' engine is much smoother, and the shifting is like butter. VERY NICE!
Brakes. I'll eat crow on some responses I made a few weeks back on this forum (the Concours forum actually) about linked brakes. I've now owned five bikes with linked brakes. I found them to be basically "invisible" to use on the first four. On the Concours, even in the "least linked" setting on the Concours, the rear brake brings in too much front braking. I'm finding it is easy to get more brake than I expect when using both brakes, and am having to learn which brake (front or rear) to be smoother with. I'm not happy with the Concours linked brakes.
The clutch on the Concours is also more difficult to be smooth with. The engagement is much further out in the release, and is a narrower band - making it harder to engage smoothly. I'm sure a few more weeks of riding and I'll forget all about it - but it's very noticeable going from one bike to the other.
Gas mileage is worse on the Concours overall, but in "ECO" mode I have seen 48-50 in pure interstate riding. But when getting aggressive on the backroads it goes to hell in a hurry. I've seen low 30's on the Concours for extended hard running. On the FJR, it was very rare to get below 40. Also, the FJR runs on regular gas. I can live with both issues, but I'd like to see a larger tank on the Concours just for extending the range on long trips.
I don't ride with my saddle bags on except on the once a year long trip. So a huge advantage goes to the FJR. It has an amazing amount of space under the seat. I can easily carry a full tire repair kit INCLUDING a Green Slime compressor, a small spray bottle of water and rags (for cleaning my shield) and still have room to stuff something as large as a jacket liner if I need to take it off as the day warm up on the FJR. There is ZERO under seat space on the Concours. I have plans to address this as well on the Concours.
Neither bike has a heat issue any more - kudos to both of them for addressing that.
I love the FJR, but I have to say that due to engine and tranny smoothness, tire pressure monitoring, FANTASTIC heated grips (they cook your hands in no time), traction control and a few other features on the '10, the Concours has leapfrogged the FJR. If looking at a used bike, I would still go with the '06 and new FJR over the 08-09 Concours due to the heat issue on the Concours (yes, I've ridden and '09 Concours and could not have lived with the heat issue). But comparing '10s I feel comfortable that I've made the right choice. I still think the FJR is a great bike and deserves consideration - especially if you are shorter. I still love that bike. I should also note that to me, the FJR is MUCH better looking.
One last thing comes to mind. I've been running a very short windshield on the FJR (4" shorter than stock) because I prefer a good clean blast of wind from my chest up. I have actually bought a '08 Concours windshield to put on my bike. But it's been colder than normal here in Houston - we have been riding a lot in 45-50 degree weather, so I've left the new (taller for 2010) stock windshield on the Concours. I think it does a great job for those of you who like to have more wind protection. But be advised, my buddy who also got the 2010 Concours at the same time is not as happy with it. He likes a tall windshield and is not as happy with it.
I'm sure I'll think of more stuff to add to my thoughts - but hope this is of interest.
BTW - I'm posting this exact same thread on the FJR, Concours and Goldwing forums (the Goldwing folks frequently ask about opinions on ST bikes). It will be interesting to see the comments on both sides of the fence!
When I got back into bikes just over five years ago, the new crotch rockets were a little too extreme for me - especially living in Houston where getting to a handful of twisties and back is an all day ride - so I decided Sport Touring bikes were the way to go. For a few practical reasons, my first was a 2004 ST1300. Six months later my wife had discovered she liked riding on the back of bikes so we bought a Goldwing to go with the ST. At that time, I knew I wanted an FJR to replace the ST1300 as it was more performance oriented than the GW.
In the past three and a half years I've put 42,000 miles on the FJR. I've done two trips to the Smokey Mtns, one to the Rockies and one to Big Bend in west Texas on the FJR. A typical Saturday for me is 300-350 miles with a good friend of mine who also had a FJR (and he also has a Ducati 1198S). He and I picked up our 2010 Concours together, and we ride together almost all the time. We find the twisties and run them pretty hard. And seldom do I get home that my GPS doesn't show a max speed of over 135.
As many of you now know, we picked up our 2010 Concours two weeks ago yesterday. I now have about 850 miles on mine. I still have the FJR, so today I took it out for a 200 mile run - the first time I've ridden it since getting the Concours. I'm now ready to give some impressions. Keep in mind that I love the FJR and selling it is going to be like losing a good friend. I also still have a Goldwing - a 2009 loaded Nav/ABS model, but it is really just my two-up bike.
PERFORMANCE:
I've rolled into the Concours a few times, but admit that it's been pretty limited and I have not really wacked it through the gears as I have the FJR many, many times. But my impression now is pretty much what I've read. They are very close in acceleration. I don't feel much difference, but I'm willing on believing that the Concours is slightly faster. I don't think anyone would pick one over the other based on acceleration.
BTW, the FJR's had some off-idle hesitation that made accelerating out of low speed curves a bit discomforting after backing off the throttle. I had fixed this with a Power Commander and some other tweaks. The Concours needs no such tweaks.
HANDLING:
I thought the FJR handled quite well - especially after switching to Avon Storms a couple of years ago. I've ground about 3/4" off the footpeg feeler over time on the FJR and always felt good about the handling. The Concours seems to be a little more nimble and turns in easier. The FJR seems to take a set in the curves and hold it a little better. That also means that the Concours is a little easier to adjust lines in curves. To me these are tradeoffs, but I think I'm going to give the nod to the Concours in handling (this was a surprise to me).
Along the lines of handling, the Concours rides stiffer than the FJR, and at this point I'll have to fiddle with the suspension a bit. On choppy pavement I'd prefer a little more suspension compliance - in that regard I prefer the FJR right now. But adjusting the suspension may be all that is needed.
COMFORT:
This entails several facets of the bike. And the one that is my least favorite aspect of the Concours. It sits a lot higher and has a different feel at first. I am 5'9" on a good day, and I prefer the ergos of the FJR. The FJR fits me like a glove. In fairness, once I'm out on the open road on the Concours, I get used to it. But I'd still rather be sitting down in the bike like I do on the FJR - not on top of it like the Concours. I'm working on a fix for it that I'll be able to report on very soon (different seat, obviously).
Overall seat comfort is interesting. Riding the FJR today I realized that the FJR seat is much firmer. I've been very happy with the stock seat comfort on the FJR. I've done a couple of 300 mile days on the Concours now and really am pretty satisfied with the stock seat on it, but as indicated above it will probably be replaced by a lower seat.
Other ergonomics are okay on both bikes. The Concours has a little more leg room as a result of it sitting up higher, but again, I'm okay with both. Ditto the reach to the handlebars.
OTHER:
No contest on smoothness of the drivetrain. The Concours' engine is much smoother, and the shifting is like butter. VERY NICE!
Brakes. I'll eat crow on some responses I made a few weeks back on this forum (the Concours forum actually) about linked brakes. I've now owned five bikes with linked brakes. I found them to be basically "invisible" to use on the first four. On the Concours, even in the "least linked" setting on the Concours, the rear brake brings in too much front braking. I'm finding it is easy to get more brake than I expect when using both brakes, and am having to learn which brake (front or rear) to be smoother with. I'm not happy with the Concours linked brakes.
The clutch on the Concours is also more difficult to be smooth with. The engagement is much further out in the release, and is a narrower band - making it harder to engage smoothly. I'm sure a few more weeks of riding and I'll forget all about it - but it's very noticeable going from one bike to the other.
Gas mileage is worse on the Concours overall, but in "ECO" mode I have seen 48-50 in pure interstate riding. But when getting aggressive on the backroads it goes to hell in a hurry. I've seen low 30's on the Concours for extended hard running. On the FJR, it was very rare to get below 40. Also, the FJR runs on regular gas. I can live with both issues, but I'd like to see a larger tank on the Concours just for extending the range on long trips.
I don't ride with my saddle bags on except on the once a year long trip. So a huge advantage goes to the FJR. It has an amazing amount of space under the seat. I can easily carry a full tire repair kit INCLUDING a Green Slime compressor, a small spray bottle of water and rags (for cleaning my shield) and still have room to stuff something as large as a jacket liner if I need to take it off as the day warm up on the FJR. There is ZERO under seat space on the Concours. I have plans to address this as well on the Concours.
Neither bike has a heat issue any more - kudos to both of them for addressing that.
I love the FJR, but I have to say that due to engine and tranny smoothness, tire pressure monitoring, FANTASTIC heated grips (they cook your hands in no time), traction control and a few other features on the '10, the Concours has leapfrogged the FJR. If looking at a used bike, I would still go with the '06 and new FJR over the 08-09 Concours due to the heat issue on the Concours (yes, I've ridden and '09 Concours and could not have lived with the heat issue). But comparing '10s I feel comfortable that I've made the right choice. I still think the FJR is a great bike and deserves consideration - especially if you are shorter. I still love that bike. I should also note that to me, the FJR is MUCH better looking.
One last thing comes to mind. I've been running a very short windshield on the FJR (4" shorter than stock) because I prefer a good clean blast of wind from my chest up. I have actually bought a '08 Concours windshield to put on my bike. But it's been colder than normal here in Houston - we have been riding a lot in 45-50 degree weather, so I've left the new (taller for 2010) stock windshield on the Concours. I think it does a great job for those of you who like to have more wind protection. But be advised, my buddy who also got the 2010 Concours at the same time is not as happy with it. He likes a tall windshield and is not as happy with it.
I'm sure I'll think of more stuff to add to my thoughts - but hope this is of interest.
BTW - I'm posting this exact same thread on the FJR, Concours and Goldwing forums (the Goldwing folks frequently ask about opinions on ST bikes). It will be interesting to see the comments on both sides of the fence!
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