Help me with my L/D winter FJR project

Here is a little something for anyone who is interested to think about as we start going into the winter months.

I now have a very low miles, STOCK, 2006 FJR, and I plan on spending the winter setting it up for IBA rides and hopefully some rallies.

Please give me some ideas of what you would put on a stock gen 2 FJR to make it the ultimate Iron Butt motorcycle. I already have some items, but I will be interested to see what people have to say.

I will try to post up some pictures as I add and change things on the stock bike.

Consider me subscribed as I'm on a similar mission. Heated grips, HID's, topcase, seat, extra fuel capacity, handlebars/ergos, windshield, back off lights, handguards, wiring for heated gear, electrified tank bag, etc have all been in progress so far for me.

Caffeine injection pump with on bike reservoir.

Highway Pegs.

I'm done.

Tap into one of Reno John's LD posts. IMHO he's done it in spades, with the " Battle Born Bike"!!! His posts usually contain a link to his site as well.

At least it will give you a start point !

Ergonomics are the number one priority, your bike needs to the most comfortable place to park your butt. Seat is first, it's your foundation. Next is handle bars/riser adjust to fit maybe some cushy grips I like to add bar ends. After those two are done then the windshield. High on my priority list is cruise control I have wrist troubles. Ridding gear falls in here too. A good suit that's water proof, I hate having to stop and put on rain gear it's a big time waster and well ventilated giving you a wide range of temps with out the need to stop and adjust or change gear.

LD ridding means night time so light comes next HIDs are a great new light source but can be spendy. With the FJR I went with aux lighting first as the stockers are pretty good. Since this is the first electrical farkle install a voltmeter. Night time means cooler temps heated gear maybe grips and controls and hookups for those. Everything beside comfort is just fluff I don't care if you've got 10 GPSs if you can't stay on the bike for a few days at a time the rest is worthless.

Navigation would be the first thing after comfort. After that maybe auxiliary fuel but the FJR isn't really hamstrung by it's range. Then you can start filling in a bunch of other stuff as much or as little as you like. But comfort is mission number one :big_boss:

What's the budget?

For the sake of this thread, assume the budget is unlimited.

TriggerT said:

Here is a little something for anyone who is interested to think about as we start going into the winter months.

I now have a very low miles, STOCK, 2006 FJR, and I plan on spending the winter setting it up for IBA rides and hopefully some rallies.

Please give me some ideas of what you would put on a stock gen 2 FJR to make it the ultimate Iron Butt motorcycle. I already have some items, but I will be interested to see what people have to say.

I will try to post up some pictures as I add and change things on the stock bike.

Click to expand...

First, I'm envious. Building and LD bike is all kinds of fun. Second, redtail and Rick have some good advice going on there. Reno built a fantastic machine and comfort is the number one priority.

Building an LD bike might not be something you can do in a garage over the winter. A lot of folks do it this way and if you've been LD riding/rallying long enough you might have a good idea of what you need. For a first-timer, I like the old adage "Ride the bike until you find something that need fixin' and then fix it". This leads to a bike really built for you and not on some perception of what you need because others say you do. An example is cruise control. I've never felt the need for cruise, but I did have a need to occasionally free the right hand to adjust riding gear or the like. A simple throttle lock is all I need. Others wouldn't think of doing an LD ride without cruise.

With all of that said, don't overlook hydration. To keep the wheels moving I feel you have to be able to drink underway. Luck, and have fun!

BIODSL said:

TriggerT said:

Here is a little something for anyone who is interested to think about as we start going into the winter months.

I now have a very low miles, STOCK, 2006 FJR, and I plan on spending the winter setting it up for IBA rides and hopefully some rallies.

Please give me some ideas of what you would put on a stock gen 2 FJR to make it the ultimate Iron Butt motorcycle. I already have some items, but I will be interested to see what people have to say.

I will try to post up some pictures as I add and change things on the stock bike.

Click to expand...

First, I'm envious. Building and LD bike is all kinds of fun. Second, redtail and Rick have some good advice going on there. Reno built a fantastic machine and comfort is the number one priority.

Building an LD bike might not be something you can do in a garage over the winter. A lot of folks do it this way and if you've been LD riding/rallying long enough you might have a good idea of what you need. For a first-timer, I like the old adage "Ride the bike until you find something that need fixin' and then fix it". This leads to a bike really built for you and not on some perception of what you need because others say you do. An example is cruise control. I've never felt the need for cruise, but I did have a need to occasionally free the right hand to adjust riding gear or the like. A simple throttle lock is all I need. Others wouldn't think of doing an LD ride without cruise.

With all of that said, don't overlook hydration. To keep the wheels moving I feel you have to be able to drink underway. Luck, and have fun!

Click to expand...

Great advice so far! I started LD rides a year and a half ago (45,000 miles) I wanted to "add as needed", First things for me were risers,seat, electrical hook-ups. Then came GPS, reflectors for night and SPOT. 3RD phase now will be sliders, highway pegs, radiator guard , aux fuel cell and a fuse block. As far as rally bike, I don't have a clue... probably lights, 2nd GPS, radar detection and some tutoring with routing and downloading into GPS from a laptop. "Certificate" riding has done wonders for me in showing

me what I lack. I mix up the type of rides with the experience I feel I need. "Personal gear" for me has been my largest learning

advancements... coming from my helmetless short/fair weather days> LOL

I will be following this thread with great interest as (hopefully) the rally vets chime in.

BTW beads for the seat and a cramp buster in the tank bag.

I don't want people who don't know me to misunderstand what I am after here. I have done several IBA rides, SS1K, BBG1500, Great Lakes Gold, and one or two others I can't think of right now. I had my old 2006 FJR set up pretty well for long rides. What I am looking for here is some of the things other people would put on, so that as I replace things that were lost in the crash I take into account items I may have overlooked the first time.

I also am hoping that it will give other members ideas for things they may want to add to their LD bikes.

Thanks for the responses so far.

How about a picture of the old bike so we can see what you had before.

I don't have any pictures that were taken right before the wreck, but here are some that were pretty current:







I was hoping to hold off a little on telling people what all I have, since I wanted to hear what peoples own personal preferences are, but here is a list of what I was able to salvage from the old bike:

Russell Seat,Givi E52 case with Admore lights and mounting plate, ZUMO 550 with stem mount and XM, Heavy bar ends,Hydration system,Penske rear Shock, Datel meter, Valatine 1 w/ visual alert, electrified tank bag from Lind T, Vista cruise, Audiovox cruise control, super brace, fuzebox, pazzo levers, and bar risers. I think that is all from the gear on the bike.

My Aerostitch, Multitech helmet, boots and gloves survived the crash in near perfect condition.

Items that were lost include the dash shelf, the PHID lights, and a few other items.

I have a few bucks left over from insurance, and from selling some things, so I want to make it the best possible LD bike for me, which I know is somewhat subjective. That is why I wanted to hear more of what other people thought were good things to have.

Thanks again.

I got the new bike pulled into the shop today, but then yard work took priority. I am hoping to start pulling the new bike apart next weekend to start some of the wiring.

Excellent! :clapping:

TriggerT said:

For the sake of this thread, assume the budget is unlimited.

Click to expand...

I've got a tank ready to ship

TriggerT said:

I got the new bike pulled into the shop today, but then yard work took priority. I am hoping to start pulling the new bike apart next weekend to start some of the wiring.

Click to expand...

Would like to see a few pics of the new bike before the construction begins. Good for comparison when you are finished.

TriggerT said:

For the sake of this thread, assume the budget is unlimited.

Click to expand...

Winnebago chase vehicle with a fully fueled second FJR ready to go. Just keep swapping them out and refueling the empty one as the fuel gets low.

Too much?

Get your grounding spyder situation under control. You don't want one of your LD rides cut short in bad weather - at night - far from home - out of cell phone range.



Brodie

Yes, a ground harness is one of the items that will be on the list.

I will try to take and post pics as I go.