Hi Guys,
A little backround on myself before jumping to questions. I'm 25, started street riding at 21 and currently have a fully kitted out suzuki 650 vstrom that sees mostly backroad use, commuting, and longish 2up camping tours. I've put 62k miles on it in the past few years and had a absolute blast . No crashes (other than a gravel slideout when I started riding), and its been years since I've scared myself in a corner. I attribute alot of that to the bike's low HP/weight combo. Everything I've read about the FJR says its a great sport touring bike, and comfortable for passengers. I don't really want a st1300 as I'm 25 and want to save the super comfy bikes for later in life. Plus I don't think many bikes will get more comfy than the vstrom (longest 2up day was about 800 miles) without getting much heavier.
So what I'm wondering about the FJR, is when its loaded down to tour and 2up does it really beg to be ridden at 80+ constantly? I know it easily has the power, but does it always want to seem to go faster? Does the front end want to come up easily? Do the tires slip easily in wet conditions (planning on running pilot road 2's)? The vstrom doesnt have that problem as its starting to die at 80mph with bags/passenger, and lacks the power for the other items.. I don't want a bike that begs to be jetted everywhere, but I sure would like the power and comfort on all the straight roads we have to ride here in the midwest. The passing power and ability to zip out of situations would be appreciated too.
I'm keeping the vstrom for bumpy/crappy pavement, commuting and tight twisty work. More deals gap type riding I think. The FJR is for more long haul, straight and high speed sweepers/etc. I remember riding with a friend on a c14 and I always pushed through the tight twisties faster than he did with less work on the vstrom. So I want to customize each bike to a riding style.
It seems like the FJR would be at its element in the midwest where we don't have alot of elevation changes or tight corners. What do you guys think? Does it handle decently with passengers in the corners?
The point of all this was to basically ask if the bike needs to be ridden super fast everywhere (80+ gps indicated), and see how dangerous the power delivery might be for a rider used to less. I keep saying I want a FJR with 115 HP until I'm used to it My wife and I love motorcycling, and corner carving, but we always like leaving a wide margin for safety too. Thanks for all your help!
A little backround on myself before jumping to questions. I'm 25, started street riding at 21 and currently have a fully kitted out suzuki 650 vstrom that sees mostly backroad use, commuting, and longish 2up camping tours. I've put 62k miles on it in the past few years and had a absolute blast . No crashes (other than a gravel slideout when I started riding), and its been years since I've scared myself in a corner. I attribute alot of that to the bike's low HP/weight combo. Everything I've read about the FJR says its a great sport touring bike, and comfortable for passengers. I don't really want a st1300 as I'm 25 and want to save the super comfy bikes for later in life. Plus I don't think many bikes will get more comfy than the vstrom (longest 2up day was about 800 miles) without getting much heavier.
So what I'm wondering about the FJR, is when its loaded down to tour and 2up does it really beg to be ridden at 80+ constantly? I know it easily has the power, but does it always want to seem to go faster? Does the front end want to come up easily? Do the tires slip easily in wet conditions (planning on running pilot road 2's)? The vstrom doesnt have that problem as its starting to die at 80mph with bags/passenger, and lacks the power for the other items.. I don't want a bike that begs to be jetted everywhere, but I sure would like the power and comfort on all the straight roads we have to ride here in the midwest. The passing power and ability to zip out of situations would be appreciated too.
I'm keeping the vstrom for bumpy/crappy pavement, commuting and tight twisty work. More deals gap type riding I think. The FJR is for more long haul, straight and high speed sweepers/etc. I remember riding with a friend on a c14 and I always pushed through the tight twisties faster than he did with less work on the vstrom. So I want to customize each bike to a riding style.
It seems like the FJR would be at its element in the midwest where we don't have alot of elevation changes or tight corners. What do you guys think? Does it handle decently with passengers in the corners?
The point of all this was to basically ask if the bike needs to be ridden super fast everywhere (80+ gps indicated), and see how dangerous the power delivery might be for a rider used to less. I keep saying I want a FJR with 115 HP until I'm used to it My wife and I love motorcycling, and corner carving, but we always like leaving a wide margin for safety too. Thanks for all your help!
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