FJR lean angle

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The FJR, even with custom suspension, has some limits on ground clearance. If you want to push hard in the twisty bits you have to hang off with good technique and truly work on reducing lean angle. Lots of riders think they are hanging off, and they are and they look good, however they are also pushing the bike down at the same time. The Lee Parks Total Control course is very effective at teaching proper body positioning, It helped me a bunch. If I drag hard parts now it is usually because I am not paying attention to technique.

 
Get some longer dogbones for it. My lean angles use to scrape all over the place, now I lean as far as I want, but this mod is only good if you are not short. I am 6' and have no trouble flat footing. I also put adjustable pegs on mine just in case, but they are not required with the Distribution Jester dogbones. Only $25 and work great. Dog Bone Link

 
Get some longer dogbones for it. My lean angles use to scrape all over the place, now I lean as far as I want, but this mod is only good if you are not short. I am 6' and have no trouble flat footing. I also put adjustable pegs on mine just in case, but they are not required with the Distribution Jester dogbones. Only $25 and work great. Dog Bone Link
Interesting option. I never thought of going the other way (with suspension that is you pervs!)

How much did you raise yours?

 
Get some longer dogbones for it. My lean angles use to scrape all over the place, now I lean as far as I want, but this mod is only good if you are not short. I am 6' and have no trouble flat footing. I also put adjustable pegs on mine just in case, but they are not required with the Distribution Jester dogbones. Only $25 and work great. Dog Bone Link
Interesting option. I never thought of going the other way (with suspension that is you pervs!)

How much did you raise yours?
pervert.

 
Someone needs a suspension upgrade. I'm running a Traxxion Penske rear and GP valves front. Even than you can still manage to scrape stuff if you work hard enough.

 
Get some longer dogbones for it. My lean angles use to scrape all over the place, now I lean as far as I want, but this mod is only good if you are not short. I am 6' and have no trouble flat footing. I also put adjustable pegs on mine just in case, but they are not required with the Distribution Jester dogbones. Only $25 and work great. Dog Bone Link
Interesting option. I never thought of going the other way (with suspension that is you pervs!)

How much did you raise yours?
pervert.

My thoughts exactly Mark.. A veiled attempt to solicit man sausage dimensions ;)

 
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I set my penske up at the highest recommended mounting position. I have to tip toe to hold the bike up now. Thanx for the helpful advice, as dogbones would certainly help with lean angle, but unfortunately it would create a new problem for us vertically challenged riders.

I remember shootout articles with the FJR mentioning complaints about the lean angle. Do the other Sport tourers not have this issue? Any other comments on suggested bikes?

 
I remember shootout articles with the FJR mentioning complaints about the lean angle. Do the other Sport tourers not have this issue? Any other comments on suggested bikes?

I remember reading comparisons between the FJR and other STs as well. The only one I remember where the lack of lean angle was mentioned was the '07 Motorcyclist comparo. 4 bikes, Honda ST1300, BMW R1200RT, FJR, Kawasaki Concours 14. They used the Boxer engine Beemer because the FJR had already out handled the K1300. The K1300 was faster at the drag strip, the FJR had outrun it in the curves. The Honda was an aging platform, that was the last comparo it was ever listed in to my knowledge. It will not, as I said earlier, outcorner the FJR. I know because I have tried. The BMW was let down by having the weakest motor. The Kawasaki won the comparison, I thought because it was brand new, but they raved about it. I can't remember the exact quote but, "Only the FJR can come close to staying with the Kawasaki corner to corner."

Mitch Boehm was still the Editor at Motorcyclist at that time and he had a several hundred mile ride home at the end of the test. He rode home on the FJR. He said it felt more like a real motorcycle than the others in the test and that by the time he got home, it had become his favorite.

 
Actually shorter dog bones raise the bike.

I have an adjustable height Wilbers and I have mine about an inch higher than stock, not sure exactly but the rear tire is almost flush with ground on center stand.

I would not recommend raising an FJR more than 7/8" of an inch. I had some dog bones that raised it 35mm and that made the handling very squirrely. It put too much weight on the front end, and the bike was erratic when leaned over. I talked to Wicked Webby former member here about the same thing and he crashed his Gen2 after raising it up to gain more clearance - said the front end washed out on him while leaned way over. He says the C14 has a bit more clearance from riding a buddies. I imagine a Ninja 1000 has more clearance but honestly unless you go all the way to a sport bike there's going to be only small small differences between any of those bikes. Like your friend has said he is not scraping while keeping up with you so I would work on corner entrance and allowing the suspension to level out - if you're trail braking Moto-GP style into an apex that is great but the compressed front suspension is going to lead to easily scraping your pegs.

So in other words - just scrape away or improve technique, it makes you feel good either way :lol: ... eventually you'll wear those F'ers away and gain another inch. I'm working on it. This is what my suspension setup looks like, with the preload cranked it is very stiff as well.

Greatbackangle.jpg


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I've had mine leaned past 50 and even 60 degrees 2 or 3 times!!!!

I've got the plastic rash to prove it!!!!

*** Is this thing on??? ***

That said, the guy I bought it from was not shy about dragging hard parts. Peg feelers about half thickness when I bought it, and the sidestand is flat from where it grinds pavement on left turns.

My own thought: For a bike the size this one is, and weight, I'm thinking more lean angle flirts with exiting the traction circle. We wear the same tires but carry about half again the weight of most of the liter bikes out there.

 
You lucky dog. I was just in Arkansas for 3 days of fun on your gorgeous roads, and scraped both pegs a lot, as well as the sidestand pad. My buddy, Jason, with exact same year FJR, has had his rear shock rebuilt, along with RaceTech fork work, and he almost never touched. Similar speeds and riding positions.

That said, when I pay close attention to getting my ample derriere off the seat a little bit and paying attention to upper body position, I almost never touch.

Get your suspension upgraded (which I also need to do. But first I have to pay for the damage I did crashing on 123. Stupid loose chip seal), and take the aforementioned advice from everyone, and you should be fine. It's a great bike, but it's not an R6......

 
Get some longer dogbones for it. My lean angles use to scrape all over the place, now I lean as far as I want, but this mod is only good if you are not short. I am 6' and have no trouble flat footing. I also put adjustable pegs on mine just in case, but they are not required with the Distribution Jester dogbones. Only $25 and work great. Dog Bone Link
Interesting option. I never thought of going the other way (with suspension that is you pervs!)

How much did you raise yours?
I think I raised it only 5/8inch, but I will have to check. Looks like shorter raises the rear, I took a guess. :lol:
 
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