[jnk]

went to bikes blues and bbq in fayetteville, ar. thurs/fri. rode my ms down thur morn left home @ 4:30 am rode a blk c14 decided i needed to ride it again fri. i thought i should give the fjr a shot as well so rode it fri too.
1st i found the c14 to be veeery smooth and powerful handles veeery good as well. i love the sound of the engine when you rev it. i was a little concerned about the height as i only have about a 29" inseam( with cowboy boots on) but i found it to be very manageable but i have ridden a lot of bikes that were taller than me over the years. i would however get a lower seat but i don't think i would lower the bike. i did find it a little tall for mounting and dismounting, those bags stick way up there. also it does put out a quite a bit of heat on your inner thighs and blows quite a bit of heat on your foot and ancle. i don't know if there is a way to help that but it could be uncomfortable when the temp gets into the mid 90's and above as it does for a fair amount of the summer here in ks. it was only around 85 when i demmoed .
2nd the fjr is also a very nice bike it has ample power and handles veeery well i think maybe a little better than the c14 and the heat is almost nonexistant, it is much easer to mount and dismount.
i found the seat to be quite uncomfortable, and there is a lot of hand numbing vibration coming through the handle bars. i also did not like the transmission it is clunky and when taking off from a stop i would hear a clunk. also it needs a 6th gear as it is buzzy at 80 mph in 5th this was annoying to me as well. the windscreen is much more useful than that of the c14 as i was able to raise it to the point of getting a calm pocket of air which would be nice on those cold mornings, but the windscreen bounced around a lot which may bother some.

in conclusion. i found both bikes to be very nice offerings and each had pluses and minuses the buzzyness of the fjr is a turn off for me ( i wish it had a 6th gear) however i might get used to it in time but the vibration would have to be seriously reduced for me to own that bike and maybe with aftermarket grips it could be.
the c14 would be nearly perfect if the heat could be better managed. it is somewhat dificult to mount and dismount but i love how smooth it is even at speeds i excess of 80mph.
so i am undecided as of yet. there is no way to add 6th gear to the fjr, which is a biggie for me. but i might be able to reduce the vibration with aftermarket grips.
i don't know if the heat could be reduced on the c14 with some insulation on the inside of the cowlings by the thighs that would imo make it much more interesting.
IF ANYONE HAS SUGGESTIONS PLEASE CHIME IN

edit
oh and i put just short of 1000mi on my ms in 2 days and i feel good enough to do another 500 right now so the meanie aint too bad either