New To Me 2005 ABS

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doug44

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Aug 8, 2010
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Location
Decatur, IL
Hello to the group after reading a few posts here about new owners of the FJR etc I thought I would post this note. I have been riding for 40 years and lost count of the different motorcycles I have owned ! Included are many BMW's many Honda's, a few Yamaha's, one Harley a few Suzuki's so you kind of get my background. For the past four years I had been riding a GL1800 including a trip last year out to CA from IL here riding 6300 miles in 12 days including PC 1 in CA pretty much from San Luis Obiso to the Or. border. In May I traded the GL1800 for a Suzuki 650 V-Strom (wee strom) including factory bags & top case. After 4 years it was time for me to have a different ride and the GL1800 was getting pretty heavy for me lately and is a great bike but not a ton of fun. After putting 4500 miles on the wee strom and doing 3-4 500 to 850 mile weekend trips going to GNC Dirt track races I just couldn't quite get the wee strom to settle down on the highway. Just too light, wind affected it badly, the bike was just too tall for me (5' 7") and I like to cruise a GPS 75 MPH which was OK but not much overhead left after that if somebody wanted to pick the pace up to 85MPH.

Walking into my local big 4 dealer here in Decatur, IL sitting was a heavy farkled 05 ABS. The farkles were what I wanted including electronic cruise control, heli risers, frame sliders-case savers, great + windshield (don't know what brand but very thick), 3 of the BMW type 12v outlets, ram mounts, a like new set of Avon Strom tires with about 2K on them and a Yamaha rear mount for a Yamaha top case (but no case). I found it had been owned by 2 riders, the last one only to ride it 2K miles and he changed all the fluids and said he traded it for a automobile ! I talked to the 1st owner who installed all the farkles and everything seems like he did a beautiful job with everything he did. Audio Vox cruise control works wonderful. It has been so HOT since buying the bike I have not rode it much but what I have I am in love. I think Mr FJR and I are going to have a long and satisfied relationship. After reading the other posts here on setting up the sup. I need to give that a go the bike seems a little harsh on the rear but noted the rear is set on hard. I need to check each and every setting I have never owned a bike with all of these different adjustments. Hopefully the rear shock in not trashed with under 25K.

Hopefully I can meet up with some others here on this forum, I am a member of the Springfield Milers BMW Club which welcomes all brands and just last night we had a meeting in which I rode my new to me FJR. After the meeting around 9:30PM and sitting outside under the street lights it gather a big crowd of mostly BMW owners. One guys said " I bet it is just as good or better than a BMW and 5K cheaper" . I could just grin and you know I was lovin it :yahoo:

 
Congrats on your purchase; that sounds like a great setup with all those acc's. I've had my '06 for about a week and a half. Before my group ride Sunday, it was the envy of the group... at least those that could flat-foot it! :p

I thought the rear shock setting was a personal preference thing, but the manual writes it pretty cut and dry: soft for 1-up, hard for 2-up.

 
Congrats on your purchase; that sounds like a great setup with all those acc's. I've had my '06 for about a week and a half. Before my group ride Sunday, it was the envy of the group... at least those that could flat-foot it! :p
I thought the rear shock setting was a personal preference thing, but the manual writes it pretty cut and dry: soft for 1-up, hard for 2-up.
Congrats to you as well you have the GenII which I guess has some nice updates. The Gen I are geared lower quite a bit and I have a buddy here in town that he and his wife both ride a pair of GenII bikes. It will be interesting to have a high gear roll on with the GenII bikes and see how that goes. As far as the sup settings after posting earlier I went back out to the bike and changed both front and rear settings. We will see how things go and adjust from there. The rear shock looked good as far as no leaks and all adjustments worked easy.

 
I didn't know that about the gearing, but I do know there is a bit of angst here between the GenI and GenII'ers. The only thing I've ridden that could smoke this was the old Duc... but I wouldn't own another one of those. If Yamaha ever makes a V-twin sport bike, I'm there. I'm definately sticking with the Tuning Forks.

 
doug44 - Great intro post!

Obviously a true enthusiast, no matter the marque.

It sounds like you found an really nice gen1, well farkled, and in good shape. I will be curios to see how the FJR fits you, given the comment the GL was heavy - true, but it's a lower cg bike. The FJR is less weight, but higher cg.

Handling wise - the *best* improvement you can make is suspension. Not sure how hard you press the twisities, but if you're a player, you'll want to have suspension work done - especially since many of the farkles came as bought and you have left-over cash? :lol:

You're an inter sting guy - be sure to ride the wheels off that FJR and keep us posted in the Ride Reports section?

 
doug44 - Great intro post! Obviously a true enthusiast, no matter the marque.

It sounds like you found an really nice gen1, well farkled, and in good shape. I will be curios to see how the FJR fits you, given the comment the GL was heavy - true, but it's a lower cg bike. The FJR is less weight, but higher cg.

Handling wise - the *best* improvement you can make is suspension. Not sure how hard you press the twisities, but if you're a player, you'll want to have suspension work done - especially since many of the farkles came as bought and you have left-over cash? :lol:

You're an inter sting guy - be sure to ride the wheels off that FJR and keep us posted in the Ride Reports section?
Thanks for the kind words & the welcome dcarver. As far as the GL1800 getting a bit heavy for me it was actually pretty good while on it, but when getting it out/in of the garage it is a handful. Also that trip out to CA where I took w-a-y to much stuff with me I dropped the GL in Salt Lake City, UT in a motel lot because of all the added weight. No more than I have handled my FJR believe me it is much, much easier both on and off to handle. I can't wait for this heat wave to break here in the midwest the temps are running 95-100d each day with heat index of up to 117. It is so hot I was a week just getting my Valentine V-1 radar wired up and mounted etc just standing outside the water drips off the tips of my fingers GADS ... more information than you needed. OH yes I use to be a ''player'' but the older I get the less innings I play hawr but I respect your input thank you I guess we will see what Doug has left.

 
Sounds familiar. I just received my FJR from Texas this week and cannot stop smiling. The only problem I have is the STACK of farkles in my garage that I have to put on. This is a problem since I cannot bear to let the bike sit over the weekend to do everything at once! Lucky for me my HIDs won't be here until middle of next week so I have until next weekend right? From one NOOB FJR owner to another welcome to the club this is going to be a LOOOONG ride!

 
I thought the rear shock setting was a personal preference thing, but the manual writes it pretty cut and dry: soft for 1-up, hard for 2-up.
It's not quite that strait forward. If you're 200 lbs or more, you will want to be on 'hard' for any fun, twisty roads. Any aggressive riders will want hard as well. Ditto for loaded up for a trip, but that's obvious.

The soft/hard lever simply locks out one of the springs on hard. It's not really a pre-load adjustment, at least on the Gen I. After 25k I noticed it was starting to not handle a rally load, so upgraded to a Wilbers shock. The Penski now available is an even better choice. It varies for every rider, but the stockers last from 20-50k depending on loads and type of riding.

 
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Cool story doug44! :yahoo:

Glad you are enjoying it and you definitely want to hook up with some forum members and ride, they are great bunch of folks.

Ride safe.

P.S. - You have the best year FeeJ made. ;)

 
Nice to see you here doug44. Great choice for an new to you motorcycle. I personally love my 05 ABS and wouldn't swap it for any other motorcycle made regardless of price. Lots of great people and info here on this board. Many happy miles to you, ed

 
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