FJR vs M109 Susuki

[danh600]

Stock FJR. M109 has after market exhaust, intake and "power chip". Obviously the FJR would out handle the M109.

How about flat out race? Would the FJR be faster off the line, 1/4 mile, top end?

Co-worker has M109. Says it does 140 before he even knows it. I have ridden cruisers. If he is hitting 140 it's with a little work and it's probably pretty unstable. I know the FJR is going to be a nicer ride at 100+ for sure. My Honda cruiser is flat out scary at anything over 90. The FJR feels the same at 90 as it does at 50.

I rode the M109 in a big parking lot. It's pretty torquey (is that a word), but not sure it's faster then the FJR in any distance.

Thoughts?

My riding different bikes is pretty limited. Lots of miles but only on a handful of bikes.

It has one of those big fat tires on the back. I was surprised how well I could turn it around at parking lot speeds.

 

[Geezer]

I don't know about the M109, but my brother has a big bore Yamaha cruiser and he can out accelerate me on my FJR at legal speeds just by twisting the throttle. I think his has an 1800cc engine. He has big floor boards that scrape at the slightest lean, so he won't even try to keep up once the road turns, but in a straight line the big torque monster is hard to beat.

You may have a horsepower advantage and you may be able to beat that M109, but you'll have to work harder at it than he will.

 

[RossKean]

More torque, less horsepower, substantially heavier compared to FJR. I suspect that it wouldn't challenge the FJR much in a quarter mile given equally competent riders. Just my guess. Depends on how much the "power chip" gives it.

 

[Allen_C]

Stock FJR does about 10.8 in ¼ mile

Stock M109 does about 11.6 (both times obtain by different bike mag riders.

That's about .8 seconds difference. Even if the chip and exhaust shaved .3 sec of, the M109 would still be trounced by half a second!

As for top speed, the 9 is governor limited to 125, I believe, but should be able to pull to 145-150.

 

[Warpdrv]

1/2 a sec = trounced.....

I guess I'd call that a close race..... but either way, not sure I'd want to play the game on a cruiser much over 100....

Good luck on the race..... def come back and keep us posted, thats always fun stuff to me...

My buddy has a HD bagger..... with all the tricked out power **** on it... We ride all the time and have a great time jabbing each other (rice vs pig) back and forth. On the highway, he can twist the throttle and do pretty well, but I'm never really pushing it..... He knows I'll embarrass the hell out of him in a race, but we both like what we ride and best of all - he's a very good rider and we have a great time together.....

Have fun with it....

 

[MrZappo]

1/2 sec = (about) 5% ...

If I could have limited every *** kicking I ever received out of life to 5%, I would be a happy man ...

Just Sayin ... I guess it ain't really the same thing ...

 

[Allen_C]

Don't think of % or time, since those are more difficult to visualize. Think of distance. If my math is correct, half a second at about 120 mph = 88 feet, almost the length of 12 fjr's or 2½ school busses.

 

[rbentnail]

I've ridden both the M109 and Kaw's Vulcan 2000 (125cu.in.). Both have stump yanking torque. And I mean that literally, either one can jerk a tree stump right out of the ground. With some minor mods- chip on the 109, resistor on the V2K- either will give the FJR a run for its money up to about 120 and either can climb to about 140 if wanted. Please DAMHIK. The problem I found is that when climbing thru the gears the rev limiter on the big bores is hit way before one's butt feels the need to shift. It takes a bit of control but with some practice someone really good on either can trounce a moderate rider on an FJR. IMHO it all comes down to the brain operating the hand operating the right side twisty thing.

The other part of it that's often overlooked is keeping the front end on the ground. Big bores no problem. But the FJR can be an issue, especially if a softer grippier tire is used.

"one of those big fat tires on the back. I was surprised how well I could turn it around at parking lot speeds." Sounds like the darkside is a-calling....

 

[Fred W]

Horsepower to Weight ratio is a good measure of potential acceleration and speed.

FJR 141 hp / 637 lbs = .221 hp/lb

M109 127 hp / 764 lbs = .166 hp/lb

The FJR makes 33% more hp/lb. To make them close would require the chipped M109 to make 168 hp. I doubt that very much

 

[Allen_C]

And, don't misunderstand. I like the big Suzuki and would consider buying one if I were interested in getting a cruiser. I have two friends who ride them and their bikes are very nice. I was simply trying to answer the OP's questions.

That said, on of my friend actually had his drive shaft seize on his bike due to lack of lubrication. So this is not an FJR only concern.

 

[lnewlf]

bye-bye 109....half second in the quarter is an eternity...

 

[Fred W]

That said, on of my friend actually had his drive shaft seize on his bike due to lack of lubrication. So this is not an FJR only concern.

Never heard of a drive shaft seizing on any FJRs before.

 

[Allen_C]

That said, on of my friend actually had his drive shaft seize on his bike due to lack of lubrication. So this is not an FJR only concern.

Never heard of a drive shaft seizing on any FJRs before.

Seizing, no. Concern, yes...at least it appears to be with as much discussion as there has been. Maybe no seizing is a result of FJR owners being more personally involved in maintaining their bikes?

 

[Redfish Hunter]

All this talk of seizing shafts and personal maintenance is nice but is straying from the topic.

The M109 is very fast for a cruiser. The FJR is medium fast for a big bore Sport Tourer. The FJR simply wins the drag race. Power to weight ratio is an amazing thing.

Most of the 1/4 mile times I find for the FJR are in the 10.9s. The M109 is around 11.6. My old ST1300 ran in the 11.40s and the difference between it and the FJR was embarrassing. A few tenths of a second don't sound like much but when you see it in real life it is huge.

Of course if the FJR is one gear too high and the M109 rider is on his game you might lose a roll on. All things being equal the M109 cannot overcome the laws of physics.

 

[vtwinn]

On a similar note, I rode an Intruder 1400 for 10 years and can verify that Suzuki did not adequately lubricate their drive shafts at the factory.

Several tales of failure if the owner did not pull and lube them self. DAMHIN lol.

But they were quick and torquey for a cruiser.

I snapped the drive shaft on mine at 30K miles.

 

[FJR Bill]

I guess if you've never been on a drag strip you can't appreciate how significant a half second is. Cornering would be more of an interest to me. Heavy cruiser's typically are turds in the twisties. Some better than others.

Bill

 

[Fred W]

In full agreement there. Even when you aren't dragging floorboards, having to muscle around all that weight and the slow steering geometry would put a big damper on the enjoyment factor in the curves.

 

[escapefjrtist]

<snip> but we both like what we ride and best of all - he's a very good rider and we have a great time together.....

Well said Warp!

--G

 

[rwortman]

Cruisers suck in every way a motorcycle can suck except for looks. The only way anyone will remain convinced of how fast their cruiser is ,is if they never ride an actual fast bike.