What did you ride pre-FJR

[norflyer]

To all,

well, I started on a German scoot called Puch at age of 10 years. It was a 50ccm engine, real nice for a 10 yrs. old boy......

Enjoyed it alot for a few years, until switching to my brothers 150ccm motorcycle at the age of 14.....

Those were the day in the country, we knew exactly where the sheriff was all the time !!! :clapping:

Tor

 

[chiefj48]

What a great thread, enjoyed all the pics,wish I had some. Started out with:Assorted japanese minis and dirtbikes

"74 Penton hare scrambler 250 (gone)

"67 305 Dream (stored)

"72 Sportster HD (gone)

"60 R50 BMW (running)

"75 FLH HD (running)

"75 Commando (stored)

"78 Triumph tiger (running)

Just picked up a complete (basket) "48 HD knuckle (stored) for another old age project.

The FJR is my only modern bike .

i hate to burst your bubble, but they NEVER made a '48 knucklehead

chiefj48

 

[norflyer]

And I still have this:

How do you like the Shadow? My brother just bought an '03 750.

I have the '06 Sabre 1100 and I truly do like the bike. Bordering on loving it, really. It's got wicked ground clearance letting me get into some seriously intense cornering before dragging things. It's got *excellent* low-end and mid-range power. The top end is a bit lacking, but hey... can't have everything from a 5k rpm v-twin The comort is nice, and considering it's got a single-disc up front, the thing stops VERY well. I can keep up with my sport bike friends pretty consistently when cornering and out beating the roads up on the weekends. No, it's not a sport bike and no, it won't win any races, but with a competent rider, this is a bike that can make you rethink what you think you know about cruisers.

It shares basically nothing but the name 'Shadow' with the 750s. Honda's marking is *** when it comes to their cruisers. They slap the "Shadow" name on everything that's remotely cruiser-ish, regardless. Even the VTX (backwards abortions of bikes) were originally going to debut as the "Shadow VTX"

There are several distinct Shadow lines:

The Softtail style VLX 600 chain drive.

The dual shock single pin 750 chain drive.

The dual shock single pin 750 shaft drive

The dual shock twin pin 1100s shaft drive.

The dual shock single pin 1100s shaft drive.

And there are sub-varieties of each.

There is also a sub-naming convention that doesn't make sense. For instance, there's a 750 spirit and an 1100 spirit. They have *nothing* in common. Nothing at all, not even genre and intent. The 750 spirit is more akin to the 1100 Sabre in intent - minimalist hot rod styling, including bobbed fenders and drag bars, which even the 1100 doesn't have. The 110 spirit, however, is a 2-up bike with buckhorn bars and more road-bike oriented styling.

Heck, even the two (current) 1100 models are vastly different; same basic engine but with different secondary reduction gearing, the Sabre has rear disc brakes while the Spirit has rear drum. Both are shaft drive, but the Sabre has a rubber bushing-mounted engine while the Spirit (the 2-up road bike) has a stiff-mounted engine.

I think Honda hit the crack pipe too hard when dealing with cruisers.

Hey,

I do agree with you about the Sabre. I traded my BlackBeauty in for the FJr 2006. The Sabre was a 2001 and I just loved her. She never let me down...at autobahn she was a little light at the front wheel at higher speeds, thats the only bad thing I will say about her.

I really had a sad day trading her in :dribble:

Anyway, everthing has its time, and I had to move up before growing too old... :glare:

Nowadays I just used to the FJR, and new love is growing.

Tor

 

[TexasFJR]

Yam FZ1

Honda CBR1100xx

Honda CB750F

 

[BobG]

Hi all, I still have this bike.

BMW r1200c, I named my bike the "Leper".

I call the whole C series The Leper-Cs, if you owned one you would Know why.

Don't ride to close to one of these, you may hit one of it's parts as you follow.

It also is rotting as I us it.

Bob

 

[UweRoss]

I still have it.

And in the distant past:

'85 GS700E

'81 GS650G

'74 GT185

-Uwe-

 

[Diesel]

03 Moto Guzzi LeMans

 

[Shakey]

My Pre FJR mount.

I suffer from Arthritis and I eventually gave up on the VFR after fitting Bar risers and all that kind of stuff.

The FJR suits me very well from that point of view.

 

[Chips]

The FJR replaced my FZ1 which was totaled. The FJR's stablemate is a 2005 CBR600RR. Previous bikes were a 1982 Yamaha XJ750R Seca (bought in 1984 and replaced by the FZ1) and it's stablemate was a 1985 Honda Magna (purchased in 1986 and sold in 2000). I tend to keep my bikes for a long time .

 

[pickax]

i hate to burst your bubble, but they NEVER made a '48 knucklehead
chiefj48

Thanks chief you are right. it's a "47

 

[Scoot]

1980 Suzuki GS550L

1981 Suzuki GS1000G

1987 Kawasaki Concours

1984 Honda V65 Magna

1985 Honda VT1100 Shadow

2001 Suzuki Bandit 1200

1995 Kawasaki GPZ1100 (current)

So far, the most comfortable one has been the GS1000G, after a seat alteration.

 

[snap1945]

50's Whizzer

59 Jay-Be Sachs 125

64 Triumph TR 6 SR

69 Honda 750

79 Suzuki GS 850 G (still have)

93 Suzuki GSX 1100G (still have)

06 Feejer and going strong

 

[05fjrman]

for me, in order from first to latest:

85 yamaha xj700 maxim (in 100 pieces in my garage)

95 kawi ex500

01 kawi vulcan 800

03 fjr1300

next...........?

nah, still got 4 years of payments on this one :blink:

 

[RED]

I started with a 2002 Honda Silverwing. I put 15k miles on it in three years. Moving to the FJR was quite a step up for me.

 

[Charlie Hoss]

Unlike many of you sport riders, I came to the FJR from a full dress tourer, a 1988 Venture Royale. I had a mid to late life crisis and wanted something sporty and fast, but my butt had been spoiled by the Venture and I wanted to be able to do some long distance rides with my SO. I also needed all the comforts I was used to and lots of gadgets...so I discovered FARKLES. The Venture was a great bike but not so much fun to take on shorter trips with all the weight.

Also, see list of previous bikes under signature. I traded the XS11 in on a brand new leftover 82 CBX in 1985. Dealer said Honda found a warehouse full they didn't know they had. They were selling for 1/2 original price, $2995!!! Sold it 3 yrs later for $2795. It only had 3000 miles on the clock, Too uncomfortable, but shoulda kept it.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Unlike many of you sport riders, I came to the FJR from a full dress tourer, a 1988 Venture Royale. I had a mid to late life crisis and wanted something sporty and fast, but my butt had been spoiled by the Venture and I wanted to be able to do some long distance rides with my SO. I also needed all the comforts I was used to and lots of gadgets...so I discovered FARKLES. The Venture was a great bike but not so much fun to take on shorter trips with all the weight.
Also, see list of previous bikes under signature. I traded the XS11 in on a brand new leftover 82 CBX in 1985. Dealer said Honda found a warehouse full they didn't know they had. They were selling for 1/2 original price, $2995!!! Sold it 3 yrs later for $2795. It only had 3000 miles on the clock, Too uncomfortable, but shoulda kept it.

I remember the CBX find. That bike was very cool indeed. I used to drool over it as a teenager.

 

[RsvlFeej]

DIRT:

Sears? 5 hp minibike

Honda CL 70 - tiny street bike, but 99.9% ridden on dirt

2 -YZ125s, 1 Suzuki 125

attempted to ride a couple three-wheeler ATVs - never got the knack of leaning the wrong way

Honda 200 (friend's)

various quads (ranch beaters)

STREET

Same Honda 200 as above - knobbies on asphalt make for 'interesting' cornering

First street bike in 1982 - '78 Yamaha 650 Special II. Bulletproof motor, but found out that having only one form of transportation (sans weather protection) can be limiting...

'85 GPZ 750

Honda 750 Interceptor (friend's)

'83 GPZ 750

'02 Connie (ZG1000)

'05 FJR

And the winner is: The FJR, hands down. Although if my driveway were still directly connected to several acres of dirt, the Honda 200, a quad, or similar would still be in the garage.

 

[nubfjr]

my ride prior to an FJR:

2002 1150RT

 

[andromedusa]

Prior to my 2006 FJR1300AE:

2004 Big Bear Choppers Venom ProStreet.

Built her myself.

That is something I always wanted to do. Build my own bike. The only problem is that after I am done I have a chopper. What's it like to ride one of those things. Is it as much a pain as it looks?

Was there any fabrication work that you needed to do, or were all the parts ready to bolt together? How many months did it take to put it together?

 

[Dj'sFJR]

Too many to list or remember but my last is my FJR's current stable mate for those around town/water hole hopin' days...122RWTQ can be fun!

Now my 300+ mile days are a tad more comfortable... :exhappysmiley: