Es Model worth the extra money?

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Mr.scootinn

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Hello all! Joined the forum today,I am currently riding a 2008 gl1800-great bike! I am looking at adding the Fjr to the stable ,as i ride 1 up 80 percent of the time,commute daily and do alot of short 500 mile one way trips 1 up..My question ? is the ES model woth the extra MONEY? Thanks in advance.

 
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If you can afford another new bike and it is for one up riding you can go either way on the 2014 FJR. One of my riding friends just bought the 2014A and likes it very much. He went from a 2005 BMW R1200RT with electric suspension. He was a victim of two final drive failures on the BMW. I would suggest you find a dealer with both the A and ES models and test ride them to see which suits you best. You will surely get the bigger discount on the A model.

 
Yes and no.

With the incredible deals on leftover '13s and '14As, it would be very hard to overlook the savings. Since you ride single most of the time, the [advantage] of the ES and remote pushbutton preload setting is largely negated. Either bike is great and a bargain compared to anything out there.

In your shoes, I'd probably save the extra coin, score an A model and never look back!

Just my $.02 YMMV

--G

 
Hello all! Joined the forum today,I am currently riding a 2008 gl1800-great bike! I am looking at adding the Fjr to the stable ,as i ride 1 up 80 percent of the time,commute daily and do alot of short 500 mile one way trips 1 up..My question ? is the ES model woth the extra MONEY? Thanks in advance.
I ride one-up all the time but like the versatility of the ES anyway. I do a lot of just "fun riding" that might involve multiple types of roads. So, on a fast back road I set it one way, and when I get to the twisty fun road I can set it to something else with a flip of a switch, and when I have to hit the slab to make some time getting home I can set it to full soft to be more comfortable on the highway, all from my seat.

In the olden days I would spend a lot of time getting the right "sporty" setting on my bike, only to have it feel like my kidneys were going to bleed if I hit a bad stretch of road. It might not be that hard to change the suspension, but who really stops at the side of the road to make a suspension change before you get on the highway. If you are going to ride the bike a lot and have the money, I think it is worth it.

 
It depends on what you are looking for. Almost everyone I know with a FJR finds the rear shock under sprung, and it wears out after about 15,000-20,000 miles. The front suspension usually needs work also, either springs, or internals. This can cost anywhere from about $1,500 up to over $3,000. The extra $1,000 the ES costs is a bargain compared to that. And it is still better because you can adjust it on the fly. You can also rebuild the ES shock for about $100.

There is a reason that the A model is being discounted so much. No one wants to buy them. If you are one of the riders that can't tell the difference between a bike with a suspension that works well and one that doesn't, then the ES is a waste of money. If however you like the idea of having a suspension setting that works on a twisty road, then can be changed with a couple button pushes to soak up expansion joints on the freeway, then the money for a ES is the greatest bargain of the century.

 
It depends on what you are looking for. Almost everyone I know with a FJR finds the rear shock under sprung, and it wears out after about 15,000-20,000 miles. The front suspension usually needs work also, either springs, or internals. This can cost anywhere from about $1,500 up to over $3,000. The extra $1,000 the ES costs is a bargain compared to that. And it is still better because you can adjust it on the fly. You can also rebuild the ES shock for about $100.
There is a reason that the A model is being discounted so much. No one wants to buy them. If you are one of the riders that can't tell the difference between a bike with a suspension that works well and one that doesn't, then the ES is a waste of money. If however you like the idea of having a suspension setting that works on a twisty road, then can be changed with a couple button pushes to soak up expansion joints on the freeway, then the money for a ES is the greatest bargain of the century.
There seems to an assertion here that the A model does not have good suspension and that certainly is not the case, as a owner of both a 13A and a ES, I think the 13A's forks perform every bit as good as the ES and I actually prefer the 13A's dual spring shock to the ES's single (lighter) spring.....that requires a lot of preload for 2 up riding in comparison to the quick flip of the lever on the A model. I don't know how long the A model shock is going to last but I also am very skeptical that a ES shock rebuild is only going to cost $100 (I think the shipping and insurance on a $2300 shock will be at least $100) and right now I don't know where to ship it for rebuild.

As far as changing the damping on the fly, it seems more like marketing hype than anything else, the damping adjustment range is pretty narrow and I have yet to find a road that the STD-0 setting doesn't provide the best overall damping (which is very good). I love the inverted fork on the ES and think it alone is worth the extra $1K for the ES model, its too bad the A model doesn't have the inverted fork so we could do a real suspension to suspension comparison.

 
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I usually stop for gas or snacks between twisties and the super slab. That's when I flip the lever on the shock, and/or turn the dampening knob a few clicks.

A's still rock (since '03) but the ES makes it a little slicker (newer). YMMV

 
Totally worth it .... handles so much better than my Gen 1. Frankly I don't care if there great deals on different versions or `13s etc. We all have limited shelf life and a finite time to ride so don't compromise for a few thousand bucks. Get what your heart wants

 
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I think it is worth it. I change the dampening settings several times through the course of a ride. I can tell the difference between my setups, I am a larger fellow at 240lbs so my setups are preload 1up + luggage with full soft for the highways, standard 0 for around town and Hard +2 for the twisties. With that said there are great deals on the '13 and 14a that make them tempting if on a tighter budget.

 
If I didn't have my gut operations, I would have stuck with the normal suspension.

Easier to work on, cheaper to service etc, I normally just set and forget.

With the ES I can ride around in slush mode for our really great roads ..... not, and tighten up the suspension for the good twisty bits.

I actually think the ES is slightly under sprung.

 
I can't say how well I would have liked a 14 A model as I bought the ES. Big improvement over my 08 FJR. In my case the difference in price was $950 OTD between the 2014 A & the ES. It was worth it for me for the ability to quickly reset the suspension for different conditions. I just came back from a 6 day 2300 mile trip and I used 3 different setups for different sections of the trip sometimes using all three within 50 miles.

 
I bought the ES and I would do it again without hesitation if I had to.

I ride solo, but I like the on-the-fly switchover from hard to soft when you hit these rough road sections.

Might be a bit of a pricey feature, but I sure appreciate it.

...Ben...

 
I never considered it (the ES) - because just last week picked up a new '13 for $11,000 OTD.

This one rides nicer than my Gen II.

I am sure that the ES is really nice but it was not an option when comparing to the discounted '13 models

 
Sorry, but if I already had a touring bike that I liked (like you, your gold wing), and I was looking for a day ride, 1-up, and commute type bike, that new one wouldn't be an A or an ES. I'd be looking at losing at least another 100 lbs of bike and then you'd have something really fun and more difference from the bike that you already own. I think there is too much cross purposing between an FJR and Wing.

Keep an eye out for the announcement of the FJ-09 due out later this year. That's the sort of bike I'd be looking at.

 
I'm a BIG fan of the ES and think it is worth every penny.
Ditto. I've had Gen I, II and now III. On the Gen II I put on an aftermarket shock which improved the handling quite a bit, but the cost of doing all the upgrade can add up quickly, Yamaha has provided all that for $1k, a bargain in my book. I love being able to cruise the freeways or putt around town in Soft, then dial it up firm for the twisties.

 
After my first week with the Gen III with ES, here are my thoughts. I thought the Gen II allowed you to dial in the suspension pretty well with a little bit of time and effort and testing. Of course it was set and forget. You pretty much set up one suspension setting on the front forks, and the only flexibility on the rear was the preload switch. You had to make a choice between great handling in the mountains or great handling on the freeway. The ES has a lot more versatility, but I don't think I am going to be able to dial the suspension in quite as well as I did the Gen II. The soft -3 was way too soft, even two up, soft 0 was very plush and absorbed the bumps, but allowed the suspension to wallow if you were at all leaned over when you hit a bump. At that setting you don't even feel the rumble strips to let you know there is a stop sign coming up. It was great to switch it on the fly to tighten up the suspension when the roads got a little twisty (at least as twisty as FL roads get anyway). So onto your question. If you are happy with the way the Gold Wing handles when the road starts to curve, you will absolutely love the ES and the flexibility it gives you. If on the other hand, you have felt a need to upgrade the Gold Wings suspension to something like the Traxxion Dynamics setup, you may prefer the added flexibility you can have with the A model. That will allow you to dial it in and if it is not quite perfect, a few aftermarket bits will make it fantastic.

 
Greenzilla - Not sure if you are aware of this but there are 21 potential damping levels (Soft -3 thru +3, Normal -3 thru +3, and Hrad -3 thru +3) for each of the 4 rear preload levels.

There may be some overlap in those ranges, but the soft -3 on the one up preload setting is not the same as the soft -3 on the other three preload settings.

If you keep twiddling around you may find some settings that work for you better than what you've found already. As an aside, you also may not end up wanting to follow the advice of the preload settings of "One up" or "Two up", etc. but rather, just consider them as 4 incremental steps in preload 1 thru 4.

 
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