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Anyone ever owned either a BMW 1200GS or Yamaha FJ1300?

Sactown2008

Sactown2008

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Commented to a friend on FB one of my Bucket List is a ride across the USA and back(two different routes). The wife said, "Buy a Sport Tourer and I will go with you."

My friend just got back from Sacramento though Mexico(4500 miles) on his BMW 600 GS. He said, "Get the BMW 1200 GS to take the wife," but another friend said, "Buy a 2013 Yamaha FJ1300 and she won't hate you buy the time you get to Reno."

Any thoughts on comfy two up touring(no Goldwings or HD)?

:dontknow:
 
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I can't vouch personally but I hear great things about the FJR...
And it's a Yammie...

Myself I would go with the yammie because I know first hand on Yamaha reliability and part availability vs BMW.
I mean the Duc Multistrada for example Is a great touring bike as long as it doesn't break down, if it does you are probably screwed for 4 months waiting on parts to be hand built in Italy... (slight exaggeration) but you get the point.
Also more likely to find a shop that will work on the fjr if you do have issues...

That's just my .02
 
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Yamaha!

One more to consider is the super tenere. I have been doing a lot of research lately on big adv bikes and have decided on the tenere. While the bmw is a great bike the big yamaha is, IMHO, right there with it. By lurking on the adv forum site it would seem many prefer the tenere to the gs, or have had too many reliability issues with the bmw and went yamaha. It seems the tenere has a reputation for reliability and ease of maintenance that exceeds the bmw. The tenere is comfortable to ride two up and with the panniers and top box would make an excellent touring bike.

On the other hand I have a buddy with an fjr that has 30k trouble free miles on it. I have ridden it and must say it is a very nice bike. More comfortable than my fz, gobs of power and has a lot of storage with the side cases and top box as well. I think the advantage of the fjr would be price, I have seen many low mile used for sale in the $6.5-8k range.

Good luck in your search. Keep us posted!
 
Doug (OneSizeFitsAll) had an FJR1300 and I think he put over 90,000 miles on his. He would be a wealth of information for you on this subject. :Rockon:
 
I had a 2006 FJR for a couple of years (shouldn't have sold it). The longest I was on it in one trip was only three hours, so I don't have any long trip experience with it. The electronically adjustable windscreen is a really nice feature. They are very nice motorcycles. The only drawback I felt was that I was always wishing it had a 6th gear. See if you can get a chance to ride one, I think you will like it. It is heavier than the FZ1 though and that takes some getting used to.
 
returnrider said:
One more to consider is the super tenere. I have been doing a lot of research lately on big adv bikes and have decided on the tenere. While the bmw is a great bike the big yamaha is, IMHO, right there with it. By lurking on the adv forum site it would seem many prefer the tenere to the gs, or have had too many reliability issues with the bmw and went yamaha. It seems the tenere has a reputation for reliability and ease of maintenance that exceeds the bmw. The tenere is comfortable to ride two up and with the panniers and top box would make an excellent touring bike.

On the other hand I have a buddy with an fjr that has 30k trouble free miles on it. I have ridden it and must say it is a very nice bike. More comfortable than my fz, gobs of power and has a lot of storage with the side cases and top box as well. I think the advantage of the fjr would be price, I have seen many low mile used for sale in the $6.5-8k range.

Good luck in your search. Keep us posted!
Click to expand...

All good points. Dustin knew my FJR as he witnessed it's demise by Bambi. Just shy of 90k that sad day. With normal care these bikes can rack up 200k no problem. You will want a top case for storage and comfort for her to lean back on.
Cross country on the FJR is no problem if you two think you can pack that light. The FJR has more tuppreware to get behind on bad weather and high wind areas than the Tenere plus you will get better mpg on the FJR. Big winds will be a factor crossing the desert and the plains.

My question is why not a Goldwing? I replaced my FJR with a Wing and love it. Rode it 5,500 miles last summer to Minnesota and back and enjoyed every minute of it. The Wing rides so much smoother and handles the weather better than any other bike I own. For pillion comfort the wing can't be beat plus more storage too. If you keep the FZ1 it is close to the FJR whereas the Wing and 1 are much more different bikes.

From what you have posted about the difficulty you had just riding to Reno, I do recommend you knock out a few multi state rides before you even try a cross country adventure. A good start is from Sac to Ely, Nevada and back the next day. Back to back 450 mile days will let you know if you are up to the big ride. It's farther on a bike than you may think plus they do get weather back east in the summer so rain gear etc is a must and every bit of packing space is important when you have to share the space with a pillion.

Anybody can ride any bike across the country but at my age comfort sure makes it more fun.
 
Good points

OneSizeFitsAll said:
All good points. Dustin knew my FJR as he witnessed it's demise by Bambi. Just shy of 90k that sad day. With normal care these bikes can rack up 200k no problem. You will want a top case for storage and comfort for her to lean back on.
Cross country on the FJR is no problem if you two think you can pack that light. The FJR has more tuppreware to get behind on bad weather and high wind areas than the Tenere plus you will get better mpg on the FJR. Big winds will be a factor crossing the desert and the plains.

My question is why not a Goldwing? I replaced my FJR with a Wing and love it. Rode it 5,500 miles last summer to Minnesota and back and enjoyed every minute of it. The Wing rides so much smoother and handles the weather better than any other bike I own. For pillion comfort the wing can't be beat plus more storage too. If you keep the FZ1 it is close to the FJR whereas the Wing and 1 are much more different bikes.

From what you have posted about the difficulty you had just riding to Reno, I do recommend you knock out a few multi state rides before you even try a cross country adventure. A good start is from Sac to Ely, Nevada and back the next day. Back to back 450 mile days will let you know if you are up to the big ride. It's farther on a bike than you may think plus they do get weather back east in the summer so rain gear etc is a must and every bit of packing space is important when you have to share the space with a pillion.

Anybody can ride any bike across the country but at my age comfort sure makes it more fun.
Click to expand...

While I realize the Goldwimg has many more creature comforts than the fjr it is also HUGE! LOL! If price happens to be an issue I have noticed the Wing is usually about twice the price. That being said, I would love to test ride one of those road sofas. So, anytime you are coming through the Portland area let me know. I will buy you lunch and maybe we can swap motos for a bit?
 
A Wing is huge?? It only weighs 909 lbs :jaw drop:

Actually with the low center of gravity it's only the parking lot stuff that takes a bit more thought. Once moving the Hippo loses most of it's bulk and handles quite well for a bike that size. I have dragged the peds at 80+ mph 2 up no problem but it is not a sport bike. It is the most "planted" bike I have ridden on wet roads or high cross winds. Another benefit is that my KTM feels like a mini bike after riding the Hondapotamas.

A good time to check out the FJR's , Wing's and a few BMW's will be this summer in Sparks, Nevada. I am still real active on the FJR forum and we are having a gathering July 10-13 at the Western Village Inn
Homepage

Anyone and any bike is welcome so book a room now for better rates (you can cancel if you can't make it) and come over to Sparks for some summer fun. Plenty of great roads to the north and south of Lake Tahoe to escape the heat and enjoy the views. They evenings will be full of tire kicking and bench racing.
 
I have a BMW 1150RT and a 1200GSA I recently picked up (plus Ducati's interpretation of a sport tourer, which is way different than BMW's interpretation) . The Mrs. has an FZ1 that I ride from time to time and I've ridden a few FJR's but probably never more than about 30 miles in one sitting. Here's my 2 cents (I've ridden all of these bikes except the GW, but I've heard they are surprisingly good).

If you want the maximum comfort for your passenger, go the touring bike route and get a GW. As mentioned earlier, they are probably better than you think if you have not ridden one.

If you want the ultimate sport tourer, check out the BMW K1600GT. Possibly the GTL if you want to tip it to more passenger comfort at the sacrifice of sportiness.

If you are tall and want to maximize your comfort, check out a BMW1200GSA. I'm 6'3" and the legroom is great. Plus you can throw some moderate dirt sidetrips in. Go 1200GS if you are closer to 6'. You should check out the other big adventure bikes also. They all should perform really well for sport touring duty. My wife, Lytehouse on this forum, likes the comfort on the back of an RT better than a GSA though.

If you want 2-up with a heavy emphasis on sport, check out a Ducati Multistrata 1200. Your passenger probably won't be as happy on a cross country trip though.

If you want a good compromise between comfort and sporty handling by virtue of being one of the lightest bikes in this class (but not the most powerful), check out the BMW 1200RT. I've done a lot of 2-up trips on my 1150RT.

If you want the most bang for your buck I'd put the FJR near the top of the list. Lot's of power and Yamaha reliability, though I've never had a reliability issue with any of my BMW's or Ducati. I do find the FJR's a little short on legroom, might be an issue if you have a long inseam.

There are so many good bikes out there, you (and your passenger) really need to sit on them and ride them if possible.
 
I have both an FZ1 and an FJR in my stable. For a long trip, the FJR wins, hands down. I have not ridden pillion on it, so I don't know how it stacks up, comfort wise, for a passenger. I think it would be way more comfortable than the GS would be.

I have heard that the 'Wing is the utmost in passenger comfort (I have several friends who ride pillion and love it) with the trade off being the weight and the loss of sportyness.

My two cents: FJR.
 
Go with the FJR.

I own a 2006 FJR (maybe COS FZ1's old one?) and the primary reason I bought it was for extended long distance and 2 up riding.

I also have a 09 FZ1 that I picked up just before winter because I wanted a smaller (cheaper? hopefully) bike to ride solo other than the FJR.

FWIW, previous bikes were an R1 and FZ6.

My wife and I have done several 2 up rides on the FJR including a couple of over night ones. The two big rides we've done on that bike were a trip to Mesa Verde (3 days, 1000 miles) and the devil's spine in Arizona last year (4 days, 1700 miles).

With the stock seat my wife would get sore but once we picked up a Russell Day Long saddle that cleared it right up. 500+ mile days are no problem from a comfort stand point.

The downside of 2 up riding in it makes for one heavy bike.

The FJR starts off at 640 pounds, throw on 2 riders, side bags and a top rack and both riders are in track suits (think: heavy) the bike is tipping the scales at 1000 to 1100 pounds.

I lost my breaks from brake fade (overheating) on the spine last year after 20 miles of first gear, break, first gear break starting from the Clifton section of the spine (nothing but hair pins).

Fully loaded the bike feels like a pig at low speeds and I found myself bottoming out the stock suspension a lot. Twisties at higher speeds however (50mph and above) the bike just glides along, even 2 up.

Even with this weight it can still cruise at 100 and slowly get up to 120. Passing cars is not a problem even 2 up all though when you go back to riding solo you'll remember just how much power the bike has.

So my advice... get the FJR.

Plus, their bullet proof.

Sactown2008 said:
Commented to a friend on FB one of my Bucket List is a ride across the USA and back(two different routes). The wife said, "Buy a Sport Tourer and I will go with you."

My friend just got back from Sacramento though Mexico(4500 miles) on his BMW 600 GS. He said, "Get the BMW 1200 GS to take the wife," but another friend said, "Buy a 2013 Yamaha FJ1300 and she won't hate you buy the time you get to Reno."

Any thoughts on comfy two up touring(no Goldwings or HD)?

:dontknow:
Click to expand...
 
The bottom line is your budget. Both bikes are good choices. It might take you a week or longer to get adjusted to a Goldwing or other full sized touring bike while you could get up on a FJR or GS and be good after a couple of hundred miles.

I would definitely go with an FJR if purchasing and put the money saved toward decent hotels and meals. The GS is a budget breaker which would force me to sleep in a tent and eat cold Spaghetti-Os right out of the can.

IF you have an option to rent at a reasonable cost, I would go that direction for a trip across the U.S. and rentals usualy come with no hassle road hazard.
 
I owned an FJR1300 (2005) and can't say enough good things about it. Throw some Heli bars on it and a comfort seat set for you and your passenger and I think you'll have a great time.

I also added a top case as suggested above and couldn't agree more. Makes all the difference in the world for your passenger and stores a lot of spares.

I have also owned a full blown touring bike from BMW, the K1200LTC. Having owned something like the gold wing in the BMW and the FJR I personally would take the FJR every single time.

I must say I rode the BMW 1200LTC from Orlando to Tennessee and didn't have any problems, but I would say the FJR was just as good on the highway and it truly felt like a smaller, less tiring bike to ride. Less heft equaled more enjoyment for me, even though the BMW had a CD changer, intercom system, and all the bells and whistles. I didn't find the 1200LTC to be significantly more comfortable and neither did my passenger, but I've never done anything as crazy as a cross country ride.

Hopefully this helps.

b
 
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