jjsC6
Well-known member
Wednesday I flew from Houston to Birmingham. Jerold picked me up at the airport and up to Cullman we headed. This is about an hour drive. Let me say that this time with Jerold was quite a treat by itself. To say he is a super guy would be an understatement, and if you are willing on listening to what he has to say you can learn a hell of a lot about him. He has quite a mechanical background, and has a lot of common sense advice.
We arrived between rain showers. My plan was to do the paperwork, and ride 330 miles to Vicksburg MS, then 400 home on Thursday. Due to the rain, and forecast that some was severe, we hung out at the dealership for a couple of hours. Jerold sent out for burgers and fries (actually asked me what I wanted) for everyone there. I can't say enough about what a great group of folks they are. Jerold and Renaa are awesome, and the rest of the crew were too. Dennis is super nice, and Renaa's mother was there as well - very sweet lady. I apologize I don't know the names of the mechanics, but they were all good guys and I talked to them for a while back in the shop.
Finally at about 2:00, I headed out of the dealership in a light rain. At that point I decided to only go 200 miles to Meridian. Despite very limited time on FJRs (about 18 months ago), and not a lot of riding time in rain for many, many years, I quickly got comfortable and was running between 70 and 80mph. In the light rain I was doing 70 - 75, and in the heavier stuff I still was comfortable doing around 65mph. Just before Meridian, I saw two cars that had just gone into the ditch (the driver still in the car, and people just going to help them).
Yesterday I left Meridian at about 7:45. Without going into all the details, I ran mostly secondary roads, and it was about 525 miles back home. Got home at about 6:15. How was I feeling? 10 minutes later I was mowing the lawn, then cleaned the motorcycle.
I guess I should have clarified for those not familiar with me. I just sold a Honda ST1300 that I had for about 18 months, and I also have a Goldwing. I started riding in 1971 and did some roadracing in the early 1980s. Was away from motorcycles from 1987 until I bought the ST.
A few brief comments on the FJR.
> The windscreen works perfectly for me. It is better than the one on my ST
> The ride was very comfortable. I'd rate is slightly better than the ST
> The seat worked well. My butt hurt a little, but less than the ST does at 250 miles.
> My right wrist started bothering me quickly both days, but oddly it seemed to bother me less as the day went on. I had tried to by a Throttlemeister for the trip, but they told me they were reworking it for the '06 and didn't have it ready yet. I will add it, and with that the ride would have been better.
> Power - yes, it's faster than the ST (no slouch itself). Let's just say that after I had passed the 500 mile mark, I found well into triple digit bursts to be quite a fun way to break the monotony of the long ride!
> I probably averaged 45mpg for the trip, with one tankful at about 47. And that was running many miles between 70 - 80 mph. I'd say it gets about 2-3 mpg better than the ST.
All in all, I really like the FJR a lot. Make that a WHOLE lot!!!
Also, let me reiterate. D&H is one super dealership. To say that I highly recommend them would be an understatement. The fact their prices are the lowest in the country becomes secondary after you deal with them. This is a dealer you would pay a premium to once you get to know them. I realize that for folks like myself who have to travel there that price is what gets you to travel that far to pick up a motorcycle, but I can assure you that they treat you better than a dealer that charges full MSRP.
We arrived between rain showers. My plan was to do the paperwork, and ride 330 miles to Vicksburg MS, then 400 home on Thursday. Due to the rain, and forecast that some was severe, we hung out at the dealership for a couple of hours. Jerold sent out for burgers and fries (actually asked me what I wanted) for everyone there. I can't say enough about what a great group of folks they are. Jerold and Renaa are awesome, and the rest of the crew were too. Dennis is super nice, and Renaa's mother was there as well - very sweet lady. I apologize I don't know the names of the mechanics, but they were all good guys and I talked to them for a while back in the shop.
Finally at about 2:00, I headed out of the dealership in a light rain. At that point I decided to only go 200 miles to Meridian. Despite very limited time on FJRs (about 18 months ago), and not a lot of riding time in rain for many, many years, I quickly got comfortable and was running between 70 and 80mph. In the light rain I was doing 70 - 75, and in the heavier stuff I still was comfortable doing around 65mph. Just before Meridian, I saw two cars that had just gone into the ditch (the driver still in the car, and people just going to help them).
Yesterday I left Meridian at about 7:45. Without going into all the details, I ran mostly secondary roads, and it was about 525 miles back home. Got home at about 6:15. How was I feeling? 10 minutes later I was mowing the lawn, then cleaned the motorcycle.
I guess I should have clarified for those not familiar with me. I just sold a Honda ST1300 that I had for about 18 months, and I also have a Goldwing. I started riding in 1971 and did some roadracing in the early 1980s. Was away from motorcycles from 1987 until I bought the ST.
A few brief comments on the FJR.
> The windscreen works perfectly for me. It is better than the one on my ST
> The ride was very comfortable. I'd rate is slightly better than the ST
> The seat worked well. My butt hurt a little, but less than the ST does at 250 miles.
> My right wrist started bothering me quickly both days, but oddly it seemed to bother me less as the day went on. I had tried to by a Throttlemeister for the trip, but they told me they were reworking it for the '06 and didn't have it ready yet. I will add it, and with that the ride would have been better.
> Power - yes, it's faster than the ST (no slouch itself). Let's just say that after I had passed the 500 mile mark, I found well into triple digit bursts to be quite a fun way to break the monotony of the long ride!
> I probably averaged 45mpg for the trip, with one tankful at about 47. And that was running many miles between 70 - 80 mph. I'd say it gets about 2-3 mpg better than the ST.
All in all, I really like the FJR a lot. Make that a WHOLE lot!!!
Also, let me reiterate. D&H is one super dealership. To say that I highly recommend them would be an understatement. The fact their prices are the lowest in the country becomes secondary after you deal with them. This is a dealer you would pay a premium to once you get to know them. I realize that for folks like myself who have to travel there that price is what gets you to travel that far to pick up a motorcycle, but I can assure you that they treat you better than a dealer that charges full MSRP.
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