Leelover

I took my first trip on the new FJR the other day.
My sister was making a solo camping trip to the Keys on her Kawasaki Vulcan 900. This is the real story, but we will all have to wait for her to fill me in on all the details. Or maybe post it herself, who knows?
Anyway I was to meet her in Labelle, FL, about 30 mies east of Fort Myers, to give her the tank bag I was letting her use for the trip.
Things went a little differently than planned, as often does. I rode the FJR to Labelle, and called her when I got there. She was waiting at a Kawi dealer near Tampa for her bike to finish being checked out for a no start issue that had manifested after she left home. They ended up putting a new battery in the bike. New plan time. I still needed to get the bag to her and didn't want to wait for ever in Labelle, so I decided to head north on SR 29 to Highway 27 and go north till we met up.
For those of you who think of Florida as beaches and Mickeyland, there is a lot more!
From Fort Myers I headed east to Labelle on SR 78. This road parallels the Caloosahatchie River on its North side. It is a quiet two lane that runs through some beautiful pasture land, orange groves, and stands of live oak, cypress, and sabal palm trees. Florida is still one of the top producing states for beef cattle. This particular road actually has quite a few curves, not really "twisties", but good for FL!
Labelle is a old fashioned southern small town. Really nice place to visit. If you do check out Harold Curtis Honey Co., Skeet and Sara's BBQ, and the city park on the water at the base of the bridge that hosts the Swamp Cabbage Festival every February. Small southern town festivities at their best!
From Labelle I headed north on SR 29 a two lane road that runs almost arrow straight from Labelle to Highway 27 about 15 miles north. It runs through some pretty cow pasture land. Once on 27, I proceeded north through mostly orange groves on that 4 lane road. 27 passes through Lake Placid, a nice small town, beautiful lakes in that area, great water skiing!
Next up is Sebring. It is a fairly large town for this area, and home of Sebring International Raceway. Shortly after that comes Avon Park, a little smaller.
I finally met up with my sister just north of town. We turned around and headed back into Avon Park to grab a bite to eat and let her warm up. I know I will receive no mercy from you frozen Yankees, but the temp had dropped to about 60 that day, and that is cold for us thin blooded southern folk! Especially on a cruiser! We switched bikes to ride from the restaurant in Avon Park to a State Park near Sebring. It was way colder than the FJR! I helped her set up camp, including hauling firewood wrapped in a cargo net on the luggage rack of my bike.
I finally left to head back to Fort Myers around 7:30 PM. The temp on the FJR display was 52 degrees.
Some observations about the FJR.
The seat is awesome! Great comfort, and support. It is taking me a little to get used to the seat/bar relationship on this thing. It has a Helibar triple clamp that moves the bars out a bit and back a couple inches. It also has spacers that lift them up 3/4", I am thinking I would do better without the spacers, but need some shorter bolts before I can remove them. The bike is perfect for the roads down here. Handles the curves we have at a pace as fast as I care to go on the road. And does so in a very stable, solid fashion. It also cruises in comfort at about any speed you want .
The adjustable windshield is a really nice touch. I put it up all the way on the ride home. The wind protection is good. The displayed temp dropped to 45 for most of the way, and even so my hands didn't freeze too bad in my summer gloves (I was only planning a 3 hour cruise to Labelle and back. 3 hour cruise...why does that sound familiar?). I think the combination of the wider windshield and the mirror placement kept the bulk of the windblast off my hands. This bike came with a 2" taller and 4" wider shield installed (Cee Bailey I think), and it helped keep my helmet out of the airfow for the most part. I did try out the heated seat a little, too hot, needs a rheostat.
Also used the Phillips HID lights as much as possible, they really help on these unlit country roads! Great visibility.
Ok ,that is all for now! Next, put a GIVI top case on and take my wife for a day trip, or two!
Here are some pics of the intrepid Vulcan adventure bike and the FJR.

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__________________
"The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing." Herger the Joyous

JH41

Great write up Leelover...

a few notes though...

You are in a curved deprived society. Once you get on the track and your addiction really kicks in you are going to need to move to the mountains in Georgia or something. That FJR should be a blast in the twisties (for its size)

damn pansy. Thats perfect riding weather! The heated seat was too hot because it wasnt cold enough to warrant using it!

In fact I dont see how you dont get overheated on a regular basis. I tested out my buddy's ST1100 over the summer... I was BAKING with that damn windshield. There was no wind to cool me off. (Although it would be sweet to ride this time of year)

-jh

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- I told my wife: 4 bikes or 4 girlfriends.... she's letting me keep the bikes

- Cars lean the wrong way in turns.

smkeatr

A little further north on 27 would have led you to Claremont, the home of Sugarloaf mountain and just north of that is the Ocala National Forest, also home of some very rural and fun twisties.

Leelover

So that's your secret FL twisty spot! We went to Clermont to look at a bike in Dec.
I will see if I can make it up there for a ride sometime. Maybe we can do a Florida folks ride.

__________________
"The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing." Herger the Joyous

phobe

Fine-looking machine. You should consider bringing it to Grattan and running it for a session or two. Seriously.

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Cum hoc, ergo propter hoc

Leelover

Might just do that! I would like to see what it's limit's are.
The pegs are pretty easy to get down, so I doubt that I will embarrass you too bad!

__________________
"The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing." Herger the Joyous

smkeatr

That sounds like fun! It's no secret, it's full of bikes on the weekends. I like weekdays myself.