"We" spend a lot of time on this board extolling the virtues of our Wings - and rightly so.
It's a great bike, comfortable, relatively easy to maintain, durable, versatile (as a solo platform or fully loaded for touring), and has an alternator with enough spare power to light/heat/energize a ton of farkles.
Sometimes "our" conversations follow a predictable path: our Wing is King and other bikes are cr@p (for one reason or several).
In the Real World there are people who like their 'other' bikes as much as we love our Wings. I know, it's hard to believe - maybe their mothers dropped them on their heads and they 'just ain't right'. (Pretty sure mine did - thanks, mom.)
So if I may, allow me to offer a couple suggestions - with or without eliciting a defensive reaction from The Faithful :lol:
In no particular order:
First,
age. The riders who qualify for and compete in the Iron Butt Rally** are not a bunch of teenagers, but most of them are not yet as ancient as some of us. Yes, there are many Wing owners who haven't yet hit the half-century mark. And there are more than a few Medicare-eligible FJR riders. But many of the competitors in the IBR have not yet arrived at that milestone of life that involves riding a bike as comfortable as a casket.
Second,
size. Admit it, boys. The Wing is not small. It weighs about 50% more than the FJR. Moving at highway speeds it doesn't seem that big, but it is. Some folks enjoy traveling a bit lighter. Or a LOT lighter.
when you have to turn around on a dirt road, in the dark, on day 9, you might notice the difference.
Third,
price. Seriously. For the price of a new ABS-equipped Wing, you can buy a new ABS-equipped FJR - and have $10k left over. Let me spell that out:
Ten. Thousand. Dollars. Less.
In the age of Bluetooth-everything, I wouldn't mind trading an AM/FM radio for an electric windscreen if I'm going to be riding 1,000 miles a day for 11 days.
Fourth,
fun. Oh, wait. Did I say that out loud? Different strokes for different folks!
Don't get me wrong I'm not 'dissing' the Wing. Just
comparing tools for a specific job.
I believe that every rider chooses what he or she thinks is the best tool for the job. In the end, the best competitors seemed to choose the FJR.
Both bikes have a
reputation for reliability, the same size fuel tank (6.6 gal.)***, and an extensive dealer network - just in case. Both bike have boatloads of available functional farkles.
I've done IBA rides on my Wing and had a comfortable, fun time. Wouldn't trade those experiences for anything! So far, I've done 400-500 mile days and 1200 mile weekends on the FJR and had a comfortable FUN time. Guess which bike I'll do my next IBA ride on?
Here's a good overview of what's needed in a long distance bike:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vYqsUy-hXw8
**For those not familiar, the IBR is a biannual 11-day, 11,000 mile rally with a limited number of entrants. Not to be confused with the many Iron Butt Association "Saddle Sore", "Bun Burner", and other long distance rides accomplished by individual riders.
***I'm not aware of any IBR competitors who don't have an aux. fuel cell. And even though the FJR gets 10-15% better fuel economy, that's not an issue in the IBR since there is a mandatory limit on miles ridden between breaks.