OrangevaleFJR
R.I.P. Our FJR Riding Friend
A friend of mine had a bike that was undersized for him for a long time. It was a single cylinder, Suzuki Savage 650. All I can say about that bike is that it ran well, didn't break down and got good gas mileage. It certainly wasn't a bike that he could take on long rides. He is 6'2" and just looked absolutely ridiculous on the thing so it certainly wasn't comfortable, nor able to keep up with the FJR on rides.
I began convincing him and his wife that they needed to start riding 2up and vacationing with Sherri and me. He agreed, but had a budget. A great deal on a CBRXX came up and I strongly advised that he go for it. The problem was that he's busy with a big family (5 kids, 4 still at home and all playing soccer and all that other normal kid stuff), and he just couldn't get time to drive the 100+ miles to go look at the XX. Bummer, the bike sold (good for the seller) but I think my buddy missed out on an exceptional opportunity to have a great bike and a great price.
Well, it was time to find second best. I went with him to pick it up with him yesterday. He was, rightly so, a bit intimidated to go from a 650cc bike to a ZX11 and immediately have to drive it all the way across town + 50 miles of country road. I agreed to go and take the bike back for him.
There was some discussion earlier about the ZX11 being faster the the FJR. There is no question. It is. It is much lighter, revs higher, and while I thought the power delivery was smooth and easily manageable, too much throttle could have you squidly in no time. I found the off line performance quite a bit faster, but the passing performance at speed was slower than the FJR's and in comparison seemed sluggish to me. This might just be a factor of me not getting the RPMs high enough, but I targetted 5-6k RPM before I'd test passing acceleration (65 - 85 mph).
So my buddy got this really nice looking ZX11 with 12k miles on it for somewhere under $4k and the bike is in exceptional shape with a Vance & Hines can and the headers look aftermarket too so I assume they are V&H as well (although I don't really know).
The seating position is definitely more lean forward, legs aft, but I could slid forward, go with one hand on the bars and sit up. With practice, I found various hand positions to keep my weight off the bars.
It was hot yesterday, and the heat on my shins was way worse than with the FJR. Perhaps it is because my legs were bent more and maybe my legs were uncovered just above my boots (riding pants rode up). Either way, I have red spots on my shins where they were burned by the heat off the bike.
The heat and what I considered a sluggish response to throttle in some RPM bands may have been cause by incorrectly tuned and synched carbs.
Wow, I used the stock seat in 109 degree weather for over an hour yesterday and my butt never got uncomfortable. He got a really nice corbin seat with the deal, but we just left the stocker on because I was curious. I never got a hint of discomfort from that seat. I'm jealous of that and really need to plop down some ungodly amount of money for a better seat.
I had fun on that zx11. Funny though, I've recently ridden cruisers, sport bikes and a new FJR. The only bike that gave me any temptation at all to even think about replacing my '05 FJR was the '06 FJR that I test rode. I think we ride the best bike in the world.
I began convincing him and his wife that they needed to start riding 2up and vacationing with Sherri and me. He agreed, but had a budget. A great deal on a CBRXX came up and I strongly advised that he go for it. The problem was that he's busy with a big family (5 kids, 4 still at home and all playing soccer and all that other normal kid stuff), and he just couldn't get time to drive the 100+ miles to go look at the XX. Bummer, the bike sold (good for the seller) but I think my buddy missed out on an exceptional opportunity to have a great bike and a great price.
Well, it was time to find second best. I went with him to pick it up with him yesterday. He was, rightly so, a bit intimidated to go from a 650cc bike to a ZX11 and immediately have to drive it all the way across town + 50 miles of country road. I agreed to go and take the bike back for him.
There was some discussion earlier about the ZX11 being faster the the FJR. There is no question. It is. It is much lighter, revs higher, and while I thought the power delivery was smooth and easily manageable, too much throttle could have you squidly in no time. I found the off line performance quite a bit faster, but the passing performance at speed was slower than the FJR's and in comparison seemed sluggish to me. This might just be a factor of me not getting the RPMs high enough, but I targetted 5-6k RPM before I'd test passing acceleration (65 - 85 mph).
So my buddy got this really nice looking ZX11 with 12k miles on it for somewhere under $4k and the bike is in exceptional shape with a Vance & Hines can and the headers look aftermarket too so I assume they are V&H as well (although I don't really know).
The seating position is definitely more lean forward, legs aft, but I could slid forward, go with one hand on the bars and sit up. With practice, I found various hand positions to keep my weight off the bars.
It was hot yesterday, and the heat on my shins was way worse than with the FJR. Perhaps it is because my legs were bent more and maybe my legs were uncovered just above my boots (riding pants rode up). Either way, I have red spots on my shins where they were burned by the heat off the bike.
The heat and what I considered a sluggish response to throttle in some RPM bands may have been cause by incorrectly tuned and synched carbs.
Wow, I used the stock seat in 109 degree weather for over an hour yesterday and my butt never got uncomfortable. He got a really nice corbin seat with the deal, but we just left the stocker on because I was curious. I never got a hint of discomfort from that seat. I'm jealous of that and really need to plop down some ungodly amount of money for a better seat.
I had fun on that zx11. Funny though, I've recently ridden cruisers, sport bikes and a new FJR. The only bike that gave me any temptation at all to even think about replacing my '05 FJR was the '06 FJR that I test rode. I think we ride the best bike in the world.
