$5,000
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Category
Sport Touring Motorcycles
Engine
1,188 cc
Posted Over 1 Month
I am selling this to raise money to help my mom with funeral and living expenses, my father just passed away very inexpertly. Motorcycle Consumer news: There may never be another motorcycle quite like Yamaha's FJ1200, and our survey indicates there are many happy owners who will miss it. Fortunately, there are many FJs still around from the ten years Yamaha sold it in the U.S. It has proven to be a durable, long-lasting mount that serves its rider well for many miles with proper care. When it arrived on the scene in 1984 as the FJ1100, it was already among the last of a breed: The air-cooled, large displacement inline-four. It was countered that year by Honda's V65 Sabre. The Honda offered a smoother engine, water-cooling, shaft drive and, perhaps most importantly, a price tag nearly 10% lower. Things didn't get any better for Yamaha a year later when Honda lowered the Sabre's list price even further, and Yamaha just managed to maintain the line on the FJ. But in 1986, Yamaha punched out the engine to 1200cc and had the market to itself when Honda dropped the big Sabre. The only competition then was Kawasaki's more touring-oriented Concours and Suzuki's bare-bike GS1100. With air cooling and chain final drive, the big Yamaha would soldier on as the most simple and basic design for a sport-touring bike that still lent itself well to multiple tasks. Except for a hiatus in 1988, when the entire motorcycle market was in its most severe doldrums, Yamaha kept the FJ1200 around largely unchanged through 1994 (when it tested the market with the super-high tech, but short-lived GTS1000). Judging by the response from MCN's ownership survey, there is still some demand for a bike like the FJ1200, but the era of such a low-tech sport-tourer may be permanently over. The closest thing now coming to market will be Suzuki's 1200 Bandit, a motorcycle already finding limited success in the European market.What do owners like best about their FJs? That big powerplant is the number-one reason given for ownership. Nearly 72% of owners love the overpowering mid-range torque of that monster engine. This is the kind of real-world power that allows a rider to carry ample luggage and a passenger, then set out for many miles of effortless cruising. With gobs of reserve power, the engine never feels stressed out under load. Next most popular on the list of positive features is the styling. Most people buy motorcycles because they like the way they look, and the FJ lasted a decade nearly unchanged. It has much of the grace of a pure sportbike with a low, forward leaning appearance. The pipes have an upsweep to continue the sporty theme, yet are low enough for sizable throw-over saddlebags. Graphics never got too wild: Yamaha stayed with simple, clean lines to accent an inherent aggressiveness. There's virtually no chrome on a bike that dates to when shiny glitter was the private domain of cruisers and juggernaut luxo-tourers. Judging by the MCN survey, Yamaha has a very happy ownership contingent among its FJ buyers. The overwhelmingly popular rating by owners was "excellent," that response checked off by over 70% of respondents. Only a single respondent checked "good," another unhappy owner checked "poor" and the remaining 29 percent checked "very good." This is obviously a bike that satisfies customers.
Trim FJ1200
