Motorcycle.com 2006 review of Sport-Touring Bikes

[OrangevaleFJR]

Dear fellow cultists etc etc.
This guy has always had a fly up his ass about the windshield on previous years as well. Such a shame he rants on about such a small part of the bikes attributes.

I have always found this to be such a funny complaint. There is no such thing as a difficult to find sweet spot for the windscreen. If you change direction, or the wind does, then you most likely have to adjust again. Who cares? If I had to stop the bike to move the screen I would care, but as long as it's as easy as pushing a switch, who cares where the screen goes when you turn the bike off?

 

[palerider]

Everytime there's a review of the FJR and it says anything other than "this is the most terrific motorcycle that ever was or ever will be," there's a thread generated in which people get all exercised and accuse the magazine of bias and the author of pedophilia. Why does anyone care? Who gives a rat's ass what a magazine or anyone else says about the bike? Is the FJR the right bike the right bike for you?

 

[chipset]

Everytime there's a review of the FJR and it says anything other than "this is the most terrific motorcycle that ever was or ever will be," there's a thread generated in which people get all exercised and accuse the magazine of bias and the author of pedophilia. Why does anyone care? Who gives a rat's ass what a magazine or anyone else says about the bike? Is the FJR the right bike the right bike for you?

Those bastards!! I mean, if the FJR wasn't around, there'd be no need for the sun! They should know this and start praying to the alter of Yamaha.

I agree with you. If the FJR was the best outright motorcycle, there'd be only one motorcycle out there. I actually want another motorcycle. As nice as the FJR is, it isn't everything out there in motorcycle land. I wouldn't mind getting a sport bike for track riding. However, my wife and finances aren't too keen on the idea. Hell, even a Goldwing sounds fun, sometimes. Or the Yamaha Roadstar Warrior. A Ducati? Hand me the keys to a 916/996/1098, please. Don't even tempt me with the right MV Augusta. An F4 would be lovely. Then there's the ZX-14. It pulls harder and may be more flickable than the FJR. It's certainly not ugly.

I have my FJR and plan on keeping her for a while. However, other bikes have different advantages. You want to ride while in a coma, here's your Honda ST1300. If the looks don't put you to sleep, the performance will.

I wrote up my comparison of the Triumph ST earlier this year. The bike certainly has its pluses. The BMW is a fine looking machine, and my buddy with the Triumph says they ride well. He is looking at one. He bought his ST in April or May and has 19,000 miles on it this year. That's a fair bit more riding than me.

 

[faster675]

As for the triumph, I don't plan on pushing any motorcycle during a nice long trip. I'm into dependable bikes, not tempramental ones.

Don't know when the last time was that you checked the reliability of Triumphs, but it ain't 1948 any more.

I've owned three "new" Triumphs now.

1995 Sp3 = Sold at 65000 miles - never had a problem, rode it to redline in every gear, every day.

(and the buyer called me two years later to tell me how happy he was with it ! )

2002 Sp3 = Currently at 35,000 miles - never had a problem, ride it to redline in every gear, every time I ride.

2006 675 = Currently at 7,000 miles - never had a problem, ride it to redline in every gear, every time I ride.

Hopefully my FJR (when I get one) will be just as reliable.

oh .... the Triumph Sprint doesn't even belong in this type of comparison, neither does the VFR.

The sport touring bikes are the FJR, the K1200, (maybe the R1100 ?), the ST1300, and the new Kwak.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Everytime I see one of these tests, the excuse for the FJR coming in second is the AE shifter. One tester said the FJR might have come in first place if it weren't for the shifter because he really liked everything else about the bike and that it was clearly the winner in terms of value. He then said that because of the shifting, he'd have to mortgage his house and get the GT. Well, if the shifter was the issue, why not get the A model and save the money?

Then get the A model!!!!

 

[palerider]

Everytime I see one of these tests, the excuse for the FJR coming in second is the AE shifter. One tester said the FJR might have come in first place if it weren't for the shifter because he really liked everything else about the bike and that it was clearly the winner in terms of value. He then said that because of the shifting, he'd have to mortgage his house and get the GT. Well, if the shifter was the issue, why not get the A model and save the money?
Then get the A model!!!!

My question is why does anyone give a flying F**K whether the FJR comes in first, second, third or tenth?

Is the bike right for you?

 

[chipset]

Everytime I see one of these tests, the excuse for the FJR coming in second is the AE shifter. One tester said the FJR might have come in first place if it weren't for the shifter because he really liked everything else about the bike and that it was clearly the winner in terms of value. He then said that because of the shifting, he'd have to mortgage his house and get the GT. Well, if the shifter was the issue, why not get the A model and save the money?
Then get the A model!!!!

My question is why does anyone give a flying F**K whether the FJR comes in first, second, third or tenth?

Is the bike right for you?

That's the rub. People have invested thousands of dollars, thousands of hours, and their pride into the machine. And then, it isn't the best. Oops. I didn't buy a motorcycle because someone said it was the best, or coolest, of most fun. I bought one because it is a good all around motorcycle. Seems like there's a little envy going around.

It's like those people who only jump on the bandwagon when their team wins. I don't care what other people think about my motorcycle. It's nice that people in the know think it is cool. But I really don't care, unless they are paying the bills.

I know exactly what you are saying, Palerider. It's like this on every board. I was reading a Dodge Cummins board. Someone posted up a message about a pull they did with the exact same load, up the same hill, in a Chevy and a Dodge. The Chevy outran the Dodge. And people were complaining that the Dodge engine is better. Well, I didn't buy the Dodge because of the engine. I bought the package. If I wanted an Allison transmission, I would have bought it. If a Chevy beats my Dodge... That's ok. The sun will still shine tomorrow.

In the end, I believe people want to believe they own the best. And some look at magazines as a way to justify why they own what they do.

 

[Shane Stump]

Everytime I see one of these tests, the excuse for the FJR coming in second is the AE shifter. One tester said the FJR might have come in first place if it weren't for the shifter because he really liked everything else about the bike and that it was clearly the winner in terms of value. He then said that because of the shifting, he'd have to mortgage his house and get the GT. Well, if the shifter was the issue, why not get the A model and save the money?
Then get the A model!!!!

My question is why does anyone give a flying F**K whether the FJR comes in first, second, third or tenth?

Is the bike right for you?

I was thinking the same thing but it seems to be many people's prerogative to want to tear someone / something down to make them feel better.

Happy 2007!

Shane

 

[painman]

I think many people are influenced by magazine reports these days. One example was this year at the IMS show in San Mateo I was standing around the FJR display and listening to the many comments about the bike and it sounded like I was reading a magazine review. lol. After about 10 minutes of this I spoke up and said I owned an 06 and couldn't be happier and those there looked at me like I was from another planet. (lol again). The good part was I was able to answer a bunch of questions and directed them to this forum for some real info has I had done several moons ago. I should get a sales commission from Yammi.....Go figure.....PM. <>< h34r:

 

[weekend rider]

I would like to think that I could get enough people on the forum to help me get a refill for his crack. This guy is running on empty and real short on writing skills.

weekend rider with out smoking any wacki- tobacci :yahoo:

 

[Bounce]

Less I am missin my guess. There is an article here regardiong fixin the autoretract on the windsheild. Mebbe we should email them some hot ari, er I mean a link to the article. I would even be willing to buy them a cheap set of wire cutters for the task if they are so lamely inclined.

this mod has been well-documented since 2002.

 

[faster675]

"...in hopes it will reduce hot air coming from FJR internet message boards."

Wow, I thought the FJR board would be full of responsable adults who don't start flame wars and create petty insults based on limited info ....

With that being said, I'm sure that most of what I saw here is pretty much TIC.

You all should take a look at the comments posted on the MO reader feadback !

- seems like quite a few of the readers over there have a bias for "lighter" more "sporty" bikes ?

https://news.motorcycle.com/article.motml?s...r=0&thold=1

Now back to the facts:

Why should I get an FJR instead of a Triumph Sprint ?

(Triumph is faster, lighter, and carries basically the same amount of luggage, optional heated grips, standard 12V outlet, and a few other neat farkles)

- Is it because the FJR will be waaaaaayyyyy more comfortable for long hauls and two up ?

 

[feliz]

I didn't think the MO article was that far off base and twice they said "the FJR is a great bike"

I think the FJR and Sprint are two totally different bikes, so much so that I have an 07 Sprint on order to supplement my exsisting bikes.

Generally I've found that the FJR receives good reviews, maybe not always winning the shoot-outs, but generally good. The worst bashing I've seen is in the latest British RIDE magazine and they REALLY don't like it, mostly the semi-auto transmission. They even had some bike cops ride it and their comments aren't the greatest but again, most of the negative comments where aimed at the semi-auto trans.

The FJR AE came in last in the latest Motorcyclist shoot out but in the January issue they say "in retrospect we should have tested a standard FJR, but going into this comparison we had no reason to believe the high-tech AE wasn't a step forward. As to where the standard model would have ranked in our shootout, suffice it to say it wouldn't have been last"

If I recall, in the original artice they also said the FJR was a great bike in spite of it not winning the comparo.

As others have said, a magazine review to me has no more meaning than if I met an FJR rider at a service station or cafe and asked him for his opinion, it's really just someone's opinion, that person just happens to work for a magazine.

 

[NovaFlyer]

Can anyone please do me a favor and copy out the comments regarding the Sprint ST? Would be curious as to their impressions of this scoot.

Thx

NFLyer

 

[Tropical FJR]

As others have said, a magazine review to me has no more meaning than if I met an FJR rider at a service station or cafe and asked him for his opinion, it's really just someone's opinion, that person just happens to work for a magazine.

Spot on!

 

[afterburn]

It's fun to own the 'underdog', and then whip their butts.

It's like sportbike riders laughing at my S, cause it is too heavy and too low on power to be a REAL sportbike. Untill they eat your dust and they find out it is pretty darn fast in the real world.