Fjr1300

FJR1300

Yamaha's Missing Link?

SO THE FZ-1 SUPER-STANDARD PACKS A REAL PUNCH. IF you're Yamaha, why not make it a 1-2 combo, with the knockout blow coming by way of the FJR1300 sporttourer, SO far a Euro-only device?

"We've had tremendous response to the FJR1300," admitted a Yamaha U.S. spokesman. "We would love to bring the bike here, but it has to have legs-it needs to stay in the lineup year after year. If it doesn’t, it will disappoint our customers. Also, the sport-touring category is very price-sensitive. The price has to be right.”

Jim Yeardly, a staffer for England’s Motor Cycle News, recently rode the FJR in Spain. A sportbike nut to the core, he came away impressed.

“The large, pullback handlebars are perfectly positioned for leisurely riding,” Yeardly reported. “The dash, which offers a segmented LCD gas gauge, a clock, two tripmeters and a range of other gizmos alongside the usual speedo and rev-counter arrangement, is reminiscent of the FJR’s discontinued older brother, the user-friendly FJ1200. That makes me feel very much at home, as I have very fond memories of that bike.”

Like the old FJ, the shaft-drive FJR gets its grunt from a big-bore inline-Four, albeit a modem one that’s loaded with such niceties as liquid-cooling, fuel-injection and dual balance shafts. Yamaha claims 145 horsepower and 92 footpounds of torque. Noted Yeardly, “Picking up the pace on wide, deserted roads, I glance down at the speedo, which displays a figure on the fast side of 130 mph. The five-speed

gearbox has been in top for almost 50 miles, and I’ve hardly changed gears since I pulled away from the first junction.” There’s more here than motor, though, as indicated by a flock of features, from integrated hard luggage to twin catalytic converters to an electrically adjustable windscreen. “For the last few miles, I’ve been playing with the FJR’s windscreen,” Yeardly wrote. “A two-way switch on the left handlebar cluster lets you raise or lower the screen to suit your height and to protect against varying weather conditions. It works like a treat.”

Ditto the rear-view mirrors: “Once adjusted to your liking, the mirrors are superb. The stalks are just long enough to avoid ‘elbows-only’ syndrome.”

To keep weight to a minimum, the FJR’s frame, swingarm and subframe are aluminum. To cut costs, brakes and suspension are Yamaha parts-bin items. Even so, Yeardly voiced no complaints. “As the seamless power delivery blasts me through the mountains, I notice another amazing feature-the YZF-R1-derived brakes. Even on bumpy comer entrances, there’s a smooth transition of power. The chassis and suspension soak up the battered and sun-baked Spanish roads. Even with the rear shock set on soft, the bike never gets itself tied up in knots.”

And the praise doesn’t end there. In his conclusion, Yeardly called the FJR 1300 “as close to the perfect combination of sporty fun and long-distance comfort as anything I’ve ridden.”

C'rnon Yamaha, time's a wastin'!

Matthew Miles