SwollenRaccoon
Well-known member
Make no mistake, I love my FJR. It's been a great, trouble-free bike. Aside from a couple of Yamaha's design decisions, (A two-up sport tourer with NO helmet locks? A battery in a place where there could have been a second storage compartment? Not to mention having to remove bodywork to get access to it, instead of just mounting it under the seat....but I digress) I still love the bike for its broad capabilities. I don't need to explain further to the faithful here. BUT.......
No news that it's a big, heavy bike. While not being as old as dirt, time is marching on. While trying to maintain some semblance of health and physical strength, it's hard to fight off Father Time. In other words, the FJR will become more of a problem to wrestle around in the coming years. Fate is staring me right in the face, just like the ugly countenance on the new FZ-10.
I want SO BAD to like the new FZ-10. It has the chassis, motor, brakes, features, riding position, and quality that I want. But I just can't get past how ugly the thing is. The clay fairies at Yamaha must really have some extraordinary clout, or have some inside scoop on a company executive and his secretary, plus access to some other-wordly hallucinogens. To create that monstrosity, then get it sold all the way up the management chain, to the very high-level executive whom has to sign off on the capital it takes to tool, build, test, certify, and distribute an (almost) brand new motorcycle that looks like that is astounding to me. Are these the same people that signed off on the Pontiac Aztek? These guys could sell a container ship load of air conditioners in Point Barrow.
I don't have to be grossly enamored of a vehicle to buy it. The FJR is a handsome enough motorcycle to my eye, and I own a 98 Honda SuperHawk. To me, the SuperHawk is not pretty. It doesn't look bad, but it's not beautiful. It is a bike that had all the right ingredients that I wanted 19 years ago, and wasn't UGLY, so I bought it, and have enjoyed it ever since. There's NO WAY I could open my garage door and look at that FZ-10 puss staring at me and feel lust for a ride. The bike has looks that would make my neighbor's 9 year-old son stop and stare, but maybe even he's getting old enough to think it's ugly. Apparently, the clay fairies created this as a precursor to an upcoming action movie, to get some sort of media buzz going. "Opening soon, at a theater near you! FastAndX-MenFuriousPowerTransformerRangerGoneIn60SecondsSuperHeroMovie!" The thing is uglier than 50 miles of dirt road on a rainy night.
And alas, it didn't have to be.
Maybe, just maybe, Yamaha can do the right thing. Let's call it, oh, I don't know, how about "FJ-10"? Take the existing FZ-10 chassis and drivetrain. Strengthen the rear subframe a little, to allow FJR bags to be mounted, like they did on the FJ-09. No need to bulk it up too much, as we already have the FJR. Give it a shapely gas tank, maybe even a little retro if you want. Say, an Eleven Special or XS Eleven tank from 1979, but make it a little wider, and proportioned properly for the bike. Headlight could be round, or not, but be high enough to provide a perfect location for a small quarter fairing, or even a little larger, like my SuperHawk or a Bandit 1200S. Let the engine show a lot, but have enough weather protection to take some wind off your chest. Don't add on any extra doodads, slots, wings, bumps, or the like. Make it identifiable as a Yamaha, using styling cues from some of your best looking parts. But for Bob's sake, don't make it so fecking UGLY. Sorry for offending anybody, but the bike is styled to the tastes of a second grader, whom is not old enough to yet buy a motorcycle. The old codgers that still ride are willing to spend decent money on a bike with the FZ-10's capabilities, but I would bet the vast majority of them don't want something that looks like it came out of a cheap comic book. Here are some pictures to get your minds working, and generate some better ideas than my feeble mind can produce.
But no. They give us THIS. WALL-E was cute in the Disney movie, but it shouldn't be the face of a motorcycle.
And what the hell are those goofy triangular brackets sticking out in front of the side radiator mounts? They appear to stick out there for no apparent reason.
I'm at a loss. If Yamaha made an FJ-10, and it wasn't so farking ugly, I would buy it. I would probably get rid of both of my current bikes, and just have an FJ-10. Cripes.
Sorry for the rant, but somebody had to do it. Thanks for letting me get rid of the frustration. OK, let fly with the hateful comments, since some of you probably have an FZ-10..............
No news that it's a big, heavy bike. While not being as old as dirt, time is marching on. While trying to maintain some semblance of health and physical strength, it's hard to fight off Father Time. In other words, the FJR will become more of a problem to wrestle around in the coming years. Fate is staring me right in the face, just like the ugly countenance on the new FZ-10.
I want SO BAD to like the new FZ-10. It has the chassis, motor, brakes, features, riding position, and quality that I want. But I just can't get past how ugly the thing is. The clay fairies at Yamaha must really have some extraordinary clout, or have some inside scoop on a company executive and his secretary, plus access to some other-wordly hallucinogens. To create that monstrosity, then get it sold all the way up the management chain, to the very high-level executive whom has to sign off on the capital it takes to tool, build, test, certify, and distribute an (almost) brand new motorcycle that looks like that is astounding to me. Are these the same people that signed off on the Pontiac Aztek? These guys could sell a container ship load of air conditioners in Point Barrow.
I don't have to be grossly enamored of a vehicle to buy it. The FJR is a handsome enough motorcycle to my eye, and I own a 98 Honda SuperHawk. To me, the SuperHawk is not pretty. It doesn't look bad, but it's not beautiful. It is a bike that had all the right ingredients that I wanted 19 years ago, and wasn't UGLY, so I bought it, and have enjoyed it ever since. There's NO WAY I could open my garage door and look at that FZ-10 puss staring at me and feel lust for a ride. The bike has looks that would make my neighbor's 9 year-old son stop and stare, but maybe even he's getting old enough to think it's ugly. Apparently, the clay fairies created this as a precursor to an upcoming action movie, to get some sort of media buzz going. "Opening soon, at a theater near you! FastAndX-MenFuriousPowerTransformerRangerGoneIn60SecondsSuperHeroMovie!" The thing is uglier than 50 miles of dirt road on a rainy night.
And alas, it didn't have to be.
Maybe, just maybe, Yamaha can do the right thing. Let's call it, oh, I don't know, how about "FJ-10"? Take the existing FZ-10 chassis and drivetrain. Strengthen the rear subframe a little, to allow FJR bags to be mounted, like they did on the FJ-09. No need to bulk it up too much, as we already have the FJR. Give it a shapely gas tank, maybe even a little retro if you want. Say, an Eleven Special or XS Eleven tank from 1979, but make it a little wider, and proportioned properly for the bike. Headlight could be round, or not, but be high enough to provide a perfect location for a small quarter fairing, or even a little larger, like my SuperHawk or a Bandit 1200S. Let the engine show a lot, but have enough weather protection to take some wind off your chest. Don't add on any extra doodads, slots, wings, bumps, or the like. Make it identifiable as a Yamaha, using styling cues from some of your best looking parts. But for Bob's sake, don't make it so fecking UGLY. Sorry for offending anybody, but the bike is styled to the tastes of a second grader, whom is not old enough to yet buy a motorcycle. The old codgers that still ride are willing to spend decent money on a bike with the FZ-10's capabilities, but I would bet the vast majority of them don't want something that looks like it came out of a cheap comic book. Here are some pictures to get your minds working, and generate some better ideas than my feeble mind can produce.
But no. They give us THIS. WALL-E was cute in the Disney movie, but it shouldn't be the face of a motorcycle.
And what the hell are those goofy triangular brackets sticking out in front of the side radiator mounts? They appear to stick out there for no apparent reason.
I'm at a loss. If Yamaha made an FJ-10, and it wasn't so farking ugly, I would buy it. I would probably get rid of both of my current bikes, and just have an FJ-10. Cripes.
Sorry for the rant, but somebody had to do it. Thanks for letting me get rid of the frustration. OK, let fly with the hateful comments, since some of you probably have an FZ-10..............
