Though I have chosen a particular bike for this article, the subject is of a greater spectrum of bikes. Namely, tourers or sports/tourers. The FJR is probably the ideal bike to use as an ambassador for the group due to its popularity.
So, the sports tourer, what is it? Primarily it is a performance bike, slightly de-tuned to improve reliability but not so much as to tame it down. Ideally, it should have room to fit an abundance of luggage and still have the grunt to carry a small sofa, a full collection of Encyclopedia Britannica and a passenger quickly down the motorway without costing the budget of a Disney Blockbuster failure on fuel. This doesn’t mean other bikes can’t easily be coaxed into the same role, it is just that many manufacturers saw the genre as worth designing a purpose built bike for the task.
These manufacturers were actually creating a market in truth, as before such a beast came into being, we just strapped a tent, and change of underpants and a bag of crisps to the seat, and ‘Voila!’ the old CB 350 became a tourer.
My own experience of touring covered many different bikes over the years which included Triumphs and Nortons with varying levels of luggage or luggage space on them. The whole idea back in the day was that it was an adventure and you took as little as you could survive with. These days I see people unpacking chairs, beds, cookers, and in the weirdest situations, people towing, yes I said towing a hobbit sized caravan behind their bike. How the hell Bilbo Baggins can reach the footrests on that big Goldwing I’ll never know, just like I’ll never know, why?
Each to their own as they say, so swiftly moving on, let’s consider why the tourer became popular. It has much more to do with the changing demographic of the average rider than the actual need for such a bike. The average biker is now much older than ever he/she was, when I was touring all over the place back in the 80s. Many riders are in their later life and want the comforts that they think they deserve and so with disposable income they can happily shell out the cost of a Street Glide or a BMW R18 just so they can add colour coded luggage to carry all the crap they think they need to go off on a jolly. Not that they will have time, as they will have to look after the grandchildren whilst their far-too-busy offspring go off to work to make enough money for their next jaunt to Florida or the Seychelles.
Gone are the days when a biker’s most important piece of luggage was the combined bottle/tin opener. Gone are the times where the biker would wear most of his clothing rather than packing it on the bike, and long gone are the trips where anything more than a sleeping bag and tent were seen as excessive. In the world of heated grips, truly waterproof clothing and adjustable windscreens, the biker has seen a metamorphosis into just another tourist carrying the burden of their lives with them. If there was a way of packing a 50” television on the bike, they would.
Not wanting to sound like an old git, (which of course I am) harping on about why the world was better in the good ole’ days, I will admit, there have been some excellent advances in lightweight equipment and waterproofing, which means we as bikers can travel light these days, we just don’t. And I also admit, I have joined the ‘burden club’ too carrying far too many things I probably won’t use.
I hear people explaining that they have to have luggage as there is so little storage under the bike seat that even if they remove the tools, anything larger than their phone would fill the space. Fortunately, I remember the days when to lift the seat you needed a spanner, and even then, all you would find there was the rear wheel. I say fortunately as I remember the challenge and adventure of it. That was part of the fun.
So when I threw my leg over the FJR, I had securely planted the memories of past tours and tried to compare how things had changed. The first and obvious difference is the size of the modern tourer but to be fair, this particular bike has been lowered so to judge the handling would not be at all fair so I will say little on that subject.
Comfort is the first thing. Modern seats, particularly after-market items can placate the most sensitive derriere but the ease in which the bike sinks a little is a shock after riding a balls-out sports bike. It’s like climbing on a hovercraft and that theme stays with the bike. Star Wars fans will recall a thing called a land speeder and on the road, this bike though touching the floor with its rubber feet, feels just like what I imagine the land speeder to feel like – the ride is a little vague but silky smooth. On the twisties, the bike feels less than its massive 582 lbs as long as you are above fifty five miles an hour. At slower speeds it does feel heavy which is not helped by the oddly angled bars. I’m not going into the ABS or intelligent lights of the later models, as that sort of perversion requires a whole article of its own, but I will point out that before 2013, the bike was a five speed. With the sixth gear, acceleration was improved and the later addition of upsidedownies on the front made it feel more planted at higher speeds.
Though I think Yam ceased production in 2021, I still think the bike is very valid for touring. The engines run forever if looked after and even high mileage examples are worth buying if there is some service history. Okay, it doesn’t quite pull your arms out of the sockets when it launches but that’s not what the bike is about. The movable screen that to my eye makes it look like one of these big modern scooters is more than a gimmick. It actually works, and keeps all the wind and rain off the rider but it can be lowered if the weather is warmer. I’m guessing here in Caithness it is set to high most of the time. All things considered, it is a better bike than I expected and if you do the sort of riding that this machine was built for, it’s a great option as there are still some out there that are low mileage, looked-after bikes.
Would I go touring on one? Probably not, but that is due to my riding style and not the bike. I hate long distance motorway riding, constantly upright, watching all the concrete flash by, and this bike excels at that. Neither am I a fan of motorway filter riding in standing traffic, and this bike feels too heavy to weave between jealous morons who do their best to box you in.
I simply prefer the back roads where I can wear the sides of the tyre as well as the middle. Roads that keep me interested, you know, with the inevitable diesel spills, pot holes, wild animals, cow shit on every corner, etc, etc….
