General Comments:

A friend was dying. I was living in Alaska at the time, and flew to San Francisco to be with he and his wife, to help out and to be there for my friend. He had an FJ1100 in the garage, and suggested I was an unreconstructed biker and he was giving the bike to me. It had been some years since I'd had a bike, a Honda 500cc, about '85, another great bike. He said I would really like that bike and he was right. I had it shipped to Alaska, was living in Fairbanks at the time and that began my romance with the FJ1100. Eventually moved south to Redding, Ca. and then to Hayfork, Ca.

I started over the road trucking, my girlfriend threw me out and a nephew talked me out of my FJ1100 as I was gone all the time. A man once mentioned to me, when he saw my FJ1100 that, "They didn't make enough of those," and to this day I agree with him.

I now own a 2005 FJR1300 and a 2008 Suzuki Bandit 1250. I'm old, I'm fat, but I just can't give up on these types of motorcycles.

Faults:

Alternator went out. Factory was expensive, so I had it rebuilt for less than 100.00.

Chin fairing; never bothered to replace it.

Second gear would sometimes drop if risen hard in mountains. Not every time, but sounded awful when putting it back in gear. Also it's not fun coasting around a corner.

General Comments:

Pure 80's muscle bike. I was never dropped when riding up HWY 9 or Skyline. Roll on power was amazing; you could just leave it in gear.

Ended up selling it when we purchased a house and had kids; didn't seem to have the same amount of free time. Stopped surfing too. The sacrifices we make.

Last year I got a Vstrom, which is a great bike, but does not have the same power (expected as it's a 650).

I have been lurking on the FJ forum to find another, that is how much I miss it. Like many I looked at the FJR, but it is so expensive, large, and heavy. My plan is to get a 91/93, do the wheel mods and then get the FJ09. My stable will be complete.

Faults:

Cleaned carbs, new tires, sprockets and chain. Oil and filter, and air filter and spark plugs.

General Comments:

Always wanted an FJ1100 and finally found one. It had been in storage for many years. A thousand bucks, and a few hundred to get it back to life. The bike has incredible power. Just pulls so hard. Back in the day a good rider could get in the tens in the quarter mile, and very close to 150 miles an hour on a calm day. There's a fantastic bunch of people at the FJ Owners website ready to help with any problems.

40 thousand miles is just broken in. Six gallon tank. It's a super comfortable mile muncher, that I like the more I ride it. But watch out for the kookaloo! It will scare the pants off ya!