He who had the most FJRs wins!

I've had 21 over the years. I still have 11. Most even run! Still working on getting that number lower.

SkooterG, between 2013 thru 2015, other than color differences, do you favor any one of these years over the others? I wouldn't mind a 2016, , but it seems to me that the once you look at the six speed with the movable headlights, that the price starts to go up... Anybody??

 

The cruise control top speed was lower on the 2013, like low 80s mph instead of low 100s mph like the 14+, and the the ES didn't come out until 14 I don't think, other than that and color I THINK the FJR1300A models from 2013-2015 are the same.

 

The cruise control top speed was lower on the 2013, like low 80s mph instead of low 100s mph like the 14+, and the the ES didn't come out until 14 I don't think, other than that and color I THINK the FJR1300A models from 2013-2015 are the same.

Really good to know, and thank you very much! Anybody else?? i'm really leaning toward the 2014s, I have about two or three of those in my sights.

 

If you are liking the 2014 models go for it! They are a great vintage of FJR. Better cruise control limit of 100 mph and that hot Lipstick Red paint!

I have over 440k miles on Gen I FJRs, 160k miles on Gen II, 80k miles on Gen 3, and 57k miles on Gen 4 so I like to think I am a lot smarter than I actually am. They are all good. But I will concede that I think the sweet spot is Gen 3, 2013-2014.

2013 has the lame cruise control limit of 82 mph indicated, 80 mph actual. This can be addressed by replacing the ECU with the '14 or '15 version, or getting the ECU flashed by Ivan. 2013 and the start of Gen 3 also introduced all the other goodies like heated grips, ride modes (not a big deal to me), and traction control. Also, stock suspension was a very notable upgrade from Gen 2 to Gen 3.

2014 increased cruise control limit to a more useful 102 mph indicated, or about 100 mph actual. In 2014 the Electronic Suspension model was introduced. ES suspension is a love/hate thing with some folks hating on it. I think it is an excellent compromise for the vast majority of FJR owners. But a compromise it is. If you want truly high performance suspension ready to rail in corners and on the track, or if you are a portly kind of guy, get the A model which has decent suspension, but spend the big $$$ for custom shock and fork springs and valving.

Gen 4 with the start of the 2016 models brought the 6-spd transmission. My slight preference is the 5-spd. While I like the slightly reduced rpm of the 6-spd at high speed cruising, the shift quality is not as good as the 5-spd and frankly, it's just another gear to shift. The 5-spd gearing is really the sweet spot for the FJR as far as I am concerned

Gen 4 also brought the slipper clutch which is nice for the reduced clutch effort. (It can be retrofitted to older FJRs) Also the LED headlights which I think are a HUGE improvement over previous halogen. As far as I am concerned, the cornering lights are just about useless. Only slightly helpful at parking lot speeds.

The other negative is all 2016-2020 FJRs had to have the engine torn apart for the 2nd gear recall. Not a lot of problems associated with that, but ideally I don't want my FJR's engine torn apart and put back together.

To me the biggest flaw of Gen 3+ FJRs is the weak cast aluminum front subframe that can break at the mirror mounts simply from an FJR drop. PITA to replace. A bit easier to repair, though still a PITA. Get some type of crash bars to lessen the likelihood of that problem in a tip over.

This summer I spent 8k miles on one of myGen II 2009 FJRs riding all across Europe and loved it! A great FJR. Even with just a simple throttle lock. It has custom suspension and handles awesome!

 

You just had to leave out the 2015s didn'tcha? Then again that slick, manly Liquid Graphite paint flies low and fast under most everyone's radar.

 

I can agree with Skooter's review..... the 2015 is a stealth fighter.....

 

Fantastic overview Skooter.

If you want truly high performance suspension ready to rail in corners and on the track, or if you are a portly kind of guy, get the A model which has decent suspension, but spend the big $$$ for custom shock and fork springs and valving.

As a ~240-250lb rider without gear the stock 2013+ A rear shock on "Hard" seems pretty on point, I wouldn't mind it SLIGHTLY stiffer, and obviously finely adjustable preload would be lovely, but it is really good as is IMO. For the front I didn't ride with them long and optimally would have had stiffer fork springs, but the stock 2014 A forks seemed pretty workable with maximum preload for my weight too. Whatever the heck the stock 2014 ES front was doing under my weight that jacked countersteering effort up through the roof and DRASTICALLY increased it as you leaned over further, the 2014 A was not doing it or anything even CLOSE.

Also to clarify the ES does do a REALLY good job of bottoming out softly, until I started tracking suspension travel I did NOT know how often I was pushing together hard parts.

One of these days I really need to find another stock ES to ride to see if there was something wrong with mine that was not apparent I accidentally fixed when I swapped the fork springs, or if they just normally do something wonky much after 200lbs that REALLY changes the countersteering effort and feel. I would also love to try out an aftermarket rear shock on an FJR1300 one of these days to see what all the fuss is about, but honestly it seems unlikely anything beyond an A rear shock on Hard would be much more than a very incremental upgrade for a high price, but I could be wrong.

 

Wow, gentlemen. I am very glad I asked these questions and showed my ignorance. I have learned so much more here on the FJR1300 thread than I ever learned in school.
Sounds like nobody is discouraging me from choosing a 2014 FJR, on the contrary, it seems like one of the highest recommendations. Gentlemen, I cannot thank you enough for your kind words of encouragement, wisdom, and great synopsiseseses. 👍

 

Can we PLEASE not turn this into yet another suspension thread? That topic has been beaten to death in several other threads, no need to do it again here.

Thank you.

 

Can we PLEASE not turn this into yet another suspension thread? That topic has been beaten to death in several other threads, no need to do it again here.

Thank you.

I have NO IDEA what happened in here. This was about mirrors. Yikes. Sill like mine, BTW.