Excellent review mate, especially the FJ, I've owned an 87, an 88 and still have 92 model in my garage. I bought it in 94, uprated the brkes, and added ohlins suspension. It sits alongside my 2019 FJR, and in many situations is the better bike, being less bulky and more agile in narrow country roads here in the UK.👍
I have had 5 Kawasaki GTR 1000, my first one from 1986 and my last one was from 2006. I bought them all new and they all left with more than 300,000 km on the odometer, the last one had 470,000 km on the odometer when it left. and still riding around and now has 620,000 km on the odometer, and all with only normal maintenance and no expensive overhauls, and they were wonderful lazy touring bikes as long as you did not drop below 1500rpm you could just give it gas and go smoothly, I had a trailer behind it for long weekend rides and long holiday rides and together with my girlfriend (we are not the lightest people) and the trailer behind it it was wonderful touring and they were also very economical on the long rides with ease 1 liter per 25 km
Crikey mate. I wish I could have talked to you before I made this video. That is an amazing performance, its a shame kawasaki didn't continue production although the way many bikes look these days it would probably look ridiculous. 5 different models of tge same, i don't think i've ever heard of anyone that could claim that. Your insight and experience into this machine is just amazing. Thank you.
@@motorcyclecafe I don't know if you can also get the GTR 1400? Here in Europe but that is more of a ZRX 1400 with somewhat longer spring road and cardan drive also a nice bike, but the 1000 was tastier and smoother to ride with
I've had an 2006 for the last 11 years and have put about 60000 miles on it. I guess it's barely broken in after hearing your high mileage experience. Awesome amount of riding there. 👍.
As mentioned above, i haveca 2005 concours, with only 13,000 miles, having read you guys comments i have a lifetime of highway riding aheadof me. My life situation is about to sadly radically change, our last ride was more than 5 yrs ago. I am going to be traveling to the locations we had both wanted to visit. Stay straight
I agree. I had a few 1970s and 80s motorcycles with frame mounted Vetter fairings that were great touring bikes. My all time best sport touring motorcycle was an early 80s Honda Sabre V four cylinder, the V45 model that was 698cc during the USA 700+ cc motorcycle import tariff era. Mine had the Hondaline full frame mounted fairing, suitcase saddle bags and luggage box. I would ride it straight through from Eastern North Carolina to Denver, Colorado and return all in a five day long weekend. I got three days with my girl in Denver.
Hello mate, another Canadian ay? Just like Jim 'the old guy on a bike channel' I have met a few Canadians and you guys are very similar to aussies in many ways. Cheers
As the owner of a 2005 Kawasaki Concours, my 2nd, i must totally agree with your comments. She is my everyday ride, my 79 Suzuki Gs550e is still a work in progress. Thank you for the nod to Connie...stay straight...
I had a 1990 GTR for about eight years.. A fantastic machine and did all you ever needed.. I sold it and bought the GTR 1400 which wasn't half the bike the original was..
Owned both an 05 Bandit and an 02 Concours. The Bandit was definitely a better performer, but the Connie was more comfortable and had a far superior range.
True that these bikes are financially easy to acquire however, they’re very thirsty. Did a long tour with group and the big air-cooled Bandits required fuel 60-80Km‘s earlier than the rest. (I ride a 97 Vfr750f) Remember that those extra cubes want to be filled with something!
Great reviews and well balanced here. I rode my '97 Connie for 14 years, until a hydrolock incident bent the 3rd connecting rod and I didn't want to go through the repair or finding an engine replacement. I loved it and we had a helluva lot of adventures, but moved onto a bit more adventure, and shed 200 pounds for a '16 Strom, which is actually great sport-tourer that easily takes gravel roads and trails. Then onto a Moto Guzzi Norge which I absolutely fell in love with. One thing led to another... and I now explore-tour off road only on a New2Me '21 DRZ400S. But if I was to return to asphalt it would be another Norge, in a shot. Cheers.
Yes Moto Guzzi's are fantastic motorcycles. Most people over look them when buying they just dont know what they are missing out on 😉 The best bike I ever had was a Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport same instrument panel as the Norge only white.
Good selection! I owned a 2001 Bandit 1200S. Pretty much the entire Holeshot catalog on it =) RaceTech valves and springs, Cogent shock for suspension. Did triple duty: commuter, sport touring, and track days. Removed plastics, added a flat bar, custom solo seat, GXR 1000 tach, and either number plate or later a small fairing (Wes Cooley GS1000 replica). Fun bike...all that torque. Rode a borrowed 1000 Concours for a week, really enjoyed it. Roade ST1300 for a day (like a sporty Gold WIng...amazing power and smoothness). Always liked the looks of the FJ1000 series, but I already had a GPz750 at the time and didnt feel a need to change (shame they didnt import the shaft drive GT750 into the US). Though understandably missing from your list (slightly later and more expensive), I would pick a FJR1300 over the ST.
Great video, mate. Although I haven't ridden any of them, I knew blokes who did, and they had similar opinions. You forgot the Suzuki RF900. I've had two. I used them for commuting, touring, and scratching. It excelled in all these roles. Thanks for the no bullshit reviews. Cheers, mate Phil
Hi buddy, it's not a matter of forgetting any bike. It's just a time thing to keep a video to an acceptable and watchable length (I'm afraid many people just get bored these days) And thanks for the great feedback.
The Concourse is a great bike but is top heavy for shorter riders. One of the best fairings ever. You can get low mileage examples for very little money now
The Bandit 1250 also came out in a fully faired version, the GSX1250FA. And were sold right up until 2017. These will do 270 km/h in stock form and are incredibly stable at high speed. Don’t ask me how I know! Needless to say all bandits are cheap now, but the GSX1250FA is generally forgotten and overlooked. Therefore you can get excellent examples well below the price of similar bikes.
Had riden a FJ1100 and saved and saved to buy the then available FJ1200. BIG step backwards !! Rougher and vibey engine, weight increase and handled no way near as good. Sold it and over the years had two FJ1100's, sheer bliss !! Bigger is not always better.
The 2007-on half-faired 1250 Bandit (at 5:42) shows that it is (was) possible to make a good-looking water-cooled motorcycle. The engines of many modern naked or part-faired water-cooled bikes just do not look this good. More of a plumber's nightmare in some cases. Although, I do prefer my totally unmolested Mk1, a Pearl Novelty Black 1999 Suzuki N1200 (I have more than one bike). The gearbox and engine are both a peach. Another ace vid mate. With really good photographs 👍
Just had a '99 gtr semi basket case fall out of the sky. Rebuilt the swingarm and replaced a few bits. Has a common problem but once I get the rear wheel back on, I'm looking forward to figuring out the fairing, lots of fittings to replace, has the towbar and the bags, paid $500 AUD, 76K kms. Looking forward to riding it!
Nice review fella. Following on from the FJ, the XJ900s Diversion is similar but with a little less power. However, as a distance machine, the Shaft drive on the XJ is a bonus compared to the FJ's chain. I sourced a 97 XJ900s that was ready for the scrap heap and rebuilt it through the COVID fun with a few custom touches. Great machine. well worthy of your list.
Great review of 4 underrated bikes! I've owned an FJ1100 and 2 1200s. Superb all round bikes in my opinion. I would be happy to own any of the bikes featured to be honest! Living in Scotland we have the roads that they can really be enjoyed on!
Nice review, thx. I owned 2 ST1100 Pan Europeans, fantastic bikes, did 20 to 25.000km/year, never any problems, never let me down! Now I have the new Honda NT1100 DCT also verry good and smooth, the DCT needs some getting used to but at my +60 years age a blessing for my hands in traffic. Happy trails and greetings from Belgium 😎👍
Belgium ay, cheers buddy. Yes the old ST1100 was an awesome motorcycle to ride, a really great engine. The looks didn't really appeal to me but every one is different. I've never rode a Honda with this new transmission but I do know from my Goldwing video research that it works quite well.
@@motorcyclecafe the ST1100 Pan wasn't the most sexy bike, butvthe engine was sublime, best i ever had by far! The DCT needs some getting used to, but it is verry smooth. Greetz 😎
I had my eye on a GTR1000 for many years but they always had very high kilometres. Finally found an 02 with 52k and looked brand new, for a very good price (same colour as the one in the vid). An absolute tank of a bike, probably near 300kgs with a full tank (is great fun getting it on the centrestand), very slow steering (almost glacial) but if you ride it as it was designed for , it is brilliant. The Kawasaki engineers really put a lot of thought into the design and it shows. The only thing I don't like is that it very susceptible to cross winds but that is the same for any bike with a big fairing . The camchain would rattle like hell when cold, but a manual CCT fixed that.
I have ridden all of these bikes, except the Suzuki, and have owned 2 Honda ST 1100's, and still have one. Easily one of the best all around bikes i have ever owned. ( Got my 1st Honda street bike in 1976 ) Power/ Torque is very good, Wind protection is really good, and although heavy, the center of gravity is very low, due to the low mounted gas tank, like the Goldwings are. Honda knows what they are doing. One of my favorite things about the ST 1100, over all the other bikes, is the gearing, because its geared very tall, ( .75 top gear ) and makes for a relaxed ride , with low rpm's at 75 MPH, which is great on gas mileage. Honda is known for making motorcycles that do everything well, but not perfect for any one category, and the ST qualifies.
@@motorcyclecafe You're not wrong about the ST1100 being a bugger to work on, but that tends to mean you can pick one up that needs a bit of work cheaply. I'm restoring a '95 ABS/TC model with 106,000ks atm and since it had a blown head gasket I figured I'd do a top end rebuild on it while I had the bike in bits. I picked mine up unregistered for $500 and despite the blown head gasket it runs really well. By the time I've got it back on the road I reckon it will have cost me three to four grand, but that's with the top end rebuild, fork rebuild, respray and everything else taken into account. That's a lot of bike for the money. I even have quite grown to like the looks too, maybe because it's my baby now.
Hey my friend,your mate from Nova Scotia,Canada,24 years ago, i bought a 1976 Yamaha RD400( well used)spent 3years & $9000.00 can restoring the bike, 0.40 th in, Wisco pistons, carbon fibre reeds,carbs jetted 2 sizes up, Newtronic CD ING,35000 volt coils, polished ports, DG race pipes,progressive coil springs(front), anodi bee hive shocks, 15-34 tooth sprockets, bike top speed (200kph) 63hp, Lost 2 Bikes in shead fire!! ( 1983 Yamaha Maxim 550, 4cyl, also lost) Former member of Atlantic Vintage Motorcycle Society. in Canada, 25years old (Vintage) 50years old (Antique) Great Video, keep them coming!!
@@motorcyclecafe Hey mate, might of seen your friend, in the last 10years at the Tim Hortons,in FallRiver ,Nova Scotia,Canada on thursdays?(Bike night)Thanks Mate!
FJ1200 - I really should've bought one. They were brilliant. Getting rear tyres is the biggest issue these days (16 inch rear wheel) although many convert to a 17inch rear. Bandit 1250 - owned one for several years. Just brilliant. 1000GTR - still got one on red plates. - Early models had god awful brakes, really awful. Getting 16 inch rear tyres are a problem these days. As mentioned, top heavy and yes, I think they're a bit slow. I'd say the slowest of the 4. ST1100 - Just put one on red plates. It is a very capable machine. Biggest flaw is grinding bits underneath when hustling tightish bumpy roads. Need to get the suspension sorted. Cant go wrong with any of them. Great vid!
Thanks for the feedback buddy, interesting comments. Although I do disagree on the GTR1000 (everyone is entitled to their opinion ay?) That engine was probably not the best choice along with the somewhat high gearing) if you are prepared to rev the shit out of it, it really goes, hard! At least until that barn door sized fairing starts taking effect. Anyway glad you liked the video, cheers!
A good review of 4 very good bikes which I had the pleasure of owing two, the 96 Suzuki 1200s Bandit and a 2002 Kawasaki Concours. Both very capable bikes, well made, very fast, a pleasure to own. The biggest problem was the carburetors or more accurately the fuel for seasonally stored bikes, even taking all precautions on fuel conditioning and draining carbs for winter storage eventually they would clog up the jets and need cleaning. This doesnt seem to be a problem with fuel injected bike, so far I just add stabilizer and run the engine for 10 mins and have not had a problem for a number of years with two different bikes.
I'm not a sport bike fan, I don't care for the riding position. But I liked the V4 of the ST1300. I now ride the CTX1300, a tamer version of the ST motor, but a touring riding position. I haven't ridden a lot of different bikes but it's the best handling bike so far. Many other CTX riders have said the same on the CTX1300 forum.
Well, my Hayabusa second generation was a fast super sport touring bike who could eat miles like no other bike i have owned. Even if i got older by the years for some strange reason 🤔 and changed it to a Triumph Street Triple with a more upright riding position with a three cylinder engine who reach great rpm,s i do like the smaller engine who often take me all to far away from home for some other strange reason 😳. Thanks for the video. 👍
Good selection, thank you. For about 18 months I used an old, cheap ST1100 as a daily. Great bike and not too difficult to work on once you get the hang of it. Nice bike to ride, but... she can be a bit unstable when it is windy. Very reliable. I however moved to a BMW R1150RT, which in my book, is the better daily rider. Very stable, excellent weather protection but more expensive to maintain than the Pan. I also have a XJ900S Diversion. I believe that is a very good expansion to your list. It has one benefit over the FJ 1100/1200: it has a shaft drive. They are cheap to buy and cheap to run. It is not as luxurious as the Pan (or the RT) . Like the FJs the front should be a bit stiffer, but that is easy to solve as you already stated.
I had an ST1100. Everything going great one day when I came to an open sugar cane field. The wind coming over that land was crazy! I had to lean into the wind something awful. That was the only time that happened. Hated working on it. Oil changes were a PIA
Those are all excellent bikes and I remember when each of them came out. But my favorite Sport Tourer to this day is my Honda CX650 Turbo. I put about 40k miles on it and loved ever mile. I still have ol' serial number 43 in my garage but it has been stored for almost 30 years and I doubt it will ever see the road again. Still it was a phenominal riding bike and I covered the West Coast of the US from Mexico to Canada many times.
The old CX Hondas are a bike which is close to my heart. I have talked about them in other videos on the channel. Although not so much the turbo models.
@@motorcyclecafe The 650's were lighter than the 500's as they had an ABS fairing instead of fiberglass. It was such a wild ride. Nothing could touch them in roll ons until the ZX10 hit the market. You just stepped on the rear brake and rolled on the throttle to up the boost then stepped off the brake. My rear rotor is a slight golden color from using that method but damn Man did it take off. But alas parts are almost non-existant and mine needs the dreaded stator so it's been covered since '97.
excellent vid Mr Cafe and i agree with most of your views except .... FJ1200 is 'the best air-cooled 4 cylinder to come out of Japan' - don't think so. The 1140cc motor in the Honda CB1100 is perfection, believe me, i have one. But then it should be as it was developed some 30 years later than Yamaha's FJ
I'd add the GSX100G for its shaft drive, and the Honda VF1100S. I still have one of the Hondas, and I've owned it since 1990. I've upgraded the rear suspension, instlalled a titanium exhaust (which saved a stunning amount of weight) and rebuilt the forks to a higher standard, ditching the anti-dive that never seemed to me to work properly. With the factory fairing and the bags from a late-CBX, it's a great tourer...and it's FAST. Mind you, it's tall and heavy, but nothing is perfect...and the engine is just fabulous and reliable (and pretty easy to service, although uyou need to know what you're doing). A plus to me is that it is pretty low tech - no FI or catalyst and meager electronics. Just a caveat - watch out for one of these with a bum istrument cluster, as these are horrifically expensive and not repairable. But I'm an old fart, so what do I know? I KNOW what I can fix, that's what!
The CB1100 Honda has 88 horsepower, a completely smooth engine thqnks to a geqr driven balancer, in 2014 they were 6 speed, fuel injected and got 53 actual miles per gallon, HONDA'S very last large displacement air cooled inline four engine
Yeah…. Great bikes! I love the Yamaha, ride this bike more than 12 years (3 years with sidebike and 5 years as XJR). Zero problems! But today it is hard to find a bike in good conditions
I think the fully faired Suzuki GSX1100F sports tourer produced from 1988 until 1996 would have been a more comparable bike to include in the video than the Bandit
Yes you may be be correct. However I personally do not have any experience with that bike. I have never ridden one. All these 4 bikes i have ridden. Cheers appreciate the comment.
Back in the day, I loved the FJ1200- fantastic bike by all accounts- but I opted for a Kawasaki GPZ1100, another wonderful but wholly undervalued/under-appreciated bike. The Concours 1000 was also an excellent bike but lacked bottom end torque by all reports. The bags were huge and the later models were 'better' looking. Still, the fact that this bike was sold by Kawi for so many years is a testament to its overall goodness. However, I can't believe you missed the FJR1300 tho; altho the early years had some heat issues, you can pick up low mileage 3rd gen models ('13 and up) on the serious cheap and get much more modern tech/practicality/performance than any of the models you've listed here and the FJR is a great ST, possibly the best of all, ever made.
I have covered the GPZ in a couple of other videos on the channel. I believe it was a better bike but the FJ was still a very good machine. As for the FJR1300 I have not covered that bike as yet but I have had experience with that bike also, in my opinion the Yamaha FJR1300 is one of the best sport tourers ever made, you would need to ride one to know how good that bike truly is. Cheers buddy.
Owned a ‘95 Gpz myself, super smooth, fast, and turbine like sound on the stock exhaust and 40 mpg. Just pull the funky looking Gpz decals and it’s a great looking bike. If you are talking newer the zzr 1200 was sweet as well and FAST.
@@georgejameson9317 my '94 GPZ1100 had possibly one of the smoothest engines of any bike I've ever owned. Glass smooth! Loved that bike but it was stupid, sneaky fast and a danger to me as I could not control myself. I also later bought an '04 ZZR1200. That bike was an absolute beast but I could never get comfortable on it, no matter the mods.
I own a 2001 UK... 1st gen and I've never had a valve check done and it still pulls like a laviathon with 56,000 miles on it... All I do is change the oil... Bother engine and diff once a year that's it
Sold 2007 Harley Fatboy done 50000 km on it Now ride a Yamaha xj 900 deversion 2002 model and love it more than the Harley to ride Harley $24000 Yamaha $2800 Wish I never wasted my money on a Harley
I had an fj12...my first big engine bike. It was sweet, smooth and had good power all through the range. Weird 16 " wheels a bit of a drawback. Not sure I'd concur on fast by today's standards since I ride a ZZR1400R now....
The Honda ST1100 is a very good bike but its not for the weekend machanic . The big plus is 50 mpg and will do over 300000 miles . Timing belts are also a concern .
@@motorcyclecafe Hey, the st11/13 series as u say is renowned. A pom called Allen Millyard has a utube ch some maybe aware of. He has a st11 which he did a motor rebuild series in his shed. Worth a look, as he has a few other bikes that are pretty good too. He does plenty of other stuff with bikes, like the flying millyard, a 5litre twin, from an old radial engine, a V10 Viper engine in a bike, Guinness record 2 up of 200mph, to name but a few. Njoy.
The FJ was a great bike but bugger me the last version as shown in the vid was ridiculously heavy, something like 265 kgs wet weight. Had one stonking engine but loaded up with panniers top box and passenger - just too heavy.
Wow, it amazes me how corny the English are at promoting older bikes. I've owned all but the FJ mostly cause Yamaha never really impressed me much. Maybe I'm a bit jaded there as I have owned a number of different ones. Still have a Connie i just picked up for FREE to try and resuscitate it back to life. These are all top tied tourer's in their day and not light on their feet until ya get em moving then the weight nearly evaporates. Just try real hard not to drop it. You will need the "Special Technique" to get em righted again unless you are magilla gorilla.
Excellent review mate, especially the FJ, I've owned an 87, an 88 and still have 92 model in my garage. I bought it in 94, uprated the brkes, and added ohlins suspension. It sits alongside my 2019 FJR, and in many situations is the better bike, being less bulky and more agile in narrow country roads here in the UK.👍
Thank you buddy. I appreciate your kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Seriously considering trying to find an FJ to swap for my Connie
I have had 5 Kawasaki GTR 1000, my first one from 1986 and my last one was from 2006. I bought them all new and they all left with more than 300,000 km on the odometer, the last one had 470,000 km on the odometer when it left. and still riding around and now has 620,000 km on the odometer, and all with only normal maintenance and no expensive overhauls, and they were wonderful lazy touring bikes as long as you did not drop below 1500rpm you could just give it gas and go smoothly, I had a trailer behind it for long weekend rides and long holiday rides and together with my girlfriend (we are not the lightest people) and the trailer behind it it was wonderful touring and they were also very economical on the long rides with ease 1 liter per 25 km
Crikey mate. I wish I could have talked to you before I made this video. That is an amazing performance, its a shame kawasaki didn't continue production although the way many bikes look these days it would probably look ridiculous. 5 different models of tge same, i don't think i've ever heard of anyone that could claim that. Your insight and experience into this machine is just amazing. Thank you.
@@motorcyclecafe I don't know if you can also get the GTR 1400? Here in Europe but that is more of a ZRX 1400 with somewhat longer spring road and cardan drive also a nice bike, but the 1000 was tastier and smoother to ride with
I've had an 2006 for the last 11 years and have put about 60000 miles on it. I guess it's barely broken in after hearing your high mileage experience. Awesome amount of riding there. 👍.
As mentioned above, i haveca 2005 concours, with only 13,000 miles, having read you guys comments i have a lifetime of highway riding aheadof me. My life situation is about to sadly radically change, our last ride was more than 5 yrs ago. I am going to be traveling to the locations we had both wanted to visit. Stay straight
I agree. I had a few 1970s and 80s motorcycles with frame mounted Vetter fairings that were great touring bikes. My all time best sport touring motorcycle was an early 80s Honda Sabre V four cylinder, the V45 model that was 698cc during the USA 700+ cc motorcycle import tariff era. Mine had the Hondaline full frame mounted fairing, suitcase saddle bags and luggage box. I would ride it straight through from Eastern North Carolina to Denver, Colorado and return all in a five day long weekend. I got three days with my girl in Denver.
Good to see the mighty fj getting a mention, usually they're ignored.
Yes I know, my mate had one for quite a while I rode it a bit. They have pretty impressive figures even compared to bikes over 3 decades later.
Hey, my friend. I own a 1999 Kawaski Concourse 1000 with 67000 miles and still going strong! Hello from Nova Scotia, Canada.
Hello mate, another Canadian ay? Just like Jim 'the old guy on a bike channel' I have met a few Canadians and you guys are very similar to aussies in many ways. Cheers
As the owner of a 2005 Kawasaki Concours, my 2nd, i must totally agree with your comments. She is my everyday ride, my 79 Suzuki Gs550e is still a work in progress. Thank you for the nod to Connie...stay straight...
I had a 1990 GTR for about eight years.. A fantastic machine and did all you ever needed.. I sold it and bought the GTR 1400 which wasn't half the bike the original was..
Newer isn't always better on some occasions.
@@GPz84 agreed...
I’ve still got my 1979 KZ1000E Shafty. Great bike has a kickstart too
I have an 1980 model that lead up to the Concours
I have a 2005 bandit 1200 in mint condition 16,000 miles and in 4 more months taking it on a 3 month 15,000 mile adventure all over north america.
I love.my 1999 Kawasaki C10, and really love my 2004 Kawasaki ZX1200.
Owned both an 05 Bandit and an 02 Concours. The Bandit was definitely a better performer, but the Connie was more comfortable and had a far superior range.
The best of both models.
True that these bikes are financially easy to acquire however, they’re very thirsty. Did a long tour with group and the big air-cooled Bandits required fuel 60-80Km‘s earlier than the rest.
(I ride a 97 Vfr750f)
Remember that those extra cubes want to be filled with something!
I get 52mpg routinely on your from my 99' GSF1200S 180,000km .
Great reviews and well balanced here. I rode my '97 Connie for 14 years, until a hydrolock incident bent the 3rd connecting rod and I didn't want to go through the repair or finding an engine replacement. I loved it and we had a helluva lot of adventures, but moved onto a bit more adventure, and shed 200 pounds for a '16 Strom, which is actually great sport-tourer that easily takes gravel roads and trails. Then onto a Moto Guzzi Norge which I absolutely fell in love with. One thing led to another... and I now explore-tour off road only on a New2Me '21 DRZ400S. But if I was to return to asphalt it would be another Norge, in a shot. Cheers.
Yes Moto Guzzi's are fantastic motorcycles. Most people over look them when buying they just dont know what they are missing out on 😉 The best bike I ever had was a Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport same instrument panel as the Norge only white.
Good selection! I owned a 2001 Bandit 1200S. Pretty much the entire Holeshot catalog on it =) RaceTech valves and springs, Cogent shock for suspension. Did triple duty: commuter, sport touring, and track days. Removed plastics, added a flat bar, custom solo seat, GXR 1000 tach, and either number plate or later a small fairing (Wes Cooley GS1000 replica). Fun bike...all that torque. Rode a borrowed 1000 Concours for a week, really enjoyed it. Roade ST1300 for a day (like a sporty Gold WIng...amazing power and smoothness). Always liked the looks of the FJ1000 series, but I already had a GPz750 at the time and didnt feel a need to change (shame they didnt import the shaft drive GT750 into the US). Though understandably missing from your list (slightly later and more expensive), I would pick a FJR1300 over the ST.
The fjr1300 is an amazing bike! One of the best.
Great video, mate. Although I haven't ridden any of them, I knew blokes who did, and they had similar opinions. You forgot the Suzuki RF900. I've had two. I used them for commuting, touring, and scratching. It excelled in all these roles. Thanks for the no bullshit reviews. Cheers, mate Phil
Hi buddy, it's not a matter of forgetting any bike. It's just a time thing to keep a video to an acceptable and watchable length (I'm afraid many people just get bored these days) And thanks for the great feedback.
I own the Bandit 1200 on a 1997 plate and the FJ1200 on a 2003 plate both bikes are great fun . Thanks for your stream mate 👍👍👍
two fantastic bikes mate, real keepers!
The Concourse is a great bike but is top heavy for shorter riders. One of the best fairings ever. You can get low mileage examples for very little money now
The Bandit 1250 also came out in a fully faired version, the GSX1250FA. And were sold right up until 2017. These will do 270 km/h in stock form and are incredibly stable at high speed. Don’t ask me how I know! Needless to say all bandits are cheap now, but the GSX1250FA is generally forgotten and overlooked. Therefore you can get excellent examples well below the price of similar bikes.
Yes it did and to my eye it was a very beautiful bike too!
seat like a scaffold board though.
Had riden a FJ1100 and saved and saved to buy the then available FJ1200. BIG step backwards !! Rougher and vibey engine, weight increase and handled no way near as good. Sold it and over the years had two FJ1100's, sheer bliss !! Bigger is not always better.
The 2007-on half-faired 1250 Bandit (at 5:42) shows that it is (was) possible to make a good-looking water-cooled motorcycle. The engines of many modern naked or part-faired water-cooled bikes just do not look this good. More of a plumber's nightmare in some cases. Although, I do prefer my totally unmolested Mk1, a Pearl Novelty Black 1999 Suzuki N1200 (I have more than one bike). The gearbox and engine are both a peach. Another ace vid mate. With really good photographs 👍
Thanks mate and yes i agree with your comments on the Suzuki liquid cooled engine, it is beautiful.
Just had a '99 gtr semi basket case fall out of the sky. Rebuilt the swingarm and replaced a few bits. Has a common problem but once I get the rear wheel back on, I'm looking forward to figuring out the fairing, lots of fittings to replace, has the towbar and the bags, paid $500 AUD, 76K kms. Looking forward to riding it!
Thats a cheap buy buddy, no matter the condition.
@@motorcyclecafe yep, for my 55th birthday I got myself my first ever bike with a fairing! Looking forward to seeing how she rides!
@@danielkeel9265 they are a good bike but the engine does need to rev a bit. Bloody top heavy though which is why i didnt end up buying one.
Nice review fella. Following on from the FJ, the XJ900s Diversion is similar but with a little less power. However, as a distance machine, the Shaft drive on the XJ is a bonus compared to the FJ's chain. I sourced a 97 XJ900s that was ready for the scrap heap and rebuilt it through the COVID fun with a few custom touches. Great machine. well worthy of your list.
Saving that bike for another video mate. Nothing too special about them but they are a great everyday bike.
Great review of 4 underrated bikes! I've owned an FJ1100 and 2 1200s. Superb all round bikes in my opinion. I would be happy to own any of the bikes featured to be honest! Living in Scotland we have the roads that they can really be enjoyed on!
My mate owned an FJ for many years, never had any issues of any kind!
FJ, ST1100, Concours.. all great machines! (ST1100 owner here)
They are! No doubt about it. Which is why I selected all of them for this video.
Had all of these, loved the FJ1200 but now dated, ST1100 blows them all away.
Nice review, thx. I owned 2 ST1100 Pan Europeans, fantastic bikes, did 20 to 25.000km/year, never any problems, never let me down! Now I have the new Honda NT1100 DCT also verry good and smooth, the DCT needs some getting used to but at my +60 years age a blessing for my hands in traffic. Happy trails and greetings from Belgium 😎👍
Belgium ay, cheers buddy. Yes the old ST1100 was an awesome motorcycle to ride, a really great engine. The looks didn't really appeal to me but every one is different. I've never rode a Honda with this new transmission but I do know from my Goldwing video research that it works quite well.
@@motorcyclecafe the ST1100 Pan wasn't the most sexy bike, butvthe engine was sublime, best i ever had by far! The DCT needs some getting used to, but it is verry smooth. Greetz 😎
Another excellent presentation 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟....now please do the Honda Hurricane 1000, 750, 600.... thank you
I had my eye on a GTR1000 for many years but they always had very high kilometres. Finally found an 02 with 52k and looked brand new, for a very good price (same colour as the one in the vid). An absolute tank of a bike, probably near 300kgs with a full tank (is great fun getting it on the centrestand), very slow steering (almost glacial) but if you ride it as it was designed for , it is brilliant. The Kawasaki engineers really put a lot of thought into the design and it shows. The only thing I don't like is that it very susceptible to cross winds but that is the same for any bike with a big fairing . The camchain would rattle like hell when cold, but a manual CCT fixed that.
I have ridden all of these bikes, except the Suzuki, and have owned 2 Honda ST 1100's, and still have one. Easily one of the best all around bikes i have ever owned. ( Got my 1st Honda street bike in 1976 ) Power/ Torque is very good, Wind protection is really good, and although heavy, the center of gravity is very low, due to the low mounted gas tank, like the Goldwings are. Honda knows what they are doing. One of my favorite things about the ST 1100, over all the other bikes, is the gearing, because its geared very tall, ( .75 top gear ) and makes for a relaxed ride , with low rpm's at 75 MPH, which is great on gas mileage. Honda is known for making motorcycles that do everything well, but not perfect for any one category, and the ST qualifies.
Yes mate although I personally didn't like the looks of the ST as far as riding one goes it just doesn't get much better!
@@motorcyclecafe You're not wrong about the ST1100 being a bugger to work on, but that tends to mean you can pick one up that needs a bit of work cheaply. I'm restoring a '95 ABS/TC model with 106,000ks atm and since it had a blown head gasket I figured I'd do a top end rebuild on it while I had the bike in bits. I picked mine up unregistered for $500 and despite the blown head gasket it runs really well. By the time I've got it back on the road I reckon it will have cost me three to four grand, but that's with the top end rebuild, fork rebuild, respray and everything else taken into account. That's a lot of bike for the money. I even have quite grown to like the looks too, maybe because it's my baby now.
Hey my friend,your mate from Nova Scotia,Canada,24 years ago, i bought a 1976 Yamaha RD400( well used)spent 3years & $9000.00 can restoring the bike, 0.40 th in, Wisco pistons, carbon fibre reeds,carbs jetted 2 sizes up, Newtronic CD ING,35000 volt coils, polished ports, DG race pipes,progressive coil springs(front), anodi bee hive shocks, 15-34 tooth sprockets, bike top speed (200kph) 63hp, Lost 2 Bikes in shead fire!! ( 1983 Yamaha Maxim 550, 4cyl, also lost) Former member of Atlantic Vintage Motorcycle Society. in Canada, 25years old (Vintage) 50years old (Antique) Great Video, keep them coming!!
Thank you mate, much appreciated. I have another mate from the same area as you, he tows a trailer all over the place behind a ST Honda.
@@motorcyclecafe Hey mate, might of seen your friend, in the last 10years at the Tim Hortons,in FallRiver ,Nova Scotia,Canada on thursdays?(Bike night)Thanks Mate!
FJ1200 - I really should've bought one. They were brilliant. Getting rear tyres is the biggest issue these days (16 inch rear wheel) although many convert to a 17inch rear.
Bandit 1250 - owned one for several years. Just brilliant.
1000GTR - still got one on red plates. - Early models had god awful brakes, really awful. Getting 16 inch rear tyres are a problem these days. As mentioned, top heavy and yes, I think they're a bit slow. I'd say the slowest of the 4.
ST1100 - Just put one on red plates. It is a very capable machine. Biggest flaw is grinding bits underneath when hustling tightish bumpy roads. Need to get the suspension sorted.
Cant go wrong with any of them. Great vid!
Thanks for the feedback buddy, interesting comments. Although I do disagree on the GTR1000 (everyone is entitled to their opinion ay?) That engine was probably not the best choice along with the somewhat high gearing) if you are prepared to rev the shit out of it, it really goes, hard! At least until that barn door sized fairing starts taking effect. Anyway glad you liked the video, cheers!
A good review of 4 very good bikes which I had the pleasure of owing two, the 96 Suzuki 1200s Bandit and a 2002 Kawasaki Concours. Both very capable bikes, well made, very fast, a pleasure to own. The biggest problem was the carburetors or more accurately the fuel for seasonally stored bikes, even taking all precautions on fuel conditioning and draining carbs for winter storage eventually they would clog up the jets and need cleaning. This doesnt seem to be a problem with fuel injected bike, so far I just add stabilizer and run the engine for 10 mins and have not had a problem for a number of years with two different bikes.
I dont have the same problem, where i live you can ride all year and thanks for the positive feedback!
Had the Bandit for 10 years- great bike and still plenty of parts available.
I've had my '06 Bandit ten years and love it, even though it's really 'too much' for what I use it for.
I'm not a sport bike fan, I don't care for the riding position. But I liked the V4 of the ST1300.
I now ride the CTX1300, a tamer version of the ST motor, but a touring riding position. I haven't ridden a lot of different bikes but it's the best handling bike so far. Many other CTX riders have said the same on the CTX1300 forum.
Had an 86’ Connie. Great bike.
Paid $1 per cc
always had a soft spot for bandit's design
I totally agree the fj1200yam is the best multi engine bike out of Japan.
Ive got an 86 gtr and it is unrestricted. Heavy and slow but still great to ride.
Well, my Hayabusa second generation was a fast super sport touring bike who could eat miles like no other bike i have owned. Even if i got older by the years for some strange reason 🤔 and changed it to a Triumph Street Triple with a more upright riding position with a three cylinder engine who reach great rpm,s i do like the smaller engine who often take me all to far away from home for some other strange reason 😳. Thanks for the video. 👍
Glad you liked the video fonzie 😉
Good selection, thank you. For about 18 months I used an old, cheap ST1100 as a daily. Great bike and not too difficult to work on once you get the hang of it. Nice bike to ride, but... she can be a bit unstable when it is windy. Very reliable. I however moved to a BMW R1150RT, which in my book, is the better daily rider. Very stable, excellent weather protection but more expensive to maintain than the Pan. I also have a XJ900S Diversion. I believe that is a very good expansion to your list. It has one benefit over the FJ 1100/1200: it has a shaft drive. They are cheap to buy and cheap to run. It is not as luxurious as the Pan (or the RT) . Like the FJs the front should be a bit stiffer, but that is easy to solve as you already stated.
Yes those Xj diversions were a very solid everyday bike, my mate owned one, he also had an FJ. Not sure which he thought was better.
I had an ST1100. Everything going great one day when I came to an open sugar cane field. The wind coming over that land was crazy! I had to lean into the wind something awful. That was the only time that happened. Hated working on it. Oil changes were a PIA
Those are all excellent bikes and I remember when each of them came out. But my favorite Sport Tourer to this day is my Honda CX650 Turbo. I put about 40k miles on it and loved ever mile. I still have ol' serial number 43 in my garage but it has been stored for almost 30 years and I doubt it will ever see the road again. Still it was a phenominal riding bike and I covered the West Coast of the US from Mexico to Canada many times.
The old CX Hondas are a bike which is close to my heart. I have talked about them in other videos on the channel. Although not so much the turbo models.
@@motorcyclecafe The 650's were lighter than the 500's as they had an ABS fairing instead of fiberglass. It was such a wild ride. Nothing could touch them in roll ons until the ZX10 hit the market. You just stepped on the rear brake and rolled on the throttle to up the boost then stepped off the brake. My rear rotor is a slight golden color from using that method but damn Man did it take off. But alas parts are almost non-existant and mine needs the dreaded stator so it's been covered since '97.
excellent vid Mr Cafe and i agree with most of your views except .... FJ1200 is 'the best air-cooled 4 cylinder to come out of Japan' - don't think so. The 1140cc motor in the Honda CB1100 is perfection, believe me, i have one. But then it should be as it was developed some 30 years later than Yamaha's FJ
It could be buddy, to be honest I forgot all about that bike. I've never ridden one of those though.
I'd add the GSX100G for its shaft drive, and the Honda VF1100S. I still have one of the Hondas, and I've owned it since 1990. I've upgraded the rear suspension, instlalled a titanium exhaust (which saved a stunning amount of weight) and rebuilt the forks to a higher standard, ditching the anti-dive that never seemed to me to work properly. With the factory fairing and the bags from a late-CBX, it's a great tourer...and it's FAST. Mind you, it's tall and heavy, but nothing is perfect...and the engine is just fabulous and reliable (and pretty easy to service, although uyou need to know what you're doing). A plus to me is that it is pretty low tech - no FI or catalyst and meager electronics. Just a caveat - watch out for one of these with a bum istrument cluster, as these are horrifically expensive and not repairable. But I'm an old fart, so what do I know? I KNOW what I can fix, that's what!
If you meant the GSX1100G I owned one of them and covered this bike in the video "5 unpopular bikes that were great bikes"
The CB1100 Honda has 88 horsepower, a completely smooth engine thqnks to a geqr driven balancer, in 2014 they were 6 speed, fuel injected and got 53 actual miles per gallon, HONDA'S very last large displacement air cooled inline four engine
I enjoyed the video, I had xs 1100 ,must be getting old
They were a good bike back in the day. I had an XS850.
Honda pan st11 I had one, brilliant handling, indestructible, a legend, dull as beige paint...
Well you pretty much nailed what it took me 5 min to explain🤔
Yeah…. Great bikes! I love the Yamaha, ride this bike more than 12 years (3 years with sidebike and 5 years as XJR). Zero problems! But today it is hard to find a bike in good conditions
yer, they don't come up for sale often in Australia either.
I think the fully faired Suzuki GSX1100F sports tourer produced from 1988 until 1996 would have been a more comparable bike to include in the video than the Bandit
Yes you may be be correct. However I personally do not have any experience with that bike. I have never ridden one. All these 4 bikes i have ridden. Cheers appreciate the comment.
Back in the day, I loved the FJ1200- fantastic bike by all accounts- but I opted for a Kawasaki GPZ1100, another wonderful but wholly undervalued/under-appreciated bike. The Concours 1000 was also an excellent bike but lacked bottom end torque by all reports. The bags were huge and the later models were 'better' looking. Still, the fact that this bike was sold by Kawi for so many years is a testament to its overall goodness.
However, I can't believe you missed the FJR1300 tho; altho the early years had some heat issues, you can pick up low mileage 3rd gen models ('13 and up) on the serious cheap and get much more modern tech/practicality/performance than any of the models you've listed here and the FJR is a great ST, possibly the best of all, ever made.
I have covered the GPZ in a couple of other videos on the channel. I believe it was a better bike but the FJ was still a very good machine. As for the FJR1300 I have not covered that bike as yet but I have had experience with that bike also, in my opinion the Yamaha FJR1300 is one of the best sport tourers ever made, you would need to ride one to know how good that bike truly is. Cheers buddy.
No issue with bottom end torque whatsoever. Pulls clean and with purpose from 300 rpm.
Owned a ‘95 Gpz myself, super smooth, fast, and turbine like sound on the stock exhaust and 40 mpg. Just pull the funky looking Gpz decals and it’s a great looking bike. If you are talking newer the zzr 1200 was sweet as well and FAST.
@@georgejameson9317 my '94 GPZ1100 had possibly one of the smoothest engines of any bike I've ever owned. Glass smooth! Loved that bike but it was stupid, sneaky fast and a danger to me as I could not control myself. I also later bought an '04 ZZR1200. That bike was an absolute beast but I could never get comfortable on it, no matter the mods.
What's a "Boike"?
I own a 2001 UK... 1st gen and I've never had a valve check done and it still pulls like a laviathon with 56,000 miles on it... All I do is change the oil... Bother engine and diff once a year that's it
Sold 2007 Harley Fatboy done 50000 km on it
Now ride a Yamaha xj 900 deversion 2002 model and love it more than the Harley to ride
Harley $24000
Yamaha $2800
Wish I never wasted my money on a Harley
I had an fj12...my first big engine bike. It was sweet, smooth and had good power all through the range. Weird 16 " wheels a bit of a drawback. Not sure I'd concur on fast by today's standards since I ride a ZZR1400R now....
Oh well its just as fast as some new bikes I should have said. Cheers
@@motorcyclecafe Maybe some parallel twins but a 600 will rip its ears off these days. It was around 120 mph 1/4 mile bike.
The Honda ST1100 is a very good bike but its not for the weekend machanic . The big plus is 50 mpg and will do over 300000 miles . Timing belts are also a concern .
I think? not sure though that the timing belt on these (there is only one) lasts quite a long time. The engine is basically like a car engine.
@@motorcyclecafe
Hey, the st11/13 series as u say is renowned.
A pom called Allen Millyard has a utube ch some maybe aware of. He has a st11 which he did a motor rebuild series in his shed. Worth a look, as he has a few other bikes that are pretty good too.
He does plenty of other stuff with bikes, like the flying millyard, a 5litre twin, from an old radial engine, a V10 Viper engine in a bike, Guinness record 2 up of 200mph, to name but a few.
Njoy.
My FJ was one of those machines that ouperformed expection in every way. Bar one.....the headlight....that was crap, lol!
Oh well you can't have it all. Most headlights were shit back then.
The FJ was a great bike but bugger me the last version as shown in the vid was ridiculously heavy, something like 265 kgs wet weight. Had one stonking engine but loaded up with panniers top box and passenger - just too heavy.
yes they were a lot heavier than they looked for sure.
How about the 1980s BMW K 75 S
Yer a couple of my mates had those, nice bike and engine for sure. Sucked being a pillion passenger though.
I owned an fj 1100 and fj 1200 and a Zzr 1100 I regret selling them 😢
We've all done it mate
Wow, it amazes me how corny the English are at promoting older bikes. I've owned all but the FJ mostly cause Yamaha never really impressed me much. Maybe I'm a bit jaded there as I have owned a number of different ones. Still have a Connie i just picked up for FREE to try and resuscitate it back to life. These are all top tied tourer's in their day and not light on their feet until ya get em moving then the weight nearly evaporates. Just try real hard not to drop it. You will need the "Special Technique" to get em righted again unless you are magilla gorilla.
gawd i hate shims, they are the biggest pain in the azz.....
read my mind buddy, read my mind, so do I. And never drop one LOL.