AZrider
Well-known member
:yahoo:
First ride with wife today on new bike out to Eloy, AZ. I posted pics in the ride section. Below are my comments about the performance of the new FJR.
Weather was 60F in morning and 86F in the afternoon. The bike is amazing! My wife and I are not oveweight but just having two of us on other motorcycles has been less of an enjoyable experience. The BMW seemed to struggle more with the two of us and the dry clutch and tall first gear made starting out exiting at times as I had to "finese" the clutch with the big twin to avoid stalling. The ST-1300 was a good two up bike but the seat cut off the circulation in her legs and I had to stop every 50 or so miles to let her stretch.
I was really sure that the FJR was going to be worse than either so I was surprised when she told me that the seat was more comfortable on the FJR. Additionally, the FJR has so much power and with a wet clutch slipping it a bit is not a problem. However I really never needed to slip the clutch. The bike is just amazing. On the twistie part of Highway 83 outside of slower acceleration it really didn't handle differently than when I'm riding solo. Well, I mean you have to plan ahead to pass and brake as with any two-up ride, but the bike doesn't exhibit any nasty habits like diving or head shake as I have experienced with earlier bikes (years ago).
On the I-10 the FJR sat on 85mph like a rocket, just amazing. With the windscreen up (my wife doesn't like the buffeting) all you hear is the sweet whine of the inline 4 at 4500rpm making music. We were in with big semi-trucks and lots of cages that couldn't make up their minds if they were going to pass the truck or just sit along side of it (one of my biggest peeves) :angry2: And the FJR just shot ahead when there was a "break" wide enough to allow a safe pass.
My wife says that the backroads are more fun because there are corners and fewer cars, oh yeah? Before we left I stopped by our local shop and had one of the mechanics make sure things looked good. I set up the suspension using advice from this site (semi-sport setting) and with just moving the lever over on the rear to "stiff" the bike handled like a dream. The mechanic set the pressure up on the rear tire and I wanted to just let him look it over. I had a bad experience about 15 years ago on a bike that was set-up wrong and with her on the back I thought I could put my ego aside and get a second opinion.
I'm very happy that she likes the new FJR and feels safe on it. Her only "negative" comment was, " this bike seems a little more sensitive than the others." Oh yeah! <_<
AZ
PS. The G2 Throttle tube made a huge difference in that the throttle control was very managable and there was no helmet hitting when I accelerated or backed-off on the throttle. Thanks, Sam. The Grip Puppies were great as well.
First ride with wife today on new bike out to Eloy, AZ. I posted pics in the ride section. Below are my comments about the performance of the new FJR.
Weather was 60F in morning and 86F in the afternoon. The bike is amazing! My wife and I are not oveweight but just having two of us on other motorcycles has been less of an enjoyable experience. The BMW seemed to struggle more with the two of us and the dry clutch and tall first gear made starting out exiting at times as I had to "finese" the clutch with the big twin to avoid stalling. The ST-1300 was a good two up bike but the seat cut off the circulation in her legs and I had to stop every 50 or so miles to let her stretch.
I was really sure that the FJR was going to be worse than either so I was surprised when she told me that the seat was more comfortable on the FJR. Additionally, the FJR has so much power and with a wet clutch slipping it a bit is not a problem. However I really never needed to slip the clutch. The bike is just amazing. On the twistie part of Highway 83 outside of slower acceleration it really didn't handle differently than when I'm riding solo. Well, I mean you have to plan ahead to pass and brake as with any two-up ride, but the bike doesn't exhibit any nasty habits like diving or head shake as I have experienced with earlier bikes (years ago).
On the I-10 the FJR sat on 85mph like a rocket, just amazing. With the windscreen up (my wife doesn't like the buffeting) all you hear is the sweet whine of the inline 4 at 4500rpm making music. We were in with big semi-trucks and lots of cages that couldn't make up their minds if they were going to pass the truck or just sit along side of it (one of my biggest peeves) :angry2: And the FJR just shot ahead when there was a "break" wide enough to allow a safe pass.
My wife says that the backroads are more fun because there are corners and fewer cars, oh yeah? Before we left I stopped by our local shop and had one of the mechanics make sure things looked good. I set up the suspension using advice from this site (semi-sport setting) and with just moving the lever over on the rear to "stiff" the bike handled like a dream. The mechanic set the pressure up on the rear tire and I wanted to just let him look it over. I had a bad experience about 15 years ago on a bike that was set-up wrong and with her on the back I thought I could put my ego aside and get a second opinion.
I'm very happy that she likes the new FJR and feels safe on it. Her only "negative" comment was, " this bike seems a little more sensitive than the others." Oh yeah! <_<
AZ
PS. The G2 Throttle tube made a huge difference in that the throttle control was very managable and there was no helmet hitting when I accelerated or backed-off on the throttle. Thanks, Sam. The Grip Puppies were great as well.
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...Lord, I apologize ...
