Honorable Mentions of 1984
HONORABLE MENTIONS OF 1984
SUPERBIKE YAMAHAFJ1100
If the name on the category were 800cc-And-Over Street-bike, the Yamaha FJ1100 would roll away as the winner, not the runner-up. As an overall streetbike, the Yamaha is without equal in its class, combining the low-end power and easy-going manners that are essential for around-town riding, with enough hard-core performance to beat almost any sportbike on a twisty road or racetrack.
But “almost any sportbike” translates to “any sportbike other than a Ninja."The Kawasaki clearly outranks the FJ as an asphalt-assault weapon, which is why the Ninja took top honors in the Superbike category, where performance is all. But in no way does that detract from the Yamaha. And no matter how many racetracks the Ninja dominates, it can’t blemish the FJ’s unofficial title of Best Streetbike of 1984.
UNDER 600cc STREET YAMAHARZ350
No motorcycle available in this country is quite like the Yamaha RZ350. It’s a two-wheeled rocket aimed right at the garage of the two-stroke street enthusiast who was left bikeless five years ago when the EPA made two-stroke performance a crime. Now the two-stroke returns in a big way; the RZ350 has more horsepower than any production bike of its displacement, and it weighs less than any bike in its class.
Its class, unfortunately, is quite large, and as significant as the RZ is, it can’t compete with the likes of the GPz. The Yamaha is limited by a pipey engine and the fact that it isn’t available everywhere in the country. But the fact that Californians can’t get the RZ seems a small price when you consider that for the last five years nobody could get one, or anything even close.
UNDER 600cc STREET HONDAVF500F
There’s no doubt about it: Honda’s VF500F Interceptor is the best-performing middleweight motorcycle of all time. Sure, there are other motorcycles, like the Kawasaki GPz550, that are close, but the Honda is in a league of its own when it comes to straightening the bends in a winding road. The VF is powerful, magnificent-handling and fun. But it isn’t the class winner.
That bike, as you’ve already read, is the Kawasaki GPz550, for one reason and one reason alone: It’s a known quantity. The Honda, however, is unknown, and the early reports on its reliability are disturbing. We have no doubt that most VF500Fs, will never have a significant mechanical problem, and their owners will happily go about blowing the sidepanels off of GPzs. But other VFs seem likely to have big trouble. It’s just a case in which being the best is not quite good enough.
ENDURO HONDAXR250R
Mention four-stroke enduro bikes and not everyone will listen. Mention 250cc four-stroke enduro bikes, and you’ll be talking to a crowd about the size of a pro-Reagan rally in Cuba. In the past, XR250s have been little more than Open-class clumsiness teamed up with 200-class power. That’s because previous XR250s have been based on the XR500R, and that formula gave them the power-to-weight ratio of a moped engine in an Aspencade chassis.
But that’s changed now. The new 250 is based on Honda’s XR200R, resulting in the lightest and most powerful 250cc four-stroke enduro bike yet. But it is, nonetheless, a 250cc four-stroke enduro bike, and as such it gives an advantage to bikes like KTM’s 250 MXC. But that gap is getting smaller all the time; and now, people are at least listening.
