1986 Yamaha FJ1200
Summary:
Heavy, fast, comfy, but can be expensive to run overheats around town
Faults:
2nd gear started slipping at 26,000 miles.
Clutch slipped all the time I had it.
General Comments:
I first had a Yamaha FJ1200 to use some twenty years ago now. I decided the bigger the bike, the better it would be taking it over the XJ900.
The price when bought was £2600. Today I have another; it cost me £750 on eBay.
It does not use much petrol at 45mpg, and will do 160mph according to the speedo. The motor makes a claimed 128hp @ 9000 revolutions per minute. It has also 85 ft lbs of torque at 7000rpm.
The fact is I had used it for 26000 miles. It had clutch slip all the time. I would put this down to my riding style; flat out everywhere. The engine overheated so as to make my petrol tank very hot if driving around Central London all day.
It's 'WOW' factor is the acceleration 0-100 in 6.5 seconds. I cannot recommend the rear top box and carrier by Givi; it snapped all the time and had to welded.
It has a very good reputation for reliability if driven at legal speeds.
As it over heats around town, it is for motorways or long distance riding mainly!
Would you buy another motorcycle from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 2nd March, 2008
4th Nov 2006, 17:06
The FJ1200 was and is a phat bike.
The 1TX was the first and best. This engine was king on the drag strip after the GSX1100 and only beaten by the newer oil cooled GSXR engines after that. We now have the Hayabusa engine as king, but the good old FJ will still pop your arms out of their sockets. Mine was stock and after replacing all the frame bearings, rubber, valve shim settings and carb balancing it was like new, even if it still looked rough
A heavy bike to roll in and out of the garage, R1 calipers make better stopping power. Once in feet up mode it is effortless and hyperspace fast. Will eat ANY sports race bike half its size for lunch up to and over the legal speed limit.
The early ones have a 2nd gear problem, it jumps out under hard acceleration, bad ones were factory re calls, but rare.
Get one if it is cheap, but look for warped brake disks up front, they are fabricated and wear unevenly and warp with heat, you will know about it when you feel it through the lever.
Fork seals need a special tool to undo the damper rod from inside (shop job for most) If it runs well and has a ticket, then change the oil and nail it hard, in that order.