The Evil that is 13....

[Warchild]

The number 13 is pure evil.... as in, the new 2013 FJR1300 model....

And now, I own the 13th FJR to come off the assembly line in Japan... #000013

Just rode it home from Desert Valley Powersports in Prosser... I am pouring over the Owner's Manual now.

Quick comments, good and bad, in no particular order....

• The fly-by-wire throttle is a bit snatchy when coming off the line in first gear, creamy buttery smooth after that.
  
• The cruise control is to die for. Unbelievably consistent going up or down road grades.
  
• The instrument panel is beyond awesome.
  
• The dash turn signals are tiny. Very tiny.
  
• The heated grips will melt your fingers in short order
  
• Alternator output has allegedly been increased to just under 600 watts.
  
• The seat configurations are identical to GenII... so all custom Gen II saddles will fit fine.
  
• Holy fucking shit, the LED aux lights are STUNNING!!!
  
• The new dash area cowling will be challenging for fabricators to design a sturdy dash for LD goodies. All our "traditional" hard mounting points are gone.
  
• Speaking of fasteners... the side body work has gone the way of the Hayabusa... there are no side bodywork fasteners. It is all tabs and slots now.
  
• The Bridgestone BT023 are exceptionally sticky. I don't think the rear will last too long. B)
  
• The beamcast from the headlight reflector housing is... different, but very, VERY good.
  
• The paint has less metallic then originally thought, and displays more green in natural sunlight, compared to florescent lighting.
  
• The brakes are righteous once the pads are bedded in... they are a bit wooden coming right off the showroom.
  
• It is not clear to me yet if the Givi will transfer over from my Gen I. I have reservations that it might not.
  
• The Top Gun aux light brackets are not a direct bolt-on to the Gen III. The new mirror holes are deeply recessed, requiring spacers to stand the light brackets off the bodywork. Possibly, a complete redesign might be indicated.
  
• Initial observations suggest the V-Strom hand guards will strike the new dash at full lock turns. Maybe even before they are fully locked.
  

I will add to this list as I continue to check things out.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Congrats...you and Fairlaner get to break them bad boys in...

 

[Fairlaner]

Dale did you ever have a Gen2? these dash turn signal lights are huge compared to those......

Damn i would have loved to have 13 as it is my birthday...i got 25.

I rode mine home in touring mode and it was not snatchy at all on the throttle.

R

 

[escapefjrtist]

Good for you Dale.

Congrats!

--G

 

[Fairlaner]

Dale you need to add 2013 to the bike list now, it only goes to 12.....

R

 

[Warchild]

Dale did you ever have a Gen2? these dash turn signal lights are huge compared to those......

Damn i would have loved to have 13 as it is my birthday...i got 25.

I rode mine home in touring mode and it was not snatchy at all on the throttle.

R

It is true that I should preface my comments by stating I never actually owned the GenII, though I certainly assembled/worked on many, many a Gen II.

And, no, I was in "Sport" mode the entire time. And, truthfully, after about 50-ish miles of operation, I adapted to the snatchiness such that it was a non-issue. I will try Touring mode on the way to work tomorrow.

Shyeah... work tomorrow... I should be entirely productive, I'm thinkin'... :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Warchild]

Good new, bad news.....

As you can see below, the Top Gun Bar End Weights transfer over just fine:

The bad news is... the Gen I Pazzo Levers do NOT transfer over from to the Gen III. It's not even close; they don't fit whatsoever.

Clarification edit: While it is true the Pazzo levers for the GenI (2003 model) do not fit the GenIII bike, the Pazzo levers for the three other Gen I model years (2004, 2005-a, and 2005-b ), as well as all Gen II years, DO fit the GenIII bike just fine.

Unsure if the Gen II Pazzo levers would fit.

Additionally, it appears as if I will not be using the traditional endurance riding BMW grips on the Gen III, because I am not willing to give up the factory heated grips.

 

[Fairlaner]

Gen2 pazzo's do fit......

Skyway Sliders on the other hand do not....

R

 

[SkooterG]

Bastard!

 

[Warchild]

Gen2 pazzo's do fit......

Awesome shot, Richard! Those black Pazzos look HAWT on the GenIII! B)

Skyway Sliders on the other hand do not....

Happily, the lower engine mount bolt looks considerably exposed. I am betting R&G (or similar company) will be bringing out GenIII sliders fairly quickly, and it appears no cowling drilling will be necessary:

 

[kaitsdad]

Damn nice !!!

Question - Richard - are we still dealing with that pesky charcoal canister (California)

just behind the header pipes? PLEASE tell me that Yamaha did away with that?

 

[Fairlaner]

Hal there is a canister, just not sure where it is yet...

Dale have you seen the sliders they got coming out in Europe in January?

Sliders

Also the foot shields are really nice too.

R

 

[supertankerm60a3]

OH you thoroughly lucky and totally cool dog you!!

 

[Warchild]

Hal there is a canister, just not sure where it is yet...

Dale have you seen the sliders they got coming out in Europe in January?

Sliders

Yeah, I will likely be a player for those foot shields at some point.... though I am loathe to find out what they will cost, because they look like a fairly complex ABS mold/form:

And here they are installed:

Not so sure about these Yamaha Hand Guards.... they are clamped to the mirror, don't really look like they are all that close to the handgrips... hmmmmm...

 

[Fairlaner]

I guess they just deflect the air.

Based on the Pazzo's being correct i am going to assume for now that the Vstrom hand gaurds i have will fit also, but i am going to hold off on them and give the heated grips a try.

I think those sliders will look better mounted in conjuction with those foot shields, I am not sure how they are gonna look without.

The farkeling starts tomorrow in ernest.

And by the way when you figure out how to remove the lowers post it up......

R

 

[BobbyBlue]

OUTDAMNSTANDING yer rotundness !!! The DreadSled arrives...so many new farkles to aquire and Christmas coming on too...good times !

 

[SkooterG]

You Gen III fags suck moist ass cheese. Word.

 

[beemerdons]

Congratulations Dale, these 2013 FJR's are incredible machines! Dale, I would hate to have Dieter und Hans in BMW Central Command Bunker in Berlin hear this: But, if I had only known Yamaha was going to make such worthwhile/notable improvements to the 2013 FJR I may have held off in the purchase of my 2012 BMW K1600GT!

 

[Warchild]

Initial Night-Riding Impressions:

Coming into work this morning at 5:30am, under what looks to be a pretty full moon:

• The dash lighting is extraordinary! It is a soft gray-whitish light that makes the large LCD dash instruments very "readable".
   
  
• The low beam is actually quite a bit different from the GenI/II reflector housings... the GenIII beamcast does not throw to the far sides as much as the GenI/II, which I find a little bit unfortunate. Mind you, where the light does strike the ground in front of the bike, it is as excellent as the previous generations.
   
  
• The High beams are similar to Gen I/II bikes... really lights up overhead passes and the owls high in the trees. WTF, Yamaha?
  
  
   
  
• Upon reaching traffic on the way into work this morning, it is obvious that my headlights need to be lowered.... they are a solid 3+ inches higher than where they should be (mind you, this could simply be the settings on my bike, not all GenIIIs. Regardless, is easily fixable by a few twists on the headlight adjustment knobs).
   
  
• The LED angel eyes (Yamaha calls them "aux lights", which of course has a different meaning when we say "LED aux lights") are NOT just cosmetic, they actually light up a goodly portion of the ground immediately in front of the bike, mostly filling in the area that the older, rounder reflector housings lit up when in low beam. That having been said, they LED angel eyes do look AWESOME just by themselves!
   
  
• I lowered the headlight aim when I reach the parking lot at work, and have not had the bike back out on the road since. Perhaps some of my earlier complaints about beamcast have changed, but I won't be able to find out until tonight.
   
  
• Holy crap, it has been over 12 years since I've ridden a bike with heated grips... what a friggin' treat to light off these babies on low setting, and have toasty hands in less than 60 seconds. B)