sanfranciscoriderr Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 I rode the FJ-09 for the first time and really enjoyed the bike. I was impressed by the power it had. I tried to capture my experiences at the following: This motorcycle was released shortly after i had purchased another adventure motorcycle, and i wish i had waited and known about the FJ-09 !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trench Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Honest evaluation is always good to hear so thanks. Frankly, I was surprised about your ratings. Some of them seem at odds with the riding experience and are quite bizarre to me. This is the highest price to value ratio bike likely yet you think pricing is average. The engine and excitement are top notch, not average. The brakes are average, the screen is below average, the seat is far below average. Anyone who is riding these bikes consistently know this. I would only encourage a deep scoring system after a longer term test not a short test with then read out during a ride of another bike. Just my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mica Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 This motorcycle was released shortly after i had purchased another adventure motorcycle hmmm. What features make you consider this an adventure bike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trench Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Your rhetorical question is sound. If you are comparing the FJ to a classic ADV bike then you haven't gotten to know the FJ. You've mistaken a geometry and center stand for adventure. The usual bikes compared are not like for like. Naked sports bike with touring clothes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbezerkeley Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 [div align=left]Just got back last night from an 1100 mile Northern California ride, crossing the 4000 mile mark on my FJ. After droning up I5 rode hwys 36, 299, 89, 44, 139, and some rough Forest Service roads (15, 49 136, 73) through Lassen. Modoc, Shasta, Trinity, Lava Beds parks.. Over the fourth of July I did 1500 miles in the same general areas, motorcycle paradise! After some apprehensions at buying this strange bike, what is it really, a sporty standard? ... I'm falling in love with it, and the thing I like the most is the torque in gears 3, 4, 5 ....On tight roads you can leave it in 3'd, on slightly less tight roads you can leave it in 4th, and on wide sweepers can leave it in 5th, and in A mode it just RIPS. I learned on 80 miles of 15mph gravelly washboard forest service roads that it's NOT an adventure tourer, and will keep it on real roads from now on. When I first got it I left it in B mode, which is pretty rough, then started leaving it in Standard mode. What I came to appreciate on this last ride is A mode, what a difference, engine is smoother, and so much power, even sounds better. A problem I'm having is speeding tickets, the first one came before the plates arrived, and god bless the officer for letting me off with a warning on this trip. It's almost impossible to stay within the speed limit on these empty highways, just prior to the warning at 85mph I'd been cruising at speeds up to 110mph. 85mph really is where it likes to settle in, and where I got my ticket and warning. The only thing that needs improving is the seat, sure feels hard at 100 miles, padded bicycle shorts under the leathers are a big help, but not the ultimate solution. A lot of complaints about the windshield, but my Shoe helmet with earplugs is very quiet and aerodynamic, I haven't felt the need to move my screen from the mid position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanfranciscoriderr Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Honest evaluation is always good to hear so thanks. Frankly, I was surprised about your ratings. Some of them seem at odds with the riding experience and are quite bizarre to me. This is the highest price to value ratio bike likely yet you think pricing is average. The engine and excitement are top notch, not average. The brakes are average, the screen is below average, the seat is far below average. Anyone who is riding these bikes consistently know this. I would only encourage a deep scoring system after a longer term test not a short test with then read out during a ride of another bike. Just my opinion Hey Trench - I think you make some very good points, considering you and riders here have more experience on the FJ 09 than me, and I appreciate the input ! I think the video you were referring to on my conclusion is the following one where I did the ratings that you don't agree with. When I wrote the post earlier (I thought it was an adventure bike) as it looks to have some off road capabilities, and looks like an adventure style ride, but I went through another FJ09 video of mine and had noted that it has more sports than adventure in it, see this one (where my remarks are at the end) I agree that I may have not got everything accurate about the FJ09 but would love to be corrected, as I would like to capture your feedback and real life FJ09 owners and consolidate it in a potential "Real Life FJ-09 Owners feedback" video to do absolute justice to the FJ09, I like the FJ-09 motorcycle a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jimf Posted September 8, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 8, 2015 [div align=left]It's almost impossible to stay within the speed limit on these empty highways, just prior to the warning at 85mph I'd been cruising at speeds up to 110mph. 85mph really is where it likes to settle in, and where I got my ticket and warning. Oh, so it's not just me :-). In all honesty I was very surprised that I am riding the FJ faster, especially on highways, than my old Daytona 675 (aka "racebike with lights"). The Daytona was bloody fast everywhere but by 80mph the the ride was pretty busy -- the motor would be running 7000rpm or so IIRC, just starting to pull hard, making some noise, and with my body mostly in the airstream I felt the motion keenly. In contrast the FJ is running more like 5000rpm at the same speed, the motor/exhaust is much quieter, and the windscreen (especially if I'm running the Ermax touring screen) keeps the wind off pretty well. It feels relaxed even at rather supra-legal speeds. It has taken some recalibrating so as to avoid the blinky blue light guys. It's also taken recalibration for snap passes on the highway. Whereas the Daytona was into the meat of the powerband at highway speeds in 6th, the FJ isn't. It takes a downshift to 5th to get the rpms up to the point where it has the same kind of responsiveness. The FJ is also so much easier to ride fast on the technical twisties. The wide bar makes turning soooo easy, and it's easy to ride on the torque in a single gear rather than lots of shifting between 2/3/4 as I would do on the Daytona. It was always hard work on the Daytona. OTOH, the suspension on the Daytona would eat up choppy roads pretty well whereas the FJ tends to skitter, so ultimately I could go faster on a lot of mountain roads on the Daytona. I just had to earn it. :-) 2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate) 2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.) 1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.) 2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.) 2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trench Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 This is a worthy dialog and I'd be happy to contribute. I live in the Bay Area if you want to get together and ride sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhevezi Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I was watching this video and thinking to myself, "Self, that guy on the FJ-09 in front of the reviewer has a jacket, just like mine. And a helmet, just like mine... wait a second, that's me!!" Small world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanfranciscoriderr Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 This is a worthy dialog and I'd be happy to contribute. I live in the Bay Area if you want to get together and ride sometime.Sounds cool Trench, yeah lets do it sometime for sure, cheers bro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanfranciscoriderr Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 I was watching this video and thinking to myself, "Self, that guy on the FJ-09 in front of the reviewer has a jacket, just like mine. And a helmet, just like mine... wait a second, that's me!!" Small world. thats cool man, which bike are you on and at where are you infront of me ? what time in movie ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhevezi Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I was watching this video and thinking to myself, "Self, that guy on the FJ-09 in front of the reviewer has a jacket, just like mine. And a helmet, just like mine... wait a second, that's me!!" Small world. thats cool man, which bike are you on and at where are you infront of me ? what time in movie ? I'm on the other, grey FJ-09 in front you. I was wearing my blue, Firstgear Speed jacket and my yellow/black Shoei. You pull up close to me in the final few minutes of the video. I bought a Red, FJ three weeks after the demo ride. Cool bike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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