Yamaha Fj1200 Honda Hurricane 1000

YAMAHA FJ1200 HONDA HURRICANE 1000

CW COMPARISON

YAMAHA

The FJ is back and it’s better. But is better good enough?

IT’S BEEN SAID THAT YOU CANNOT STEP TWICE INTO THE same river because other waters are continually flowing in, making the river a different place. But in the case of Yamaha’s re-introduction of the FJ1200 to the American market, that maxim may no longer be true.

That’s because Yamaha has jumped back into the sporting Open-class streetbike category with an updated version of the motorcycle that we said in March, 1986, was the most pleasurable and versatile big sportbike available at the time. And despite its age, the FJ is competitive with newer, more sophisticated motorcycles.

The FJ1200 was a respectable machine as it stood the last year it was sold in America, but since that time, the bike has been revised and refined in several key areas to bring it more in line with current thinking. Gone is its 16inch front wheel, replaced with a 1 7-incher that’s now shod with a lower-profile tire. The wheel and tire change has helped the low-speed maneuverability as well as corrected former FJs’ tendency to stand up when braking in turns.

The other significant change to the bike has been to the fairing, which is now wider to offer more protection, especially for the rider’s hands. Also, the windscreen itself is taller and wider. The changes to the fairing provide the rider with a package that offers more-complete protection, but still remains unobtrusive when he wants to move around on the bike.

Even with these changes, the question remains whether the new FJ 1200 is as good as the winner of our Superbike shootout last year, the Honda Hurricane 1000. We felt the Hurricane was the best Open-class streetbike of the year, offering the most-balanced package of handling, performance and comfort. We suspected that the FJ1200 would have fared quite well in that shootout, but we didn't include it because it wasn't sold here, and was available only in Europe and Canada.

So, with the big FJ back in this country for 1989, we thought it only fair to spend a couple of days comparing the Hurricane and the new, improved FJ 1200. Ironically, we had to use a 1988-model Hurricane, because Honda has decided not to import the 1 989 version to the U.S. (See “The Curious Case of the Missing Hurricane,” p. 41)

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two machines is evident the first time you twist their throttles. Behind the Hurricane’s all-enclosing body panels rests a smooth, 998cc, liquid-cooled engine that has a strong midrange punch and an even stronger top-end rush. The FJ’s inline-Four seems dated by comparison, with its air-cooled engine sticking out uncovered for all to see. But the FJ’s 1188cc engine has a terrific bottom-end explosion that allows the bike to sprint away from the Hurricane like Ben Johnson on steroids, at least until the Honda can get its legs stretched out. The Yamaha is nowhere near as willing to rev as is the Honda, but then, there is no need to wind its engine up when all you have to do to whomp the competition is short-shift and hang on.

That tremendous lowand mid-range power makes the Yamaha an easier motorcycle to ride quickly than the Honda. You are not forced to downshift the Yamaha, where you would on the Honda, in order to accelerate hard out of the turns. But you want to keep the revs down on the Yamaha anyway, because of the amount of vibration that the powerplant transmits to the rider at higher rpm. The motor sends vibration to the handlebars, and then through the rubber-mounted footpegs, when the revs start to climb into the upper reaches. The Hurricane, on the other hand, might as well be electric for all you can tell by its near-total lack of the shakes.

Unlike the engines, which have completely different characteristics, the chassis on these bikes have a surprisingly similar feel. Both bikes use 17-inch front wheels— though the Honda’s is shod with a taller, narrower-section tire—and both maintain a fairly light feel at low speeds, with the Yamaha being more maneuverable at parking lot paces.

Once up to cruising speeds, the suspensions on both bikes offer a compliant ride, with the Hurricane being a little more supple overall. On faster sections of twisting roads, the bikes remain fairly close; The Yamaha’s higher and wider handlebars give the rider more leverage for forcing the motorcycle to turn; but while the Hurricane takes a little more effort to start into a corner, it tracks with as much stability and confidence as the Yamaha. Both machines have to be pushed to extreme levels on the street before you approach the limits of their abilities.

But, to be honest, neither of these machines is intended to be a peg-scraping racer-replica; they are all-around motorcycles. And while both have more than enough adrenaline-producing qualities on backroads, both are relatively comfortable bikes, as well. You aren’t going to point either across 1-80 for very long, especially the Hurricane with its higher footpegs and lower handlebars, but both can handle limited sections of interstate with aplomb. The Yamaha, however, is unquestionably the most comfortable of the two. Its wide, comfortable seat is just a little over 30 inches from the ground, nearly two inches lower than the Hurricane’s, and its footpegs are lower and further forward, thus giving the FJ more-expansive ergonomics.

The Honda, a two-year-old design, wins points on feel, though, pampering the rider wherever he touches the machine. Good examples are the hitchless travel of the clutch lever and the easy, linear pull of the front brake lever. The Yamaha, fundamentally unchanged since its introduction asan 1100 in 1984, sometimes feels unpolished and rough in comparison.

But in a way, the Yamaha is a bike you like as much for its slight defects as for its qualities, and, in fact, those defects help to give this motorcycle its character. We appreciate the Hurricane’s sporting abilities and smooth, seamless presentation. But we love the FJ 1200’s soul.

So it seems that Yamaha has been able to jump back in the river again. But it has done more than that. It has taken a bike that was already very good and made it exceptional. That improvement doesn't come cheaply, though, as the Yamaha costs $6399, compared to the $5698 that leftover 1988 Hurricanes will cost. That $701 is an impressive difference, and makes the Hurricane attractive. But not better. As we knew after our Superbike shootout, any bike that could best the Hurricane would have to be exceptional. The FJ 1200 is just that. E3