2008 Yamaha FJR1300 from Canada - Comments

Nothing.

When I recently purchased my FJR, I was concerned. It was a radical change for me after 9 years and over 60K miles on a cruiser (my first bike). My greatest joy in riding is to spend weeks on tour, so you can understand my concern. My cruiser was a great mile-muncher, but the FJR has impressed me since it first came out. I did a lot of reading about the FJR, but while I discovered that those that own them are VERY enthusiastic about them, most of what I read referred to the ‘sport’ side of the sport-touring mix. How would the bike measure up for someone looking at the ‘touring’ side?

I have just returned from a 3000 mile tour (averaging about 300 miles per day) and I’m relieved to say that, “THIS BIKE IS A KEEPER!”

I have found only two, relatively small areas where the FJR doesn’t quite surpass the Road Star. These are certainly not “deal-breakers” by any means, but they aren’t (in my opinion) totally insignificant either. My biggest worry when I first sat on the bike concerned the seating position (a slight tuck with body leaning slightly forward to reach the handlebars). For hours of riding the slightly tucked seating position proved quite comfortable, but I must say, I missed the highway foot pegs that I had mounted on the Road Star, which allowed me to stretch my legs forward. I eventually figured a way around this by occasionally taking my feet off the pegs and stretching them forward for a few seconds just holding them in the air. I’m guessing that a person might be able to mount some hi-way pegs, but in my view, that would be overkill (and ugly) (and expensive) for such a small issue.

The second item where the Road Star had a small edge was in rearward visibility. Its wide, handlebar-mounted mirrors gave me good vision behind me, but the more closely spaced, fairing-mounted mirrors on the FJR leave a fairly large space directly behind you that is hard (but not impossible) to see into. With great brakes and ABS, this makes the issue of tailgaters a definite safety challenge. I will be looking into the possibility of getting aftermarket, bar-end mounted mirrors, but I don’t know if they are available.

There were some other comfort issues, but I’m glad to say that all of these fall under the category of “stock” equipment needing to be “tweaked” to meet individual needs (much the same thing happened with the Road Star). These are personal things, and from my research, not everybody finds they need them.

I will definitely be looking into a new seat; I found I got ‘numb-butt’ after less than an hour on the road.

I may add some risers as well. So far I haven’t found quite the right set-up for my wrists and hands. The hand placement wasn’t a major discomfort, and I haven’t tried playing with the handlebar adjustments yet, although they can only be adjusted so they are slightly closer or further from you.

It’s just a learning process I guess, but I’d have to say that I still feel a bit awkward with the higher seat height and the foot peg placement (at the sides instead of more forward). I have a 32 inch inseam, which allows me to stand flat-footed at stops, and having a bike that is about 200 lbs. lighter helps, but the awkwardness comes in when I try to move the bike around by foot.

I’m afraid I can’t comment on how well you are protected from the elements, as we had no wet weather on our trip. It appears that it should be pretty good, though. One difference I found is that the air flow puts more wind on your shoulders and head than I had with the shield on the Road Star. You can adjust this by raising the FJR’s screen, and at its highest position, the FJR’s screen is close to the Road Star’s, but I found that the lowest position worked fine for me, and that’s where I left it most of the time.

I have been surprised at how effective the FJR’s heated grips are. Logic told me that it was the wind on the outside of your hands that makes them cold, but heated grips make a HUGE difference.

I was certainly NOT traveling light on this trip (in fact, I found I had considerably more than I needed), but the FJR’s large bags, plus a bag on the passenger seat/rack, worked very well. Top bags and tank bags are also available, but so far, I can’t find a use for them. I should add that I did not carry camping gear with me, but I have in the past, and I’m confident that I could have packed that along too. I averaged 49 mpg (American) which is significantly better than the Road Star. That would give the bike a range (if I had a seat I could do it on) of over 300 miles. A whole day’s riding on one tank!

As for the performance side, so much has been written on that that I’ll be brief. This thing can be scary-fast! When it comes time to pass, it can be done very efficiently, and if you find yourself running out of space, dropping a gear or two just makes it move with what I’d describe as jet-like acceleration. A bike like this requires a huge dose of respect (and some carefully developed skills would be a big plus). In a top gear roll-on comparison between the FJR and the Road Star, the FJR immediately began pulling ahead of the Road Star, and quite rapidly, even though the FJR had a passenger and the Road Star had none!

So to sum up, I’d say this bike is a huge step ahead of the Road Star technologically. It is every bit as comfortable, without any significant penalties (and some size-able advantages) for touring.

Hi, I was wondering if you had found a seat that was more comfortable. I am looking at purchasing a FJR, and that is one of my concerns (comfort). I drive a 750 Honda Shadow now and I would like to go long distances. Don't want to spend the money and not be happy.

I own a 2006 FJR, now with around 35,000 miles on it. I did an Iron Butt this summer, drove from St. Louis to Seattle in 2 and 1/2 days last summer, and put ungodly amounts of time and miles in the saddle. The seat was the first thing I fixed, as the girlfriend and I were thoroughly uncomfortable on the stock seat after just a few hours. One trip to the Dragon in the first month of owning the bike made the need for a new seat abundantly clear -- on the ride home, we were having to stop every hour at the end due to discomfort. And we previously toured ~15k miles/year on a Triumph Thunderbird, so we have experience with time in the saddle.

Yamaha makes a 'comfort seat' with gel in it, for the cost of ~$380. I considered that, but was nervous about the gel. As an avid bicyclist, I've found that gel seats really aren't all they're cracked up to be, and a hard leather saddle, once it's broken in and molded to the exact contours of your butt, is amazingly more supportive and comfortable.

So I decided to have my seat re-made. I read lots of reviews of the major custom seat players out there -- Russell Day-longs are considered the cream of the crop, but the production time was months away and we had our first tour coming up. Corbins get mixed reviews -- you either swear by them or swear at them, as the saying goes. I finally settled on Bill Meyer Saddles out of California; I followed his instructions, took pics, sent the seat in, and had it back in about 2 weeks. I had him add about 1" to both the rider and passenger seats, which completely eliminated our knee discomfort, and had the heated option to the rider's seat. The whole thing cost me about $400 shipped, and long days in the saddle are no longer a problem. After we got the seat done, in fact, my girlfriend made a comment about her butt going "a little numb" -- when we were about 90 miles from home, at the END of a 6,000 mile, two week tour to Banff. If that's not a glowing recommendation, I don't know what is! :)

BTW, if you review the custom manufacturers and are interested in Bill Meyer Saddles, be sure you don't mistakenly send it to RICK Meyer Saddles. Feel free to compare Rick to Bill, but read the reviews carefully. Rocky (the owner of Bill Meyer Saddles) got our seat dead-on on the first try; we have been extremely happy.

One other caveat; if you get a custom seat, and have to draw a chalk line on the saddle where your butt meets the seat, it's best done if you can have someone hold the bike upright while you sit on it -- don't just set it on the center stand. I did the center stand, and as a result felt like I was sliding forward on the seat. To compensate, I pushed myself back a bit too far on the seat when drawing the chalk line, and as a result I now feel like the seat pocket is too far back, maybe by 1-2". I don't blame BMS at all, it was my fault, they recommend having someone hold the bike up, I just didn't have that option. And I'm sure they'd fix it if I really wanted them to, but it's not a huge deal, and in fact when I'm really wicking it up on the sport side it does let me feel like I can really hunker down over the tank.

Just re-visited here and saw the other comments, so I thought I'd do a bit of a follow-up (I wrote the original review above).

I haven't been out on any extended tours since my last write-up, but I have begun my modifications. I did some research into changes to the mirrors, but didn't find anything that did what I wanted, so I'm just getting used to the mirrors I've got.

I purchased some Heli Modified Risers, which make a significant difference for my wrists. They bring the bars up and back a bit, and are also more adjustable than the stock set-up. I'm still not quite as upright as on the cruiser, but less 'leaned forward' than I was. They also have mounting slots for a GPS or MP-3 or whatever.

I haven't ordered a seat yet, but I plan on going with the Bill Mayer saddle before next season. Many choose the Russell Day-Long, but my tastes go towards the Bill Mayer. I don't doubt that either would be a HUGE improvement, but everybody has their own personal shape and there are less expensive modifications (like AirHawk seat pads or even just bicycle shorts).

Another add-on I'm seriously considering is a true cruise control from Motorcycle Cruise Controls (http://www.mccruise.com/index.html). Pricey, but built for bikes and likely to add even more miles per tank as well as the usual convenience.

The point here is that you are STARTING with a comfortable, well-sorted out, functional, sophisticated, fun bike and there are ways of further refining and tuning it to your personal tastes.