raYzerman wrote: ↑Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:00 pm
I wouldn't change a thing with the current 5 speed....
However, the current bike is NOT a five-speed, it is a six-speed.
I'm sure if I live long enough to need another FJR replacement, and a newer model 5 speed is not available...I'm sure the 6-speed will be just fine...if they are still making FJRs then.
My little CBR250 had a 6spd. It was fun banging it through the gears with 2 Bros on it. The difference was, that bike needed all the help it could get to keep it in the 'powerband'. I like to think the FJR is at the other end of spectrum. Power for days with useful grunt available everywhere in the RPM range. I suspect the bike would still be quite good with a 3 speed. How often do you get lazy and leave in to to high a gear and let the torque cover up your laziness.
The 6 speed is non-feature in my eyes, sort of like the adjustable side vents on the Gen 3's.
Now, the slipper clutch and traction control are genuine driveline improvements.
Slipper clutch can be had for ~U$300 or so in parts for direct retrofit. All Gen3's have TCS..... 2016+ got new emissions firmware...... but I'll find out at EOM if a Tracer 900 GT is in the future when good used ones come up.....
FJRPittsburgh loved this
Keep yer stick on the ice........... (Red Green)
Duct tape can't fix stupid, but it can sure muffle the sound.
I have gotten 48-49 mpg a few times and saw 50 mpg once. For those times when you slab it (75-80 mph), would it have be very difficult to pull off getting 50-52 mpg with a 6th gear? Outside of marketing to keep up with the others, an opportunity was missed to do something I don't think the others can do, say at 80 mph to get over 50 mpg. Or are we already getting the best MPG we can get out of this motor? ....if we are that's fine, it's a solid motor so please don't screw with it Yamaha.
deang wrote: ↑Mon Sep 24, 2018 1:51 pm
I have gotten 48-49 mpg a few times and saw 50 mpg once. For those times when you slab it (75-80 mph), would it have be very difficult to pull off getting 50-52 mpg with a 6th gear? Outside of marketing to keep up with the others, an opportunity was missed to do something I don't think the others can do, say at 80 mph to get over 50 mpg. Or are we already getting the best MPG we can get out of this motor? ....if we are that's fine, it's a solid motor so please don't screw with it Yamaha.
What does 2 or 3 mpg get you? f@$k all. You don't buy an FJR for the fuel economy.
I get 27mpg in western Kansas. If I wanted fuel economy, I would get an environmentally raping Prius...or an electric bike...Mining metals has it's own costs...but I don't give a crap. I want that 148 hp at the crank.
With my schedule, annual mileage, and the emotional and financial scars from riding BMW, I like me some warranty. I’ll be trading into a new leftover 2018 (if I don’t like the 2019 color), or a new 2019 (If I do like the 2019 color). I’d really like to break 100,000 miles under warranty. So I know I got the most of it. I’m only about 18,000 short, and I’ve got a year left of Y.E.S.. The longer I have my 2014, the more I love it. Riding makes me want ride more. It’s like cocaine. Or so I hear.
And hanging out with a metric shitload of other FJR’s and jet fuel snorting miscreants for a couple of days in the NC mountains just ruins a man’s objectivity completely.
BikerGeek, jwilly, BkerChuck and 2 others loved this
I’m not sure, man. You are on my list of people that I think were there, but I didn’t actually identify and meet. There were some northerners at the table. I was sitting with my lovely wife across from danH and his motormaid better half. My back was to the door nearest the Tiki Bar. Which turned out to be convenient, for several of us.
Josh and I burned a tank that included 100-ish miles across Nevada with the first number on the speedo showing "9" the whole way. I think I got 36 or 37 mpg for that tank.
Wheatie must have been flying, man....
"I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living. Or get busy dying."
- Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption
I was just following 3 other Midwestern bozos on the way to NAFO in 2008. It weren't no big thang...but it was fun. Had to tank up a little earlier than normal though.
wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon Sep 24, 2018 5:26 pm
If you told me all I could ride is my ol' 2004 FJR...I would still be a very happy man. This is the machine that got me 27mpg in western Kansas.
I've done the same on my 07. Probably had something to do with being fully loaded in side bags and trunk, with wifey on the back and Vstream shield installed. Oh yeah, going 120mph UP mountain passes might have contributed to poor fuel economy.
wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Tue Sep 25, 2018 1:30 pm
I was just following 3 other Midwestern bozos on the way to NAFO in 2008. It weren't no big thang...but it was fun. Had to tank up a little earlier than normal though.
I seem to remember our cross-country trip in 2010. I had led for a couple of days. I asked Rob or Tom to lead for a bit.
"We don't know the route"
"Ya, just stay on I90 till you need gas"
Now, what part of that means empty your gas tank as quickly as possible?
Tom led and Rob followed. Next thing I know, I can no longer see them. I ran significantly faster than the speed limit trying to get them back in site. I realized if their running that fast, they're rabbits. The FJR gets really happy at near nominal. I kept an eye out under bridges, no smokies.. It was then I realized I really need to stop for gas. Boom! Gas station. Tom and Rob, helmets off, halfway through their bevies... To this day, they won't cop to how fast they were going. I'm guessing it was a failed attempt to ditch me
I haven't seen much difference in mpg's between a 6 speed vs 5 speed gen 3's and 2's. I followed a '14 around most of the Colorado mountains after nafo 16 and we both filled up literally within a few ounces of each other each time. I followed Southland's '10 out through west Texas while doing a bbg, we stayed at 85 mph or more for just about the whole way and averaged about 36 mpg. There was one stretch where we needed to go 220 miles, he switched to his reserve tank about 10 miles before the exit.
We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.
Probably had something to do with being fully loaded in side bags and trunk, with wifey on the back and Vstream shield installed. Oh yeah, going 120mph UP mountain passes might have contributed to poor fuel economy. 
