I must be riding a mutant Gen II, cause I sure aint experienced any "electrical problems". Course, I only got about 42K on it since I use my other bike for weekdays and only use my FJR on weekends and long trips. Maybe I'll experience the phantom problems at 70 or 80K??
Yeah you must be right. All the other people that have had ignition switch failures and the ground spider failures, both of which have a propensity for stranding you on the road, those are all just "phantoms".
p.s. Had a Gen I 2004...the 2008 Gen II is superior in every way that is measurable to me. Smoother, less heat, better highway gearing, better gas mileage, easier to do maintenance, and generally more refined. Wouldnt go back to Gen I for any reason.
Boy, it sounds like you must have had a pretty crappy '04.
The heat is somewhat better on 2nd gens, if that is an issue. Which it might be for people like you from the south land.
The bikes both make the same amount of heat. It is just routed away from the rider better on a stock 2nd gen.
If you make the airflow and tank insulation mods on a 1st gen it can be made to be just as cool as a 2nd.
Smoother? Really? In what way is that?
Certainly not in off idle throttle response.
Nor in clutch engagement, until one retrofits a 1st gen clutch slave.
Better highway gearing?
It has taller gearing for sure. Is that better? In what way?
What does that do for you? Other than to make sure you don't accelerate too fast?
Better gas mileage? That doesn't seem to be the case on average, based on empirical data. When we have a group of 1st and 2nd genners riding together everyone uses about the same amount of gas going over the same roads. Maybe you are getting better mileage now because you are turning the right hand less?
Easier to do maintenance on? Huh :blink:
Which maintenance procedures are easier on a 2nd gen?
More refined... Yeah, that's pretty specific (not).
You do get
more with a 2nd gen. As in ~30 more lbs of bike to hoss around.
It is great that you like your 2nd gen bike so much.
You seem to have been unlucky with your '04 and very lucky (so far) with your '08. I hope for your sake that you continue to have good luck. But, if you don't take any precautions to protect your bike from the 2 electrical problems (noted above), the odds are high that you will get to experience (at least) one of them during your ownership. Where and when you experience it can go from being a nuisance to dangerous.
