The FJ resplendent in its blue, red and pearl white livery burbled quietly as l left the midnight burger party on the dealer’s forecourt. All the road tests concurred that this was the machine to own in 1984. With a 16 valve, 125hp engine, wrap around lateral frame, monoshock suspension, triple ventilated discs, an 160 section back tyre, anti-dive forks and nimble 16" wheels it was a watershed in machine development.
The first few hours aboard the Yamaha were favourable, the faster it went the happier I felt. Low speeds (below 40mph) would cause a certain amount of oversteer where the machine would readily drop into corners, but as the speed increased neutrality and stability improved to rock steady predictability. If a change of direction was called for, the smallest shift of body weight would suffice.
The feel of the powerful discs allied to the fat OE tyres and low centre of gravity inspired confidence. Travelling 10-15mph more quickly into bends than on my old Suzuki GS1000 gave no worries. If the chassis was unable to handle the speed. the brakes would.
I had allowed myself five days in which to clock 500 miles before heading off to Europe with my girlfriend. First service completed, I loaded the tank bag, throwover panniers and secured the tent on the ample tail spoiler with bungees attached to the thoughtfully provided hooks beneath the spoiler.
Stuffed with cafe au lait, croissants and confiture from our breakfast in Calais, we headed south. We chose the Route Nationale as fast A roads are suited to a swift sports tourer such as the FJ. Although two up with luggage and tent, the FJ easily sustained 100rnph cruising, sticking to the chosen line as if on rails.
Before leaving London I had set the adjustable mono-shock preload and damping to near maximum. The front suspension was three way adjustable with both damping and preload adjusted by an allen key at the top of each stanchion. Finally, anti-dive, adjustable from the bottom of each fork leg, provided a small amount of resistance, although a combination of braking and potholes seemed to create a conflict of purpose in the system. The adjustments proved to be correct, providing a firm but compliant ride, particularly important over the long, undulating sweeping curves encountered on our southerly route.
The mighty air cooled four showed its credentials as a flexible motor, happy to sit in top gear all day, but when occasion demanded I could snick down through the five speed box with superlative ease One problem did become apparent, the CDI unit has sensors measuring engine temperatures. speed and loading; when decelerating from 90mph plus the engine would sometimes give a little surge forward just as the throttle was closing. This was not disconcerting but more a peculiar quirk of the motor, perhaps a glitch in the ignition software.
At this stage the bike was still restricted to 6000mm. l was nearing the 1000 mile passport to full power and the FJ's promised 155mph potential. For a touring motorcycle the FJ is compact, that is to say small. As a 5'8" medium build rider I found my knees bent too much for true touring comfort. As for my 5'8" pillion, she was sitting with her knees almost doubled, which was to cause problems later. Seating for the rider was very comfortable. well padded and broad.
However, the pillion suffered with an inadequately padded perch so angled that every time I braked she would slide into me — terrific if you’re on a first date, a pain if you're doing serious touring. Most Japanese bikes are a compromise and bought as such. The small screen blade angled air blast straight on to my helmet. fine on the race track but tiresome when touring. Control ergonomics ware excellent, especially useful were the self cancelling indicators that worked with a combination of time and distance sensors. The instrumentation, whilst bland, was easily read providing sufficient warning lights and the biggest, most accurate fuel gauge ever fitted to a motorcycle.
Covering 200 to 300 miles per day seemed a reasonable distance, allowing time to sightsee and sufficient coffee and lunch breaks. One luxury brought on the trip was a portable stereo that plugged neatly into our Sonic intercom headsets. l have found that conversation and music help prevent pillion boredom, although the boredom could be more of a reflection on my riding style or was it the FJ's capable handling?
Having spent three days cruising the beautiful, scenic roads of the Dourdonne in Southern France, we decided to head east into Northern Italy. The rain had started so we donned our oversuits and headed for the autoroute, hoping to outride the inclement weather. As we rode, the rain subsided and our speed increased — 120mph cruising. We covered 100 miles in around an hour. As we left the autoroute we pulled up at the pay booth, handing our ticket over to the money collector, he looked at our arrival point and time and then our exit time. He looked at the bike, looked at the ticket and exclaimed, Mama Mia. The expression on his face said it all.
Most of the roads in Northern Italy are very twisty, hilly and look more like a series of potholes joined by tarmac. However, the beefy 41mm stanchions more than coped with the 500lb motorcycle, luggage and riders. Heavy and prolonged use of the brakes did not cause any detectable brake fade. One area I felt less happy about was the lack of ground clearance. All this tight cornering saw the sprung footrests and bellypan scrape the tarmac with enough frequency that l tended to roll off the throttle where I knew the chassis and tyres could easily cope with more enthusiastic cornering. Shame!
Our journey took us through Switzerland and back into Southern France We now had only two days left to travel back to London, but it was so hot en route that we stopped off by a mountain river to swim in its cool, clear waters and wound up staying all afternoon. Now our only option was a 900 mile trip in 24 hours. We chose to spend the night locally and ride hard the next day. I knew we could do it, the FJ had proved so capable at high speed work over the last two weeks.
Using A roads and cruising at 110mph where conditions permitted, progress was formidable However, 600 miles later my girlfriend began to complain of stiff knees, her leathers were scrunched up into the joint and her knees had swollen thanks to the cramped riding position. This meant that we had to stop regularly to allow the pillion to stretch her long legs. Despite this we caught the 10am ferry to Dover. When we hit the M2, it was the early hours so wound the throttle to the stop.
My girlfriend struck me repeatedly on my shoulders. I turned around to see that she was frantically pointing to the exhausts. Flames were shooting out from the back of the motorcycle The panniers had caught alight on the hot silencers. l jammed on the brakes and pulled on to the hard shoulder. We both leapt off the bike and battered the panniers to extinguish the flames — all our clothes were burnt and the panniers had turned to a gooey mess over the pipes. Ah well, only 40 miles to go!
FJ ownership lasted five years. In that time I covered nearly 25000 miles. The bike always sat outside covered by a tarpaulin but never failed to start. The OE battery was still in place when I sold the machine. Best tyres I found were Michelin radials — excellent high and low speed handling and confidence inspiring in the wet. Rear tyre life was in the region of 4000 to 5000 miles. The front tyres showed an unusual amount of wear in the same period and were invariably changed at the same time The OE chain lasted 19000 miles, finally snapping under harsh first gear acceleration. Unfortunately, the engine sprocket cover broke in two and had to be replaced along with the chain. At 24000 miles the swinging arm bushes had to be replenished.
Mods were a taller flip-up screen, resculptured seat similar to the FJ1200, Goodridge brake hoses, fork gaiters and Fiamm horns, the standard item being as useful as a chocolate teapot. Generally, the standard of finish was good with only a few rust spots starting to appear on the frame after five years all weather use The original exhaust system completely rotted within two years, however the replacement OE system was still good in its third year.
I paid a dealer to carry out the major services as these only came at 8000 mile intervals. Service time quoted by Yamaha is three hours. Intermediate servicing (changing of oil, filter and plugs) I did myself every 4000 miles. From this standpoint the FJ was cheap to run. Best ever speed recorded was 158mph, prone on the tank. The FJ has now been replaced with a ZX10 but that's another story.
Ian Church