Taking the FJR off-road

[CraigRegs]

I've ridden the FJR on miles of gravel with MC tire and now a CT. Hard packed is obviously less butt-puckering than freshly laid or graded. Turns are taken at a crawl, but straight line, I'm often comfortable at 50mph on hard pack. Like dirt bikes, you gotta keep your head up and hand off the front brake. Hell, Ray even sent me to Paulina Peak at Reuben Run last year. Hard pack, but washboard was terrible. The suspension was having all it could handle, so I did slow to a walk and stood on the pegs until my thighs were on fire. (Chill out, Bust.)

It can be done. Just know how to pick up the pig, should it happen.

[wheatonFJR]

There was a guy in northern Illinois a few years back in 2006 or so that agreed to ride with me out to Galena and back for a day ride. He evidently had done it a few times so I followed him on the back roads from his house in Dekalb.

We came to a road out in the country south and east of the metropolis of Elizabeth...so Gary charged ahead and it seemed like 6 inches of fresh laid crushed limestone on a highly crowned road. I have never ridden a dirt bike, never ridden on gravel, my first bike was a CB 550F I paid for myself for road riding. So this 2004 FJR is slowly moving off to the right through this thick gravel with the crown of the road. If it kept up much longer I'd be off the road. I was scared to have any steering input on the stuff. Anyways, I put input in and got towards where I should be and continued on. I have never been so unnerved on the FJR. Well, the rest of the day was fun, or atleast as much fun you can have in Illinois without a bag of dicks. Bear Gary had enough sense never to go out on another day ride again with me. Was it something I said?

[Powerman]

Loose gravel ain't fun, but you have to just go with it dirt tracker style. Agressive with the throttle, easy with the brakes.

Missed my turn and made the mistake of following a dual sport group back to the campground. Turned around on the gravel when they said the next 1 1/2 miles was mud.

[Festus]

Some encouragement....

[Bounce]

The Fenda Extenda will help prevent holing your radiator in gravel as will an aftermarket metal radiator guard such as this one from Cox Racing
http://www.coxracingroup.com/RG-YAMAHA-FJR-1300-07-11_4

The Fenda Extenda may not offer as much protection against rocks as the metal screen but definitely is better for the fine gravel and grit that gets permanently trapped in the radiator fins. (I have both on my 2011) The OEM plastic rad guard is better than nothing but I wouldn't count on it - I had a couple of the plastic grids broken, picked out a couple rocks and had to straighten some bent fins on my '07 (without extra protection) but fortunately no punctures.

I forgot that I also have the Cox screen too. Thanks for the reminder.

[wheatonFJR]

Nice test ride! I wonder if he bought it?

[Bugs]

Thx for all the input!

My takeaway from the comments is that the FJR off-road handling is impacted primarily due to:
• Weight – particularly the weight on the front made worse by the lean-forward rider position.
• Tires which allow more sideways slip in uneven terrain
• Smaller wheels that don’t ride as easily over uneven terrain
• FJR Rake vs. other bikes

Techniques to maximize the FJR performance off-road:
• Be aggressive on the throttle
• Shift your weight back
• Easy on the front brakes
• Light touch on the handlebars – let the FJR have its way to some degree
• Keep the RPM up for control
• Stand-up for better balance and to absorb the bumps
• Turn off the Traction Control

These techniques are, in large part, dirt-riding fundamentals. I may have validated them on my short dirt ride. The dirt road to the range is a downhill slope of about 7%. I was uncomfortable on the ride down, but much more relaxed on the way back up. Thinking back, my ride up the hill was after gaining a bit of dirt experience on the ride down, needing throttle to climb the hill, weight naturally placed farther back due to the slope and no need for front (or rear) brakes.

Bottom line is that I just need to reinforce and apply these techniques while getting more FJR dirt time.

Oh – and remember to turn off Traction Control (Thx Russ!)

[danh600]

Thx for all the input!

My takeaway from the comments is that the FJR off-road handling is impacted primarily due to:
• Weight – particularly the weight on the front made worse by the lean-forward rider position.
• Tires which allow more sideways slip in uneven terrain
• Smaller wheels that don’t ride as easily over uneven terrain
• FJR Rake vs. other bikes

Techniques to maximize the FJR performance off-road:
• Be aggressive on the throttle
• Shift your weight back
• Easy on the front brakes
• Light touch on the handlebars – let the FJR have its way to some degree
• Keep the RPM up for control
• Stand-up for better balance and to absorb the bumps
• Turn off the Traction Control

These techniques are, in large part, dirt-riding fundamentals. I may have validated them on my short dirt ride. The dirt road to the range is a downhill slope of about 7%. I was uncomfortable on the ride down, but much more relaxed on the way back up. Thinking back, my ride up the hill was after gaining a bit of dirt experience on the ride down, needing throttle to climb the hill, weight naturally placed farther back due to the slope and no need for front (or rear) brakes.

Bottom line is that I just need to reinforce and apply these techniques while getting more FJR dirt time.

Oh – and remember to turn off Traction Control (Thx Russ!)

Good summary.

I would say be aggressive on the throttle is a relative term.

I am not going to be roosting like a dirt biker. I have never really seen the need to turn off the traction control. I know dirt bikers hate ABS and TC. However, with the little dirt most of us are going to do at low speeds I don't see how either is going to effect us.

I have to come down a little hill when I reach my gate. I always apply enough back brake to test the ABS. Seems like a good time to check it.
I do not check the front ABS.

[HotRodZilla]

I have to come down a little hill when I reach my gate. I always apply enough back brake to test the ABS. Seems like a good time to check it.
I do not check the front ABS.

Chicken!! Haha!!

I agree that "aggressive" on the throttle is not how I would describe it. The FJR is a big girl to put into a slide and try to catch. I've spun the rear, screwing around, but never for long. I think smooth is a better word than aggressive. Don't hammer it either way, and it'll be fine.

[Pterodactyl]

I used to activate the front and rear ABS while coming downhill on the gravel road that leads to our place. Every time I could feel the front end trying to slide off to the right. Without ABS my FJR would have been down in a flash.

[Uncle Hud]

I can honestly say that going up a very steep and very rain rutted gravel road presents challenges that the FJR and rider cannot always overcome.

Do you mean the driveway to Turk's place and SFO?

[John d]

I can honestly say that going up a very steep and very rain rutted gravel road presents challenges that the FJR and rider cannot always overcome.

Do you mean the driveway to Turk's place and SFO?

Um, no.
Try Wolf Mountain Rd. 1760 going north to Explorer Rd. 1756 in NC. Don't stop for a look-see, just go.

Should be easy for a dirt bike.

[wheatonFJR]

I can honestly say that going up a very steep and very rain rutted gravel road presents challenges that the FJR and rider cannot always overcome.

Do you mean the driveway to Turk's place and SFO?

Um, no.
Try Wolf Mountain Rd. 1760 going north to Explorer Rd. 1756 in NC. Don't stop for a look-see, just go.

Should be easy for a dirt bike.

Sounds like a waypoint on a future group ride.

[Hack]

All this said...

Who would ride an FJR to Tuk...?

Dempster hwy...

Serious question. Can it/should it be done..?

[Cav47]

YES, I am down for it. I just need to take a month off to actually enjoy it. I am going to go sometime. Most likely will not be on the FJR. But I could see doing it on a Dual Sport. Maybe not my KLX 250, but it would do just fine given the pace I would like to travel and the roads I would like to ride.

[wheatonFJR]

Loose gravel ain't fun, but you have to just go with it dirt tracker style. Agressive with the throttle, easy with the brakes.

Missed my turn and made the mistake of following a dual sport group back to the campground. Turned around on the gravel when they said the next 1 1/2 miles was mud.

Somewhere on my old phone was a picture of petey standing on some muddy road next to his muddied up '13 that just took a dump. This after after some local yahoo at SW-Fog took him down the road after petey had quizzed him repeatedly if there was gravel on this route. Maybe the guy answered truthfully, maybe he didn't. But if you looked at petey's face in the photo, you would have died from the nails being spit at you. It was classic. NEVER get petey mad. EVER. I doubt that I can find that photo, it is likely lost to the ether...but it was unforgettable.

[ionbeam]

Arizona, south of Tuscon. Miles and miles of dirt and gravel. Stock suspension, street tires. There were a few places where I had to stand on the pegs. Essentially it wasn't a problem -- except for the Border Patrol, both on dirt and pavement.





The only issue was deep sand and loose gravel in places.

[HotRodZilla]

Loose gravel ain't fun, but you have to just go with it dirt tracker style. Agressive with the throttle, easy with the brakes.

Missed my turn and made the mistake of following a dual sport group back to the campground. Turned around on the gravel when they said the next 1 1/2 miles was mud.

Somewhere on my old phone was a picture of petey standing on some muddy road next to his muddied up '13 that just took a dump. This after after some local yahoo at SW-Fog took him down the road after petey had quizzed him repeatedly if there was gravel on this route. Maybe the guy answered truthfully, maybe he didn't. But if you looked at petey's face in the photo, you would have died from the nails being spit at you. It was classic. NEVER get petey mad. EVER. I doubt that I can find that photo, it is likely lost to the ether...but it was unforgettable.

That was in Cedar City Utah. Petey was fine until the guy crossed some long muddy rutted out section of road. Petey dropped his '13 right near the end. He was PISSED!! As he should have been. Why anyone leads people on rides like that is a complete mystery to me. The guy leading should have had the brains to know other people may not want to risk that shit. It fucked up Petey's bike. He never got another FJR. He sold or traded that 13 and ended up on a BMW.

[bigjohnsd]

All this said...

Who would ride an FJR to Tuk...?

Dempster hwy...

Serious question. Can it/should it be done..?

I believe It has been done before by the woman that won the Iron Butt Rally last year, Wendy Crockett. I know I've read a post on one of the various FJR forums describing the trip.
That said riding the Dermpster or the Dalton is totally weather dependent.
I rode the Dempster in 2017 on my KLR. There were times when I had to stop and clear mud from betwixt the Fork Brace and the front tire. The first 20 miles of slop was scary as hell, after that we just soldiered on, give the girl her head. Carry plenty of tire repair strings and some internal patches as well. Practice removing your wheel and removing your tire with the tools in your kit.

The Indigenous People get paid top to maintain the road, when the Tribe/Band needs money they lay another six inches of muddy gravel on the road and start blading it. If you run across that stuff during or just after a rain storm or even a heavy shower, good luck.

In 2017 it took us two long wet days to get to Inuvik (as far as we could ride then).
The trip back to Dawson City the next day was just a shade under 12 hours and we stopped for a big lunch at Eagle Plains.

Gas should not be a problem if you fuel at the Dempster Highway Klondike Highway Junction there is a 24-hour Cardtrol like station there, a must fill as it is 225 miles to Eagle Plains. The ladies at the Northwest Territory Visitor Center in Dawson City will tell you where gas is available on the Dempster. We gassed somewhere between Eagle Plains and Fort McPherson (never pass available gasoline) and then at Fort McPherson where we spent the first night in a Motel/Mancamp. Easy run to Inuvik from there, plenty of gas in Inuvik as well as Food/Lodging. Tuk is an easy up and back from there.

I'd consider a Car Tire for the trip if it was me.

[Angus_McL]

Tuk is definitely on my bucket list. Whether or not it's on an FJR is still being debated!

When I go visit my Aunt & Uncle I've got about a km of dirt road to their house... there's no question that the 4hr ride to that intersection is perfect for the FJR, but for that last km I'm waaaay more comfortable on the DR!

A.