First ride on a demo bike

[kneedeaggeemjb]

I located a demo bike at a local dealership so I went in for a test ride. It was about 40 degrees and sunny. I was extremely impressed with the bike! It felt very smooth, balanced, and nimble. I was also very impressed with the power. I got on the throttle pretty hard in 2nd gear and could feel the front wheel coming up. The wind screen seemed to blast the wind right in my face so more than likely when I purchase my FJ I will be exploring aftermarket options. When I got off of the bike I was surprised by the awkward kick stand position. The only other bike I've ridden with a poor side stand location is the 1290 super duke. Not a deal breaker though. It's not a problem if you're riding the bike. ☺️

[wessie]

Good fun aren't they? You get used to the position of the stand. I think the engineer who designs the position for Yamaha's sidestands is very tall as the one on my last bike, the Super Tenere, was even more awkward to begin with, for people of normal height.

[jimf]

Good fun aren't they? You get used to the position of the stand. I think the engineer who designs the position for Yamaha's sidestands is very tall as the one on my last bike, the Super Tenere, was even more awkward to begin with, for people of normal height.

I've always been of the opinion that the sidestands are tacked on as an afterthought.  Most of them are unbelievably hard to access. 
The stand on my Daytona has no protruding member and it's luck, even after 7 years of ownership, as to whether or not I can catch its shaft with my heel and make it go down.  A tab would have been very helpful.  (I recently saw a great mod where someone attached a RAM ball to a sidestand shaft.  Wish I'd thought of that, it would have worked well!)
 
The 2014 Versys I rented last year had a tab, but it was located just behind the peg.  If you didn't push the peg out of the way before extension then you couldn't fully extend it because your leg would hit the back of the peg.  I did get used to this in a couple of days, but it was awkward.
 
I borrowed a R1200RS from a friend once and on return I wasn't able to even reach the sidestand to put it down -- it was located far forward on the bike, and the tab you're supposed to push on was out of reach of my 28" inseam.  On the plus side it was not obstructed by anything, but it was well out of position compared to every other bike I've ever ridden.  The weirdest thing is that I'd not had any trouble at all putting it up.
 
The FJ's sidestand is one of the better ones I've seen in recent years.  It's a little busy down there, lying between the peg and the centerstand bits, but I didn't have any trouble extending it even just sitting on the display bike the first time.