Santa came early today! Merry Christmas to me!

[STC10]

He left my new ES at the dealership. Of course in Christmas red! # 011

I christened her immediately with road salt and grime on the way home. Temps were in the upper 50s which was melting snow all over.

I have a 2006 that I've had since new. A few observations from my 30 mile ride home...

The throttle is great. I only did the spring unwind on my 06 but it was still snatchy from off to on. The new one is smooth from idle on up.

Although I have no complaints about my 06 trans, the 14 seems to shift like butter. It snicks into gear beautifully.

The switchgear is very well designed. It didn't take long to master the controls for the grips, windshield,etc.

The red is very nice in person. Definitely not like the photos.

I didn't get to mess with the suspension much.

As I was speaking to the owner of the dealership, he said that Yamaha only imported 150 ES models to the country in the first round.

I guess it'll be in hibernation for a while. I'll report more when the weather improves.

Thanks to Montgomeryville Cycle and Zeke

2006 FJR1300A for sale. 16,900 miles

 

[majicmaker]

Congrats, STC10. I'm sure you're going to enjoy that bike. I, on the other hand, am waiting for the AE version to show up on our shores. It looks like it might be a while but, I'm a very patient man. Although.... I must admit. I'm getting a little twitchy! )

 

[STC10]

When I was talking to the Yamaha rep back in Sept. I asked if the AE might be back. He cringed and said it wasn't likely.

 

[majicmaker]

Don't tell me that!! I'm an eternal optimist. It may not be in large numbers but, there are a lot of people here that would love that bike. I'm thinking they will be able to set up a program where you can order one and just wait for it to get made and shipped over here.

My '06 AE is running like a Swiss Watch. I've got all the time in the world. They will not be able to deny the AE lovers of the USA! The force is too strong in us! Luke..... I am you're Father!......

 

[bwv]

WOW Congratulations !

 

[STC10]

I agree. Unlike cars, bikes are universal. Unless there's a difference in emissions, a bike should work in any country. The meters are switchable from metric to SAE. I think that Yamaha is gun shy from being hung with all of the AEs.

That probably explains the low number of ES models in the initial offering. Testing the waters.

 

[mcatrophy]

I agree. Unlike cars, bikes are universal. Unless there's a difference in emissions, a bike should work in any country. The meters are switchable from metric to SAE. I think that Yamaha is gun shy from being hung with all of the AEs.That probably explains the low number of ES models in the initial offering. Testing the waters.

Not quite.

There are differences in regulations about running lights, parking lights, reflectors, immobilisers and such. Many Americans on this site remove the reflectors on forks and bags. We in the UK don't have them. I presume they are a legislative requirement in the US, in the UK they are not.

UK Gen II's parking lights inside our headlamp reflectors:

(Click on image for larger view)



We've also got the headlamp flasher "passing" switch, at the front of the switch cluster. It wasn't on the US Gen II.



That goes for the immobiliser (also on the Canadian bikes).

And, annoyingly for we who ride into foreign parts, the Gen II won't switch between metric and Imperial.

 

[bgross]

Merry Christmas!

Hope there's a little package of "patience booster" in your stocking... I can't even imagine hibernation.

 

[ionbeam]

Congratulations on the new 14ES, color me jealous! Someday I hope to have a 14ES or equivalent later model. Y'all will need to ride that thing up to New England and show it off. Say, Whitehorse Gear's open house in May would be good; you can show us your ES and we can show you some great roads

...The meters are switchable from metric to SAE. I think that Yamaha is gun shy from being hung with all of the AEs...

Not quite...And, annoyingly for we who ride into foreign parts, the Gen II won't switch between metric and Imperial.

It wasn't just the AEs that makes Yamaha gun shy, there was the mother of all Yamaha debacles, the GTS1000. That bike made the Edsel look like the model of success. Like the AE it was a good motorcycle but the introduction happened at a bad time, with lots of 'strange' new features and power capped at 100 hp. Unlike the AE that will eventually sell, Yamaha crushed a lot of unsold GTS1000.

Even though my Gen I will switch between metric and Imperial I still use my Garmin to display metric when out of the country and leave my FJR dash Imperial. My local navigation and speed will be in metric, but my overall trip and fueling will be in familiar Imperial.

 

[majicmaker]

Merry Christmas! Hope there's a little package of "patience booster" in your stocking... I can't even imagine hibernation.

Amen, Brother bgross. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had to put it away for the winter. :-/

 

[Full House]

Congrats on the new machine! Hey it's 60 here today, going out?, high of 30 something tomorrow, and that's the high for this coming week!

 

[beemerdons]

WOW

Congratulations !

+1, Gunny; Great Christmas Gift, Enjoy!

 

[mcatrophy]

...Even though my Gen I will switch between metric and Imperial I still use my Garmin to display metric when out of the country and leave my FJR dash Imperial. My local navigation and speed will be in metric, but my overall trip and fueling will be in familiar Imperial.

I have to use my Tomtom set to kilometres when prowling the streets and lanes of Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France. You can't convince a camera that you're an ignorant Englishman and you thought the kph speed limits were mph. We should have insisted the French converted to miles after Waterloo. Did you know vehicle mounted speed camera warnings are illegal in France?

What we need is a nice new '14 FJR1300 with switchable speedo and a cruise control limited to the maximum speed limit allowable in France, 130 kph (that's 80.778255 mph). Oh, wait a moment, we could get ourselves a US '13 ...

 

[STC10]

What's worse than not being able ride it is the fact that I have to make the payments while not riding it. Plus now I have 2 FJRs that I can't ride!

Actually I usually manage to get out a couple of times during the winter.

 

[LKLD]

Congratulations on the new 14ES, color me jealous! Someday I hope to have a 14ES or equivalent later model. Y'all will need to ride that thing up to New England and show it off. Say, Whitehorse Gear's open house in May would be good; you can show us your ES and we can show you some great roads

...The meters are switchable from metric to SAE. I think that Yamaha is gun shy from being hung with all of the AEs...

Not quite...And, annoyingly for we who ride into foreign parts, the Gen II won't switch between metric and Imperial.

It wasn't just the AEs that makes Yamaha gun shy, there was the mother of all Yamaha debacles, the GTS1000. That bike made the Edsel look like the model of success. Like the AE it was a good motorcycle but the introduction happened at a bad time, with lots of 'strange' new features and power capped at 100 hp. Unlike the AE that will eventually sell, Yamaha crushed a lot of unsold GTS1000.

Even though my Gen I will switch between metric and Imperial I still use my Garmin to display metric when out of the country and leave my FJR dash Imperial. My local navigation and speed will be in metric, but my overall trip and fueling will be in familiar Imperial.

Did you import your bike, or did you mean U.S. gallons?

 

[ionbeam]

Did you import your bike, or did you mean U.S. gallons?

I was staying within the Imperial measurement system to be consistent with mcatrophy.

My bike is indeed a 49 state US bike, purchased in and delivered to New Hampshire (PDP). I leave my dash displaying U.S. customary units and let my Zumo 550 handle the metric **** units. Zumo driving information display:

In my area it is common to see a corner marked 25 mph but it can easily be taken at 45 mph. I go north of the border and see a corner marked 25 and take it at 45 mph then half way through the corner remember that the 25 was in KPH and I'm going way to fast for the turn radius.

 

[Iris]

Congratulations! Merry Christmas STC10!!!!

It's nice to see that the ES are coming to the East Coast. Maybe Jim's and mine will be here soon....I can hardly wait.

Ionbeam, we will happily make a trip up to see you and Mrs. Beam around May

 

[Fred W]

Count me in !! I'd like to drool over the new red FJRs at White Horse next spring too!!

PS - Congrats on being one if the first ES adopters STC10!

 

[Alex]

"Yamaha only imported 150 ES models to the country in the first round."

That number seems low but then again I'm not sure how many rounds they will order over the year.

Congrats on a well refined upgrade!