Real World Comparison 04 ST13 vs 05 FJR

[ST13Fred]

Road up into North Georgia today and swapped bikes with a buddy for about 40 miles. With my GenMars the seating position is the same but the FJ sits lower to the pavement. The FJ has to be muscled more to transition turns and scrapes earlier. The exhaust note is ever present and was searching for another gear. My ST has an in-dash gear indicator, which cures that problem. My buddy says the ST rode like a 'Fleetwood', transitioned turns very easily, has gobs of torque and has a higher ride height; all to his liking. The FJ had no heat issues to the upper 80's. It is a good bike but man, I love my ST!! Upon getting back on the ST it has a softer road feel even with 42 psi in the tires.
:04biker:

[AZST]

Never got to ride the FJR.

Thanks for confirmation that I chose :04biker: correctly.

What was your impression regarding acceleration?

--Bryan
04ST1300A
STOC# 5197
:04biker:

[ST13Fred]

The FJ requires getting the revs up to get to its real power, while the ST has it everywhere. I rode an FJ at Biketoberfest (where a right saddlebag fell off and was lost/never found) and had the front end off the ground, but takes revs to do it. With the DayLong saddle/bar risers, one cannot beat the ST for day long travel. I really did not like the constant exhaust note. But hey, we are spoiled. With the Lowrance GPS/MP3 Player dialed in, hey, what else does one need?

:04biker: ;)

[nm6r]

But hey, we are spoiled. With the Lowrance GPS/MP3 Player dialed in, hey, what else does one need?


Radar Detector fed into the Autocom!

Ray
http://www.frontiernet.net/~st1300rider/smile04Bikerwheelie.gif

[Tricky]

How do you have a gear indicator on your bike? Is this something that they changed for 2006?

[sherob]

How do you have a gear indicator on your bike? Is this something that they changed for 2006?

It's an add-on...

http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?p=97117#post97117

[daddysbike]

How do you have a gear indicator on your bike? Is this something that they changed for 2006?


Its called a tachometer


Steve

[GRN]

Radar Detector fed into the Autocom!

Ray
http://www.frontiernet.net/~st1300rider/smile04Bikerwheelie.gif

That actually comes first... :D

[BentAero]

The FJ has to be muscled more to transition turns and scrapes earlier.

Huh? Fred, I find your above comment hard to believe. An FJR scraping the ground earlier than an ST? Only if there is something wrong with the FJR's suspension/ride height.

Similar to you, I also had an opportunity to ride an '05 FJR just yesterday. The owner (a fellow HSTA member) offered up his bike to me while he ran some errands while in Ashevile. It was an offer I couldn't pass up. I had about 4 hours to go wherever I wanted, so to make the best of it, I did a loop of some of the best twisteez I know.

151 out of Asheville up to the BRP.
BRP to 215 South.
Jog east to 178 South.
East on SC 11 over to 276 North.

The first thing I noticed while on Hwy 151 (an ultra twisty leave it in 2nd gear and scream the motor road) was how easy the FJR turns in and doesn't scrape the ground even if you try! This thing cuts like a surgeon's scalpel compared the ST's dull tin snips. It's much lighter weight was also readily apparent. While riding agressively (I was) on tight, twisty mountain roads the FJR is much less tiring than an ST. No contest.

Brakes: The FJR brakes make me feel like my ST has drum brakes. Wow, what a difference. And I thought the ST had GREAT brakes. I'm not so sure it's actually the brakes themselves, or is it the big reduction in weight?

Heat: Once I dropped a couple thousand feet of elevation and got into South Carolina, I noticed the heat. As in, "man it's hot here." The air temp was in the low 90º's. The air currents on the FJR are much different than an ST. It's not bad, just different. The owner of this FJR had ceramic coated the exhaust headers, so this bike was undoubtedly much cooler than a stock '05. Since I have the inner cowls out of my ST, I'd say the two are about the same overall on emitting heat. If the FJR ('05) were stock, I'd guess it would be hotter.

Engine: The ST feels like it makes much more torque from 3,000 rpm pulling out of a turn, even though the horsepower/torque graphs don't show any difference. The FJR seemed to suffer a little down low. However, once the motor starts pulling, it just keeps going and going, begging to scream like a sport bike. From 6K to 9K rpm's, hang on. I had no complaint whatsoever on the exhaust note, as I thought the stock pipes were VERY quiet compared to the Two-Brothers pipes on my ST.

I've got to cut this short, so in closing I'd say, If you are a rider who leans more to the conservative/easier riding style, regularly ride two-up, live where all the roads are straight and flat, or do a lot of freeway type riding (shame on you), stick with the ST.

If your heart yearns for a sport-tourer that is well suited for a more agressive approach, live where you can ride 1st class twisteez right outside your door, or usually ride solo, look at the FJR very, very close.

[ST13Fred]

Hi Gary,
Suspension setup is EVERYTHING on a bike, as we both know. The first aggresive transition I took on HIS FJ is ingrained and went exactly as I stated. Rt 60 (Blueridge-Suches, Ga) had Mike scrapping to hang with me. So lets let it be that his bike is not setup to optimum settings. I upgraded my front springs to handle my 220# and feel the front stays very well planted thru hard cornering. Good bikes both, but as I stated, the ST13 is a spoiler.

:04biker: :o:

[dduelin]

I have never ridden an FJR so don't speak from experience however Motorcyclist's 2 bike comparo echoed the comments that the ST had better ground clearance and that the FJR required more grunt from the pilot in slow tight corners. I recall that they said it loved fast sweepers but in slow tight stuff it was harder work than the neutral steering of the ST. From what I gather they are both great bikes and personal preferences of individuals cause one to rise over the other.