2006 Yamaha FJR 1300AE

Pluses:

OK this thing is fast, holds lots of stuff and... did I say it is a rocket? I have put 17,000 on this thing in the last two years. Going back and forth to work and some pleasure riding, but not enough fun riding. I spend 95% of the time on the superslab. When the road is open, this ... thing is just plain fantastic. When it is a parking lot, the electic shift really eases the stop and go riding -- much less tedious, no clutching, just flip the toe up or down or flip the handle mounted switch. suspension... its hard and soft. Means that it takes the harsh pavement joints really well, but is still fantastically tight in the bumps. It is comfortable in the warm weather and the cold with its adjustable (electric) windshield and heated grips. It's large 5 gallon tank means, for me, less than once a week fillups. 200+ miles rante. I get 39-40 MPH, but I am doing harsh fast over 70 riding or stop and go riding all the time. I have gotten as high as 48 MPG on a pleasure ride down the Blue Ridge, keeping the speed under 60 (ahem). I think its anti-lock brakes are fantastic, I was a skeptic, but I will never buy another bike without anti-lock brakes. Nor will I ever buy another bike with chain drive. When you put as many miles on a bike as I do, and when you ride in the rain every week, you really appreciate these two mechanical miracles. I haven't oiled a chain or adjusted a belt in 15 years, and shaft drives have come so far (at least Honda and Yamaha's) that you never know or care, what is back there.

Minuses: Tall and top heavy and doesn't have the one of a kind trunk that my old PC-800 had. For me, with my 29 inch inseam that means that I've dropped the bike 2X because my feet failed to meet the ground. However the bike sustained NO damage with the drop. The luggage, while spacious, is not that easy to load, and I am always getting my bags caught in the lip of the cases when I close them. They are shapped for looks not for utility. I still wish for the luggage capability on my last bike -- a Pacific Coast that had a trunk, where you could just drop things in.

But don't take me the wrong way, other than the trunk, the PC was junk compared to this bike.