2013 Yamaha FJR1300A

[Silver Ranger]

I am strongly considering purchasing one come spring. Three years ago I was having my Yamaha Majesty serviced when I noticed a red FJR on the showroom floor. I would have purchased it other then I felt it was way to much of an upgrade from a 400 cc scooter to a 1300 cc sport touring machine. Now that I have 3 years of experience with the NT and with the electronics upgrade I just my make the switch.

I looked at one a few weeks back and it is one sweet ride. I will be taking a test ride this spring. If I like it and my bank account can support the purchase I will have one in May.

The question is do you remove the Farkles. I have a Corbin seat, red Honda top box, lowering pegs, Denali LED lights, Kaoko throttle lock, 2+ Cee Bailey and Bestem bag liners. I hate to sell the NT and not get any value from them..

 

[tawilke46]

You get virtually nothing for your farkles, unfortunately if you leave them on the bike. Maybe you could get half the value on individual resale of each farkle, if they are in good operating condition.
Dealers don't typically give you anything for them.......you may get loan or trade in value on your bike if you are lucky, regardless of how many add ons you have.

 

[Rob]

Use the For Sale forum here to sell farkles specific to the NT. Good place to start.

 

[RedLdr1]

The question is do you remove the Farkles.

Always remove and sell your farkles yourself on a Trade-In deal. You won't receive anywhere close to their value in a Trade In. I sold my NT "farkles" here and paid for the first round of farkles on the Tri-Glide with the proceeds...

 

[slider]

For what I paid for my new one and what I saw some used ones going for you may want to prepare to keep it.

 

[JohnC]

From what I have read (keep in mind that I haven't ridden one), I don't think the NT needs another gear. I realize that a sixth gear would be more like an overdrive, but it would be nice to have.

Let's see: warts. Saddle bag lids and hinges. The trick here seems to be to reinforce the hinges before anything happens.

The front forks seem to need some help. That reminds me - in the Technical Section, we do not have separate place for "Suspensions".

I want a motorcycle like our car - reliable, economic to operate, big enough but not too big, utilitarian. We have a car that is old enough to legally drink, a '91 4 cylinder Camry. It didn't even qualify for the "Cash for Clunkers" program. (This is one of my hot button issues. It infuriates me that I had to subsidize someone else's new car purchase.) It still gets more than 30 mpg on the highway. In fact, the mileage is almost as good at 70 mph as it is at 55 mph. At 55 mph, the engine is not turning fast enough to efficiently use the overdrive.

My wife has been talking about getting a new car for the past 5 or 6 years. Then a couple of years ago, she spent about $800 getting the A/C converted to use the new Freon.

I am a year away from coming home and retiring. I started browsing the motorcycle sites, and I found the NT advertised on the Honda site. It meets all of my "wants" and most of my "like to haves". I really hope Honda decides to import them next year. I would rather not buy a two year old "new" motorcycle. But if I need to, I will.

Edit: In case it is not clear, I am replying to Phil's Post #14.

 

[Warren]

I just received the Feb issue of MCN. They have a review of the FJR1300. They liked the improvements but did not like the weight, 670lbs, did not like the gas milage, 41 mpg and they did not like the vibration. They said it needs a 6th gear. That made me laugh.

 

[Bear]

I have always liked to do the most with the least. 700cc is in my opinion plenty of power for touring--especially if you go solo. I crossed the US in 1960 with a 16HP 250cc NSU Special Max--a bike well ahead of its time. It was obviously a slow trip, devoid of interstates, and thoroughly enjoyable. I remember going through Snoqualmie Pass in second gear. The engine got a bit warm but was well protected by Castrol SAE 30 Motor Oil. My next crossing was in 1970 with an R-50 BMW. That trip was faster, but not nearly as fast as people tour today.

I plan to take a week to get to Spearfish this July and take another week to get back via a different route. The NT well handle that without even breathing hard. I am "Old School"--anything over 500cc is a big bike.

 

[tawilke46]

I just received the Feb issue of MCN. They have a review of the FJR1300. They liked the improvements but did not like the weight, 670lbs, did not like the gas milage, 41 mpg and they did not like the vibration. They said it needs a 6th gear. That made me laugh.

Got my MCN today.........noted the comments on mileage, vibration, need for overdrive gear, but as far as weight goes, about the same as the ST 1300.

Would still have to test ride one to see for myself what the bike felt like. A guy on the Stromtrooper forum just bought a new FJR1300.......may question him on how he likes the bike after he has had a chance to put a few miles on it.

 

[RedLdr1]

...noted the comments on mileage, vibration, need for overdrive gear....

Where have I heard those comments before???? At least they didn't say it needs 20 more horsepower!

 

[tawilke46]

Where have I heard those comments before???? At least they didn't say it needs 20 more horsepower!

Exactly what I was thinking........and a sixth gear.

 

[tawilke46]

Yep, the 2013 FJR is a great buy for what the bike offers for the money. And the price increase is only about $300 more than the 2012, even with all the upgrades and improvements.
MCN really liked the FJR too.

 

[Bob]

Just saw the 2013 fJR1300 in person for the first time. I like the color way better in person. Definitely a wider seat than the NT or the VFR1200. Side bags are smaller than the NT. I can put my summer jacket in the pannier of the NT. otherwise I like the bike and look forward to going back for a test ride. I was holding out for an updated or new honda ST with DCT but that doesn't appear to be in the cards.

 

[slider]

Side bags are smaller than the NT.

I don't think that's accurate.

 

[RedLdr1]

Side bags are smaller than the NT.

I don't think that's accurate.

It depends on which Pannier Lids you are running on your NT. The stock NT is 26.7L and 24.7L, the optional Euro Large Pannier Lids expand that to 35.1L and 36.2L. The FJR is 30L on both sides so with the stock lids on the NT the FJR is 8.6L larger. Add the Large Lids to the NT and it is 11.3L larger than the FJR... And the NT does have the "pass through" feature which adds a little capacity to both versions... Still I could live comfortably with 30L per side...

 

[Bob]

It depends on which Pannier Lids you are running on your NT. The stock NT is 26.7L and 24.7L, the optional Euro Large Pannier Lids expand that to 35.1L and 36.2L. The FJR is 30L on both sides so with the stock lids on the NT the FJR is 8.6L larger. Add the Large Lids to the NT and it is 11.3L larger than the FJR... And the NT does have the "pass through" feature which adds a little capacity to both versions... Still I could live comfortably with 30L per side...

Cool. I have the regular lids on my NT. The FJR bags looked smaller but maybe my perception was wrong. If so that is good news. I'm going back for a test ride so I will try to fit my summer jacket in the FJR pannier for comparison.

 

[Bob]

So my jacket fit fine. I had to fold it a little tighter width-wise but the FJR bags are deeper so it swallowed it up.

The test ride was fun. The ergos felt very similar to the NT. The FJR seat was on the high setting and I had a bit less bend in my knees which was a surprise given that bikeergos.com indicated it would be a bit less. The feeling was confirmed when I got back on the NT and felt cramped in comparison. I could not flat foot the FJR like I can the NT. With my legs down the bike feels much wider. With legs up and feet on the pegs it felt about the same thanks to the gas tank being cut out a little on both sides for your legs.

The FJR pulled well in every gear so the gear indicator helped a lot. I can tell on the NT pretty easily by how it feels and sounds but I couldn't on the FJR. Even though I tired to keep track it was nice to be able to look down and confirm. In touring mode with the revs conservative the bike was smooth and enjoyable to drive. In sport mode with the revs up the acceleration was ridiculous. I liked it but make me think that my perfect bike would be in the 75 to 90 HP range. While I find myself looking for 6th gear on the NT that didn't happen on the FJR. If I am remembering correctly it was doing about 3500 RPM at 65mph in 5th.

Wind protection I also found similar to the NT. With the screen down I was getting air on the chest and helmet and with the screen all the way up I was getting a little buffeting from behind (at highway speed). The sweet spot for me was about 75% or 80% up where I was getting some wind on the top of the helmet near the vents.

I have the heated grips on my NT and the standard heated grips on the FJR felt smaller in diameter. While the buzzing was less than the NT I though the smaller diameter was less comfortable. I guess there is no way to put bigger grips on the bike because of the heated grips.

Both the 2013 stone grey and the new 2014 red look good to me. The only thing making me hesitate is the thought that Honda may yet come out with a new ST or NT with the DCT which I am interested in. But hey, you guys may benefit. I have always suspected that the new ST will come out exactly one day after I plunk down my money on a different bike.

 

[RedLdr1]

I guess there is no way to put bigger grips on the bike because of the heated grips.

Sure there is, just add some Grab On? Grip Covers. I added them over the NT OEM heated grips and could feel the heat just fine.....

 

[Bob]

Thanks Wayne. That is good to know.

 

[Yoda]

So my jacket fit fine. I had to fold it a little tighter width-wise but the FJR bags are deeper so it swallowed it up.

The test ride was fun. The ergos felt very similar to the NT. The FJR seat was on the high setting and I had a bit less bend in my knees which was a surprise given that bikeergos.com indicated it would be a bit less. The feeling was confirmed when I got back on the NT and felt cramped in comparison. I could not flat foot the FJR like I can the NT. With my legs down the bike feels much wider. With legs up and feet on the pegs it felt about the same thanks to the gas tank being cut out a little on both sides for your legs.

The FJR pulled well in every gear so the gear indicator helped a lot. I can tell on the NT pretty easily by how it feels and sounds but I couldn't on the FJR. Even though I tired to keep track it was nice to be able to look down and confirm. In touring mode with the revs conservative the bike was smooth and enjoyable to drive. In sport mode with the revs up the acceleration was ridiculous. I liked it but make me think that my perfect bike would be in the 75 to 90 HP range. While I find myself looking for 6th gear on the NT that didn't happen on the FJR. If I am remembering correctly it was doing about 3500 RPM at 65mph in 5th.

Wind protection I also found similar to the NT. With the screen down I was getting air on the chest and helmet and with the screen all the way up I was getting a little buffeting from behind (at highway speed). The sweet spot for me was about 75% or 80% up where I was getting some wind on the top of the helmet near the vents.

I have the heated grips on my NT and the standard heated grips on the FJR felt smaller in diameter. While the buzzing was less than the NT I though the smaller diameter was less comfortable. I guess there is no way to put bigger grips on the bike because of the heated grips.

Both the 2013 stone grey and the new 2014 red look good to me. The only thing making me hesitate is the thought that Honda may yet come out with a new ST or NT with the DCT which I am interested in. But hey, you guys may benefit. I have always suspected that the new ST will come out exactly one day after I plunk down my money on a different bike.

Now THAT'S a great review! Thanks - I felt like I went for the ride myself.