Picking up my 06 fjr tomorrow....how do i ride it?

[RC65]

Mcompton1973, if you don't need the side bags, pull them off till your used to the bike.
I never used my side bags un-less on a road trip. They feel like you have a small passenger on the bike.

W/O the bags, IMO, the bike is a bit more flickable and easier for slow speed maneuvering.

Funny enough, when I rode my bike for the first time a few weeks ago without bags (it's a new '16 I've had just three months or so), I found that as well, that it seemed more nimble, more flickable. I chalked it up to either being a FJR newbie (though I've been riding for forty'ish years) or my imagination...I figured it couldn't have been the bags, given that they only weigh, what, ten pounds each or so, and they're balanced on each side. Good to know then that I wasn't imagining things...I might have to try bagless again -- it was kinda fun!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I think the side bags were a little larger on the Gen I's than the new ones.

But no, there's a definite difference in the handling.

 

[HotRodZilla]

The side bags are the same through all generations, so are all interchangeable. Some very small cosmetic changes, like the chrome center piece, but just decoration on the same bags.

I also like the way my bike feels without the bags. Don't do it often, but when I do, it's fun, and the bike feels very good. Unlike many ST bikes, the FJR is sexy as all Hell when it's bagless. I know a couple of guys have "done the math" claiming they are such a small percentage of the overall weight that any difference is negligible, but the feel is very much there. I think it's the location of the weight, not just the percentage of it.

 

[Uncle Hud]

HotRodZilla posted: The side bags are the same through all generations, so are all interchangeable. Some very small cosmetic changes, like the chrome center piece, but just decoration on the same bags.
I also like the way my bike feels without the bags. Don't do it often, but when I do, it's fun, and the bike feels very good. Unlike many ST bikes, the FJR is sexy as all Hell when it's bagless. I know a couple of guys have "done the math" claiming they are such a small percentage of the overall weight that any difference is negligible, but the feel is very much there. I think it's the location of the weight, not just the percentage of it.

You aren't kidding. The first weekend ride with Aunt Kelly's friends a couple of years ago, we showed up Saturday morning with the bags. Started riding almost immediately; didn't even have time to unpack. Sunday was bagless, and the response from the other six riders was very different: "Looks like a sportbike on steroids who lifts weights."

The bike felt different, too -- she leaned over easier and accelerated quicker. Sure, it probably was all mental, but it did feel different.

 

[wetwolf]

Those big old bags hanging out there add quite a bit of wind resistance as well.

Bruce