texscottyd

File this under “things I didn’t know were things” I. Like. That. The bike, and the road.

Bump for a forgotten audience participation thread... Anyone?

Hi @edgarjessop12 - Another thing to consider might be removing the long factory peg feelers (if you haven’t already). Assuming they’re the same on your GT as on the first-gen FJs, the factory peg feelers seemed pointlessly long to me, and made fishing around for the sidestand tab harder than it needed to be. No downside to trying, and you can always put them back on if it doesn’t help.

Man, that’s nice. My “I’m fine with the stock exhaust” resolve may be weakening...

Welcome @Squid4Life. You are a braver man than I am to be riding in NYC! I hope you enjoy your new FJ... it’s a fantastic motorcycle.

Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from @piotrek...

I haven’t watched the video, but I’ve got a pretty good idea from the comments what the overall theme must be. I’ve finally pegged the FJ as a hooligan-sport-touring bike. It’s got enough touring capability to suit what I need, and the hooligan & sport DNA shines through in a really alluring way. It’s not overly refined, and yes it buzzes and vibrates a bit more than ‘proper’ touring bikes, but that’s why I love the damn thing! I haven’t ridden a GT, but I suspect it isn’t that far right from the first-gen FJ09, and that’s perfectly fine with me.

@koth442 - I have a good friend that moved to Chattanooga a couple of years ago, and absolutely loves it. Great riding all over the area, nice people, and the winter isn’t too terribly brutal. Good luck with the interview!

@rustyshackles - First things first: “Deer are the deadliest animal in the USA” made me chuckle... I have this mental image of a gang of thug deer all armed with semi-automatic weapons. But to your question, I would love to think there is an effective deer deterrent, but I am highly skeptical. I center-punched a deer in the Texas Hill Country back in the mid-90s, and it was a VERY unpleasant experience for me, the deer, and my VFR750. I did a bunch of research after that accident to see if there was anything to the deer whistles and other deterrents, and came to the conclusion that it was more marketing hype than anything scientifically validated. There was a published article that had a very objective testing methodology (can’t recall where... maybe Motorcycle Consumer News?), and the general finding was that suicidal deer won’t be deterred by a magic whistle or noise generator. Trust me, I would love to hear that there is something which works... hitting a deer sucks, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Someone forwarded this to me... 129 (allegedly) with this whole Polar Vortex thing going on. Beautiful, but not exactly riding weather...

Damn you @coachluciano! Yet another example of ‘things I didn’t know I needed’ that have appeared on this forum...

Following @new1709rider’s lead, I also treated mine to a spa day. The FJ was disgustingly dirty after about 500 miles of wet roads over the last couple of weekends, but it cleaned up nicely. Hoping for a dry Sunday morning to get out and ride!

Yeah, I’m a wimp when it comes to cold weather riding. Here’s a hardy soul...

@captfire22 - That’s absolutely insane! Interesting that around -40 it doesn’t matter if you’re talking F or C, it’s equally bone-chilling.