The Yamaha FJ1200, although no longer in production, remains a popular sport touring bike. The large, powerful 1200cc engine produces ample response with the slightest twist on the throttle. The seating position is much more relaxed than many sport bikes, making it a good choice for longer rides, but with enough pep and handling to make it a fun bike on just about any road.
Following are a few pictures of my FJ1200. As you can see, one of them includes me riding on it.
The engine is primarily air cooled, but also uses an oil cooler. The top of the cylinder head is riddled with massive heat fins, and two air scoops bulge out from the sides of the faring to capture extra air and channel it over these fins. Additionally, the front of the faring includes a large scoop to gulp in as much fresh air as possible for cooling purposes. In spite of all these things, the FJ is known as a "hot running" bike.
The "FJ" series of bikes were first produced by Yamaha for the 1984 model year. The FJ1100 gave way to the FJ1200 in 1986. The anti-dive system which was tried on some models evidently caused more problems than it solved, and many people just chose to bypass the anti dive system by a simple re-routing of the brake lines. Other problems associated with this series of bikes include warped brake rotors, 2nd gear disengaging under heavy load, false "out of gas" problems related to an over-designed fuel delivery system and clutch slippage due to the diaphragm spring weakening. I'm sure there are other issues, but these seem chronic for the FJ series.
On the other hand, the rock solid performance of the FJ engine, as well as the monstrous power and torque it produces have contributed to its selection as the engine of choice for Legend Car enthusiasts. Unfortunately this makes FJ1200 engines difficult to find in boneyards.
None of the issues listed above are particularly difficult to fix if they become a problem, and the niceties of the FJ1200 more than make up for the problems. It's a fun and wonderful bike to ride. Few bikes outperform it even today, especially in realistic road situations.
My other street bike is a 1985 Honda Gold Wing Limited Edition (GL1200LTD).
My previous Sport Bike was a 1996 Suzuki Katana 750. Click here to see some pictures of that bike.
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