[graham downunder]

Picked up a garage companion in Adelaide , "Ugly Betty" (my Vstrom )is not impressed .
It was an easy ride back on Monday from Adelaide to Sydney . Left at 5.30AM arrived back home at 10PM so I took it easy with plenty of stops .

 

[ockerstrom]

Nice bike Graham,

I nearly bought one of those instead of my WeeStrom.

Glad you made it back safe, now just wait for all those speeding tickets to turn up in the mailbox. :fineprint:

 

[ghostrider66]

Picked up a garage companion in Adelaide , "Ugly Betty" (my Vstrom )is not impressed .
It was an easy ride back on Monday from Adelaide to Sydney . Left at 5.30AM arrived back home at 10PM so I took it easy with plenty of stops .

If only I had the money!!!!! That is my dream bike. They are pretty expensive here in Canada a new one is over $20K.

 

[bcnu53]

you are going to love the FJR
I got a new one in 04 and thought it was a great machine. later on I went with a 14 concours and am not sure why but I still liked the FJR best
enjoy it and congrats

 

[graham downunder]

Well they are about $22,000 dowunder !!!!
This bike was advertised and my son saw the add on Monday so I had a mate look at it in Adelaide ,he just said " BUY IT NOW " on Monday afternoon . Tuesday I rang then organised airticket, Wed flew down inspected the bike ( took all of 30 seconds ) at lunchtime and bought it for $8,000 from the dealer . Yes the bike has done 118,000 Klms which in Australian seem high but in reality it's not, bikes like this run 300,000 plus .
The previous owner had paid about $24,000 in October 2005 , so he lost a lot .

With the bike are factory bags and Top box etc ,the dealer did not even have to clean the bike and when I opened the saddlebags there were sheepskin seat covers BONUS . You would swear the bike had only 10,000 klm on it to look at the condition. The previous owner had left all the dealer service invoices in the top box and his diary of what was done on the bike right down to the PART number of each headlight bulb he had replaced and Kilometers when done !!!!

I had one of the first Yamaha XS1100 which I fitted out with all the gear INCLUDING stero radio cassette player, full fairing, Krauser bags, Top box etc in the late 1970s ,so big Yamaha's touring bikes I have a soft spot for .

Oky I was contacted by Hay Air Traffic control they wanted to know what runway I was going to land on !

 

[eye.surgeon]

Very nice second bike to compliment the strom. They are great sport touring mounts and are usually very well taken care of.

 

[p38arover]

Mongrel! I want one of them. Still, I have the grunt of the XJR1300. :yesnod:

My wife got chatting with an FJR rider when we ere on the ferry to Kangaroo Island. The rider had ridden it from Perth and loved it.

His had the automatic trans.

 

[stretch49]

Great bike, great buy Graham. I have had two FJR 1300s and are a great interstate blaster. SOld the 03 model after 90k and updated to an 09 model that unfortunatly got written off after hitting a patch of diesel on a wet road, only had 9k on it:furious:

 

[Snab]

Mate thats one cracker of a deal! Those FJRs are sweet machines and I'm a big fan. If that deal was availed to me when I was buying the strom, I almost certainly would have bought it.

 

[graham downunder]

It was one of those deals you cannot say no to .
Comparing the two is hard both do similar jobs but in different ways but here goes
FJR1300 slighly lower than my Vstrom so I can easy have two flat feet
" more lean forward than Vstrom I both acceptable
" better front suspension by a LONG way compression & rebound externally adjustable
Rear suspension goes to Vstrom with Elka shock, so not a fair comparison
Screen on FJR electrically adjustable ( needs to be about 4 inches wider as the air hits only the sides of my helmet around the ears so you get a lot of wind noise on a flip front helmet
Brakes on FJR are great ABS vs non ABS on Vstrom they realy are much better on FJR
Chain ? what chain shaft drive on FJR
Fairing on FJR great but lets see in the summer , very good hand protection as standard
Performance FJR 9 Vstrom 3 we all know why
Vibration both bike suffer from footpeg vibration FJR worse by a long way
Handling I like both bikes but I will say I prefer the FJR as the front suspension is so good
Ease of riding distance both bikes are great the FJR is noticably better at high speed
Fuel economy who cares ??? I can make both bikes suck juice down faster than a footy team after they won the Grand Final .
Looks , sorry but I have called my Vstrom "Ugly Betty " the FJR well maybe silver mistress so you know which one looks better
Fun factor Vstrom wins cause you can do limited dirt .
Around town both are acceptable FJR is a bit easier because it is slightly lower.
Touring, well here is the real question, both do it well, dam well actually, once you set them up with a few mods . If I was going away for a week it would be the FJR BUT if I was going around Australia it would be the Vstrom .

One thing to consider is pillion factor and I think the FJR is easier to pillion someone on than the Vstrom simple because of height.

 

[WeeMcD]

Blaa blaa blaa. You know what I heard here? There is now a person in Australia with an extra bike that needs to be ridden. That is so nice of you to invite me for a ride. It would be rude of me to say no. I'll buy my plane ticket now.

 

[graham downunder]

Yep come on down ,it's a little known fact that Americans come down and ride the Vstrom Al Paulsen is one and his brother Dan Paulsen is another . I will do you a great deal .

 

[choccoloco]

Graham congratulations on your ride & what a great deal.

 

[OZ STROM]

:thumbup:Graham , a guy cannot have enough toys :green_lol:,Ride Safe ..Paul