Re-Introducing Myself

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It's being considered. But after the new car, new bike, and Hawaii coming up, my wife says I can't want anything for a while.
She'll eventually come around. Besides, she's got to find a great Christmas present, right? ;)

Congrats on the new ride and the absolutely killer deal. Sometimes patience pays great dividends.

 
Congrats on such a sweet deal on your 06. Nice to know there are more FJR's in Muskegon than just mine. You will find that you can ride comfortaby in some pretty cold temperatures with these bikes, I keep mine on a battery tender all winter and take it out on any sunny day that we may come across.

-Greg

 
Well, we all know that the 2006 blue is the fastest....

Congrats on the purchase. You are now among the elite. I would add my 2 cents on the heated grips. I got the factory (whoa baby, they cost how much?) ones and they work great. I originally thought I would use them on the coldest days, but find I use them into the low 60's. Hey, you got them, why not be more comfortable?

Makes me crazy if I think about it. I paid 12,500 for my 2006 in 2006, new. A few years later you got one for $6,800! Practically new. You can tell your wife you already "made" money. Why, a few farkles might even save you more! Time do go shopping.

mr.paul from Minnesota

 
Congrats! I love my 06.

I would seriously consider something other then the factory trunk and backrest, I mean that is, if you like your wife to be comfortable. I bought mine when I bought my bike. They did not have it in stock so they shipped it to me. I put it on, my wife and I sat on the bike and that was it. It tends to push the passenger pretty far forward and is not exactly what you would call comfy.

I also had concerns about the stories of the trunk mounting failures and just imagined my wife tumbling down the highway behind the bike. Not something I wanted to take a chance on. I figured it was being overplayed on the forum, but after getting it and actually looking at it, I understand why people don't like them.

The most critical farkles or changes for me were:

#1 new seat - I chose Bill Mayer, but there are several high quality seat makers out there.

#2 Premiere Cycle backrest - easy and quick on and off, comfortable and looks good on the bike.

#3 new handle bar riser - I bought the Heli. I was concerned, it was an expensive piece, but worth every dollar, once I got to use it.

#4 Throttle lock - I splurged on a Brakeaway, great quality and works awesome, but is pricey.

#5 any intercom system with custom fit earplugs - I went with Autocomm, but there are some good ones out there. I bought a cheap unit first and it was disappointing. The autocomm turned out good. My wife and I can carry on a conversation comfortably at any speed any time. The custom molded earplugs made the biggest difference.

I have several others, BMW Sport Grips, gps, air horn, Scotts filter... but those are my top 5 that made the biggest difference.

Great bikes, there is nothing I would really trade it for on the market today, although I would not mind test riding a new Concourse 14 for the heck of it.

 
I've gotta say I'm loving the FJR. It's a riot.

Sadly, the days are numbered for this season. I rode into work today, and I plan on riding in tomorrow. After that, I'll have 1000 miles on it already.

I got the oil changed in the bike yesterday. (Dealer offers a $29 oil change, impossible to beat that.) After tomorrow's ride, I'm going to throw it on a battery tender and cover it up. The wife and I leave for Hawaii Saturday morning.

Most of my impressions are still the same. I think I'm going to give the stock seat at least a full season before I make any kind of custom seat purchase. The wife says the first thing I have to put on is the backrest for her, and I'd like the top box. One concern is that the backrest from Yamaha doesn't look all that comfortable. Am I mistaken? Or is there an alternative backrest while still having the Yamaha top box?

Intercom setup seems to me like J&M is going to be the route I go. It's the nicest looking unit with a CB built in, and based on questions I've asked here already, most people agree it's the best for what I want.

I'm not spending $400 on Yamaha grip warmers. But I did remember seeing the knockoff version for under $100. That I'm more likely to do, since it has the same switch. But I'm still doing my homework on that one.

The handlebar risers, I would like. But I'm not comfortable drilling out tamper-proof screws and all of that. I'm weird about that stuff and would rather have someone else do it. I know that Heli has a dealer out in Detroit, and I'm out there quite a bit. Or I may have my local guy do it. But I'm liking the idea of having those bars closer to me.

Cruise control, still looks like Audiovox is the winner. But again, more homework to be done. This will be the second thing this winter after the top box, ideally. I still get a pain in my wrist after a long ride. Plus I notice my speed creeps up during my commute. That'll get me in trouble. Cruise control is a must.

Windshield definitely needs to be different. But I'm still working on that one. Trying to find which will be the best and still looks good. So many options.

After the oil change, I took it for a quick ride around the lake and took some pictures. This one is my favorite.

FJRsunset.JPG


 
Very nice pic, and the thing I liked about your story is that you seem to be someone who minds the bank account, and doesn't farkle away, costs be damned! The country wouldn't be in such a mess if there were more folks like that.

:drinks:

 
If you don't get a topbox, Garauld-another FJR owner, and great vendor/fabricator for us, makes a removeable backrest.

I got one for when I take wifey out for a ride to a B&B.

 
Congrats! I just picked up an 06 back in July with a bunch of goodies already on it, but no topcase. I ended up getting an SH46 with a Topmaster bracket from motorcycleluggage.com for around $300, IIRC. Very happy with it. Didn't get the pad for the passenger backrest and glad I didn't, the wife unit likes leaning on it the way it is. Of course her jacket has a backpad in it. The Shad cases are a lot cheaper than Givi, but still well built. Only thing I might do different would be to get the 48 or 50 liter, I can't get both of our Scorpion 700 helmets in it. Enjoy!!

 
Nice story Tim. I actually read the whole thing. Too bad about the Nighthawk. From the pics it looked like you take really good care of your stuff. I'm sure you'll wind up liking the FJR more anyway though. If you don't mind my suggestions, I highly recommend the Heli tripple tree and the V-Stream windscreen. I say start with comfort first and accessories later. Just my .02.

COLDCUT

 

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