Rental Review: 2023 Yamaha FJR1300ES

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the motorcycle that time forgot

I’ve waited twenty-two years to ride this bike.

Which is ridiculous, because I’ve always wanted one, and it’s always been within my reach. I paid cash for a YZF600R in 2000, when it was seven grand and the FJR1300 was $11,299. Could have bought an FJR then. In the years since I’ve bought about a dozen motorcycles, plenty of race cars — hell, I’ve commissioned guitars that cost more than an FJR. So why wait until what is probably the last year of FJR production — a year in which nothing changed but the price, and a year in which sales are limited to the United States — just to swing my leg over the thing?

Call it fear. Fear of the FJR not meeting my expectations. As a kid I was obsessed with the FJ1100 and would have shed blood for one. At the age of 24, selling cars in Clintonville, Ohio, I watched my local Yamaha dealer repeatedly discount a gorgeous final-run silver-and-purple FJ1200ABS until it was just $5500 — which might as well have been $550,000 for someone who struggled to clear $1500 a month after taxes. I wanted an air-cooled FJ so badly that maybe I was afraid to ride the FJR once it was actually attainable for me. And you know what they say about meeting your heroes.

still had stripes on the tires!

I needn’t have worried. This week I put just fifty-eight miles on a brand-new (5.9 on the odo) FJR1300R, but it was enough to completely sell me on the bike.

Kind of.

In the past.

I’ll explain.

But first, let’s cover the raw facts of the thing, at least for those of you who have been in a coma since the Clinton Administration. The FJR1300 is sized between a Hayabusa and a Gold Wing, in a market that was arguably created by Kawasaki with the original Concours but has also been defined by the Honda ST1100 and ST1300. Call it “AARP sportbike”. While the original FJ1100 evolved from Ninja-fighting howler to grown-up sport-tourer, the FJR1300 was conceived from the beginning to play in this segment. Although there have been multiple improvements made and one restyling, there has been just one major mechanical update to the bike since its 2001/2002 debut; the addition of a sixth gear and a modern dashboard in 2016.

The watercooled 1298cc inline-four makes about 130 horsepower and in enthusiastic hands FJRs have occasionally turned ten-second quarter-mile times. Compared to something like a Busa, Blackbird, or ZX14, however, this is a much tamer proposition with an upright seating position and plenty of room for a passenger to maintain her dignity.

Current MSRP is $18,299 — which is a hell of a lot of money for something that hasn’t changed much in a long time. Just a couple grand more will get you the BMW R1250RT, which is a brand-new and fully modern motorcycle. To put things in perspective, the FJR1300 was designed to compete with the BMW R1100RT, which was four generations of touring Beemer ago.

I rented an R1250RT last year; you can read my impressions here and they boil down to “uh, not that great”. Since it’s basically the only FJR competitor left in showrooms, however — the Honda and Kawasaki were discontinued a few years back — I’ll be referring to it a bit as I talk about the FJR and what it can do.

going to all the hottest spots

There’s something sobering, depressing even, about the fact that “new and improved” is more of a warning label than a recommendation in both the motorcycle and automotive business nowadays. Outside of hypercars, hyperbikes, and full-sized trucks, can any of you think of a car or bike released in the past five years that actually improves on its predecessor?

So when I compare the Yammy with the Beemer, I’m immediately put off by the “improvements” of the BMW. Keyless entry, which is a ridiculous thing on a motorcycle. More menus, bigger screens, more layers of interaction through limited buttons and rockers on the handlebars; also not helpful. Noise reduction, especially exhaust noise reduction, which makes the bike sound like a bucket of bolts. Brake and traction-control sophistication, which seems to cause more trouble than it solves.

Let’s not forget the raw idiocy of “keyless” gas tank functionality, an answer to a question nobody has asked and the absolute number-one frustration I’ve observed with new motorcycles in the field.

The FJR1300 has what you want — ABS, reliable electronics, some dash information — with none of what you don’t. It’s just simpler than a new-for-2020 bike. And I think that’s a good thing. It’s worth noting that the only way to buy a new FJR is an an “ES” or “electronic suspension” model. This addresses the common FJR complaint of weak shocks and soft springs at the cost of additional sophistication and weight.

Here’s everything good about the FJR, in random order:

Power: While not up to sportbike standards, the FJR is usefully faster than traffic, strong in all gears, and easily capable of dispatching 600s and the like in real-world situations. It’s genuinely hard to be in the wrong gear on this bike. On the freeway, it runs up to 90mph with no hesitation. As with my CB1100, the sixth gear is a useful addition but not really necessary. If you’re willing to dump the clutch at a start, you should be able to hang with McLarens and Teslas and the like.

Transmission: Smooth, low-effort, trouble-free. And it’s a shaft-drive bike, which away from a racetrack never feels like a bad idea.

Comfort: I’ve heard feedback about hand pain and numbness on these bikes, which I did not experience, and I’ve heard some carping about too much knee bend, which I definitely experienced. A little more seat height would fix the latter, I suspect. But the riding position is very good for me, and very nearly as comfortable as a Wing or Roadmaster.

Instrument Panel and Controls: Clear, legible, and easy to operate. It’s very much NOT a modern TFT-screen bike. How you feel about this will be a matter of personal preference. The menu system is no problem although I wish the windscreen had a separate adjustment control rather than using the menu button and all-purpose rocker.

Brakes: No complaints here. Although I rode through a thunderstorm, I didn’t activate ABS and can’t comment on it. I spend a fair amount of time riding non-ABS bikes so that’s not a habit I want to be in anyway.

Looks: I think the updated fairing is an improvement over the original. The bike no longer looks quite as ponderous as it used to — although apparently the styling revisions came with a bit of additional weight.

And now here’s everything that struck me as below par:

Saddlebags: They’re small, hard to use, easy to scratch, and generally worst-in-class. BMW does it better, as do Honda, Indian, and Harley-Davidson. Rather annoying, a helmet ALMOST fits.

Vibration/Heat: The frame vibrates at all times and it’s possible to pick up that vibration with your heel when you’re riding with the balls of your feet on the pegs. While I didn’t ride in any temperatures above 85 degrees, I could tell that the FJR likes to heat the legs a bit. (This complaint is also made about the Kawasaki Concours.)

Fairing interference: This is a personal problem, but I almost dropped the FJR a dozen times catching my shin on the fairing when coming to a stop. I suppose I’m used to standards and sportbikes, neither of which usually shield the leg at all. But the FJR is much worse in this regard than a Wing.

Price: With some of the usual motorcyle-dealer BS this is almost a $20k bike. Given that a lot of people get 100k miles out of them, maybe it’s a good value, but it’s not bargain-priced by any measure. Should this really cost almost as much as a brand-new German-built Beemer twin? I might not like all the modern features of the BMW but you can’t argue that they were free to develop and include.

Windshield: A total Flappy Bird. At 90mph I got the distinct impression it might fly off and hit me in the face. BMW does this much better, as does Honda.

Rev range: Why does this thing hit the limiter at nine grand, exactly? The old FJ1200 was a stroked-out air-cooler and even it could turn 9500. Not that I was twisting-out a brand-new bike, but it seems a bit uncharitable to have a passenger-car rev limit.

featuring the newest technology in multiple-segment Casio LCD

Alright, that’s the pros and cons handled. How desirable is the FJR? I think I would have been smart to buy one back in 2005 or thereabouts. Could have ridden it all around the country and occasionally blasted up to 150mph on a lark. It also would have been a better all-weather commuter than my CB1100 ever was.

In 2023, however, I can see why Yamaha is discontinuing it. The Boomers and Xers are obsessed with “ADV bikes”, the kids want something that works and looks cool in the urban/cafe environment, the mile-eaters are going to get a Wing which isn’t all that much less nimble than the FJR and absolutely slays it over the long run.

I’ll probably keep renting FJRs on trips, because I think they are a great way to burn a hundred miles — but as an ownership proposition, I think I’d rather have the far more uncouth and trashy Kawasaki Concours 14, or the new Wing. The FJR is a great bike to have if you can only have one. Fortunately for me, I have room for a hundred. As a suburbanite in my thirties who liked to take girls on motorcycle dates, I’d have been really well served by this bike. No longer. I waited a long time to ride Yamaha’s sleek and expensive superbike-in-a-suit. Turns out I waited too long.