Need some friendly advice

[glory racing]

I came to the FJR from a ZRX 1200. It took me quite a while before I got acclimated to, and trusted, the big new ride. But now I really enjoy it and push it through the twisties faster than some think it should go. Give it a little time before you decide...there will be no additional depreciation for a while. Then you will know for sure if it is not the correct ride for you at this particular time in your life.

That said, even though on the streets I have slowed the pace a tad, I would still like to 'add' another standard to the stable(fz1, z1000, etc). Some days it just seems like one would be appropriate for the situation!

 

[ahchiu]

The R6 and FJR are totaly different and to compare them is like apple and oranges. I have an 04 R6 for the track and short rides to the twisties. I ride my 06 FJR 95% of the time, as someone mentioned I want a bike that I can ride for long distant and still handle the curves and have storage. I can't even bring home a 1/2 gal of milk unless I wear a backpack. The FJR with the right tires and suspension setup will keep up with most sport bikes on the street w/o the peaky power. That's why you can never just have 1 bike in the stable.

 

[mikepa]

Where in Omaha were you riding your R6 to "throw it around?" Like Omaha, living in pancake land there is nowhere to lean an FJR, let alone an R6. I think I replied to you before, I traded in my 2004 R6 for a 2006 FJR and am happy with my choice. I needed a bike that could get me to the twisties and could handle them once I got there; FJR is that perfect bike. Now if you lived in SoCal or on top of a mountain or racetrack, them by all means the R6 is your bike.
Just curious, what are your tire pressures? Keep at it at least 39 in front and 42 in rear. When I got new tires put on the shop had them at 34 for both and the FJR felt like a sluggish pig. Pumped them to factory recommendations and the bike handled great again.

LOL Yes Omaha sucks for roads. I am from Minneapolis so I would ride alot of river roads and roads in Wisc. I am now about 15 minutes from Mid America Motorplex so I took the R6 there a few times. I did mess with the suspension some and that did help. I would like to put it on a diet but the only weight I could save is getting the wife off of it lol. I am looking at tires and I know most people swear by PR2. I am a huge fan of Dunlop and great luck with their Qualifer on the R6. So I am doing alot of reading on tires.

+1 on tires and pressure but just my opinion,

I Replaced stock Z6's with PR2's and just replaced the PR2's (8,500 mi) with Dunlop RoadSmarts.

PR2's were were good until about 6,000 mi and then the FJR became an F150 again.

I have about 600 mi on the Dunlops and the handling is fantastic.

Don't know how they are going to hold up but they work much better for me than the PR2's ever did.

 

[rsjb41]

drrpm06,

I just traded my VFR800 in on a 05FJR...I kinda know what you are going through. I miss some things about the VFR800...I miss some thing about my V-Strom. But there are always going to things you miss about past bikes and it always seems I have buyers remorse. But the FJR has and can do things the others can't. I LOVED the V-Strom and could ride it all day long but I could barely touch the ground on it which caused some for me at times. The VFR was fast, I could sit on flat footed but could only ride a few hours at a time before needing a break and wind protection wasn't great. The FJR has great wind protection, is very fast AND I can ride it for hours and hours.

I would love to have 3 or 4 bikes in the garage...but if you're like me, you can't do that. You just have to pick the one that does most the things you like best and go with it. To me, it was the FJR. Give it some time, ride it for a few weeks and see if maybe you didn't make a mistake after all.

Rod

 

[etcmjoe709]

drrpm06, I now know what you mean in your initial post. The FJR is my first bike that's even halfway related to a sport bike, so it felt fast and nimble to me (compared to my old Harley), but yesterday my local dealer saw me roll into his lot and immediately insisted that I take a test ride on a new FZ-1 that he just got. It looked really nice - he ordered it with the optional full-fairing and it looked every bit like a "zoom-splat". I accepted his offer of a test ride and WOW! What a difference from the FJR! The FZ-1 feels like a feather when you straddle it and pick it up off the kickstand. The engine growls and wants to reach redline with the slightest twist of the throttle. It feels like its going to pull a wheelie in every gear. It turns very quickly and sharply. In short, I WANT ONE! But in truth, I'd only ride it on shorter, local trips. Although its undoubtedly more comfy that an R-1, it isn't anywhere near as comfortable as the FJR, and feels far less stable at high speed (I got it up over 100 for a short stretch). Its a hoot to ride though, and I can easily see one sitting in the garage next to its big sister. I thought the FJR would be all the bike I'd ever need, and it is, but its no longer all the bike I want.

 

[Deacon51]

Sounds like you need to keep the FJR and a R6. Nothing wrong with having two (or ten) bikes.

 

[Cosmin]

Hello everyone.I posted in the newbie section that I was trading in my 06 R6 for a 05 FJR. Well I got it and now I feel like I regret my choice that I made. I really miss being able to just throw the wherever I want it to go and now I feel like I have to really muscle it around. Yes I know its alot heavier of a bike. I also miss the sound of the R6 and the wife does too. I feel like the bike needs to go onto a diet or something. I do like the bike its just I am not comfortable riding it its like I am on a big scooter. Any Friendly advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello,

Last year when I bought my FJR I still had the previous CBR600. I usually ride in a mountains area with several twisty roads and the first ride with FJR was shocking... The biggest problem was leaning the bike on the same roads on which some days ago I was 'dancing' with the CBR600...

My wife was very scared of the way I was driving because she could feel the uncertain curves driving. The most difficult were the first 1000miles. Gradually I got used to the bike but, from time to time, I was riding again the CBR600 and some regrets were crossing my mind. At some point I was decided to keep the CBR for weekend twisties and the FJR for longer trips. I thought the FJR was just not suitable for me or for the roads I liked best. After 2000miles with the FJR I was not so afraid anymore of the twisted roads, I started leaning more and more till the tires slipped once or twice and scared me again. So I changed the OEM Metzeler Z6 with sportier Michelin Pilot Power 2CT and the difference was HUGE!!! Meanwhile I changed also the suspension settings with those from the forum recommendations and I could say I was riding another bike. Soon in the curves I scratched the road with the foot-pegs, side-stand and center-stand and than increased also the height of the bike by changing the dog-bones and it is ok.

Now I have only good words about the FJR, I sold the CBR last summer and I have no regrets. Of course there are still situations where the CBR was behaving better (like putting the bike back into the lane and braking before the car ahead in 'tight' over-takings, more confident grip during super-sport riding due to more than 100kgs difference etc) but the advantages of the FJR over a sport bike convinced me.

My advice is to go for sportier tires, at least until getting very used to the bike (Pilot Power 2CT lasted more than 6000 miles in my case and behaved very well) and check also suspension settings. After you get used to it you will be very happy :yahoo:

 

[magneto]

R6's are plentiful. find a nice used one in your price range. Keep the FJR for longer trips and the 6 for sporting about. Sometimes one bike just can't do it all.

 

[Phugedaboudet]

I do some canyon carving here (Mt Diablo being a fun one for comparison) and the torquey gearing of the heavier FJR made the run actually *easier* than the half-weight Ninja I'd run the time before.

Sure the pegs drag sooner but once you understand that you have to actually control the bike as opposed to pointing it, and get used to shifting less, you can keep up with all but the most skilled riders on almost any street legal machine.

basically it's like giving up the power steering on a rally car. Soon as you get used to pulling the FJR over and down in tight switchbacks, get used to entering corners cooler and heating up coming out, and taking advantage of the linked braking system (I know many disagree, but using the rear brake to manage the bike (works wonders for me in the technical parts) helped make the bike stand up for transitioning from one part of a "s" curve to another.

It's still a tool designed for a specific job though. You're not gonna do 13 hour straight interstate runs on an R6 with spare gear and a week's luggage on an R6. But then you're not gonna compete in supersport or WSBK events with a FJR either.

And as previously mentioned, carry a couple gallons of milk, six pack of 20 oz sodas, a few bags of chips and a couple boxes of cereal on most bikes and you're looping the bags over the handlebars and praying you don't have churned butter when ya get home

Hello everyone.I posted in the newbie section that I was trading in my 06 R6 for a 05 FJR. Well I got it and now I feel like I regret my choice that I made. I really miss being able to just throw the wherever I want it to go and now I feel like I have to really muscle it around. Yes I know its alot heavier of a bike. I also miss the sound of the R6 and the wife does too. I feel like the bike needs to go onto a diet or something. I do like the bike its just I am not comfortable riding it its like I am on a big scooter. Any Friendly advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CaptianBanana]

I do like the bike its just I am not comfortable riding it its like I am on a big scooter. Any Friendly advice would be greatly appreciated.

I love my FJR, but it is a big ol' heavy bitch. It's great for loading up the wife and heading out for a long day of twits and turns. It handles great for what it is, but it never stops being heavy. The wife loves the extra room and comfy ride.

I agree about the tire pressure. If I lose a couple pounds, the bike feels like it's wallowing all over. Modifying the suspension settings helped a lot. I wish I knew more about how to properly set that up.

I'll probably get a lighter, smaller bike in addition to the FJR at some point. The FJR is a bit much for commuting, and it would be nice to have something light and quick-feeling.

 

[RadioHowie]

I love my FJR, but it is a big ol' heavy bitch.
It handles great for what it is, but it never stops being heavy.

Could it be....some Gen II veracity rearing its controversial head???

 

[Speed3]

I came from a '06 R6 and know what your speaking of. These bikes really aren't in the same league. R6 is super flickable, at times too much for me, and revs like crazy. I've done 650 miles of backroads in one day and felt like I was gonna die LOL. Sold mine over the winter and picked up an FJR.

FJR is heavy, no doubt about that. I've only got 200 miles on this bike but dragging peg is a frequent occurance. The pegs drag at about the right point where you probably shouldn't be riding much harder on the street. I don't any problem with the way this bike handles and it will still wheelie LOL. Heavy = stable.

I have ZERO regrets about my transition over to the FJR. It's not fun to ride a fast bike slow (R6), its much more fun to ride a slow bike fast (FJR).

For the super twisty backroad hooliganism, I ride the motard.

 

[HotRodZilla]

So here's more opinion, because that's all any of us are going to be able to contribute to this conversation. If you really like Dunlops, give the RoadSmarts a try. I am on my 3rd set and absolutely love them. I get good mileage out of them and they stick very well. I run the pressure at 42front/43rear, so maybe go a little higher, especially with your wife on the back.

As said before, the FJR is a great bike, but definately not a bike that handles like an R6. If you want something that has storage and handles closer to an R6, take a test ride on a Truimph Sprint ST1050. They are bitchen little bikes with storage and great handling at the same time. As with all bikes though, there will be a compromise.

Good luck.

 

[drrpm06]

Thanks again to all the replies. I dropped off the new PR2 to get mounted so I cant wait to see how big of a difference that will make. I am getting more use to it the power commander helped smooth it out more and that is a plus. I am looking forward to the summer when my son goes to his moms for the summer so I can take it out on a long run. Is there a way to remove more weight from the bike already did exhaust and bags without doing anything to harm the structure?

 

[slomoshun]

Any Friendly advice would be greatly appreciated.

On her back, second hole from the bottom.

slo.

 

[RadioHowie]

Any Friendly advice would be greatly appreciated.

On her back, second hole from the bottom.

slo.

Confusing advice, since either will do in a pinch.

 

[krashdragon]

Thanks again to all the replies. I dropped off the new PR2 to get mounted so I cant wait to see how big of a difference that will make. I am getting more use to it the power commander helped smooth it out more and that is a plus. I am looking forward to the summer when my son goes to his moms for the summer so I can take it out on a long run. Is there a way to remove more weight from the bike already did exhaust and bags without doing anything to harm the structure?

Hope you like the FJR.

Remember, you went from a lightweight throw around very high revving lil screamer to a rather humongous extremely fast get from one end of the coast to the other in a hurry bike. And it has enuf room for all your luggage including the wife's hair dryer.

Taking the scenic roads, of course....<BG>

In other words, two totally different animals. Kinda like comparing a 5'8" point guard to a 7'4" center....

Have fun.

Mary