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biknflyfisher

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Location
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Every Spring my Dad and I make a pilgrimage to the greater Death Valley area for 3 days/2 nights of riding the various (paved) roads and enjoying the beauty of the CA desert. The prior 4 trips were on my FXDX H-D Dyna, and this year was the first for my nearly 1 yr old 2007A.

Now, all along I have been planning on exploring some of the "speed" that this bike will generate once out in a lonely spot on a decent road, and I must state that I am not a a daredevil nor a habitual speed-demon, just curious about what this machine will do. I have made several run-ups here locally and getting to 100mph is a piece of cake with the feej and is so easy it's almost laughable.

On Monday (4/27) we were on Highway 95 north of Beatty, NV and there was a stretch where it looked like I could open the throttle a bit as the road was perfect and there was no other cars for as far as I could see (which in NV is a LONG way). I rolled on the throttle and hit an indicated 125mph with the windshield full-up (and bags on) with ease, and rather quickly I might add. My Dad behind me on his Gold Wing quickly disappeared, and I rolled back off the throttle and got back to a safe and sane speed. But, as hitting 125 was so easy, I was left wanting more of course.

Yesterday, we had come off Towne Pass and hit a very flat stretch of road (across a dry mud flat) prior to climbing up to Panamint Springs, and I got the urge to try another speed run. I check for cars (none), rolled down the windshield 1/2 ways, then ducked behind and rolled on the throttle. I hit 125 so fast that I just kept on going. The yellow lines were coming fast and furious and I watched the speedometer climbing to an indicated 140mph! At that point I carefully back off as I clearly had reached MY limit, but not that of the FJR as it was still gaining speed. I did not look at the tach at the time as I was concentrating on the roadway and holding the bars steady.

Once we stopped at Panamint Springs for a cup of joe, my knees were still a bit shaky from the adrenaline of going that fast, and the experience as a whole.

Clearly we ride a machine that is ultra-capable in many areas - not the least of which is acceleration and straightline speed.

I have reached my "speed limit " as such and don't plan on going that fast again , what's yours?

biknflyfisher

 
Yep, the FJR will git n shit if'n ya give her some gas and a long stretch of clear road. My '08 has hit 151 GPS verified with OEM windscreen down and both side bags attached. I am not sure what the indicated was, but I think it was around 165-170 indicated. I was not looking at it after about 155 indicated, only glanced down for a split second and saw it was well past the 160 mark.

 
Does Yamaha give a speed limit with the bags attached? I would hate to see a bag come off at that speed, and what it would do to another vehicle if it were to hit. I have followed Harleys that have shed parts at 90 MPH, and it wasnt a pretty sight. My feeling is ,if you are going to throw stuff at me,then I am not riding with you any more.

 
Does Yamaha give a speed limit with the bags attached? I would hate to see a bag come off at that speed, and what it would do to another vehicle if it were to hit. I have followed Harleys that have shed parts at 90 MPH, and it wasnt a pretty sight. My feeling is ,if you are going to throw stuff at me,then I am not riding with you any more.
Parts only fall of an FJR if you use the wrong oil.

Harleys will go 90??

 
speedo indication and gps, on my 08 fjr with garmin street piolet when speedo reads 65mph gps reads 63mph, when speedo reads 135mph gps reads 130mph

 
Ha! Hit an indicated 140mph several times and soon it won't be such a big deal. I used to hit that on my way to work a couple time a week on a deserted interstate section.

I have hit 153-157mph indicated on GPS many a time. Speedometer is showing 160+ at those speeds. I think the fastest I have been with bags on is 155 gps speed, but that was on a slight downgrade and a small tailwind I believe.

One day, I am not sure what happened or what the conditions were, but I was able to get a 160mph top speed via the gps. Speedo was indicating well over 170 mph, and tach was showing around 10,000 rpm. Life was good!

 
Does Yamaha give a speed limit with the bags attached? I would hate to see a bag come off at that speed, and what it would do to another vehicle if it were to hit. I have followed Harleys that have shed parts at 90 MPH, and it wasnt a pretty sight. My feeling is ,if you are going to throw stuff at me,then I am not riding with you any more.
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:lol: You need to take a look at how the bags attach to the bike. Nuff said.

 
davidsbmw:

I checked for cars front & back prior to the speed run. Once at speed, there was a huge gap between myself and my Dad behind me on his Gold Wing (a mile or more), so even if a bag had come off (which they can't due to a sliding lock mechanism), he had plenty of time to avoid the carnage (me and the said bag).

Mamma Yamma does indeed have a speed noted that you should not exceed with bags attached, and I was well beyond that.

However, an H-D at 90 and an FJR at 140 is still not a fair comparison for stuff coming off. The FJR with it's slipstream lines is much more aerodynamic - the H-D at 90 is like moving an anvil through the air, the FJR at 140 is like a bullet (I am not beating up H-Ds, as I had a Dyna which served me great prior to the feejer).

Ciao.

 
Just FYI: When you, "...look all around," to check for LEO's, be sure to include "up." The cops out there use aircraft.

Also, regarding the FJR shedding parts, there have been a few reports of the side cases breaking loose while the bike was moving. Check your nuts n' bolts before launch. WBill

 
Just FYI: When you, "...look all around," to check for LEO's, be sure to include "up." The cops out there use aircraft.
Also, regarding the FJR shedding parts, there have been a few reports of the side cases breaking loose while the bike was moving. Check your nuts n' bolts before launch. WBill
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Correction: coming loose from not being locked down properly, NOT breaking loose. ;)

 
yet another good reason to 'pin your bags:)

Does Yamaha give a speed limit with the bags attached? I would hate to see a bag come off at that speed, and what it would do to another vehicle if it were to hit. I have followed Harleys that have shed parts at 90 MPH, and it wasnt a pretty sight. My feeling is ,if you are going to throw stuff at me,then I am not riding with you any more.
 
Agreed - the saddlebag issue was on the locks failing due to improper tightness, not failure of the mechanism that secures it to the bike.

And, being the diligent Noob a year ago, prior to buying the FJR I was aware of the issue becuase of the great info on this site, and did the blue locktite "fix" immediately after getting Francisco home.

After seeing what 140 felt like, I can't imagine what it must be like on Rossi's M1 at near 200mph!

Trust me, I pushed that speed envelope one time, and one time only and lived to tell about it. That's good enough for this conservative Swede.

What a machine the FJR is, in addition to outright speed & acceleration, it's smooth, quite (call it stealthy), get's great MPG if you keep your throttle hand diligent MOST of the time (I averaged 47MPG for the 1,050 miles in 3 days, including some BIG wind Monday afternoon in Nevada, and Tues coming home), reliable,,,.

Did I say it's fast? Oops, been there already.

biknflyfisher

 
I got to test ride the new R1 recently; saw 145 on the speedo & never got the thing out of 3rd gear.

Don't be fooled, the FJR is quite mild compared to what is on the market today.

 
I think everyone sooner or later pushes it. True there are faster bikes, but once you hit 150 or so, if they nail you the fines and possible loss of license ( and in some states the bike too) it is not worth running a mostly street legal race bike flat out. They look like race bikes and well the FJR with bags and as many electronic farkles some have is more of a stealth 2 wheeler and you may get away with a tongue lashing and a reasonable ( for the speed it can do ) ticket

 
i've had mine up over 130 - with plenty more to go.

but what i also love about the feej - is how fast it will get back down to 0. :p

al

 
I'm pretty new to the FJR, but did get the urge to pin the throttle once so far. I should have paid more attention to the warning about excessive speed with the bags and tail trunk attached! Yup...it certainly affects straight line stability at tripple digits. Needless to say...I won't be doing that again soon.

 
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