Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes FJR1300 demo ride

Just took a short test ride on a 2008 Yamaha FJR1300. Very impressive sport-touring machine, and the passing power is just what I'm looking for. I pulled onto the freeway and found myself behind a semi in the slow lane, but just a flick of the wrist and I was up to 90 mph when I blew by the trucker. Although I've read complaints about the weight(650 lbs) and it's effect on parking lot maneuvers, I found the bike easy for slow tight turns when I rode it around the parking lot at the dealer. Much easier than the Speedmaster.

About the only thing I didn't like was the auto-retract for the power adjustable windshield, but there's a fix for that on the FJR owner's forum. And the so-called excessive heat issue I didn't notice at all, although it has improved starting in 2006 with the 2nd generation models. It's about 90 degrees today here in Tucson, so I got a good idea whether the heat would be a problem.

Now all I need to do is take my wife up to Phoenix and rent one for the day. I want to do a 200-300 mile day on one with her on the back before buying. If it passes the test, I think I've found my next bike. I want to do some longer trips, but still have fun on a twisty road. The FJR1300 looks and feels like it was made for the job.

A friend of mine has one, and loves it. He part ex a BMW for it and says it is much smoother and better handling than the BMW he had..

All that and not too shabby looking either!

I've looked at the one in the shop next door to me a dozen times or more and I do like the lines. I guess I'll have to see if they'll let me take it for a ride.

Dang Derek! It's too bad you didn't mention this a bit earlier.

Just a couple days ago my neighbor Darrell(you might remember him from last years SWTF...he rode his wife's Honda cruiser) just sold his either '06 or '07(can't remember which) blue FJR1300 with about 5K miles on it for only $8K. And it was perfect too...not a friggin' scratch on it.

He's got a bad back which for some reason this very nice bike somehow aggravated his condition. He kind'a hated selling it.

Kind'a weird though. Darrell immediately replaced it last saturday with a brand new black '08 H-D RoadGlide with the whole tour package. It's a very nice looking machine.

(and no folks...he didn't buy the Harley because of the "lifestyle"....Darrell's been riding motorcycles for 40 years and has owned many different brands and different catagories of bikes thoughout those years...just in case you were wonderin')

Nice bike. Do let us know if you take the plunge.

I hear the Red ones are faster.

I remember Darrell and his buddy when we rode out of Inn n Out in Prescott. I took a pic of him coming into Jerome from Cottonwood.



Too bad I didn't hear bout him selling his FJR1300. If it was blue, that'd be a 2006. Yamaha only had 1 color choice per year, and in 2007 it was a maroon bike. But 2006 is when they made some improvements with a larger alternator, and heat management, so that's what I'm looking for.

Just made a reservation for a 24 hour rental on the 24th of April. We'll probably head up to Prescott, and take the twisty roads there after jetting up I-17. Should be a good test for the bike.

FJR is a great bike. Tons of power and looks good too.

Thats correct, no helmet laws in AZ

For those on this side of The Pond, Ian here is talking about the Honda ST1300.

(BTW...Welcome to the site Ian...Glad to have ya onboard!)

The new FJR is a really nice bike. Yamaha apparently address the complaints of owners when they released the 08. Primarily the throttle spring issue. My local Yamaha dealers version of a test ride is buy the bike, if you don't like it in the first 10 miles bring it back. Told him see ya and got a Tiger instead. My local Triumph guy doesn't have a problem with test rides.

Good idea to rent one for a test run.

I did about 250 miles on an FJR1300 rental yesterday, and it's definitely an impressive ride. The bike I'm on is a 2004 and I definitely noticed a difference between the throttle return springs on it and the 2008 I demoed. That was my only complaint for the day, the sore wrist I had from trying to feather the throttle on and off throughout the day. I took it on some nice twisty roads, with the wife, and a solo ride after I dropped her off at Dwight's house in Prescott. It does take a bit of effort to get the bike to lean over in the turns, but definitely not as much effort as my Speedmaster. The 85 ft/lbs of torque the FJR has makes the bike easy to ride in top gear. Just roll on the throttle at 3,000 rpm and the bike responds.

Another highlight was how stable the bike is at speed and in a crosswind. Up in the mountains it was blowing about 20 mph, and although you could feel the wind, the bike didn't twitch at all.

There definitely would be some changes I'd want to make to the bike. There's an easy fix for the throttle spring on the FJR website that eases the tension on it. I'd also add highway pegs, some kind of back rest or top case for my wife, plus some other touring odds and ends like a cruise control.

I thought about the ST1300/Pan European, but Honda still hasn't done anything about the heat coming off the motor and cooking the rider. Yamaha made some changes to their bike in 2006 to get the heat away from the rider. There's also enough complaints about high speed wobbles of the Honda with a top case on, that it steers me away from the bike. Besides, the magazine comparos done with it up against the FJR sees the Honda losing nearly everytime, especially when it comes to performance. I like to ride the twisty roads, and the FJR is a better bike for that from all I've read. It also helps that the FJR uses regular unleaded, while the Honda requires premium.

I too am looking for my next bike, I call it my "Retirement bike." I will be keeping the America, nice around town bike. But I keep going back and forth between the FJR1300 and the ST1300 for my long trips, any comments on the difference between them?

Well the most common difference I've heard is that if you're thinking about riding coast-to-coast, then the Honda ST1300 should be the choice between the 2. The Honda though weighs 70 lbs more, has about 15 hp less, and doesn't handle quite as good when it comes to twisty roads.

Motorcycle USA did this recent comparison between the super sport-touring bikes that's fairly balanced IMO. It has lots of good info including dyno charts.

For owners forums of the 2 bikes similar to bonnevilleamerica.com, go to fjrforum.com and thestforum.com for the Honda.

At our last stop of the day before returning the bike, we hit a Yamaha dealer that was only a few blocks from the rental place. I got an OTD quote of $16,800 for a new 2008 FJR1300. I didn't even ask their reasoning behind tacking on $3,000 to the MSRP.

Im still waiting for the you know what bike to be released before making a transition to a bigger bike. Sure is taking along time was to be 08 now 09 hope it worth the wait.

FJR1300 will be my second bike for sure. When the Speedy is paid off. After fixing the throttle return issue and redesigning the air flow system for engine cooling and rider comfort Yamaha has me sold on the '08 model. The foot rests and handlebar position fit me perfectly also, an average 5'11'' guy. Thanks for posting this Sal.

Have you tryed the SprintSt or the Tiger? People usually like these Triumphs a lot.Got a friend that's been a BMW guy for 30 years and recently bought a new Tiger.He loves it and he is only 5'7" tall.

I did a demo ride on the Sprint ST but found the foot pegs a little hard to find and the bars a little too low. But then the demo was a guided ride and probably not a real good comparison. The Tiger fits good but I don't like the look. I'd like to get a demo on the FJ to test out the aerodynamics that Yamaha is praising.

I had my rental up to triple digit speeds and it was solid as a rock with no head buffeting. That was the screen in the low position.

What has me looking beyond Triumph is the passenger comfort. I did a demo ride on the new Tiger when it first came out, and there just isn't any legroom. The Sprint ST is just a little too much towards the sport bike side to be comfortable on.

i also have an '06 FJR-AE, great bike. i put a russell day-long seat on it,,now it's the complete tourer. you can ride while it's cool [december] and see there isn't any heat problem. the power IS impressive, smooth ride also. mine has heated hand grips [ not needed in ms.]and anti-lock brakes, which i do like. i can recommend the FJR,,,i put my money where my mouth is. i don't ride like there is demons after me, i average 50.6 mpg., bullet-proof reputation,beautiful bike,,,,what's not to like????

This thread is gonna get me in trouble with the missus.