First thing, the reliability and sheer durability of the FZ750 engine has been nothing short of astonishing. The motor is still original, having clocked up 113000 miles so far. And still ready for much more by the sound of it!
Second thing, a large amount of the enjoyment I would have had with the FZ was spoilt by its triple discs, which, once out of warranty, seized their calipers every few thousand miles. The rear disc was so chronic in its demise that in the end I gave up worrying over it, leaving the seized up mess to solidify into one piece of alloy and steel - it had never been a fine brake even when brand new and in perfect working condition, too powerful and too lacking in feel for that.
Third thing, the 1986 machine is still on its original paint that shines up well - I do a clean up every weekend and that tender loving care has paid off. I see some much newer machines around that look like wrecks. What a waste!
My only real complaint about the motor has been the gearbox. Never a precise changer even when new, it has grown more idiosyncratic as the machine aged. To the extent that if I let anyone have a go on the FZ they come back complaining about missed changes, saying I should rid myself of the old dog. No way!
Luckily, the four cylinder motor, replete with no less than 20 valves, has a wide range of torque, can be stuck in third for most town work and left in top once free of the city. The engine does come on cam, to a degree, but will trundle off from 35mph in top quite happily and faster than most cars can muster. The gearbox is so bad that there is little fun in playing tunes on it, but that is not my style of riding, anyway.
The FZ does not sport the radical riding position of the FZRs but to my mind it’s still not a comfortable machine to ride long distances. The bars need to be both narrower and higher, but pulled back towards the rider more. The tank/seat relationship is OK, as are the pegs, but the seat foam was initially far from compliant but after 100 miles or so went rock hard. The worst of both worlds. When the seat started to fall apart, I took the opportunity to have the base recovered with better quality foam, but still this was not enough to ease the backside pains... the basic shape must be wrong. Unfortunately, the recovered seat shows no signs of falling apart! So, I shall just have to suffer in silence.
It encourages me to use as much of the engine’s 100hp as is viable to get long journeys over as quickly as possible. The upper fairing provides adequate protection for 120mph cruising, the chassis is dead stable and the motor just purrs out the power at that kind of speed, so only the police and traffic conditions limit excessive speeding.
Over the years power does not seem to have dropped off at all. Out of the crate she was good for an indicated 145mph, with a race 4-1 and some carb mods 155mph is possible today. Not that I indulge in such madness very often, after 125mph my mind starts to go numb with the fear of it all. The heady roar of the pipe is music to my ears, though, and the way it reverberates off buildings in town I expect the peds to burst into spontaneous applause for uplifting their very dreary day surprisingly, they have not yet managed more than a few fists raised in salute!
Fuel consumption has deteriorated quite drastically. I suspect the carbs are worn quite badly for they now need balancing every 500 miles where before they could be left for ten times that distance with no ill effects. The FZ used to do 40-45mpg, now only manages 30-35mpg! Even constrained riding offers no improvement. Surprisingly, oil consumption has remained constant - none that I could detect between 2000 mile oil changes. I have only had to shim the valves a few times in all the miles the machine has done brilliant!
Not so brilliant was the handling when the suspension started to wear out at about 25000 miles. Deterioration was gradual but noticeable nevertheless because the machine had such great poise and neutral steering from new. First evidence was a wobble at 95mph, then there were slight weaves in the faster bends. Finally, some pretty evil head shaking when I backed off going through corners. The rear shock was the most obvious culprit, as I could find no wear in the linkages or bearings. A White Power shock was duly fitted.
Great ride, no weaves but still the head shaking. It eventually turned out to be the steering head bearings which were just starting to wear. New ones cleared up the handling. For a while. Next to go, the back wheel bearings; a most frightening experience riding above 30mph. Every other week one or another component wore out.
By the end of the second year I had replaced all the bearings and shafts in the mono-shock, re-sprung the front forks and replaced every last bearing in the chassis. The cycle repeated itself just over 20000 miles later and was to be a recurring, chronic suffering. Still, the FZ was a lovely bike to ride when in good fettle. Heavy at 470lbs, but most of the mass was concentrated low, disappearing once 20mph was achieved. Very low speed cornering would scare the shit of novices because all the weight would try to pull the bike over into the bend. But once a bit of steam was up the Yamaha could be flicked through the bends like a 550 four. Neutral steering allowed both changes of direction and late braking in bends. On worn forks, the front wheel would try to escape traction, especially on damp roads, but backing off the throttle restored equilibrium.
General stability gave every indication that you could hit a brick at 100mph and not be thrown off, although I was never to test that theory. Even at 155mph the bike felt like it was on rails. The only thing to throw the machine was badly worn tyres. Metz's down to 2mm would turn the Yamaha into a twitchy, finicky thoroughbred. Lose another 1mm and you'd be writing your will before swinging a leg over the machine. I never tried bald tyres, I should think you'd be dead meat after the first spot of rain. Unfortunately, the Yamaha needed a new set of tyres every 3-4000 miles!
If running costs were expensive in the extreme, the sheer durability of the engine more than made up for it. Only three months ago I did a 6000 mile run around the Continent with nary a moment’s concern. And I would do it again tomorrow if I had the money and time.
The electrics have proved disappointing. A spate of blowing bulbs was traced to a duff rectifier/regulator. Replacement saw a repeat performance in short order. The cause was the insulation going brittle, cracking off, shorting the positive wiring on to the chassis. The fault was intermittent and only found by stripping nearly everything off the chassis. I am not good at electrics and was down to tearing my hair out by the time I’d finished.
Similarly, the ignition black box started playing up and was caused by the same thing. This time, though, the fault revealed itself by starting a fire behind the side panel, which after the ignition was turned off burnt itself out. The melted panel gave the machine a very weird appearance until I got around to replacing it. Electrical bits were so expensive to replace all I could do was phone around the breakers using my best pleading tone.
It should be noted that the electrics were fine up to 78000 miles, so many owners will not have cause for complaint, but worth bearing in mind if buying a high mileage example. Batteries were reluctant to last for more than two years for no apparent reason, whilst the indicators now flash to their own, probably illegal, tune. The bike still blows bulbs, so a spare set is always carried, needed about twice a year.
I find the FZ750 an exhilarating machine to ride, with what must be the toughest engine in the world. Were Yamaha to sort out the brakes, improve the quality of the suspension and provide a more touring orientated version I would definitely buy another. As it stands, I would probably not buy one if all that was offered was an improved colour scheme, as seems the case at the time of writing. The huge expense of running the Yamaha probably does not justify the experience and hassle of riding one, but having made the initial choice I feel it's worth sticking with.
P.L.M.N.