At what point does one jump ship?

[Joe Sull]

ride it like you stole it,

A proverb from Frank

That's great man!!

[Pat Conlon]

Simple

When you park your FJ...do you walk about 10 ft away, only to turn around and look at her?

Yes? The fire's still burning....Keep her...

No? The magic is gone.....sell her.

[Zwartie]

When you park your FJ...do walk about 10 ft away, only to turn around and look at her?

Yes? The fire's still burning....Keep her...

Fortunately I still feel that way about my motorcycle and my wife!

Zwartie

[Pat Conlon]

Yep, I do the same thing with my Jannie....going on 39 years now....

The delima is what to do when Jann and my FJ are together.....a very tricky situation.

Jann refers to my FJ as Pat's "mistress".....so she knows...she reads me so well...

[TexasDave]

When you park your FJ...do walk about 10 ft away, only to turn around and look at her?

Yes? The fire's still burning....Keep her...

Fortunately I still feel that way about my motorcycle and my wife!

Zwartie
You are a lucky man Zwartie.

[airheadPete]

A good question.
For most of us we're of "a certain age", and the FJ really hooked us back then.
Most of us also seem to enjoy tinkering and making stuff better, and the FJ is good for that.
But for me, the main reason must be that the FJ is a fundamentally great, competent design. Yeah, newer bikes do everything better, but it's only by a matter of degrees, nothing revolutionary. The only things we are starting to really miss out on are the excellent ABS and traction control systems. Those two items might drive me to consider a new bike someday. Those two things we can't top, no matter how hard we modify.

I'd say within the last fifteen years, cars, and then bikes, have reached a level of refinement so great that what the engineers have achieved, is for the most part, unavailable to us on the street, in everyday conditions.
So your 'busa can do 120mph in second gear before it hits the limiter? Guess what, I don't fucking care.
Modern sportbike performance will leave us in the dust, but it requires committing felonies on public roads.

What we have available in our FJs in everyday conditions, is more than good enough 90+% of the time, and there is no way that I can justify the incremental performance improvement from my $1800- FJ to that $17,000- K1300S I like for that cost difference.
(I know of a couple of people who've turned in their modern liter-bikes for something with less performance because it was unusable on the street.)

She's more than good enough for me, and when I walk away, she still makes me turn around and smile...

[rusjel]

My various mosickle adventures dictate a couple of different bikes to an FJ and I can't afford three regos so, no FJ.

But in a year two FJs in Oz will be eligible for club or vintage rego and at that point I'll buy one, do it up and never sell.

So the fire is still there. Is it there for you? 

[Easterntide]

Well this thread got a lot more traction than I expected!
I'm 47 and the mid 80's motorcycle world caught my passion. That era had all kinda weird bikes trying to do all kinda weird things. Turbos/katanas/v4's/ mono shocks and on and on.  That was an era of passion and experimentation. For me that has more soul than a perfectly executed and refined generic style that today's market is seemingly full of. A new 2014 gsxr is the same as a cbr as a ninja as a ....
The orig Fj11 brochure hung tacked to my bedroom wall for more than a few years, as did the 650 honda turbo and the CBX and so on.
The nice part about the FJ is that it's still current and supported...and a really soulful ride :-)

Thanks for the fun replies...Been a pleasure to Read.

[andyb]

Yep, I do the same thing with my Jannie....going on 39 years now....

The delima is what to do when Jann and my FJ are together.....a very tricky situation.

Jann refers to my FJ as Pat's "mistress".....so she knows...she reads me so well...

Do not attempt to polish the wife.

Further, do not make comparisons in front of her.  Things like better handling, more muffling....

It goes poorly.

[Mark Olson]

Yep, I do the same thing with my Jannie....going on 39 years now....

The delima is what to do when Jann and my FJ are together.....a very tricky situation.

Jann refers to my FJ as Pat's "mistress".....so she knows...she reads me so well...

Yes Pat , My wife refers to my FJ as "the Mistress" very similar situation and she knows when I have been with the Redhead . 

[Pat Conlon]

.......Do not attempt to polish the wife.....

Au contraire mon frere....although it's true, a different technique is needed....

[pdxfj]

never give up , never surrender .

I got to spend a lot of time on a Kawasaki Concours 14/GTR1400 while in Australia and a short spell on a Triumph Tiger.

The Connie was in all respects was a fantastic bike.  My only two gripes was the way the fairing directed engine heat onto my sins and feet, and I couldn't get the suspension sorted well enough without the hard bags on the bike to make a comfortable ride on rough Aussie roads.  The former was fixed on later bikes and the latter could be taken care of with a nice aftermarket shock.

The Tiger was a completely different animal.  Very comfortable, idled like a Chevy 350 with a cam in it (cool sound).  Suspension was well sorted out but my height and the installed windscreen put my head in dirty air. With so much ground clearance it was a very odd sensation to just keep leaning and leaning and leaning into corners.  Felt like you could ride it horizontal though corners before the pegs or your feet even came close to touching the ground.

Go back about two weeks ago, I took the FJ out for the first time in about 8 months.  Hopped on it and my first thought was "wow.. this feels small..".  Put it into gear and take off.  Took three attempts to find the pegs.  My memory was still programmed for the Connie.  Was a bit surprising at how far I had to raise my feet to find the pegs.

The FJ is a great bike, and at least in my experience gains a lot of attention at fuel stops and such.  It's a well known and respected classic.  But.. there are a lot of advantages to a new(er) bike.  We all know what they are so I won't go into detail.  Spending so much time on a newer bike gave me a lot of food for thought as to what I would want in a different bike.  At this point I can not justify buying another bike given where I live and our very short riding season.  I was very fortunate in finding a low mile FJ to begin with and have had no mechanical issues over the years.  I know others have not been so lucky.  Hell I'm still on the same chain and sprockets I installed nearly 40,000 miles ago..they are still going strong..

I will keep the FJ, since I look at it like a classic car.  As I get older, I find myself wanting to tinker with cars and bikes less and less.  The FJ requires a bit of tinkering to keep her running in tip top shape but it's become more of a chore for me.  I use to enjoy it and maybe that will come back when I leave Oregon for a nicer climate.

It's been a fun ride so far, let's keep it going that way.  

[giantkiller]

It's funny. How some of you said that you still look back as you walk away. I was asked yesterday why. Park where I do instead of
Right by the door like the other bikes. I said because I can see it where it's parked. And when I look at it, it makes me happy.

[Mike Ramos]

Hello everyone,

As have other FJ owners, my modifications of choice are updated brakes, wider 17" rims with modern tires; the RPM's Unipod air filters, Fork Brace, Oil Cooler and the owner's choice of upgraded suspension front and rear. 

Here are a few pictures of additional modifications perhaps not as common.


Picture #1 - the two additional gauges are oil pressure and temperature.  For quick reading the gauges indicate 180*/40 lbs at the 10:00 position and are angled.  The key remains readily accessible.  Below them is a colored volt meter (voltage level correlates with a color – easier to note at a glance as opposed to numbers).  Above the dash is the monitor for the radar detector [the detector unit itself is located inside the front of the fairing while the control unit is located behind the air vents of the right inside panel].  On top of the monitor is the antenna for the GPS speedometer.  On the left above the high/low beam toggle is the on/off switch for the radar detector.  To the right of the blinker toggle is the on/off for the auxiliary driving lights.

Picture #2 – to the left of the reserve toggle is the switch for the auxiliary fuel tank (located near the full pump, is the fuel transfer valve which is activated as is a redundant on/off valve to ensure positive fuel shut off).  Towards the bottom of the panel is the plug in for heated gloves.

Picture #3 – this is where the main added fuse panel is located – powered from this panel is the radar detector, heated gloves, driving lights, fuel transfer valve & redundant fuel shutoff for the auxiliary fuel tank, gauges, side marker lights et al.  The fuses light up in the event that they should blow.  All accessories have their own, lower amp fuse between this fuse block and the individual accessory.

Picture #4 – On the lower right panel is the rheostat and indicator light for the heated gloves.  The green light on the top right near the wind screen blinks red when the radar detector is triggered.  Interestingly, the light was initially centered directly in front of the rider; however one tends to look down the road, not noticing that it is blinking.  Now mounted off to the side, it is easily seen in the peripheral vision.  The radar detector usually is not discussed because you never know when a LEO may be reading the Forum.

Picture #5 – This shows the position of the auxiliary driving lights.  Originally mounted on the case bars, they were moved to this higher position and are noticeably more effective.  The light mounts bolt directly to the mirror mounting points.  The headlight is 80/100 watts utilizing the upgraded headlight relay modification.  Directly below the front of the fairing are the laser deflectors.  These units are wired into the radar detector and utilize the same monitor.

Picture #6 – Shown is the sending unit for the oil pressure gauge.  The braided steel line runs from the sending unit to the right side oil galley.

Picture #7 – Here is the GPS speedometer.  It has been located at several different points within viewing area of the camera.  Thus any nuances of the suspension can be evaluated at known speeds over a variety of road surfaces.  No video no proof has been updated to include an accurate account of the speeds attained. 

Addressing the question: "at what point does one jump ship?" 

The answer is "not anytime soon!"

Ride safe everyone.


Picture #1

http://fjowners.com/gallery/7/295_26_05_14_11_46_02_0.jpeg

Picture #2

http://fjowners.com/gallery/7/295_26_05_14_11_46_02_1.jpeg

Picture #3

http://fjowners.com/gallery/7/295_26_05_14_11_46_02_2.jpeg

Picture #4

http://fjowners.com/gallery/7/295_26_05_14_11_46_02_3.jpeg

Picture #5

http://fjowners.com/gallery/7/295_26_05_14_11_46_02_4.jpeg

Picture #6

http://fjowners.com/gallery/7/295_26_05_14_11_46_02_5.jpeg

Picture #7
http://fjowners.com/gallery/7/295_26_05_14_11_46_02_6.jpeg