maximo

Here's a good day ride, starting and ending generically in Sac. Adjust the Sac side of the ride to your specifics. This will get you on 162 Oro Quincy, LaPorte Rd, and the incomparable Hwy 49 through Downieville. You owe it to yourself to ride this before moving out of the area. Google Maps

NorCal folks, just thought I’d pass on the word that Hwy 162 (Oro-Quincy Highway) just reopened today after being closed a few years. The side area is rebuilt, and as a bonus, there’s fresh pavement on much of the area that was closed. I bagged it during an extended lunch today, and it was fantastic.

Yet more reason to go there and experience the area!

Excellent suggestion! I did this kinda by happenstance a couple of years ago. I was navigating by map and I set out of Joseph and took a wrong turn, and was enjoying the bucolic scenery, and by the time I realized I was on the wrong road, it started to get interesting, so I followed it, and eventually ended up in Walla Walla instead of wherever I was going. Those roads are not to be missed.

Which version or combo of RAM mounts have worked the best?

This happened to me many moons ago when I foolishly thought I could rebuild the carbs on my FJ1200. I thought "I have Clymers, I have tools, what could possibly go wrong?" Plenty, it turns out. I had to do the Flatbed of Shame, including hand carrying a big tub full of disassembled parts. I will now work weekends and overtime, do a paper route, whatever it takes to find $$ to let a pro service my bikes. Just don't ask how many papers I've flung to have Herr Mechaniker work on my finicky German Missile.

The handlebar espresso machine and the autowave function. Cruise control? I used to pooh pooh it until I got a bike that had it, and now I won't ride a bike without it.

Good info, thanks!

I have a '15 with aftermarket electronic cruise control that is not a McCruise and it works beautifully. I actually don't know the brand, I'm the second owner. The middle button turns it on/off, top button sets, bottom resumes, and once set, the top/bottom button increases or decreases speed by 1 MPH. It's pretty straightforward. The clutch and front brake disengages the CC.

This escalated quickly...

Dang this bike has generous clearance! I was riding in the mountains this weekend, keeping a pretty good pace on some lovely roads, where I came to a decreasing radius hairpin in an unexpected place. I scrubbed off as much speed as I could, leaned off my mike like I was Marc Marquez, trail braked into the turn, and still felt myself drifting closer to the centerline. So I leaned further and further, to a lean angle that would have both of my other bikes scraping hard parts, but the FJ just kept leaning. I have no idea how much more room I had, but if felt like miles! For those of you who know NorCal, I was northbound on Highway 3, between Trinity Center and Callahan. The hairpin was the first of several as the road climbs up Scott Mountain. A hoot of a road!

But how will you know how your elbows are doing?

I agree 100% with you when I'm riding for fun. When I'm riding to work, on a long, flat, straight freeway, there ain't no fun to be had. It's just a slog. Hypermiling gives me something to do, and gives me a little bit more control on which side of my commute I'll gas up. It's the little things...

I'm not sure which flash I have. I'm the second owner, and while the original owner did talk to me about the flash, I didn't pay attention as to which one. He specifically told me about the B mode getting better mileage, so perhaps he did have it custom? I do know that it's a real, reproducible thing for me. I commute 50 miles/day so I have tested this on several occasions. In A or STD mode my gas light starts flashing about 160-165, and in B mode it starts flashing about 190-195. There may be a tiny little bit of right wrist impact, because when the bike is in A or STD, I can't help but accelerate like a hooligan, whereas on B mode I accelerate like a CHP cruiser is right behind me. So I know that plays into the MPG. But I get on the freeway once and stop maybe a couple of times on the whole trip home, so it's impacting the MPG, but it can't account for the whole difference. I have noticed that the MPG calculator on the dash is disproportionately optimistic when I'm in B mode (it tells me I'm getting 64 MPG while cruising down the fwy), so for me I couldn't use that as gauge for the difference. I don't know how your onboard computer calculates, but if you have the patience to do a full tank in B mode you'll get a true reading on the actual MPG difference.

It also comes in handy when I'm out in the hills WFO in A mode and the fuel light starts blinking at 130 miles, and you're miles and miles from a gas station. Switch over to B and ride it sedately to the gas station. AMHIK

Yes, for my freeway commuting I keep it in B mode, it gets better mileage and I don't miss the extra power at all. I squeeze about 30 miles extra per tank this way.

Here's my fuel up this morning. At 215 miles I put in 4.3 gallons. That puts it exactly at 50.0 MPG. My fuel light flashed for 21 miles, and running it dry to 4.8 means I had 0.47 gallons in the tank, which at the same mileage means another 23 miles. Bottom line, in this tank I would have had 44 miles from the time the fuel light started flashing until my fuel ran out. This is 100% non traffic freeway commuting, cruise control at 65 mph.

I have a saddle from Seth and I love it.

I say the same thing about all the great roads back east. My NC pal will host me, it's just a matter of finding the time. They look amazing.

I've often wondered if I got a bad unit. I've heard others use it and have it work properly. I've tried it several times and always end up frustrated. One time I had it hooked up nice and tight with the unit secured and I let it run a long time, maybe 10-15 minutes. I couldn't get more that 5 PSI into my front tire. So even putting aside all the nits, my unit can't even do its basic function.

Funny story on this. Couple of years ago a friend of mine from NC and his riding buddy did a nationwide tour. I hosted their NorCal section, spending 5 days on the roads here. On the first day we went from Chico out to the coast Via 36, and when we got to Fortuna for lunch, one of the guys, who was wearing a Dragon t-shirt, hopped off his bike, opened up his saddlebag and took off his t-shirt and put on another one, saying "man, I'm embarrassed to be wearing this thing, all pompous like, when I just spent 2 hours on a road no one knows that puts the Dragon to shame."

SMH-10 with off the shelf foam earplugs in a simple HJC IS helmet and I can hear music just fine, sometimes at less than 100% volume. It's also clear enough to hear podcasts, audiobooks, etc. Speaker positioning is critical. Even 1/2 inch off makes a drastic difference. On my last helmet (Scorpion) I had to shave the foam to allow the speakers to drop a little more to fit centered on my ears. I also had to stuff a little bit of cloth between the speaker and the shell to move it closer to my ears. Once I found the sweet spot it was perfectly functional. The HJC fit spot on first time.

My FJ is rather new to me, I've had it for just a couple of years. Historically bikes in my stable last 3-5 years. The notable exception is my 1st Gen SV650. I've had it going on 20 years, and still makes me smile. The only bike I sold that I still miss is my '75 CB360T, and it's for nostalgic reasons. It was my first "real" bike, the first bike I was able to take weekend trips, or do full day touring. This was in the 70's, so our perspective of adequate was much different than today's. Still, whenever I see an old 360T, particularly in the blue livery, I look on it with the same fondness that I hold for the first girl I kissed. All other bikes served their purpose, then I moved on.

I have the HVMP bar ends on my '15. They came with them on, so I got to know the bike with them as part of the experience. Several months later, in an attempt to shorten the width of the handlebars for better lane splitting, I took them off. The difference was substantial. I felt buzziness throughout the rev range that I didn't feel before. After putting them back on the handlebars became smooth again. The HVMP are massive, weighing over a pound each. But they are impressive in how much vibration they quell.

I’m going to be the lone voice of meh. I bought a ’15 model a couple of years ago, and while I like it, I don’t yet love it. It’s strange, because on paper it’s everything I wanted, farkled as I like. I rode it exclusively for about 6 months after getting it, and slowly little things started to bug me. Pretty soon I went back to commuting on my SV650, and for multi day rides I went back to my K1200GT. So my FJ has been relegated to day rides of 200+ miles. Shorter trips my SV makes me happier, and anything longer my K bike lets me relax into the ride. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine machine, and does everything that people says it does, and then some. But for me, for my own personal preferences, it turns out that I get more joy from riding a slow bike fast, commuting/lane splitting is way easier on the SV, and I value comfort for multi day rides more than I value performance. Part of me would swap it instantly for a well farkled Wee Strom, but a bigger part of me still hopes that I’ll fall in love with it some day. Interestingly, back in the 80's I sold my daily driver, an XS 650 to buy the shiny new FJ 1200, and after a couple of years I sold it because I didn’t fall in love with it. Maybe the moral of the story is that I don’t get along with the FJ designation! Personal tastes are weird.