Fazer

Fazer

Yamaha's Eighties middleweight was set to stun

It was 1986, a time of tariffs and rad mustaches, of trying new market segments as motorcycle sales started to twitch back to life after declining from an amazing peak in the late Seventies.

It also was the time of the Yamaha FZX700 Fazer. The five-valve-percylinder inline-Four’s displacement of 698cc was in response to the over-700cc-tariff imposed by the International Trade Commission in 1983 to protect Harley-Davidson in the U.S. market, leading to Japanese “tariff-buster” bikes that could squeak under the limit and avoid the associ-

Yamaha’s styling at the time was far from conservative, and the $3499 Fazer was no exception. The full test in the May, 1986, issue was effusive about the bike’s awesome dynamic qualities but also said, “The Fazer’s unique appearance has a polarizing effect on all who see it, immediately causing everyone to fall into either of two categories: those who think gorgeous and those who think it’s grotesque.”

No matter what testers thought of the Fazer’s looks, one ride had them sold on the silky-smooth, powerful engine, great gearbox and good-handling chassis. One complaint? “Its rear shocks are a bit short of rebound damping.” Weird case of history repeating, no doubt, but it’s proof that a great middleweight sporting standard like the FZ8 never goes out of style. —Mark Hoyer