Iron Clad "5 Out of 6 Iron Butt Rally Top Finishers Rode An FJR"

[Fred W]

I'm with bgross. Both of those photos are just a nice display of marketing puffery. If it gets more low mileage 2014 ES's on the resale market in a few years I'm all for it.

It's a fact that 5 of top 6 IBR finishers rode FJRs. Does that mean anything in particular about the new one they are showing in the picture? Not really since none of the finishers were on 2013's. Also, I don't think you need anyone's permission to say that a particular brand of bike finished a public event in their publicly published finish lists.

RE: the claim in the second photo, that Yamaha "invented" Super Sport Touring, I guess they can say whatever they want there since "Super Sport Touring" isn't any kind of and official classification, but I'd have to think that the Honda ST1100 that came out several years earlier might have a claim on that one. The Kawasaki Concours 1000 came out in the mid 80's. And what of the BMW ST bikes like K100RS & RT, that came out back in the early 80's those were the real ground breakers in the "super-sport-touring" bracket, whatever that is, IMO.

 

[HotRodZilla]

4 out of 5 dentists recommend brand x gum, toothpaste, mouthwash.

4 out of 5 doctors use brand x painkillers.

Michael Jordan wears these shoes. Jeff Gordon uses this gasoline, Brian Urlacher wears this athletic equipment, Jennifer Lopez wears this perfume...

Does any of it mean crap? Nope, but if at least some people didn't buy stuff because of claims like this, manufactures wouldn't use them.

I honestly don't give a crap about the IBR. I bet a good 95% of people who ride motorcycles don't care either, but it sounds nifty...Just in case, tomorrow I decide that I DO care and want to win an IBR. I may not ride worth the crap, but my bike is capable, and that's all I need. No planning skills, no practice runs, no farkles...Just a Yamaha SST FJR and the will to win. Just like Jeff Gordon!

 

[08FJR4ME]

4 out of 5 dentists recommend brand x gum, toothpaste, mouthwash.
4 out of 5 doctors use brand x painkillers.

Michael Jordan wears these shoes. Jeff Gordon uses this gasoline, Brian Urlacher wears this athletic equipment, Jennifer Lopez wears this perfume...

Does any of it mean crap? Nope, but if at least some people didn't buy stuff because of claims like this, manufactures wouldn't use them.

I honestly don't give a crap about the IBR. I bet a good 95% of people who ride motorcycles don't care either, but it sounds nifty...Just in case, tomorrow I decide that I DO care and want to win an IBR. I may not ride worth the crap, but my bike is capable, and that's all I need. No planning skills, no practice runs, no farkles...Just a Yamaha SST FJR and the will to win. Just like Jeff Gordon!

Oh what Blasphemy,

Please let me indulge myself into thinking I have one of the best sport tourers out there. Think of how this will increase my resale value. Not to mention bragging rights.

Enjoy the Yamaha Kool Aid while it last.

Dave

 

[lnewlf]

lotta room in that boat!

 

[SkooterG]

Why's everybody bitching?

Kudos to Yamaha for building the FJR.

Kudos to our FJR brothers and sisters for finishing so well in this past IBR.

Kudos to Yamaha for acknowledging that.

**** me, winter/holiday blues must be in full force.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Nah, it can't be winter depression...it's a spritely 7 degrees here!

Chin up!

 

[bhendron]

Why's everybody bitching?
Kudos to Yamaha for building the FJR.

Kudos to our FJR brothers and sisters for finishing so well in this past IBR.

Kudos to Yamaha for acknowledging that.

**** me, winter/holiday blues must be in full force.

Yeah, what you said.

 

[Top_Speed1]

Ahh humbug ********!

Enjoy the Yamihopper

 

[FJR Bill]

I think it amazing that one bike placed 5 out of 6 in the Iron Butt. These riders know what they are doing. They chose the FJR for good reason and won. We should all be proud that our bike of choice, basically kicked ass on long distance performance. That's why I bought mine and Momma Yami should brag about it all day long.

Bill

 

[101stpathfinder]

I think it is a positive statement. I think they probably got that info from this forum rather than the IBA site.

It is a good sign that they have their collective ears to the walls. If I put out a product, I would love real time praises and gripes about it. What better way to build a better product is there?

Look at the mechanical DNFs in the rally. FJR is truly a great long distance platform. I also agree with FredW. I am waiting for a gen 3 in the same way. All kidding aside, the different generations finishing was in direct proportion to the number entered. The more experienced rally riders tend to have gen 1 because that's what they started with. More experience tends to be an advantage.

And it seems the Gen 1s are just plain hard to kill to move to a newer gen 2 or 3. (Just ask my 08 still sitting waiting for its turn)

BMW riders should be concerned, or open minded enough to make the change. BMW had

more bikes in the IBR, but our riders seemed to have fared better. Draw your own conclusions!

They fork big $ over to stay loyal to their line.

Note: after reading another forum's observation;

If you look at the background you will see the official IBR banner was used as a backdrop. They

clearly must have been in contact with the IBA.

 

[karstenp]

Hats off to Yamaha and their marketing team.

 

[101stpathfinder]

A funny thing happened at Stagecoach.

The IBR finishers were brought together for a picture with many issues of the Iron Butt Magazine being held.

I gained popularity

by suggesting that Mike Kneebone would want the issue with the FJR (R. Martin's) in front ahead of the other issues.

For some reason, the BMW and Goldwing riders did not see the humor in the statement.

 

[RadioHowie]

Well, whadyaexpect?

The only thing humorous about BMW and Goldwing riders are their rides!

 

[gixxerjasen]

You know...for people who use computers and claim to be interested in these "Iron Butt" events, you all do a whole lot of speculation.

 

[NormKern]

The fact that the IBR top finishers were not on particularly recent models (and probably not low-mileage) FJRs says a couple of things.

1. An FJR remains reliable, even after a lot of miles.

2. Their riders have great confidence in them.

IMHO, that's a pretty good testimonial.

 

[jscasteel]

People, this (well, not just the IBA thing) is why I have chosen an FJR. Basically, a well maintained and prepped FJR pretty much just doesn't break. But I am 67 and just returned/retired from working overseas. If I were 10 years younger . . .

 

[Eric L]

Well if they didn't get permission to use the IBR name and graphic, I am sure they will be hearing from IBA. You would expect at least an 'IBR' is a trademark of IBA.

And besides reliability, they probably chose the FJR because of the group know-how and relative ease modding it for IBR type riding.

 

[palerider]

I'm with bgross. Both of those photos are just a nice display of marketing puffery. If it gets more low mileage 2014 ES's on the resale market in a few years I'm all for it.
It's a fact that 5 of top 6 IBR finishers rode FJRs. Does that mean anything in particular about the new one they are showing in the picture? Not really since none of the finishers were on 2013's. Also, I don't think you need anyone's permission to say that a particular brand of bike finished a public event in their publicly published finish lists.

RE: the claim in the second photo, that Yamaha "invented" Super Sport Touring, I guess they can say whatever they want there since "Super Sport Touring" isn't any kind of and official classification, but I'd have to think that the Honda ST1100 that came out several years earlier might have a claim on that one. The Kawasaki Concours 1000 came out in the mid 80's. And what of the BMW ST bikes like K100RS & RT, that came out back in the early 80's those were the real ground breakers in the "super-sport-touring" bracket, whatever that is, IMO.

But those other bikes were just "sport-tourers." Yamaha made the first "SUPER-sport tourer." Jeez, Fred.

 

[Geezer]

4 out of 5 dentists recommend brand x gum, toothpaste, mouthwash.
4 out of 5 doctors use brand x painkillers.

Michael Jordan wears these shoes. Jeff Gordon uses this gasoline, Brian Urlacher wears this athletic equipment, Jennifer Lopez wears this perfume...

Does any of it mean crap? Nope, but if at least some people didn't buy stuff because of claims like this, manufactures wouldn't use them.

I honestly don't give a crap about the IBR. I bet a good 95% of people who ride motorcycles don't care either, but it sounds nifty...Just in case, tomorrow I decide that I DO care and want to win an IBR. I may not ride worth the crap, but my bike is capable, and that's all I need. No planning skills, no practice runs, no farkles...Just a Yamaha SST FJR and the will to win. Just like Jeff Gordon!

I agree with your perspective of marketing products based on the name of some athlete who is paid a lot of money to endorse the product. However, there is validity the the claim that if a product is used in an extreme way, like an IBR, and holds up well, to the point where the user is successful, like finishing the rally, that says something about the product that is worth knowing.

If I had the ability and wanted to be a professional basketball player I might be interested in trying the same shoes that successful players use on the court. That does not carry through the rest of the brand, but the actual court shoes work for him so they might work for me. The same for other sporting equipment.

So, back to FJRs. If most of the top IBR finishers were successful riding FJRs then it indicates that the FJR is a reliable machine under extreme conditions. There is value in that.

 

[palerider]

4 out of 5 dentists recommend brand x gum, toothpaste, mouthwash.
4 out of 5 doctors use brand x painkillers.

Michael Jordan wears these shoes. Jeff Gordon uses this gasoline, Brian Urlacher wears this athletic equipment, Jennifer Lopez wears this perfume...

Does any of it mean crap? Nope, but if at least some people didn't buy stuff because of claims like this, manufactures wouldn't use them.

I honestly don't give a crap about the IBR. I bet a good 95% of people who ride motorcycles don't care either, but it sounds nifty...Just in case, tomorrow I decide that I DO care and want to win an IBR. I may not ride worth the crap, but my bike is capable, and that's all I need. No planning skills, no practice runs, no farkles...Just a Yamaha SST FJR and the will to win. Just like Jeff Gordon!

One thing to consider is that we here are not the targets for this particular part of the ad campaign. We were obviously smart enough to buy an FJR without the ad. But someone considering different STs will see that ad and think that the FJR's reliability, as demonstrated by the IBR finisher's choices, is a plus.