I don't have a lot of miles on a FJR, but do ride one occasionally. I think it handles far better than its numbers would suggest. I see no need for a 6th gear, and the brakes are fantastic. If I was going to go across the country and stay on the pavement it would be my first choice.

Quote from: Royal Tiger on December 24, 2013, 09:28:28 AM

And on that note, no one, EVEN BMW, has my bank account on stand by.  The only ST bike under 550 and over 100hp is the Ninja 1000 and it's OK, but certainly not the top of the segment.  The Futura, Sprint, ST4s, 800 Interceptor, are all gone.  The VFR1200 is fugly, over priced, and heavy.  I might have to go with a K1300S, but the bags are marginal and it's just a tick over 550.  I've read as high as 565.

You are going to have a tough time meeting those specs unless you are riding solo. Most ST bikes are made for a little passenger comfort over the long haul and that equals weight. Sure you can do it on a lighter bike like a Sprint ST or a VFR, but you give up a little bit in passenger comfort.

When you say "top of the segment", what qualifiers are you using? If you're talking electronic add-ons, with those come weight penalties. I've ridden with plenty of guys on this forum and you would be amazed at what can be done on an FJR or C14 without all the electronic gee wiz stuff stuff on it. Plenty of these guys can leave most in the dust if they choose. I'm a big fan of technology, but for some reason other than ABS, I just don't feel a huge need for it on a bike.

If you need bigger bags, you're packing too much shit. As for the bags being water proof on the FJR, I can tell you for a fact they are and haven't heard of anyone having any real problems with them.

My R1200ST is about 510lbs wet, shaft drive, 110HP, and great 2 up, with awesome bags.  Problem is if something ever happens to it, they haven't made them since 2007.  The new RT is 603lbs wet.  I also agree the Ninja 1000 seems more of a solo bike as does the F800ST/GT.

Quote from: SuperHans on December 24, 2013, 01:08:27 PM

Quote from: Royal Tiger on December 24, 2013, 09:28:28 AM

And on that note, no one, EVEN BMW, has my bank account on stand by.  The only ST bike under 550 and over 100hp is the Ninja 1000 and it's OK, but certainly not the top of the segment.  The Futura, Sprint, ST4s, 800 Interceptor, are all gone.  The VFR1200 is fugly, over priced, and heavy.  I might have to go with a K1300S, but the bags are marginal and it's just a tick over 550.  I've read as high as 565.

You are going to have a tough time meeting those specs unless you are riding solo. Most ST bikes are made for a little passenger comfort over the long haul and that equals weight. Sure you can do it on a lighter bike like a Sprint ST or a VFR, but you give up a little bit in passenger comfort.

When you say "top of the segment", what qualifiers are you using? If you're talking electronic add-ons, with those come weight penalties. I've ridden with plenty of guys on this forum and you would be amazed at what can be done on an FJR or C14 without all the electronic gee wiz stuff stuff on it. Plenty of these guys can leave most in the dust if they choose. I'm a big fan of technology, but for some reason other than ABS, I just don't feel a huge need for it on a bike.

If you need bigger bags, you're packing too much shit. As for the bags being water proof on the FJR, I can tell you for a fact they are and haven't heard of anyone having any real problems with them.

My R1200ST is about 510lbs wet, shaft drive, 110HP, and great 2 up, with awesome bags.  Problem is if something ever happens to it, they haven't made them since 2007.  The new RT is 603lbs wet.  I also agree the Ninja 1000 seems more of a solo bike as does the F800ST/GT.

The R1200RT was a very nice bike that hit that sweet spot, but for whatever reason it never caught on and had a short production run.

Those FJR do you give you the best bang for the buck and they look good doing it. 

I love reading threads like this.  It helps me to remember that there is no perfect bike.  The FJR may come close in some ways for many people and be an utter FAIL for others. 

Personally while I love the concept of the FJR it's let down by the weight and the I4 motor.  I just plain like a lighter bike and the I4 motor leaves me very non-plussed. 

A bike I truly wanted to love was the Futura.  I loved everything about the bike except…it didn't come with ABS.  That's a deal breaker for me.  Well, that and no dealer anywhere near me…

IMO, LIGHT is still the #1 thing we, the general ST community, continue to pine away for.  Light weight.  It's just plain hard to argue with light weight. 

Ideally, you would want to mate a shaft drive to a V-twin power plant to attain sport touring Nirvana.

Too bad they don't make anything good like this.

Quote from: Orson on January 01, 2014, 11:34:46 AM

Ideally, you would want to mate a shaft drive to a V-twin power plant to attain sport touring Nirvana.

Too bad they don't make anything good like this.

They did.  It was called the Suzuki VX800.  Remember that piece of awesomeness? 

In the nearly 40 years of making Goldwings, Honda has never put in a 6th gear.

5 has fit them just fine.   I used to think it was an oversight.  But having put over 100k miles on various models, I have to say, they did, and continue to do just fine.

And, yes, I know my consolidated 100k miles is NOTHING compared to what others have done with their Goldwings.