Do people ask you what your bike is??

[palerider]

I get an enthusiastic "Nice bike!!!" from anybody who comments, and then one out of four of those will actually ask what it is. None have ever heard of an FJR. I've only gotten the BMW question once.

My favorite comment is, "Wow. That look fast standing still."

 

[sonicspeed]

i've been getting a lot of ..."that looks like a StarWars bike"

 

[Ric in Sac]

I frequently ride wearing my "TRIUMPH" retro racing jacket with big block letters that say "TRIUMPH" across the back. This removes all the guesswork so I get comments like, "I didn't know Triumph was still making motorcycles?"

:lol:

 

[madmike2]

I frequently ride wearing my "TRIUMPH" retro racing jacket with big block letters that say "TRIUMPH" across the back. This removes all the guesswork so I get comments like, "I didn't know Triumph was still making motorcycles?"
:lol:

Maybe we should all start wearing "Buell" jackets/shirts and drive the Harley dealers nuts (as they try to explain they don't have that particular model). :yahoo:

 

[RatoneMuerto]

Best thing I had happen to me was a Bubba asked"When did BMW change their logo?"I told him after Yamaha bought them out!

 

[RatoneMuerto]

I frequently ride wearing my "TRIUMPH" retro racing jacket with big block letters that say "TRIUMPH" across the back. This removes all the guesswork so I get comments like, "I didn't know Triumph was still making motorcycles?"
:lol:

Maybe we should all start wearing "Buell" jackets/shirts and drive the Harley dealers nuts (as they try to explain they don't have that particular model). :yahoo:

I get enough questions when I wear my Buell stuff like "What is a Buell?"

 

[wfooshee]

A guy came up to me while I was de-gearing at Subway for lunch and asked if it was '04. He know it was an '03 color, but didn't have black wheels. We chatted for a long time. He asked if I was the one that laid it down (scuffed bag is still on it) and I described my accident up near Barber last month. Turns out he'd ridden his wee-Strom up there, and swears he passed a silver FJR on 25 going the other way, the day after my lay-down. We'd gone that way to 29 dreams after the day's racing, so it coulda been me. Small world.

Anyway, it was refreshing to be asked about it by someone who actually knew something. It was a first!

 

[CRMH Eagle]

In my short span of my bike the usual comment I receive is "My wife/husband won't let me have one" or "it must be very fast." I don't rub it in by telling how amazing is the bike... their in enough pain as it is just from gazing & drooling.

 

[Ed_Grant]

My 05 has a Tanji aux tank. I get all kinds of questions about the aux tank as it sort of STANDS OUT on the back of the bike. When I tell them I have a range of about 450 miles on a tank they of course ask how I could possibly stay on a bike that long.

 

[Big Sky]

I think my favorite, experienced many times, is the old dude, pushing 85 or so, who gets arthritically out of the Crown Vic or Sedan De Ville at the filling station, looks longingly, then saunters over and says, "I bought me an Indian (or Harley) right after World War II (or Korea) and rode her across the country and back. That was really something... Then I got married and had kids... (silent contemplation, looking down, rubbing his chin). Sold it. I sure wish I hadn't sold that Indian."

What he means is he sure wishes he'd have figured out a way to be a good husband and father while somehow hanging on to some semblance of that once-experienced wild streak of independence and unmitigated joy he had too briefly felt on his two-wheeler.

I never brush off the old-timers... or the youngsters for that matter, either. I always honk at the wide-eyed kids in their yards and along the sidewalks as I roll through their town, just as I would have liked a honk from those long-ago Triumph, BSA and Norton riders who blasted around the town where I grew up.

I'll never approach some "young" guy on a bike and lament opportunities lost, but I may lament the days gone when I rode my XX Blackbird to 155.

Big Sky

 

[madmike2]

In my short span of my bike the usual comment I receive is "My wife/husband won't let me have one" or "it must be very fast." I don't rub it in by telling how amazing is the bike... their in enough pain as it is just from gazing & drooling.

You are FAR too nice! :huh:

The correct answer to. "My wife won't let me have one."???

I say, "Too bad for you, life is too short not to be enjoyed." :glare:

Then I tell them about the feedom, enjoying the roads & scenery, new like-minded friends, etc., etc. I regale them about riding 200miles to meet up with friends for lunch and return home on a long and winding road. How lovely it is to ride Hwy 1 along the CA coast in the Summer, the awesome ride through the Giant Redwoods that grow over the road like a tunnel, the Sierra Nevada passes and name them: Donner, Meyers, Carson, Monitor, Ebbett's, Sonora, Tioga, et., etc., etc.

My favorite response when people ask, "Is it fast?"

I tell them, "My daughter thinks it should be patently illegal for her dad to ride a bike that will go from 0 to 60 in just over 3 seconds!" :yahoo:

THEN leave them gazing and drooling. :dribble:

 

[kanfjr]

I have been asked several times if mine (Blue 05) is a BMW. The best one I had though was on a return trip from Colorado. I had just spent a week riding most of the best, curviest, highest roads I knew of. I passed a harley just inside the Colorado state line, got to the next town in Kansas, (Syracuse) and stopped for gas. Took my time, bathroom break, walked around for a few mintues, and low and behold, here comes the harley! He pulls up, wipes the bugs off his beard, looks at me and asks, "What kind of beemer is that? I explained it was a Yamaha and he asks if I have a rag? I said no, why? He says the old harley is a classic, wouldn't ride anything else, but sure gets tired of it leaving oil puddles on the drive!

True story!

 

[Kasey]

I've had a steady stream of "is it a BMW?" re my '03 as FJR's weren't ...aren't...as common in W. Canada as in the U.S. I saw a pic once in which an FJR owner had made up his own logo sticker for his bike; Bemaha - so it must be a common mistake.

The second most-asked question would be "Can you pick it up?" to which I reply "I've never had to."

Kasey

 

[Checkswrecks]

Common quesiton: "BMW or Honda?"

Usual answer: "Better."

Common question: "Do you have an airbag?" usually while wearing my 'Stitch

My usual answer: "No, do you wear full armor?"

Common question: "Aren't you cold?"

My usual answer: "Warmer than you when I plug my electric jacket and gloves into the bike."

 

[Radical]

I was asked "Where did BMW put the radio on that thing?" I said "It's under the seat and you just press down right side with your ass to turn the volume up or the left side to turn the volume down." Guy said "Wow that's cool man".

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

A riding buddy with a Concours put 'roundels' on his bike -- and it pretty much stopped the questions....

Me: in '03, somewhere in Nebraska, at a gas station, a guy walked up to me and asked: "Are those new BMWs as good and reliable as they used to be?" I was caught off-guard and didn't really know how to answer.... Finally I stammered, "I don't know -- this is a Yamaha."

I think I missed a great opportunity.....? :huh: :lol:

 

[FJR1300Mark]

This thread is a little confusing - or I'm starting to believe it.

I thought Yamaha made the FJR I bought.

I'm going out to the garage right now.

I guess maybe it is a BMW

Well whatever it is I love it.

 

[TejasFJR]

One night as I was heading home, a car load of girls stopped at the light next to me. When the driver rolled down the window and said "nice bike!" with a big smile on her face, I winked and thumbed the switch to raise the windscreen. Left them all laughing when the light turned green.

 

[Jagermeister]

I took the MSF course last weekend (lowered my Insurance 50% :yahoo: ). 15 other guys were in the class, it was 40f, and only I rode - those HD softies!

So, 15 guys, all current or prospective motorcyclists. 15 questions: Is that a BMW?

 

[Sirby]

Nobody ever asks me what my ride is, not even those nice people in the "woo woo cars." I must not look very sociable. :nerdsmiley:

I get the BMW reference from people now and then. But that's probably in part because I am wearing a BMW Rally II riding suit and a Schuberth C2 helmet with a BMW roundel on the back. My other bike is a R1150 GS. I'm one of many who have come over from the other side.

Sirby B)