Yamaha R1 vs. FJR - impressions

[johngooding]

feejer wrote:

Scary prices. If I ever get to moving over there, will have to go "pre-owned". How do R1/FZ1-ish bikes depreciate over there? Decent, 2-3 year old stuff possible to be had for 450K, more/less?

Understand Bards comments about being wary of history of second hand bikes.
However it is now several,(not sure how many) years since BMW have been selling new official bikes, 2 years since Yamaha and in between 1 and 2 years for Kawasaki. All complete legal paperwork, warranty etc from the approved dealers.
A 1 or 2 year old FZ1 will be in the price range you mention and one can trace the ownership back to the supplying dealer. Even better if you can buy from one of the known GTR community as the way the bike has been used and maintained is likely to be well known in the community.
Should be an asset for us in the years ahead as more an more of these official imports, or Thai made bikes become available secondhand.

 

[feejer]

johngooding wrote: [quote quote=feejer]

Scary prices. If I ever get to moving over there, will have to go "pre-owned". How do R1/FZ1-ish bikes depreciate over there? Decent, 2-3 year old stuff possible to be had for 450K, more/less?

Understand Bards comments about being wary of history of second hand bikes.
However it is now several,(not sure how many) years since BMW have been selling new official bikes, 2 years since Yamaha and in between 1 and 2 years for Kawasaki. All complete legal paperwork, warranty etc from the approved dealers.
A 1 or 2 year old FZ1 will be in the price range you mention and one can trace the ownership back to the supplying dealer. Even better if you can buy from one of the known GTR community as the way the bike has been used and maintained is likely to be well known in the community.
Should be an asset for us in the years ahead as more an more of these official imports, or Thai made bikes become available secondhand.

Good news. That's what I am hoping for. After being used to US prices, can't stomach buying anything new over there. And with all the talk of corrupt BS with the rego, I can see why so many just go around the system and takes there chances.

 

[Franz]

Hey ''Not on a Yamaha'', just read your 'location': on a Triumph, overtaking a Yamaha......You forgot to add "Fino" after the Yamaha.........55555555555555 :lol: :lol: should read then:
...on a Triumph overtaking a Yamaha Fino....
cheers, Franz[/b]

 

[bard]

OK I had the 2010 R1 for a week now and here is my personal impressions;

1. The seating position and comfort is outstanding (if you are used to sportbikes)

2. The amount of power from low RPM is just amazing

3. Top end power is great

Overall I love the bike for it's comfortable riding position, being extremely nimble and very very easy to control. It's fast, it's fun, very easy to control the power, nimble, and comfortable. For me it's an ultimate streetbike for what I like to do with a streetbike, which is riding around where I live, blast to Pattaya and back, Bira Circuit riding and touring. Great for all these occations.

My only gripe with the bike is there are zero real-estate left on the handlebars so I am now scratching my head where to fit my GPS.

I love the bike...

 

[Not on a Yamaha]

Franz wrote: Hey ''Not on a Yamaha'', just read your 'location': on a Triumph, overtaking a Yamaha......You forgot to add "Fino" after the Yamaha.........55555555555555 :lol: :lol: should read then:
...on a Triumph overtaking a Yamaha Fino....
cheers, Franz[/b]

Thanks Franz! For highlighting my error.
You will be pleased to note, that I have corrected it.
....on a Triumph overtaking a Yamaha R1...

 

[bard]

Good luck mate, can't wait to see how that ends... No more tears dude, so when beaten don't cry hahahaha

 

[Marco]

bard wrote: Good luck mate, can't wait to see how that ends... No more tears dude, so when beaten don't cry hahahaha

Bard,,,Is tht gonna even be a challenge for you...555555 :twisted:

 

[bard]

Nah no challenge, I will ride right behind and honk the horn... is this a parking lot? hahahaha

 

[LivinLOS]

I see Santa had an extra large stocking filler this year.. She is a beaut..

More bike than I can handle.. Enjoy it but stay safe..

 

[Not on a Yamaha]

Just a little tease to the man with the new R1 toy.

Will now change my location... :?

 

[bard]

just a short clip of the new R1 vs old tuned R1, vs tuned ZX10R


Enjoy

 

[Marco]

bard wrote: just a short clip of the new R1 vs old tuned R1, vs tuned ZX10R


Enjoy

Nice one Bard,, who where the riders?

 

[bard]

On the new R1 it was me, the other R1 was Frank and the Ninja was Trent, as you can hear the commentary in the background "only uncle Trent"

Cheers Bard

 

[feejer]

Beauty. Saw and sat on one just like it (OEM cans) yesterday at the dealer. No way for me to be on that for more than 15 minutes if I ever want to straighten back up again. Thanks for making me feel so old Bard.

Anyway, enjoy the power and stay safe out there.

 

[Franz]

Congrats Bard, what a nice toy you got yourself there !!!! About stretching to an upright position, well I'm with Feejer, not too young anymore. When out on a ride with Tony this week, I really needed a massage afterwards, and this on the ol' FJR.
Anyway, haven't seen the black-red one yet in 'nature', she's a beauty, really !!
So enjoy it and hopefully we can take a ride sometime up North together with the hooligans from SSR.... , cheers, Franz

 

[gobs]

Congrats Bard!

Very nice and efficient bike!
I'm not so surprised you made up the step to the R1 after you rode the FZ6F...
IMHO the R1 fits your nature better!
:wink:

Enjoy, have fun and ride safety...

Cheers,
Gobs (a peaceful FZ6F rider...)

 

[TonyBKK]

Franz wrote: Congrats Bard, what a nice toy you got yourself there !!!! About stretching to an upright position, well I'm with Feejer, not too young anymore. When out on a ride with Tony this week, I really needed a massage afterwards, and this on the ol' FJR.
Anyway, haven't seen the black-red one yet in 'nature', she's a beauty, really !!
So enjoy it and hopefully we can take a ride sometime up North together with the hooligans from SSR.... , cheers, Franz

LOL, are you sure you needed a massage due to the FJR? Or perhaps due to riding my Ninja 650R? :wink:
Thanks again for letting me take your FJR for a spin- what an incredibly comfortable and confidence inspiring bike. It handles like a bike half its size and it's good to be reminded how brakes SHOULD work! I really need to do something about the mushy soft brakes on the Ninja...
Looking forward to another SSR / GTR Hooligan get together soon!
Ride On!
Tony

 

[feejer]

TonyBKK wrote: [quote quote=Franz]Congrats Bard, what a nice toy you got yourself there !!!! About stretching to an upright position, well I'm with Feejer, not too young anymore. When out on a ride with Tony this week, I really needed a massage afterwards, and this on the ol' FJR.
Anyway, haven't seen the black-red one yet in 'nature', she's a beauty, really !!
So enjoy it and hopefully we can take a ride sometime up North together with the hooligans from SSR.... , cheers, Franz

LOL, are you sure you needed a massage due to the FJR? Or perhaps due to riding my Ninja 650R? :wink:
Thanks again for letting me take your FJR for a spin- what an incredibly comfortable and confidence inspiring bike. It handles like a bike half its size and it's good to be reminded how brakes SHOULD work! I really need to do something about the mushy soft brakes on the Ninja...
Looking forward to another SSR / GTR Hooligan get together soon!
Ride On!
Tony

Ah yes, and there is the problem. Hard to spend much time on anything else after getting used to that nice combo of power and all-day comfort. I know it has spoiled me for good.

And I think for 2011 the FJR1400 will be a reality with Brembos, 6 speed gearbox, factory heated grips and seat (not needed in LOS ), upgraded suspension by Ohlins, and fuel mapping adjust on the fly. Will hate to trade my '05 as its been a great bike, but that list may push me over the edge.

 

[Franz]

Feejer you are spot on !! Sitting on other bikes now I really start to value my FJR at the highest rate. If you dare and hammer her into turns you will be amazed how good the combination sport & touring are !! As Tony mentioned, it was again me who was tempted by a beautiful road and pushed the biggie again to footpeg/exhaust scratching point.

Tony I was also pleasantly surprised by your Ninja and the mods you have done, the most pleasant surprise was your modified handlebars. Compared to John Goodings original settings yours are comfortable. John's handlebars will hurt me at the outer palms of my hands after a longer trip. John, it's worth a try !! :lol:
Well the brakes aren't as biting as they should be, needs time to get used, but again I got already spoiled by the FJR's.
Just look at the price of the Ninja and no-one can fault her anymore, as you said, with a little bit of additional investment it will be worth more than you paid for !!!! :wink:
Only mod I think I will do on the FJR will be the back shockabsorber which is still too soft even in the 'hard' setting. Engine needs nothing to be done, ample of power and torque here. If only fuel consumption would be less, but then again a 25 lts tank is giving me about >350 kms on one fill.

Tony, massage was due to the changing road conditions and the potholes seen, not your Ninja !!!

Ride with you soon again !!!! Cheers, Franz

 

[bard]

Thanks for the grats on my bike,

Done 1500 km in 10 days now mostly on Bira, Trent plus Frank came down for new year cellie where most of the time was spent on the track, the rest we were drinking, shooting with M16 and having a blast in bumper cars. Frank improved his laptimes by over 6 seconds, and Trent has improved by 10 seconds, this is quite amazing.

Anyway my R1 is going very strong, I have no discomfort from riding her all day. Only neg is the screen is a bit low so in elevated speed you better put the head on the tank. A small bump lifted my head a couple of centimeters in 255 km/h and the wind was enough to almost throw me off the bike... At least thats what it felt like. However if you stay around 180 and below there is no problem with this, above hug the tank. 180 - 220 just uncomfortable if your head is to high, Around 250 the wind is enormous just a couple of millimeter above your head (hugging the tank) so careful so you don't get caught in this wind as it lift you up and away from the bike. Anyway the speedometer stop recording at 299 km/h while the rev still goes, so using a GPS I clocked it to 302 km/h absolute top speed on the military runway.

The speeds tested has been in controlled environment, I highly recommend people to never do this on public roads, and test out in controlled environment if the urge is there.

So I'll find a zero gravity screen for it...

 

[Franz]

Bard, where did you test ? U-Tapao with special permission ? Would love to go there and test the FJR too..... :lol: . 302 wow that's speed !!!! About the wind, I felt the same but not as dangerous as my body might be a little heavier than your's so lifting off the bike wasn't the danger but it helped to support my head in an more upright position, as Feejer said also I was reminded of my age on the R1..... . Cheers & enjoy your toy !!! Franz

 

[bard]

Hi Franz

Yes my mate runs the military section of U-Tapao, there were no flights so I was allowed to test it.

Will be up North in not that long with the bike, can't wait to let her do the curves.

 

[TonyBKK]

bard wrote: .

Will be up North in not that long with the bike, can't wait to let her do the curves.

Cheers Bard and Franz,

What are your plans the weekend of January 15-17th?

I'd very much like to blast up to Nan again that weekend and it would be great if we could all get together for a ride then.

Whaddya say???

Ride On!

Tony

 

[Franz]

Bard, PM, email or call me once you're here, Singha in my fridge are waiting, does 'Not on a Yamaha' also come up, maybe Tony, Frank, Banananboy and Bakerboy too ?? wow that would mean we would need to go to Nan and do a direct comparison for this site of all the different bikes :lol: 8) .......can't wait 55555, 4 u 0, Franz

 

[bard]

That sounds fantastic Franz. I would love to come up and do the curves again, plus meet all of you guys up there.

Bakerboy is now secretly looking at a superbike to replace his VFR after he rode it on Bira, he found out "it's just not powerful enough to follow a superbike"
Trent has done great improvement and is now doing fine on the ZX10, So he should be ready to ride it anywhere now.

Frank improved his speed so much it was incredible. So all of us are really primed up for riding. Think "Not on a Yamaha" is ready to ride at the end of the month last time I talked to him.

Piccie of Trent at the last day of track training

Frank

And Paul who is kind enough to come and help us train all the time, setup our bikes and is just a fantastic guy to know.