Yamaha Fzr750r

YAMAHA FZR750R

CYCLE WORLD TEST

Japan's most exclusive sportbike might just be the best production racer ever

THE FZR75OR SAT OUTSIDE A CONVENIENCE STORE, baking in the desert sun while its rider fortified himself for the long, hot miles ahead with the largest cup of iced cola in the store's inventory.

On the homeward leg of a 1500-mile blitzkrieg through the wide-open spaces of Nevada, Utah and Arizona, the FZR bore the marks of hard use. Road grime and tar tracings besmirched the once-pristine fairing. Remnants of insects unfortunate enough to have flown in the Yamaha’s path pockmarked the windshield, headlights and mirrors.

Our rider was curbside, savoring his last few cubes of ice, when he looked up to a notice a man of 50 or so giving the FZR a visual once-over. Despite a camouflage of sandals, bermuda shorts and a loud polo shirt, this man obviously was a motorcyclist; he knelt down and rubbed his hand thoughtfully over the bike’s radial rear tire, feathered almost to the edges of its wide tread. Rising slowly, he patted the Yamaha’s seat and addressed the rider.

“I’ll bet she’s a beast,” he mused.

Well, yes, she is. And no, she isn’t.

An explanation is in order, and one is forthcoming. But first, some history. The year is 1984. Yamaha has just introduced its FZ750. With a perimeter-style frame, 45degree inclined cylinders, downdraft carburetors and fivevalves-per-cylinder technology, Yamaha figures the new FZ to be the world’s most advanced, most desirable sportbike.

Yamaha figures wrong. Suzuki grabs that honor with its GSX-R750. Riding the crest of a worldwide sportbike craze, and boosted by an unprecedented club-roadracing contingency plan, the lightweight, aluminum-framed GSX-R goes on to sales and racing dominance over the FZ750. Countless magazine comparison tests proclaim the FZ the better streetbike but the Suzuki the better racebike. And so the GSX-R garners all the headlines.

Jump ahead to late 1986. Yamaha is out for revenge, and pulls the wraps off its new-age sportbike, the FZR, to be available in lOOOcc and 750cc forms. The bikes, cosmetically identical, possess the same kind of mechanical beauty that a missile-toting F-4 Phantom jet displays: no-nonsense and spoiling for a dogfight. The 1000, in all its aluminum-beam-framed glory, is mouth-watering enough, but it’s the 750 that draws the steely eyed stares of the sportbike cognoscenti. Yamaha announces that just 200 of the 750s will be brought into the U.S., and that most of those will go to roadracers, insuring that the company’s red-and-white battle flag is unfurled and carried proudly into competition with the GSX-Rs.

That representation takes on even more importance in the face of Yamaha’s almost complete withdrawal from big-time U.S. roadracing. With just token support for long-time team rider Jim Filice, Yamaha is hoping that nationwide contingency awards for high placings in Camel Pro, endurance and club roadracing events will keep Yamaha’s performance image alive.

Certainly from a monetary standpoint, the move makes sense. The entire contingency program, which covers more than 100 races, could cost Yamaha $138,000, whereas the bill to keep just one full factory effort running for the nine-race Camel Pro season runs upwards of $100,000.

If your corporate honor had to rest on one bike, the FZR750R would be a good choice. Borrowing heavily from Eddie Lawson’s championship-winning YZR500 and the four-stroke YZF750 that an unretired Kenny Roberts and Japanese hero Tadahiko Taira rode to near-victory at the 1985 Suzuka eight-hour endurance race, the FZ utilizes a frame constructed of wide aluminum beams. It rides on radial tires mated to hollow-spoked wheels-an 18-inch rear and a 17-inch front wheel dominated by oversized brake rotors. The 750 even one-ups its otherwiseidentical lOOOcc big brother by having better suspension components: Its fork and rear shock both are adjustable for ride height, damping and spring preload.

Engine changes don’t amount to much over last year’s FZ750. There’s slightly different cam timing and an altered ignition curve; stronger exhaust-valve springs; minutely thinner piston rings; and a clutch with one more set of plates.

Entirely different, though, is the FZR’s six-speed gearbox. Reportedly, the first four ratios are straight out of Eddie Lawson’s 1986 Daytona-winning FZ Superbike. Since most club racers will never have to contend with Daytona’s banking, fifth and sixth gears are lower than those of the 200 victor, and about the same as on last year’s FZ. The engine—now breathing through a 4-into-l exhaust-still puts out 102 claimed horsepower, but the shape of the power curve is somewhat different, with peak power coming sooner and fading faster.

On a tight, snaky road, that different power curve will never be noticed, however, for it is effectively masked by the FZR’s exemplary handling. With a chassis rigged for lOOOcc-level stresses, the 750 rarely gets out of line. The cornering loads that even very good street riders can throw at it just leave the bike yawning and asking for more. As on any bike equipped with low-leverage clip-on handlebars, side-to-side flicks take some muscle, and an FZR rider has to complete the maneuver with the added burden of a 484pound dry weight. That’s seven pounds less than the slightly overweight 1986 FZ750, but still 60 pounds heavier than a GSX-R750.

At least there’s some measure of redemption when it comes to braking. Not only do the FZR’s triple discs yank the bike down from speed in near-record distances, they do so with a light touch and excellent feedback, exactly what’s needed for a late-braking charge into a race-course corner. Or a spirited run down a favorite section of backroad. Even braking while leaned over is accomplished without a tendency to sit up, like so many of today’s widetired sportbikes are prone to do. All in all, you’d be hardpressed to find a better set of brakes on a current production motorcycle.

But this new Yamaha is not without its shortcomings. While the FZR’s handling is above reproach, its engine performance leaves something to be desired. Example? Top speed. Wrung out, the FZR will push hard against the 145-mph barrier, but venture no further. And while that’s six mph faster than the last GSX-R we tested, it is five mph down on both the Kawasaki Ninja 750 and the Honda VFR750, and four mph slower than the very bike it replaces, the ’86 Yamaha FZ750. The chief culprit seems to be the reshaped power curve, which drops off sharply much past 11,000 rpm. Taller gearing might allow the FZR to go faster, but as it’s delivered, it simply runs out of breath at 145.

Besides, taller gearing would simply make another problem worse. At the dragstrip, the new Yamaha proved all but impossible to launch cleanly, in spite of its beefed-up clutch. Put most of the blame on the new gearbox; the FZR’s first gear is as tall as second gear on the FZ750. In any case, the FZR’s best was an 11.94-second run, with a terminal speed of 115 mph. That’s four-tenths of a second and one mph slower than the FZ we tested in 1985.

What does all this mean? Well, clearly, the FZR has peppered the competition with world-class handling and

out-of-this-world braking, but its engine and gearing just don’t allow it to deliver a knockout punch. This is an excellent, excellent motorcycle with some very strong points; but it is not the all-time killer 750 sportbike many people expected.

Luckily, in the world of production roadracing, races are not won with jackrabbit starts or with straightaway speed alone. Although final judgment will have to await a head-to-head track comparison with the GSX-R, seat-ofthe-pants intuition says that the Yamaha will be a good match for the Suzuki 750s. Right out of the packing crate, it has better rear suspension, better brakes and more top speed. The Suzuki is lighter, though, and its tuners and riders have had two years to work out the right tire combinations and suspension settings. The FZR will take some time to whip into fully competitive shape; still, it’s fair to say that production roadracing in the U.S. should no longer be a Suzuki benefit.

Of course, Sunday afternoon club races won’t be the only places where the new FZR will show up. Although Yamaha strongly recommends that its dealers sell the FZR750R for closed-circuit racing only, the bike is streetlegal in 49 states (it isn’t equipped to pass California’s evaporative emissions standards); so, given the bike’s limited-production appeal, it’s inevitable that more than a few FZRs will end up wearing license tags rather than number plates.

If you think you might want to be included in this select group, be warned: There are some heavy tolls to be extracted along the road to sportbike exclusivity. The first tribute has to be paid on the showroom floor. At $6799, the FZR is the most expensive Japanese 750 yet, $2000 more costly than the GSX-R750, and $1000 more than even the FZR 1000.

Then, too, when Yamaha took aim on the GSX-R, the streetbike practicality that was evident in the FZ750 went out the window. The FZR’s racer crouch isn’t quite as severe as the GSX-R’s, but long-distance sport-touring just isn’t a reasonable option on this bike. The suspension, when set to full-soft settings, does an admirable job of absorbing jolts at cruising speeds, and the fairing and windshield cleanly split the air; but the FZR seat is thinly padded and—around 70 mph, at least—is afflicted with bun-tingling vibration.

And in general street riding, the FZR’s tall gearing and reworked power curve can also be a handicap. The FZ750 of last year was noted for its strong mid-range performance; of the sporting 750s, only Honda’s torque-laden VFR Interceptor was better at top-gear roll-ons. Now, the FZR has the slowest 60-to-80-mph time in the class. Even without the benefit of a stopwatch, a rider jumping from last year’s bike to the new one will notice that the FZR feels slightly flatter in the higher gears.

At least Yamaha gives riders some options. If you’re bowled over by the FZR750R but can’t go the $6800 pricetag, there’s the FZR 1000, which has more power and better gearing, although you’ll still be saddled with the racer-tuck riding position. Those looking for some practicality in their sportbikes can opt for the the FZ700, which promises to be an even better mount this year despite a 50cc-smaller engine; or they can still choose the FJ 1200, the ever-popular steamrolling sport-tourer.

But for roadracers who want to take jabs at GSX-Rs, or sport riders who want the most exclusive rocketship ride around, there’s only one motorcycle. And its name is FZR750R.

YAMAHA FZR750R

$6799