Well, here it is!

[shp4man]

You fucking kids, damn. Once you make it past the "raise the kids" stage, you can have a sports car, or motorcycle whatever impractical or dangerous shit you want. If you have the cash. Raising kids is hella expensive, though. I'm talkin' take out a 2nd mortgage expensive. 

[SVT_Power]

I mean, would you rather it be in your lame thread where you don't even have the fucking thing yet but keep posting about how today is going to be the day?

[Cookie Monster]

In actual FJ-09 news, I'm closing in on 5,000 miles (like if I don't get killed today I'll hit 5k lol). Still absolutely in love with this bike. Other than minor things like lights, levers, etc, there isn't a thing I want to change on it. I think the windshield and handguard removal were the only two must do items and everything else is just personalizing the bike to my taste.

Only thing I wish is that I had bought this bike earlier, but to be honest I don't regret owning the CBR one bit, since it was a great bike to get me back into motorcycling. I think starting off on the FJ would have been a bad idea.

[12,000 RPM]

I do really envy that torque

But I want my bike to be a balance machine. A 2 wheeled Cayman GT4.

[CaminoRacer]

I do really envy that torque

But I want my bike to be a balance machine. A 2 wheeled Cayman GT4.

sounds like you need a GS550

[12,000 RPM]

That is more like an FB RX-7

[SVT_Power]

I do really envy that torque

But I want my bike to be a balance machine. A 2 wheeled Cayman GT4.

S1kRR

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

S1kRR

Now ya talking. Thats gonna be my next bike....

[Raza]

You fucking kids, damn. Once you make it past the "raise the kids" stage, you can have a sports car, or motorcycle whatever impractical or dangerous shit you want. If you have the cash. Raising kids is hella expensive, though. I'm talkin' take out a 2nd mortgage expensive. 

Why should I have to wait until I'm old to enjoy myself or spend some time for me?

[12,000 RPM]

Why should I have to wait until I'm old to enjoy myself or spend some time for me?

You don't, even with kids.

[Cookie Monster]

I do really envy that torque

But I want my bike to be a balance machine. A 2 wheeled Cayman GT4.

Alright Sporty, I went on a 120 mile ride to go pick up a standalone ECU for a friend's Miata yesterday and had a lot of time to think about this comment, so I'm going to give you some (probably unwanted) advice.

You've already said that your Ninja is worthless to sell and would be kept as a second bike, right? Why not just keep that as a track bike. I'm not sure if you can swap ZX6R parts onto it, but you could at least upgrade the suspension and brakes and have a good starting point for a track bike. Then, get something more comfortable, like a sport tourer, for the street.

I'm not saying get an FJ-09 (though those are pretty damn sweet ), but IMO the sport tourers are the best balanced street bikes out there. Sport bikes are stupid for the street. It's like me dailying my Miata at this point. You have to deal with a crazy amount of discomfort for no real benefit on the street. Plus, sport tourers handle pretty well. There's a couple guys on the local forums who've bought FJ-09s and track them. The FJ weighs like 30 lb more than my F4i did, and I'm not a good enough rider to tell the difference in the twisties. The bigger change for me was the ergos, but within a couple hundred miles of riding I got used to that and feel like I'm just as quick (or slow) through the twisties as I was on my F4i.

Not to mention, it's better for two up riding, better for touring, commuting, etc. They're less of theft magnets as well. I think you should at least look into something like the Ninja 1000, VFR, etc, or at least try and take one for a spin to see what it feels like. I don't think you'd be giving much up over an SV but getting a lot more instead.

With my CBR, it beat me up so much during my daily commute, even with lowered pegs and handlebars, that I didn't even feel like riding on the weekends. I'm doing the same mileage now on the FJ and still get out for a 100+ mile ride on the weekends, rain or shine. Hell, I love riding it so much that I agreed to ride 80 miles out of my way to pick up that ECU for my friend. It's great for commuting and lane splitting, but it's also a ton of fun in the twisties and still makes me crap my pants in a straight line like the F4i never could.

Anywho, just my $.02.

[12,000 RPM]

Oh I would never do a sport bike on the street, ever ever ever ever ever. I had clipons on my bike for about a week... rode up to, around and back down from the mountains and my lower back was on fire for a day. I think part of it was the footpegs still being stock but w/e. The GSX-R I rode cemented the deal, I just was not comfortable.

So whatever I get would have a standard seating position, 100%.

Sport tourers are pretty much ideal on the street, but to me, aesthetically, they are kind of the minivans of bikes. I know they are good in an objective way, but that goodness comes at the expense of the bike's looks. So a regular old standard would be enough for me.

2 bikes for me would be beyond overkill. I've been averaging ~3000-5000 miles a year, and I've been down here for 3 years and have only been to the track once in some exotic car deal. 1 bike that could be 99.99% street/0.01% track would be good.

Truthfully I could probably make do with the ER6 and I most likely will. The front fork is actually pretty good. I bought it from a racer who weighs as much as me and it has emulators and properly chosen springs. My only gripes with my bike are

- rear shock is done for. I will have to replace it whether I sell it or not
- tail section looks like ass. Never liked it
- the sound... off throttle it sounds good but on throttle it's flatulent

2nd gen SV is just about perfect. GSX-R suspension is dirt cheap and abundant and the motor is just better in power and sound than the 650. So a lateral move would be ideal but realistically I will probably end up with ZX10R forks, an adjustable shock and a PC on the ER6 for the next few years. Wifey will be able to stomach mods more than a whole new bike, even if the bike is dirt cheap

[CaminoRacer]

ER6 is an inline twin, right?

Water cooled V-twins are my favorite right now. Of course then I went and bought an I4.

[12,000 RPM]

Yea, I2, 180 degree crank.

FZ-07 is a twin too, but it has a 270 degree crank which makes it sound like a v twin.

[CaminoRacer]

mmmm yes 270 cranks are very acceptable. Bonnevilles are the same setup IIRC.

[Cookie Monster]

Went riding with two friends yesterday. We were riding through the twisties at a pretty good pace, but at one point, they told me to lead so I went on it pretty hard. My friends were saying it was pretty crazy seeing a sports touring bike move that fast through the turns.

I'm not even that fast of a rider but this bike is seriously quick.

[Cookie Monster]

Balled too hard and bought a pair of shorty CRG RC2 levers in ballin' gold.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Balled too hard and bought a pair of shorty CRG RC2 levers in ballin' gold.

I have Gold levers too!

[Cookie Monster]

I have Gold levers too!

Sweet!

I should hopefully be getting them tomorrow!

[Cookie Monster]

Installed new levers on Friday and tried them out today:





I really like the shorter levers. The shape is different as well which I like better than the stock levers.

I also got the suspension tuned by Dave Moss, who is a big time racer around here. He tinkered with the bike for a couple minutes and it feels much, much better. Not as saggy as before (he said my rear shock was very soft) and it feels like it responds to inputs faster as well too.

[Cookie Monster]

Center of rear tire is on wear bars. Front tire still looks great though, so I ordered another Dunlop Roadsmart 2 rear tire. Next time I'll get a full set.

[MX793]

Did you actually get the suspension revalved or did he just play with the adjustors?

[Cookie Monster]

Did you actually get the suspension revalved or did he just play with the adjustors?

He just twiddled with the adjusters. Next year I'll look into revalving the forks and getting a new rear shock.

[MX793]

He just twiddled with the adjusters. Next year I'll look into revalving the forks and getting a new rear shock.

Given the softness of the suspension, you may need springs as well.

[Cookie Monster]

Given the softness of the suspension, you may need springs as well.

Yeah, I have to do more research but I'll probably look into Racetech springs when doing the revalve.

[Cookie Monster]

I'm pretty impressed with the stock Dunlop D222 tires. The front is still looking good and the rear probably has another 1k left in it and I'm at 6,500 miles. I am going to replace the rear with a Dunlop Roadsmart II since it looks like it's the same as the D222 (I think the D222 is an OEM only tire since I can't find out where to buy it).

In typical commuter fashion it's got no tread left on the center and looks new on the edges.

[MX793]

Michelin Pilot Road 3s have awesome life plus good grip wet and dry.

[Cookie Monster]

Michelin Pilot Road 3s have awesome life plus good grip wet and dry.

I had PR4's on the F4i and those were amazing in the wet and good in the dry and I got over 10k miles out of them, but I didn't feel like spending $400 on a set right now, especially when the front tire still looks almost new. Plus this tire was $145 from Revzilla so I cheaped out for the time being. I'll probably get another full set of PR4s or Pirelli Angel GTs in August. I like these Dunlops for now anyways.

[CaminoRacer]

I'm pretty sure you've ridden more on that bike than I've driven total in the same timespan.

[Cookie Monster]

I'm pretty sure you've ridden more on that bike than I've driven total in the same timespan.

I don't know... you did drive across the country a few times, right?

I bought the bike in December (with 0 miles obviously) and only put 500 miles on it by the first week of February since I was still breaking it in and was using the CBR for commuting. Once I sold the CBR I started riding the FJ everywhere, so I've put the other 6k+ in the last 3 months. Should be close to 6,900 miles before I replace the tire on Friday. That's not bad mileage for a tire so I'm happy. Just hope the front tire will last 14-15k miles.