ZZR 1400, GTR1400 or another FJR1300
Discussion
Need some advise please chaps.
I currently have an FJR1300, I'm on my third.
I commute 120 miles a day from Kent to central London.
The FJR has always felt like the ideal tool for the job, but I think I want a change.
Does anyone else put that kind of mileage on a ZZR or a GTR and if so what would be your advise/experiences?
I wouldn't be looking new, I'm looking around the £6K mark, so a 2012 bike.
Many thanks
Tim
I currently have an FJR1300, I'm on my third.
I commute 120 miles a day from Kent to central London.
The FJR has always felt like the ideal tool for the job, but I think I want a change.
Does anyone else put that kind of mileage on a ZZR or a GTR and if so what would be your advise/experiences?
I wouldn't be looking new, I'm looking around the £6K mark, so a 2012 bike.
Many thanks
Tim
They can take the miles no problem. Radiators are expensive so make sure its in good condition and fit a guard if it doesn't already have one.
Servicing can be a bit of a pain due the monocoque frame. Gawd knows how much of a pain it would be to re-shim if the valve clearances were out. Even checking them is really only something I'd let a very well trusted mechanic do, just because I could see a lot of garages just cleaning the top of the engine and tell you its fine.
I'm not a fan of them but have you thought about a K1300S?
Servicing can be a bit of a pain due the monocoque frame. Gawd knows how much of a pain it would be to re-shim if the valve clearances were out. Even checking them is really only something I'd let a very well trusted mechanic do, just because I could see a lot of garages just cleaning the top of the engine and tell you its fine.
I'm not a fan of them but have you thought about a K1300S?
I did 65k from new on my 2010 1400GTR, great bike. Reg/rec went at 50k, but otherwise, bulletproof.
Front wheel bearings go a little quicker than expected (c. 25k), and front disks warp if you don't occasionally clean and rotate the disk bobbins.
Always got 200 miles to the tank, averaged late 40s mpg. The valve clearance service is fiddly, and time consuming as mentioned - I did mine myself at 24k and 48k, and nothing needed shimming.
Martin.
Front wheel bearings go a little quicker than expected (c. 25k), and front disks warp if you don't occasionally clean and rotate the disk bobbins.
Always got 200 miles to the tank, averaged late 40s mpg. The valve clearance service is fiddly, and time consuming as mentioned - I did mine myself at 24k and 48k, and nothing needed shimming.
Martin.
I'm looking at a GTR1400 when my VFR800 eventually dies (damn you, Honda reliability!!) 
The one thing that has slightly put me off is that they look fairly hefty with the panniers on board (most seem to have them) but I commuted behind one that had removed them the other day, he had no trouble getting through any gap that I was going through.
The one thing that has slightly put me off is that they look fairly hefty with the panniers on board (most seem to have them) but I commuted behind one that had removed them the other day, he had no trouble getting through any gap that I was going through.
black-k1 said:
I commute 150 miles per day from Suffolk to the South Bank on my K1300S. I honestly can't think of a better bike for the job.
This ^I've gone from ZZR1200, Blackbird, VFR800 and now to K1300S and the K13 is the best bike i've ever owned hands down. Comfy, just about sporty enough to be interesting, but absolutely epic on dual carriageways. Great filtering in town. Characterful engine with stonking torque and a monster top end.
And it's averaging 54mpg on my 160 mile round trip 3x per week, despite getting a shift on.
The Blackbird is great (still have it), but the riding position is more like superman, it's more thirsty, slower, less characterful, has fewer gismos, no quickshifter or ESA. Shame because in isolation they're fantastic. Mine will be for sale in the new year.
Same for the VFR (still have that too!). It's closest in riding position, but worse on fuel (44mpg), slower (by a huge margin), the same lack of toys, but it does make some wonderful noises. I'm keeping it as a winter bike now that it's on 45k miles as i suspect it'll take salt/rain much better than the K1300, which i'll be taking off the road in oct/nov.
I tried sitting on a ZZR1400 and found it a similar riding position to the Blackbird. A Hayabusa was top of the list because i fit them really well, but for the money the K1300 won easily.
The only thing with the K13s is i wouldn't own one out of warranty. Mine came with 2 yr motorrad cover with breakdown. I'm going to pile miles on it for 2 yrs then it'll be traded for a newer one.
Only other thing that has caused me not to look at GTR1400s is their 4,000 mile service intervals. Seems a tad short for a touring bike.
Although I'd expect very few out of warranty bikes to actually receive that attention!
Is it just fluids and greasing a few parts, the kind of thing any competent home spanner-er would enjoy?
Although I'd expect very few out of warranty bikes to actually receive that attention!
Is it just fluids and greasing a few parts, the kind of thing any competent home spanner-er would enjoy?
@PT, the minor services are all easily DIY. My gut feel is that the 4K intervals are there to ensure clean oil, and stop the variable valve gear getting gummed up. I extended the intervals on mine to 6k with no issues.
Ref the panniers, don’t worry about them. The mirrors are wider than the boxes. I commuted into Paddington on mine occasionally, panniers were no issue. Mirrors on my 2010 were a great height for missing car mirrors whilst filtering, though van mirrors were at the same height. IIRC, the 2009 and before mirrors are lower, and thus less good for filtering.
Do keep in mind that all big bikes (tourers even more so) are reasonably wide, and you are not going to filter quite as well as on a 125 scooter.
Martin.
Ref the panniers, don’t worry about them. The mirrors are wider than the boxes. I commuted into Paddington on mine occasionally, panniers were no issue. Mirrors on my 2010 were a great height for missing car mirrors whilst filtering, though van mirrors were at the same height. IIRC, the 2009 and before mirrors are lower, and thus less good for filtering.
Do keep in mind that all big bikes (tourers even more so) are reasonably wide, and you are not going to filter quite as well as on a 125 scooter.
Martin.
GTR gets my vote; ZZR with bar risers 2nd; another FJR 3rd. Ive ridden all 3 - albeit last type was now 3 years ago. However, BMW not a hope in a month of Sundays due to their rediculuous service costs unless you are buying second hand in which case I'd still always buy Jap over German second hand due to reliability.
Sorry for going a bit off topic but what year is your fjr? Mine is 2001 and i am thinking of selling it if i get a job in London due to the well known engine heat issue in traffic. Is yours 2007+ model where they apparently fixed the design and if so how do you find it in summer heat? Also how easy is it to filter in london with it?
I'm commuting between kent and surrey so not an issue for me yet
I'm commuting between kent and surrey so not an issue for me yet
Martin30 said:
@PT, the minor services are all easily DIY. My gut feel is that the 4K intervals are there to ensure clean oil, and stop the variable valve gear getting gummed up. I extended the intervals on mine to 6k with no issues.
Ref the panniers, don’t worry about them. The mirrors are wider than the boxes. I commuted into Paddington on mine occasionally, panniers were no issue. Mirrors on my 2010 were a great height for missing car mirrors whilst filtering, though van mirrors were at the same height. IIRC, the 2009 and before mirrors are lower, and thus less good for filtering.
Do keep in mind that all big bikes (tourers even more so) are reasonably wide, and you are not going to filter quite as well as on a 125 scooter.
Martin.
Thanks Martin, all good to know, I do my own spannering on my bikes anyway, so more time to spend in the garage! Ref the panniers, don’t worry about them. The mirrors are wider than the boxes. I commuted into Paddington on mine occasionally, panniers were no issue. Mirrors on my 2010 were a great height for missing car mirrors whilst filtering, though van mirrors were at the same height. IIRC, the 2009 and before mirrors are lower, and thus less good for filtering.
Do keep in mind that all big bikes (tourers even more so) are reasonably wide, and you are not going to filter quite as well as on a 125 scooter.
Martin.
At the moment I'm working from home quite a lot and have a toddler who restricts time to go away on tours, so no burning 'need' to change my VFR800 right now, but if/when the right bike comes along at the right price I'm very interested in the GTR1400.
I'm also looking at a time when one of my parents may no longer be with us, they are currently 100 miles away from me, the geographically nearest of three children (only one in the country at the moment). I expect I'll be needing to do far more trips to visit than present, a GTR ticks a lot of boxes as a very suitable motorway mile muncher for me.
creampuff said:
^ I'm also interested in hearing about FJRs and heat. Always wanted an FJR. I have a Honda Pan European at the moment. That puts out a bit too much heat in summer.
Mine is like the physical manifestation of hell from 25 degrees ambient temp if you hit any prolonged traffic holdups. I have a cheap aquarium thermometer installed and I saw it read 46 degrees celsius this summer when it was 36 outside, so adds about +10 degrees roughly. I read on other forums that they fixed the heat issue by channeling it properly from 2007 onwards but I still wanted to hear the OP's experience in london traffic. Even if the heat is channelled out, it's a heavy beast to filter in city and the cooling fan kicks in every 2 minutes in traffic.
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