MotorcycleUSA.com review

[FJRocket]

Don't know if anyone posted this review from the end of last month yet.

MotorycleUSA.com First Ride review of the FJR130 A & AE

A good review, but this waiter is a bit disappointed by:

Those of you imagining racebike-quick gear changes will be disappointed. The shift itself happens quickly, but the time it takes for the clutch to disengage and reapply after the shift makes it a slower process than shifting a conventional transmission. Because of this, the standard FJR is the preferred mount for chasing down your R1 buddies down a twisty road. :glare:

All right, who's going to be the first to hack the software to make the clutch work faster?

Also, I wonder with the Euro compliant cats and oxy sensor if the exhaust system chokes up the bike. Anyone dyno'd their '06 yet?

 

[afterburn]

Quite the opposite of the tests I have read here, where they said it would shift faster and more accurate than you could ever do yourself.

 

[madmike2]

Who is the author? I talked with Walt Fulton at the Streetmasters Workshop on Sat., and this is what he says about his test ride. He was disappointed in the slowness of the overall reaction/shift function time. He also said that he wished you didn't have to toggle back and forth between finger shift and foot shift mode because there are times he'd like to do "the other" and the button was too close to the horn button and turn signals. Of course, if you rode that bike all the time you'd be more accustomed to the idiosynchrasies (Or find a way to bypass the switch so you could do either function).

Of course he also thinks it drags pegs waaayyyy to early and Yamaha made it too heavy, as if they're going more toward the "touring" side of the line.

OTH, he said he says Yamaha fixed the heat issue.

 

[Constant Mesh]

I don't have an AE but it's my understanding that the foot shift is always active. The hand shift mode activation does not affect the foot shifter.

The hand shift mechanism has to activated by the rider. But the foot shift is always active.

 

[Shane Stump]

Don't know if anyone posted this review from the end of last month yet.
MotorycleUSA.com First Ride review of the FJR130 A & AE

A good review, but this waiter is a bit disappointed by:

Those of you imagining racebike-quick gear changes will be disappointed. The shift itself happens quickly, but the time it takes for the clutch to disengage and reapply after the shift makes it a slower process than shifting a conventional transmission. Because of this, the standard FJR is the preferred mount for chasing down your R1 buddies down a twisty road. :glare:

All right, who's going to be the first to hack the software to make the clutch work faster?

Also, I wonder with the Euro compliant cats and oxy sensor if the exhaust system chokes up the bike. Anyone dyno'd their '06 yet?

Everything said about the AE model is dead-on. The first-gear on the bike was a little intimidating at first, but I prefer it to the GL1800's (which is like riding a bull ).

While the AE is NOT an automatic, it does seem to have the characteristics of an automatic AFTER you upshift gears; that is, it seems like an automatic car with a super-charger (automatic cars with super-chargers that I have driven disengage the super-charger before upshifting).

Overall, I am still glad I got the AE.

Best Regards,

Shane

 

[smitty141]

Matt, how do you feel about the AE after reading the wtite-up... Smitty

 

[FJRocket]

Matt, how do you feel about the AE after reading the wtite-up... Smitty

Well, since I don't actually HAVE an AE, I can't really say. But after carving through Arkansas, and not using the clutch at all most of the time, especially upshifting, it may be tough to take the slow clutching after the instantaneous clutchless gearing

Then again, most of these reviews are coming from guys with a lot more riding skills than me. To them it might be slow, to me it might be fast. Time will tell....

The AE shifts VERY fast, but clutches slow? Hmmm....

I don't care what the finger/thumb shifter does. In fact, I might be inclined to just remove it. My hands are small, and I could use that room to put farkles on the bars, instead of trying to reach the shifter and pressing the horn all the time. Toe shifting for me, clutch lever or no!