It official......I now belong on the GTS list and I'm not simply a
lurker. I rode the bike back from Texas to St. Augustine yesterday
and loved every minute. I put 10% of it 10,600 mileage on in 15
hours. It runs better already. Now I'm looking for advice on the
best place and the best manuals? Also anyone out there with a stock
seat they know they won't ever use, please contact me off list with a
price. I want to get one to modify the pillion with some ideas I
have to use it as a touring set up. Any off list words of advice are
welcomed.
The new front tire on it....Pirelli Dragon is cupping pretty badly
already. I had great luck with Avon Azaros on the front of FJ which
stopped this. Comments.
hawke
below is a reprint of my comments on the ride to a friend:
"The guy I bought the bike from is a Honda mechanic in the Plano
Texas Honda shop. I was late getting into Texas because I missed my
flight our of OK City. The business discussions dragged on a little
too long, but the guy I was with felt bad and drove me down. What a
small world the Internet makes...while doing the deal in the show
room, I bought the bike from the owner, a guy walked up and sat on
the GTS. The guy I'm with asks, jokingly, if he would like to buy
it. Then this stranger starts to carry on about knowing all about me
and the GTS deal. The mechanic and the guy with me look stupified as
he talks; like, are you world famous John..:>) Then the stranger
explains about the LDR list...:>)
The ride home from Texas to St. Augustine was a good chance to get
acquainted with the GTS. It is a lot different than the FJ..it is
much more finely engineered and advanced compared to the old FJ to
make it concise. Getting off the FJ and onto the GTS and then riding
1200 plus miles in less than a day, the differences become extremely
focused in the mind.
The RADD front end is outstanding. On the FJ, when riding in
anything loose or unstable, I had virtually no control. It took all
my skills just to keep the bike up right on a gravel road. The FJ
wouldn't steer, simply plow. Riding down the unfinished road leading
into my sister place in Texas was a nice shock. I had to carefully
pick my spot when I rode the FJ, in fact, I went down a few months
earlier on the FJ when it hit a soft wet grass area and slid out from
underneath mewith this GTS, it is like being on a dirt bike. It has
no tendency to slid or move on unstable ground. The same feeling with
the GTS transfers to hard ground and in corners.it is on rails. It
inspires confidence in all riding conditions.
It is no light weight at just over 600 lbs wet, but that heaviness
disappears once the bike is moving. It feels like you can touch
either side of the bike down in the tight stuff without giving it a
second thought because it feels so well planted. The ride is
extremely plush with little being transmitted back through the
handlebars.
The power is there, but it doesn't have that surge at seven grand,
like the FJ. It just revs and revs like an electric motor. Very
smooth, but still has a lot of grunt. You can leave it in top gear
and pull all the way from 1500 rpm without a hic-up.
On the same ride and at the same speeds, 80 to 90 mph average, on the
ride back from Texas, the FJ would have given me around 30 mpg.
Roger always told me how good his gas mileage was and I used to
thinkyeah! But this EFI system on the Yamaha is something else. At
the same speedo speeds, and by the speed I was passing traffic, the
speedo is probably about 5% off, like the FJ, I got outstanding
mileage. I average 44 to 47 mpg on 5 tank fill ups. It dropped to
44 mpg when I was able to hold the speed closer to 90. I couldn't
believe it. What a nice surprise, I almost don't need to put on an
aux tank compared to the FJ. Just short of 200 miles the low fuel
light comes on and I fill it up with 4 gallons. There is a guy on
the GTS list that is a metal worker and who can bump out the stock
tank to over seven gallons and still fit it under the plastic. That
may be the sensible way to go for LD riding on this thing.
In shortI think I have a keeper in this bike, even if Yamaha brings
out a light weight tourer. I'll just have to get a bigger garage."
hawke
