Brian, I gotta say when I think about sports touring bikes, a Busa does not come to mind. The ergos must be a bitch compared to what you're riding now! I think the whole cult thing is a little wierd. I look at it more as a social issue than a technological one. I think for people with more needy egos, it makes them feel better. There's way too many cool machines out there to get that attached, though I can appreciate altering your bike to make it more what you want it to be. It's like the logo thing..........I have no interest in paying for a product so I can wear your logo. If you want me to do that, give it to me gratis!
I understand what you're saying about the looks of the ST1300, but I think it's pretty cool, and like women......looks eventually become a reflection of it's inner qualities (although ugly to the bone, is always ugly to the bone). I really like the color of yours, and of course the black ones are awesome as well. I know all kinds of people rave about the V-Strom, but in my opinion it is butt ugly.
There must be a fairly simple way to reduce the handlebar vibes on the FJR. Rubber handlebar mounts, different bar ends or something?
Judging from the photo, you must live in or near CA. Isn't that Yosemite? Been skiing in the Sierra Nevada a couple of times and I have a cousin I'm close to who lives in Sebastopol (50 mis N of Frisco). Seems like a great place to live.
Well, I'm on my way to a bike show, since it's 0 outside and I'm between skiing weekends.
Actually the Hayabusa, with different foot pegs (Buell Lightning's) and bars (heli bars) is quite comfortable, it's nothing like the race replica's GSXR's, I also had a touring shield I put on it for the longer rides, Utah and such, and a tank bag , I could lean on my tank bag rest my elbows on my knees hold on with just one hand and I swear I could almost fall asleep, it was that comfortable, but yes the St is much more comfy due to the leg room, but at times, after 700 miles or so, my back hurts on it since it is so upright and I slouch, I didn't have hat problem on my Hayabusa or Blackbirds
Yes I live in the Fresno area, Yosemite is only an hour away, as well as Kings Canyon and Sequoia National parks, I'm also only 2.5 hours away from the Ocean and about 4 hours away from the desert, these are the reasons I've never left Cali, the state does have it's problems, I mean huge ones, but for riding, to me it's the best, today it's supposed to be in the low 70's , I think my Father and I will probably ride over to Morro Bay for some BBQ and fish and Chips for the old man.
And as for the FJR's vibes, to most, it's a non issue, just as the so called heat issue is with the ST1300, there are some who notice it, and most who don't, I'm sensitive to bar vibrations, several complain about the Hayabusa having vibrations, and believe me, the FJR vibes way worse then my Busa ever did, on the Busa it was a transient vibe through a certain RPM range, and in 6th gear it came on at about 87MPH and only lasted for a few MPH, on the FJR, I felt them at pretty much all high way speeds.
I've had numerous surgeries to repair a severely broken right hand, and vibes are a killer to me, I thought about buying the Feejer and putting Grip Puppy's and bigger bar end weights on it, that's what many do, just little foam grips slid over your other grips, but I didn't want to take a chance and if it didn't work good enough, I would be stuck with a bike that I couldn't ride, and I'd have to sell it, and to me the Feejer always felt like it needed to be shifted in a 6th gear witch it didn't have.
As far as the ST1300 goes, I was very concerned about the heat issue, I've read some peoples post where they bought the ST and couldn't ride it because they felt as if their legs were about to burst into flames, and in Fresno it's often over 100 degrees when I ride, I held off on buying either bike for three years, and I was so excited when the second gen FJR's came out, I heard they had raised the gearing , fixed the heat issue on it, and reduced Vibrations, I was sold!! I'm getting me one, off for a test ride, DAMMM!! vibes are unchanged and I still fill like it needs a 6th gear to smooth it out, I bit the bullet and bought the ST and I absolutely love it, yes it's ugly, no it's not as fast as a FJR, but I've only had a couple FJR riders leave me in the hills, and I've dispatched many more of them on my ST, in the hills, it's all rider, yes it gets hot in the summer, but no where near as hot as any V Twin I've ridden, or my Blackbirds, if you do get stuck in traffic and are just sitting there, is when it's at it's worst,but nothing that's not manageable to me.
The things "I", and these are just my opinions and observations, are the ST has better wind protection, it has a bigger Fuel tank with a longer range, but on both bikes, the fuel range is going to out last your bladder range, so it's moot unless your going across the desert as I do when I go see my kids in Utah, also if you drop it, due to the built in crash bars, you normally only will damage a $15 dollar plastic cover, no fairing, mirror or saddle bag damage, if you drop a FJR, it could be well over a grand in damage , I've worked on both of them, I feel the ST is a bit easier to maintain, probably would be no difference if I had more experience removing the cowlings on the Feejer, the St has more leg room for both rider and passenger, and now I have Motorcycle Larry passenger extensions for the wife, they give her another 3-4" of leg room , the ST has a 3 year warranty , FJR1and to me it just feels more like a sport touring bike, but it does run too hot for some, for me, it's a non issue.
As far as the FJR, it looks way better, bags on or off, (don't even think about riding a ST with no bags) it's a tad bit lighter, it may handle a bit better, if your riding it to the bikes limits, the FJR will out perform the St , if you are riding to your limits, and you are not an expert, their going to be pretty even, the FJR is faster in top end, but I always seem to pull my neighbor off the line, he has an 06 FJR, but hey these are not drag bikes so who cares, both of them have plenty of power, and more importantly torque to be fantastic mounts for sport touring, the FJR sounds like a real mans motorcycle, the St sounds like George Jetsons space car, either way you go, they are both great bikes, oh and the FJR does come with standard ABS, my ST does not have it, I wish it did.
Funny you mentioned that about badging, when I buy a car, I make the dealership remove their logo license plate frame, I tell them if they are going to pay me to advertise for them, I'll leave it on, if not, take it off.
My Hayabusa in touring mode, this is with theZero Gravity sport touring shield for long rides in the cold, but it produce allot of head buffeting. I preferred the Puig Double Bubble for every day use.
With Puig shield
I have a HMW decal on my ST, there's a guy on the ST owners forums that makes them up for all brands, it really chaps some of the BMW riders, one Beemr rider said you can put all the stickers on it you want, it will never be a BMW, I told him, well thank god!, I chose my Honda for a reason, , but my dream bike is a BMW K1200GT, others think it's pretty funny
