FJR first impression......I picked the snarlly bitch around noon. .....good name Snarlly Bitch. That engine snarls....even at idle. A flick of the throttle and it really snarls.
Up and down between 3 and 5 grand for 600 miles. Just did the 600 mile oil and filter change. .....The first change with a new filter at a truck stop at about 30 miles and put in a good 10/30 mineral oil. The break in oil looked like clear baby oil loaded with aluminum dust. It looked like a silver paint. Yamaha says not to change it out until 600 miles, but I just can't believe pumping the stuff around inside the engine is good for it, unless they want to keep it in side as a lapping compound. I know at some point the filter will clean it up, but it is still splashing around on the bottom end and transmission until it finally does filter it out. Brief first impression after 600 miles....coming down in weight from a little heavier sport touring the GTS, but not up from a lighter sport bike up...........it feels like a big R1 to me. Much smaller feeling bike than even the GTS. Steering is very neutral and bike is very flickable. It is a heavy bike but it loses that feel once it Is moving. Much easier to ride and balance around a gas pump or slowly down a rock and gravel road than even the GTS. Ride and suspension...right on. Yamaha must have been lurking on our lists and beefed up the rear spring. It doesn't sag as much with my body weight as the FJR sitting in the booth in Daytona. My feet touch on both side but I am not flat footed. I will modify the stock seat and that problem will be solved. With 40psig in front and 42psig in rear it absorbs tar strips, but still is very firm but nice ride. Brakes are outstanding. I accidentally momentarily locked up the rear once when a car in front of me decided to make an emergency stop. It was easy to release the lock up and bring the bike to a very quickly controlled stop. The power and handling make you feel at one with the bike, almost like you can almost think your way through any section of road. The throttle and brakes become invisible. It has got my old FJ torque plus. The torque is very flat and controllable. You don't get a peak power surge as I got in the old FJ and even on the GTS as it moves up the power band. I pulls like a truck in any gear and I can't picture needing to drop it more than one gear to go fast on any mountain road. It should be a real blast and very easy to use in the slow and high speed twisties....... gobs of very usable torque. I'll bet is will even give one of the BMW two lung boys or a Honda VFR a run for their money on a mountain road. The engine is not as smooth as the GTS but not bad. The bike has a coarse feeling response under load when new. It gets smoother as the miles pile on. It really does snarl......sounds mean, even idling. Going to be hard to Farkle the dash...not much space on the dash to place anything. Things are even smaller than the perception you get from the brochures. This will tax my imagination. It is a much smaller area to work with than the GTS. I will probably build a shelf on the top of the dash to hold a GPS, like Roger mentioned to me in an email last night. Initially, the windscreen didn't feel perfect up or down. Down a lot of wind noise. I'm not sure if cutting it down either further will stop it. Full up a little buffeting from behind. But the longer I drove and as it got dark, I learned to appreciate how well it does work. I soon found myself with the screen full up. I could still just look over the top and have a clear vision unobstructed vision of the road. . It did a great job of quieting everything down and keeping bugs off of my helmet shield. Not a lot of buffeting at 70 to 80 mph. In fact, I flipped opened my face completely and the full up screen gave me a clear view of the road and kept the bugs out of my unprotected eyes. I like it.......I don't think I will change a thing. Any higher and I will be looking through plexi-glass covered with bugs. The heat everyone mentions is excessive. It needs to be fixed. The Bagster cover I put on at the dealer insulates any heat from the gas tank itself. Much more heat that off my GTS. It appears most of it is slipping out the space between the engine and the side panels back directly onto you legs. It looks like Yamaha had slipped a few pieces of foam in between the engine cover and the engine to block some of it. More work in this area needs to be done to stop the hot air coming from the openings in this area. It doesn't look unsolvable. Lighting........f#*king out standing. No need for any more PIAA's. Those headlights light up the world with 55 watt bulbs. Even on low beam they do not need any fill in. I do have two new Phillips, same wattage bulbs, that ordered from Europe. They are supposed to put out even more and better light according to all the test reports. That is all I am going to do. No need for PIAA aux lighting on this thing and concern about alternator out put.. Yamaha gets a great big plus for these head lights...... They were even aimed properly....I'll bet Yamaha is tuned into this list and heard all the aiming complaints..... Also, has anyone notice how when you turn the key to start ...the lights stay off until it kicks over.....nice added feature. The seat.... sucks. My ass was sore within 200 miles of the 600 I drove. I have just finished riding nearly 14,000 miles on my GTS, in less than a three week period, and never had a sore ass on my GTS. I had the stock seat rebuilt by Sargents in Jacksonville. Just pushing on the two seats side by side, the Yamaha feels more plush and softer. Sargents uses their own brand of seat foam. What ever the difference, it works. This seat get into Sargents and is rebuilt pronto. It looks like it can also be dropped a couple of inches in height based on my GTS seat. My short legs appreciate all the help they can get....:>))) It's a keeper....:>)))) All new FJR owners carry on and expounds about the thrill and the happy face they get from the wonderfully responsive FJR1300 torque monster of an engine. As I also do. But, few mention one the strongest virtues I find the FJR displays, and the one that brings as big a grin to my face as I ride at any speed........it's is an unbelievable handling, well balanced, and graceful 600 lb. Gorilla. I come from, and in fact, still own a Yamaha GTS1000 ...you remember the one with that funny front end.....forkless. I bought the GTS because after one test ride on a friends GTS and I was in awe of it handling prowess. I have often bragged how great a bike the GTS was, and still is, and that I would probably never sell it. It weighs a few pounds more than the FJR. It is a little top heavy bike when not in motion, but once on the move it handles like a much smaller bike. Owners often joke about how they often give Go Fast Joe Rocket on his 600 cc machine a surprise on mountain roads with the ability and agility of the GTS to move through the curves at speed. I just finished a 14,000 mile ride on GTS in just over a two weeks period, it is a great performing bike in all respects. Every aspect of it virtues and strengths are still vivid in my mind and my motorcycle sense touch is still active from spending long hours in the saddle.. The difference between the GTS and FJR is still readily discernible to my senses. My point is the GTS is no performance handling slouch for being a 600 pound plus Gorilla. With that said, true, the power and torque from this FJR1300 engine is awesome, but just as awesome is it's handling and balance at any speed. Yamaha has not just built a go fast machine, but a big bike capable of doing donuts in a parking lot or moving down a gravel road with ease and grace. Wing Honda owners brag about how well that half ton monster handles at walking speeds and stop lights, and it does. Yamaha has also learned the trick. The center of gravity on the FJR has been put down low, making it handle like a much smaller and lighter bike from the moment you release the clutch. Not only am I smiling, as I open up the throttle to pulling away from a traffic light or pass a car, but I smile from the time I push the start button on FJR. I smile as I do a snap turn out my driveway , or a u-turn on a two lane road, as I flick it around at walking speeds, or as I dive into a corner at speeds 10 mph faster than I comfortably did a few weeks ago >..... It is simply a big ass R1 in all respects. I am at one with this machine every time I put my leg over it. Yamaha you have a winner. This is the most fun bike, best handling bike, I have ever owned. I feel like that guy in the Suzuki Kantana TV commercial with the bike following him around enticing him to take it for a ride at all hours of the day. Is it the perfect bike?......no such thing. But, it is one helluva a machine that will bring a smile to your face. How is that Bob? Hawke FJR 1300 ...... (vanity plate) Snarly http://homepage.mac.com/johnlaurenson/
