Hell, I'd done it again. The exceptional stability of my FZR1000 in bends kept making me think I could do the impossible. In the first weeks of ownership I'd been astonished at the speeds I could hustle up to corners. The effect was all the more pronounced because my previous mount was a hack CB750F1. The shot suspension adding to the quite naturally wretched state of the handling ability. Not only was the FZR fast it was also exceptionally stable.
For most of the time. its 20 valve motor was able to pour out the torque and power, aided and abetted by the EXUP exhaust valve. It did not need wild gearbox excursions to move at profoundly insane speeds. all it needed was a quick twist of the wrist. If gut churning acceleration was just a roll of the throttle away so was a heavy dose of fear.
There were two ways the FZR caught out these relatively inexperienced hands. The first was the ease with which it'd roll up to corners at about twice the safe speed, even for the Yam's excellent Deltabox alloy frame.Yeah, I know, I should be paying more attention but the way it would suddenly plunge forwards come 7000rpm kept enticing me to greater highway excesses.
The triple discs are brilliant stoppers, so much so it's very easy to lock up both wheels. Entering a corner with the wheels squealing and the compressed suspension locked up solid. sure gets the adrenalin running wild. The bike rumbles over the bumps. runs a little wide and throws a large, it singular, twitch when letting off the brakes, throwing the machine upright and making the exit from the corner.
This is not really a complaint against the Yam, on a lesser bike the result of such neglect of basic motorcycling discernment would be a quick trip off the road, thence to the nearest hospital and a dose of multiple surgery. On the old Honda I was so frightened of the consequences of excess speed that l rode it in a very mild manner.
The other problem with a bike of this weight and power is that it's dead easy to lose the back wheel when applying excess power if leaned over. It's not impossible to regain traction with a gentle twitch of the Yamaha in the dry, but it the road is damp then the lurch can become quite alarming. The obvious solution is to ride in a tall gear with a restrained throttle hand, which I tend to do in the wet but in the dry, again, the intoxicating nature of the power makes it very hard to resist.
The FZR‘s mass of 525lb becomes suddenly apparent under such duress, as it does when pottering about in town. Not helped any by the riding position which only begins to make any kind of sense once past the ton, which in the UK, at least, means for most of the time it's not a very comfortable bike to ride.
The seat does not help, being good for a mere 50 miles until my backside begins to complain and even my thighs have been chafed after as little as 150 miles of relatively mild cruising. The fairing is next to useless at keeping off the rain but does make cruising at ton plus speeds enjoyable.
That, of course, makes owning the FZR hard to explain, but I keep convincing myself that its thunderous, grin inducing acceleration and usually stable handling is more than enough reason to justify possession of such a piece of extreme prime meat.
Running costs give pause for thought. Fuel is in the 35 to 45mpg range. The engine's appetite for oil is quite fierce, about a litre every 250 miles. Also if oil changes are left for more than 800 miles the gearchange action becomes a real pain, with a lot of untoward noises and occasional missed changes. It's about time the separation of gearbox from engine oil was reintroduced, as they really need two different types of oil.
The bike eats top grade Metz tyres in about 3000 miles and even the O-ring chain won‘t go past 7500 miles — my excessive use of the right hand goes some way to explaining this. As does the consequent use of the brakes explain pad life of less than 5000 miles!
Those brakes also turned out to have a nasty habit of seizing up the calipers come winter. Worse still, after the first seizure it started to happen more and more frequently until each time the pads were changed I had to go to tedious lengths to refurbish the calipers as well. By the time 48000 miles were achieved the discs were so thin they vibrated in the wind.
I bought the bike as a one year old with 27000 miles done, in the hands of an enthusiastic Continental tourer - he praised the bike's running gear but reckoned he could no longer take the race replica riding position. He was about 55, so I dismissed his complaints as an obvious case of advanced senility but after the first week had to admit he had more sense than I had bargained for.
Nevertheless, in just over a year I have done nearly 30000 miles, the clock now reading 56820 miles. Yes, my spine has some serious twinges after a long ride but the engine is awesome in the amount of abuse it can take without needing any internal attention. I haven't even touched the valves and only had the carbs balanced twice when running became particularly rough. No camchain rattles yet; the tensioner being automatic has not had a finger laid upon it.
As mentioned, the gearbox can be a bit ratty at times, but with some fresh oil it usually works well enough to avoid false neutrals. Unlike the FZR600's box and clutch, which are based on the 400cc engine available in Japan, FZR1000s will go around the clock without needing any attention.
The bike came with a fork brace, non-standard shock and stainless steel four into one exhaust, all areas that anyone looking at a used example would be well advised to study. They are popular on the race track as well - I know one guy who bought a nearly new one with a perfect chassis but the engine had been swapped with a well worn race unit. After two months it threw its rods, writing off the whole bike, as he fell off when the rear wheel locked solid. Nasty!
I've come off the bike once, when doing about 40mph in a bend I hit the powerband in second on a slightly damp surface. The back wheel slid away before I had a chance to catch it. I was wearing a leather jacket, boots and gloves so the gravel rash only got to my legs. The FZR slid down the road on its side, much to my relief only bending a few minor bits and grazing the plastic - that was OK, gives a rider some street credibility! We were able to limp home. Near misses were rather more plentiful, especially in the early days when I had yet to become used to the monstrous power. A couple of times I had to put a boot down to save the machine from lurching into oblivion.
After a year on the FZR, I've decided I want to makes some fundamental changes. The fairing will have to go. higher bars will be fitted and a much more comfortable seat made up. Those will sort out the major problems the Yamaha has as a long distance hustler.
Having complained somewhat of the excess of power available, I'm also going to get the engine tuned up to race track standards - it's the same old story, once you become used to the searing acceleration and highly illegal top speed. you want more and more of the same to keep the level of the kicks up. No pleasing some people!
Andrew Hollings