I attended a rally this past weekend hosted by none other than our very own Jason Kaplitz in WV. What can I say......RAIN!! :^) It was nice enough to stop for us though during the evenings so we could kick tires, gather around the campfire, drink beers and tell lies. It was a great time! My personal highlight was getting to spend a couple of days around a new FJR1300!! This bike REALLY is great looking and it was nice to compare it side by side with my GTS. Physically, side by side, not riding. Believe me, it had crossed my mind to whore off my GTS for 1/2 hr. in exchange for riding his FJR but since he only had 1,000 miles on the clock I didn't want to put him in a difficult position. First of all it's a small bike, yet provides a comfortable straight up sitting position and nice STOCK seat! The fuel injection mixture is adjusted using buttons on the dash!! Anyway, everything seems to have been done right on this bike except for a couple of small things. The chin fairing won't stay clean for 1 mile as it is RIGHT BEHIND the front wheel. Not even a fender extender will fit in the space provided. It looks like the only thing to do would be to cover it with 3M clear film or just ignore what's going to happen (rock dings). The hard bags are pop-on, pop-off and VERY well integrated into the bike. The only gotcha is that the clamshell design is a little precarious to bring together, line up and lock shut. This would have been easier if he had the bag liners, which are back ordered from Yamaha. Looking at the GTS side by side with the FJR, it's hard to believe that there are 10 yrs. between the two bikes! The GTS still looks incredibly modern next to today's finest offerings and as much as I liked the FJR, the GTS will remain my ride for years to come. It drew as much attention from the rally folks as the FJR! Now, Jason's beautiful R1150GS might be another story! :^)
Kevin Hawkins // Greensboro, NC [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kevinhawk.com Y2K Kawasaki ZRX1100 //'93 Yamaha GTS1000 //'85 FZ750
