Only 105 miles from new, 1984 Yamaha FJ1100

Description

Only 105 miles from new, 1984 Yamaha FJ1100

“The best large displacement sport motorcycle of 1984, and maybe even the best in its class in the history of motorcycling” Rider magazine.

“All hail Yamaha’s FJ1100, King of the Superbikes … class champ, no contest.” Cycle magazine.

The Superbike gauntlet was thrown down rather convincingly in the late 1960s by Honda, with the CB750. Soon to follow, Kawasaki shot back with the Z1, now 900cc. Honda returned fire with the CB900. Then battle commenced with Yamaha and Suzuki entering the fray and 1000+cc became the norm.

Yamaha’s weapon came in the FJ1100. 125bhp from four cylinders and a slippery full fairing laid the groundwork of the sport tourer segment of the market with a more upright pose, luggage capacity while retaining the sportbike handling.

The motorcycle offered

The 1984 Yamaha FJ1100 on offer here comes to sale from a vendor with 40 years of motorcycle experience, including 10 years as an MSF Safety Rider Course instructor and owner of a franchised dealership in Flagstaff, Arizona. As an aircraft engineer in 2004, he was asked to work on a client’s Beechcraft plane. That client split time between Flagstaff and in the hangar was an array of super low-mileage Porsches and other vehicles. Showing interest in this Yamaha FJ1100, the gentleman’s wife said, “sell him that motorcycle. It’s been sitting there since the day you bought it and you’re never going to do anything with it.” And so the bike, showing only 105 miles on the odometer, changed hands. A photo in the gallery shows the transaction.

The seller told the story of how he bought the bike at the Yamaha dealer in Flagstaff AZ in 1983, rode it for a few hours, scared himself, so parked it in his hangar at the airport where it sat until 2004. In that 20 years, the bike was wheeled around and suffered a few scuff marks and a fuel spill, which has caused the corrosion in the belly pan (all pictured). Thankfully he had the foresight to remove the battery.

In our vendor’s ownership, the bike was properly stored and remained on static display, the odometer now reading 105.8 miles from new. The bike is offered in truly excellent original condition throughout. All original paint is in excellent condition with no fading. The warning label remains on the original screen, and the adhesive is still under the side of the tank where the protective cover was secured for transportation to the dealership when new. The seat, grips, hoses and all cycle parts are as new. The bike rolls on original tires. I believe that when the tools were removed for photos, they were removed for the first time. The bike is accompanied by the original owners manual, all keys and sales paperwork.

Certainly worth close scrutiny, the bike is a true time capsule: negligible mileage and perfect ownership history, makes this an interesting addition to any collection.