My break-in ride

[ctfjr]

Just returned from picking up my fjr at D&H. What can I say? You couldn't ask for more hospitable people! It makes buying a bike a real pleasure. I rode from Alabama to St Louis where I did the 600 mile maint at Knife Maker's. Many many thanks for all the help Eric! Stayed in St L for a few days before heading back to Connecticut on Wednesday. Because I left at abt noontime I was only able to put 450 miles on yesterday but today I rode all day to get home - 650 miles. My observations are no revelations here.

I had the Heli risers put on before I picked up the bike - good idea! Some kind of throttle lock / cruise control is a must. The seat has to go. Also,

This bike is awesome. It been a while since I've had a really nimble handler & I never had anything this quick. I had an opportunity today on RT 70 to get behind an 18 wheeler who was passing (ever so slowly) a line of 18 wheelers. I waited until there was a decent gap between 2 he was passing, kicked it down into 3rd and rolled on some throttle. It was over before I could even enjoy it. Launched is the only word I could think of. I was around that big fellow & on my way before I could say shit. And to think it wasn't even wot. . . I think I'll keep it.

One of my concerns was the no temp plate from Alabama. Apparently no problem. In Indiana a state trooper came from behind me in the lane to my right & slowly gave me a good look over before going his merry way. In Ohio a sheriff (are those the state troopers???) came up right behind me before pulling out & passing me and in some town I stopped in for breakfast the local whatever was right behind me at a stop light. All's well that ends well.

My gps was home waiting for me so now let the farkling begin!

Thanks to all for all your suggestions and especially to knife maker for his help!

 

[FZ/FJR Mike]

Great to hear of such an enjoyable adventure. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[ShawnKing]

Thanks to all for all your suggestions and especially to knife maker for his help!

Congratulations on getting home safe and sound!

 

[03HiYoSilver]

ctfjr,

You sure are a hard sell...it took 62 posts before you figured it out?

(You should have bought your FJR in California-take the Northern route home... that would have Blocked out All the States you haven't ridden in !)

Congratulations on your new ride and for sharing your story!

 

[big ears]

Congratulations again. You'll get used to that launch after a while. Maybe, I'm not sure that I am. I don't think I have gone over about 7 thou in any gear yet. Like you said everything seem over very quickly. I can't imagine what some of those real crotch rockets must be like. I sure like to ride a busa.

 

[Knifemaker]

Glad to hear you made it back home without incident.

Am sure you will grow to love this bike as much as I do.

My garage is always available to you. Or anyone else that might need it.

AND

Thank you again for the great dinner.

Knifemaker

 

[Jagermeister]

Congratulations!

Adding the Heli made a BIG difference for me, also. As for Cruise Control, I really like my Madco. Here's a picture: post 12. It works great, and looks like it belongs on the bike.

 

[ShawnKing]

I don't think I have gone over about 7 thou in any gear yet.

I'm slowly working my way up into that territory, thanks to the posters here.

I can't imagine what some of those real crotch rockets must be like. I sure like to ride a busa.

For me, it's a Ducati. I don't want to own one, I just want to ride the hell out of one some weekend.

Local BMW dealer offers Ducati loaners for service. Very tempting....

 

[keithaba]

I don't think I have gone over about 7 thou in any gear yet.

I'm slowly working my way up into that territory, thanks to the posters here.

I can't imagine what some of those real crotch rockets must be like. I sure like to ride a busa.

For me, it's a Ducati. I don't want to own one, I just want to ride the hell out of one some weekend.

Local BMW dealer offers Ducati loaners for service. Very tempting....

Yes, I'd like to have my windshield screws tightened. Sure, I'll take the 1098 as a loaner and will be back in 8 hours. :yahoo:

 

[Wicked Webby]

Congrats CtFJR!

Nothing like a nice stroll to break in the FJR!! Welcome to the Forum!

Be safe,

WW

 

[rogerc]

After 25k miles I am still not use to the "LAUNCHING" it is over so quick I have to keep doing it to that I can try to catch what just happened.

Rogerc

 

[Mackeroni]

One of my concerns was the no temp plate from Alabama. Apparently no problem. In Indiana a state trooper came from behind me in the lane to my right & slowly gave me a good look over before going his merry way. In Ohio a sheriff (are those the state troopers???) came up right behind me before pulling out & passing me and in some town I stopped in for breakfast the local whatever was right behind me at a stop light. All's well that ends well.

I'm headed down to D&H this Friday to pick up my new FJR, and am also concerned about riding home to Ohio sans plates. Does D&H put anything on in place of a tag?... "New Bike"? "Tag Applied For"? anything? If there is nothing there at all, what do you think the troopers were looking at as they decided to not stop you? Were they waiting for you to try a getaway?

Thanks,

 

[ctfjr]

One of my concerns was the no temp plate from Alabama. Apparently no problem. In Indiana a state trooper came from behind me in the lane to my right & slowly gave me a good look over before going his merry way. In Ohio a sheriff (are those the state troopers???) came up right behind me before pulling out & passing me and in some town I stopped in for breakfast the local whatever was right behind me at a stop light. All's well that ends well.

I'm headed down to D&H this Friday to pick up my new FJR, and am also concerned about riding home to Ohio sans plates. Does D&H put anything on in place of a tag?... "New Bike"? "Tag Applied For"? anything? If there is nothing there at all, what do you think the troopers were looking at as they decided to not stop you? Were they waiting for you to try a getaway?

Thanks,

lol

They put a frame on that says D&H Cycles Cullman Al - just an empty frame. My guess is the state troopers in other states probably know the Alabama regs & it looks like a new bike - don't know why they wouldn't stop you otherwise. . .

Just a side note when I registered the bike here in Connecticut last Friday I asked a DMV inspector about it - he told me that all vehicles must be registered here and depending on who stopped you it might end up getting towed

Have a safe ride - its a good bike

 

[Mackeroni]

Just a side note when I registered the bike here in Connecticut last Friday I asked a DMV inspector about it - he told me that all vehicles must be registered here and depending on who stopped you it might end up getting towed

Have a safe ride - its a good bike

I stopped by the local BMV office last week and asked about riding across the state line into Ohio with no registration. The head clerk was surprised to learn that AL did not offer temp tags, but advised that I should be okay.

There's quite a range of possibilities between "should be okay" and "might end up getting towed." :angry2:

:blink:

Thanks,

 

[Lee B.]

Just returned from picking up my fjr at D&H. What can I say? You couldn't ask for more hospitable people! It makes buying a bike a real pleasure. I rode from Alabama to St Louis where I did the 600 mile maint at Knife Maker's. Many many thanks for all the help Eric! Stayed in St L for a few days before heading back to Connecticut on Wednesday. Because I left at abt noontime I was only able to put 450 miles on yesterday but today I rode all day to get home - 650 miles. My observations are no revelations here.
I had the Heli risers put on before I picked up the bike - good idea! Some kind of throttle lock / cruise control is a must. The seat has to go. Also,

This bike is awesome. It been a while since I've had a really nimble handler & I never had anything this quick. I had an opportunity today on RT 70 to get behind an 18 wheeler who was passing (ever so slowly) a line of 18 wheelers. I waited until there was a decent gap between 2 he was passing, kicked it down into 3rd and rolled on some throttle. It was over before I could even enjoy it. Launched is the only word I could think of. I was around that big fellow & on my way before I could say shit. And to think it wasn't even wot. . . I think I'll keep it.

One of my concerns was the no temp plate from Alabama. Apparently no problem. In Indiana a state trooper came from behind me in the lane to my right & slowly gave me a good look over before going his merry way. In Ohio a sheriff (are those the state troopers???) came up right behind me before pulling out & passing me and in some town I stopped in for breakfast the local whatever was right behind me at a stop light. All's well that ends well.

My gps was home waiting for me so now let the farkling begin!

Thanks to all for all your suggestions and especially to knife maker for his help!

The deal at D&H was that good? you wnt all the way from CT to Alabama because the deal was good?

Let me insert here that you can't catch my inflections or tone in written form....I think this is totally reasonable and you got a cool road trip in, too. I'm genuinly curious if you went there for the experience, the heck of it or it was that much better a deal. I'm searching for an '08 to buy and found one 450 miles away that said they'd beat the $12,099 price I found in Ohio.

Not asking you to disclose more than you are comfortable with but was your D&H deal much better than $12,099? If so, I may just call them up and buy a plane ticket. Also, did you get the impression that they are sort of a no haggle dealer or can you get good, better, best deals if you are willing to negotiate.

thanks for any help you can provide.

Lee

 

[ctfjr]

The deal at D&H was that good? you wnt all the way from CT to Alabama because the deal was good?Let me insert here that you can't catch my inflections or tone in written form....I think this is totally reasonable and you got a cool road trip in, too. I'm genuinly curious if you went there for the experience, the heck of it or it was that much better a deal. I'm searching for an '08 to buy and found one 450 miles away that said they'd beat the $12,099 price I found in Ohio.

Not asking you to disclose more than you are comfortable with but was your D&H deal much better than $12,099? If so, I may just call them up and buy a plane ticket. Also, did you get the impression that they are sort of a no haggle dealer or can you get good, better, best deals if you are willing to negotiate.

thanks for any help you can provide.

Lee

its a combination of things - 1st Not one of the several local (Connecticut) dealers had one. The Yami dealer in my town is where I wanted to buy it. I had to practically beg to eventually even get a price from him($13K). By then I didn't need much incentive to travel.

Its no secret D&H's price is $11,999 - no extras, no bs and the nicest people around - until now I never had anyone spend 45 minutes going over a new bike with me in exact detail (the mechanic who assembled it).

I don't need much incentive to go for a ride especially since I had business in St Louis so my company picked up all my travel expenses. . .

Finally what better wayto meet a board member (knifemaker) and break in a new bike (2K miles in the 1st week)?