TSRBrad
Junior Member
After much back and forth on whether to go bigger or stay with my FZ6, I pulled the trigger and purchased a new '12 FJR1300. It was at a very good price and and they gave me a decent amount on a trade so it was hard to pass up.
As I picked it up yesterday evening, I've ridden it all of about 70 miles so far but early indications are that I'm really going to like it. Impressions in no particular order:
- The amount of power this thing has is really impressive. You don't need much throttle to get some serious acceleration and it flat out pulls. I'm really baffled by all those people crying that it needs another gear. So far I love the handling... very stable in turns and seems to soak up the bumps quite well. You can definitely feel the heft of the bike when maneuvering around the garage but when underway you don't feel it at all.
- Fit and finish are top-notch. A beautiful "Cobalt Blue".
- Being able to adjust the windscreen is nice but the airflow with the stock screen is somewhat turbulent. I'll probably upgrade to a Cee Bailey "reverse countour/flip" screen.
- Apparently the seat is designed by the same small-testicled engineer that does so many others. It just seems like standard procedure to shape motorcycle seats that cause you to constantly slide forward and suffer the dreaded "tuck-under". At some point I'll be sending it off to be Spencer-ized. I absolutely loved what he did with the seat on my FZ and it only got more comfortable as time went on. Best bang-for-the-buck mod you can do.
- Side cases: they seem a tad flimsy when opening and closing (at least compared to my Givis) but are a breeze to remove and put back on. They even include small plastic panels that snap into place at the mounting points when off the bike. I was pleasantly surprised that they included the matching bag liners.
- 12v power socket = :thumbup: It's mounted inside the small enclosure on the left side of the fairing = :thumbdown: So if one wished to plug in their GPS for example... um.
- I am happy to see the use of a oil level window. Makes filling much easier. Drain plug and filter are easily accessible but as with the FZ, you need to fashion some method to channel oil from the filter so that you don't get oil all over body panels, etc.
- I haven't had a need to try the grip heaters but I'm sure they'll come in handy at some point.
- Instrument cluster is pretty good and panel display gives plenty of easy-to-read info.
- Center stand. :thumbup:
- The sound of the motor when rolling on the throttle is sweet, sweet music.:drool:
As I get more time in the saddle I'm sure lots of other things will become apparent but so far I'm liking the new ride a lot and expect it to take me to many wonderful and exotic places.
As I picked it up yesterday evening, I've ridden it all of about 70 miles so far but early indications are that I'm really going to like it. Impressions in no particular order:
- The amount of power this thing has is really impressive. You don't need much throttle to get some serious acceleration and it flat out pulls. I'm really baffled by all those people crying that it needs another gear. So far I love the handling... very stable in turns and seems to soak up the bumps quite well. You can definitely feel the heft of the bike when maneuvering around the garage but when underway you don't feel it at all.
- Fit and finish are top-notch. A beautiful "Cobalt Blue".
- Being able to adjust the windscreen is nice but the airflow with the stock screen is somewhat turbulent. I'll probably upgrade to a Cee Bailey "reverse countour/flip" screen.
- Apparently the seat is designed by the same small-testicled engineer that does so many others. It just seems like standard procedure to shape motorcycle seats that cause you to constantly slide forward and suffer the dreaded "tuck-under". At some point I'll be sending it off to be Spencer-ized. I absolutely loved what he did with the seat on my FZ and it only got more comfortable as time went on. Best bang-for-the-buck mod you can do.
- Side cases: they seem a tad flimsy when opening and closing (at least compared to my Givis) but are a breeze to remove and put back on. They even include small plastic panels that snap into place at the mounting points when off the bike. I was pleasantly surprised that they included the matching bag liners.
- 12v power socket = :thumbup: It's mounted inside the small enclosure on the left side of the fairing = :thumbdown: So if one wished to plug in their GPS for example... um.
- I am happy to see the use of a oil level window. Makes filling much easier. Drain plug and filter are easily accessible but as with the FZ, you need to fashion some method to channel oil from the filter so that you don't get oil all over body panels, etc.
- I haven't had a need to try the grip heaters but I'm sure they'll come in handy at some point.
- Instrument cluster is pretty good and panel display gives plenty of easy-to-read info.
- Center stand. :thumbup:
- The sound of the motor when rolling on the throttle is sweet, sweet music.:drool:
As I get more time in the saddle I'm sure lots of other things will become apparent but so far I'm liking the new ride a lot and expect it to take me to many wonderful and exotic places.
