FJR on gravel and fire roads

[101stpathfinder]

I took a road in this years IBR in NW Nebraska that was the worst road that I have ever been on. It was a combination of dirt, rocks and worse yet- SAND. The PR 2s gave no control over direction once into the sand. You had to keep speed to not get stuck. That 20 some mile road took its toll physically and time wise also.

After the rally another GS adventure rider asked me how far I went. He told me that he turned around less than a mile in. I have this stubborn nature that is foolish enough to ride on even though I know the rally master has got the better of me.

 

[smithpa68]

A couple months ago I was riding 2up with the wife. I was completely fed up with traffic clogging the roads in north GA during the Apple Festival. So.. I had the bright idea of a cut through. Started off nice packed gravel. Then a bit rougher hard clay dirt and gravel. Then it narrowed and started up a hill. So far so good. But then it curved around and started getting all rain rutted, off camber and super choppy and rough. I couldn't stop. Had to get to the top of the hill.

The funny part is my wife thought that part was fun! But she was worried more about going back down. lol. I was worried about sliding the back wheel out and tipping over in a rain rut.

My opinion is ... do it if you have to. Or want to.. but an FJR isn't made for it. There are much better choices of steed.

Oh... and it caused one of my fork seals to start leaking too. Could have been coincidence. But... heading down something that rough with that much weight on the bike couldn't have helped. I couldn't go as slow as I wanted due to the offcamber. Had to let it roll a bit. I went down that hill far quicker than I preferred. But... better to have the momentum and stability than slid into the rain ruts.

I will keep it on tarmac going forward.

 

[yanktar]

One of the things bike manufacturers seem to think is a good thing is interlocked front and rear brakes. Personally, I think they are dangerous and deadly on anything but paved roads or in serious poor traction conditions.

It's like so many refused to make convertibles with either front-wheel drive or AWD assuming NOBODY would drive a convertible in snow. I grew up driving my mom's '67 LeMans rag-top equipped with studded tires and sandbags in the trunk in snow but studded tires are ancient history.

But without interlocked brakes you can go slow and depend on the rear brake without sliding the front end. One of the reasons I'm not trading in my 2004!

Personally, I believe your understanding of the FJR's brakes is flawed. You have to pass a pressure threshold before the front engages. Using the rear brake to do whatever you're going to do won't magically crash you.

All this dirt road amazement makes me laugh. I grew up on a dirt road, and o still have to ride it to get to my mom's. Had to ride a steep dirt road to get to my brother's for almost 11 years. It's not that hard.

Maybe they are more "intelligent" than they were. My old Venture Royale with interlocked brakes was deadly on dirt or gravel roads. My '04 FJR is fine, by staying off the front brake.

 

[DaJudge]

On the way back home from Arkansas a few years back on my fully loaded '05 Feejer, I plotted a route through an area SE of Mena where my GPS showed there was a road. There was, kind of. It went from paved --> 2-lane well-packed gravel --> single lane packed gravel--> single lane looser gravel --> single lane moderately eroded and rutted dirt/gravel. The only thing that saved me from dumping it in the middle of nowhere was that I had spent a decent amount of time astride a DRZ400E on similar paths. 12 miles later it started to improve and eventually became blacktop. I would not ever wish to repeat that high pucker ride. Stupid GPS.

I drove some of the Colorado forest service roads near South Fork last July in a UTV. Some of them were freshly graded, smooth and nice enough that people were driving cars (not 4WD) on them. Others were little better than double track paths with ruts, rocks, sand, roots and loose gravel. I left the FJR parked back at the cabin.

 

[BRick626]

Riding in British Columbia I had to do what seemed like a 20% grade on a gravel road down into Bella Coola (from 5000 feet elevation to near sea level in only a few miles). It was very challenging but the scariest part was when a grizzly came out of the trees 100 yards ahead and stopped on the road. I was thinking there is no way I can turn this around and run back uphill. Luckily the bear didn't wait long and bounded down the hillside.

 

[NHredliner]

I won't be doing Sandwich Notch Rd. again any time soon! Damn that was close and the gf was pissed!

 

[dcarver]

Well today I chickened out on a soft sand road. After almost dumping three times and almost stuck I gave up.

 

[FJRay]

Well today I chickened out on a soft sand road. After almost dumping three times and almost stuck I gave up.

Where was that??? On the road to your house.

.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Well today I chickened out on a soft sand road. After almost dumping three times and almost stuck I gave up.

Where was that??? On the road to your house. .

At least he had the good sense not to have fully loaded aux tank on the bike at the time.

And yes, it was his driveway.

 

[dcarver]

No not driveway. Joshua Tree and fully loaded.

 

[wheatonFJR]

No not driveway. Joshua Tree and fully loaded.

What? No Captain Morgan poses astride your bike?

 

[escapefjrtist]

No not driveway. Joshua Tree and fully loaded.

At least you're on the '06 and not Naomi...to early in the relationship for a dirt nap!

--G

 

[Fred W]

I won't be doing Sandwich Notch Rd. again any time soon! Damn that was close and the gf was pissed!

I did that once too, also 2-up, and right after a rain storm the night before so that the steep uphill from the north side (from Thornton) was deeply rutted. My spousal unit was not amused when I made her get off and walk, and it took every bit of my old man strength to get the heavy pig turned around and pointed back down hill without dropping it.

I've since run it many times and it is not all that bad (pretty fun really) but always riding solo, and always on my Vstrom.

 

[Spud]

This is the ULTIMATE Zombie thread. From the initial post:

Posted 13 June 2006 - 07:13 AM (first post date...)

When this thread started, 'dubya' was el presidente, my now old and worn FJR was not even manufactured yet, BeemerDonS was just getting warmed up, IGGY was wondering about long distance rallies, and FACEBOOK was still only available to college students (from wikiOn September 26, 2006, Facebook was opened to everyone at least 13 years old with a valid email address.[37][38] )

 

[Wlfman]

The FJR will do great off-road (make sure to watch the entire video) --

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

Nice video. Reminds me of some of the places my GPS has taken me. As long as you have some dirt bike experience, certainly doable. For me, not a lot of fun.

 

[Steve in Phx]

Do yourself a favour and buy a V-Strom if off highway riding is your thing.The V-Strom is made for that kinda riding .

+1

 

[FJRocha]

I watched the whole video with a sickening feeling, all I could think was "why?" "Why would anyone put a state of the art machine like an FJR to such torture... Intentionally?" Those were freaking goat trails at best!

That's like mud-bugging in a Ferrari. Oh well, at least he washed it.

 

[yanktar]

I have nightmares about riding on trails like that where the bike gets bogged down, runs out of trail with no way to turn around, or goes down in such muck I can't get it back up again!

I wonder what country that was in. It's not Japan, I don't think, but it could be Thailand, or Malyasia.

 

[stealth1]

Can it be done? Yes.

Should it be done? Probably not on a regular basis.

I don't believe the suspension was designed for off-roading.

Been through 2 fork rebuilds in 40k miles before I absolutely swore off riding off pavement on the FJR except for emergencies or unanticipated detours.