JustinNck1

Good choice. 

Yay it made it.

THIS is a must have on helmets. 

I am a rider, not a motorcycle enthusiast.  Harleys just never made my manly bits tingle.

That's what makes our hobby/lifestyle so great. We have endless options on what type of bike we want to ride. I'd like one of each but my money tree died....

LOL, that took me a second to get it.

I will grant you that a lot of the HD hate is because of the people that own/ride them, not as much the bikes.  Much like vettes.  My neighbor feels the need to "warm" up his HD at all times of the day/night for many many minutes.  Which is completely stupid to begin with not accounting for the time of day.  It also sounds terrible and seems to run like crap. 

I know how you feel, my neighbor had a chopper that needed carb work, but insisted on running it 12:30 at night and revving the crap out of it. Most HD riders own them for the image and trailer their bikes everywhere. There are some that are true riders though.

I guess I stirred up a shit storm. Sorry I didn't jump on the bandwagon lol

Star Stratoliner, Honda 1300 Custom Line, several Goldwing variants, the Suzuki Boulevard M109 and C/M90s...  All have excellent pricing and reliability that equals or exceeds HD's, so what have you been working on and why specifically do you think they're harder to work on or have attributes classifying them cheaper than HD?  Dude, your FJR is superior in every way to every HD except for subjective style differences, torque on paper and possibly 2-up riding comfort.  Oh, and noise. ;-)

 I would consider the Goldwing highest in reliability of the bikes you mentioned. All of the others, have you seen very many with 75,000+ miles, or let alone see one on the road? They're good bikes, and the few people who have them take good care of them. Cruisers are cruisers, doesn't matter the brand, their technology isn't as advanced like sport bikes or sport tourers. I bought my FJR after test riding a few Harley Baggers. Great bikes, just didn't have the performance that I wanted. Most Harley issues I see are due to neglect by their owners. I just think people hate Harleys due to the stereotypical "Biker Poser" who has a Harley and abuses it bar hopping and doing burnouts.

Their technology is by no means ground breaking, but compare them to a metric cruiser in the same category. Not too many 1600cc metric cruisers.... IMO their also very simple to work on. I've rode and worked on enough non-harley cruisers to know why their soo much cheaper.

I guess this is the growing pains of introducing new features. The saddle bag fasteners where due to a change in outsourced manufacturers. Their hydrualic clutch has been nothing but problems, and it pulls harder than their cable clutches. None of them is as bad as BMW rear drive failures and buying back bikes.

Since I've had mine for a few weeks, I thought I'd chime in. I have a Neotec as well.

 

Unit in helmet -

Overall easy to install though fitment could be better. Because of the extra thickness in the rear from the flange inserted to hold the main unit, the plastic behind the liner in the back bulges out in one spot on mine. No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to lay flat with the Sena unit installed. I don't feel it while wearing the helmet so in the end, not a big deal. The liner snap near where the mike/volume unit is wants to come unsnapped easily because of the thickness of the flange that fits around the snap. If there's any lateral pressure put on the mike, it comes unsnapped. Again, not really a huge deal but a little annoying. At least I can use the mike on here unlike the SM10H which required snaking the boom up under and around the skirt which doesn't quite reach and not ideal for raising and lowering the chin bar. My snaps are not worn, I've only unsnapped them a few times since I've had the helmet.

On me, the mike rests lightly against my mouth. Could be my fat face. Since this is not adjustable, there's not much I can do. It's not too much of an issue but if I haven't shaved for a day or so the stubble catches on the foam cover so I have to contort my mouth a bit to talk.

The sound is just like my SM10H and works great with my phone. I like the sleek style but since I have a large windscreen, didn't notice a difference in wind noise without the protruding housing of the SM10H.

I fit the foam pieces on the speaks as one side seemed to rub my ear...I have the soft velcro piece still in the helmet leftover from the SM10H so they sit closer to my ears. With the foam on it works great and I like the way the speakers mount in the helmet.

 

The Remote:

I'm not a fan of the remote. When mounted on the inside of my grip, it restricts movement of my clutch handle (I have shorty levers) unless I have it positioned just right. The joystick knob gets in my way when reaching for the horn/signal. The buttons are difficult, if not impossible to find with gloves on...the top one you can at least see to get at but I can never find the bottom one. For me, it simply can't stay on the inside part of the grip and I have been using it on the outside which is out of the way but much more awkward to use and at that point, I might as well be reaching for the controls on the helmet.

The joystick knob is way too sensitive. It's very easy to accidentally bump and change the volume or pause music. I like the idea of the remote but for me, it doesn't help its intent which is to make things safer and easier.

 

Other thoughts:

Overall, it works well so far (have not used it as an intercom) but I liked the functionality of the SM10H better except for the microphone which has better (but not perfect) placement in the helmet on the 10U. I really prefer the wheel button control on the SM10H. It's easier to use with gloves and not prone to being accidentally activated.

The other thing I noticed is that when wearing the helmet, you can't see the LED of the unit to make sure it's still on, etc. On the SM10H I could look in the mirror and see it blinking blue and double check. I was rare that I need to do this but it's something I noticed.

I also liked the fact that on the SM10H I could remove the unit and charge it or if I left the helmet on the bike (rare for me), I could take the unit with me to prevent theft. Having to lug the helmet in is more of a pain and the position of the charge port is not optimal.

I would agree with all of these statements except for the unsnapping issue. I haven't had this issue. The remote is definitely too sensitive.

heck just look at all the negative reviews on revzilla

note how many of them mention the tag says made in china and how many mention bad stitching

 

http://reviews.revzilla.com/8506-en_us/239396/held-held-rodney-gloves-reviews/reviews.htm?sort=rating&dir=asc

I checked and they are made in China, but I have never had an issue with them since I found the cause of the tear. "All the Negative reviews" 93% of the reviewers recommend the product and it has over 4 out of 5 stars. I actually tried a nicer pair of Held gloves and sent them back due to not fitting very well. To each their own I guess...

I plan on doing a 8k mile service (Throttle Body Sync, Spark Plugs, Oil Change, Differential oil, etc).

Who doesn't like a free shirt? 

Those less expensive helds are china or pakistan made.

No surprise they basically fell apart.

Only the expensive models are german and hungary made.

IIRC they are made in Hungary. They didn't fall apart, I have found the culprit. I use to store my gloves under the windshield of my bike. Apparently there is a bolt that sticks through and was catching the fingers.

I "Winterize" with stabil and a battery tender, but I ride all 12 months of the year. When theres salt, the bike gets washed after every ride. 30 degrees is my cut-off.

I know several people with Can-Ams, and not a single one of them are happy with it. Lack of Power and it cooks you.

Welcome!

I've heard all kinds of weird things about why the kill switch exists, from "It's the primary way of turning the bike off - It's the E in the MSF FINE-C process" all the way to "It's only to turn the bike off if you feel you are falling off"

 

I've always used the kill switch to turn the bike off and left it in the off position while parked.  It's right there, so why not?   

 

Turn on:

 - Key in, turn to Off the release steering lock

 - Get on bike, rock it off the center stand

 - Key to Run

 - Neutral

 - Engine switch to RUN

 - Starter

 

Turn off:

 - Engine switch to STOP

 - 1st gear

 - Kickstand down

 - Get off the bike

 - Pull the bike up onto the center stand and stow the kickstand

 - Turn the handlebars full left, turn key from Run to Lock and remove key.

This is interesting, I always leave my side stand down when on the center stand. IDK why, maybe if it fell off the center stand maybe the side stand might catch it, although highly doubtful. I have heard stories of the kill switch wearing out on BMWs by being turned on and off too much.

I use the kickstand most of the time, but back when I had a Harley, that doesnt work. I used the kill switch on Harleys.

Welcome!

I'll never go back to a RR or full sporty bike. My C14 does more than I ever thought a ST could do and I'm finding more in her on every ride. And like stated above 400, 500, 600 miles days, no problem.

I think my biggest issue is I am spoiled having cruise control now.

Poor R6 never had a chance since you have a newer FJR1300.  R6 is a great bike, but that wasn't even fair.

It was fun, but like to be able to walk after a 400 mile day...

Riding a sport tourer for a day, and you will be sold. I rode a buddy's R6 the other day and told myself I will not buy another sport bike.