Yamaha Motorcycle Road Tests
& Reviews
Yamaha Motorcycle Guide
Yamaha Motor Company Limited, a division of Japanese conglomerate Yamaha Corporation, has been producing motorized vehicles since 1955. Yamaha currently produces motorcycles, motorbikes, ATVs, boats, marine engines, automobile engines, personal watercraft and snowmobiles. Under the Yamaha brand, it produces sportbikes (YZF-R1, FZ1, FZ8 and others), sport tourers (FJR1300A), adventure tourers (Super Ténéré), dual-sports (WR250X, XT250 and others), dirt bikes (YZ450F, WR450F and others) and scooters (Tmax, Zuma and others). In the U.S., cruisers produced by Yamaha have been sold under the Star Motorcycles brand since 2006, including the Royal Star, Roadliner, Stratoliner, Vmax, Raider, Stryker and others. Yamaha motorcycle reviews and road tests explain why the brand has won Rider‚s Motorcycle of the Year four times: in 2006 with the FZ1, in 2003 with the FJR1300, in 1996 with the Royal Star Tour Classic and in 1993 with the GTS1000.
Five Fast Fellows: 2013 Sport-Touring Shootout
Greg Drevenstedt
May 6, 2013
Sport touring, a hybrid category that blends the performance of sportbikes with the comfort of touring bikes, takes many forms. Some add a taller windscreen, bar risers and soft luggage to their GSX-R, while others bevel the pegs and scrape the belly pan on their Gold Wing. Between these two extremes... Read more »
2013 Yamaha FJR1300 Review
Greg Drevenstedt
May 6, 2013
Every bike in this comparison has roots that go back decades, from the BMW R100RT in the late ’70s, to the BMW K100RT, Kawasaki Concours ZG1000 and Yamaha FJ1100 in the ’80s, to the Triumph Trophy 1200 in the early ’90s. Engines, chassis, components, tires, technology and features have improved... Read more »
Rider Comparo: 2013 Honda CRF250L vs. 2013 Kawasaki KLX250S vs. 2013 Yamaha WR250R
Arden Kysely
January 31, 2013
The last time Rider corralled a herd of 250 dual-sports (April 2008), we chose the thriftiest models available in the face of rising gas prices. This time we went for best-in-class, grabbing Yamaha’s WR250R, Honda’s new CRF250L and Kawasaki’s KLX250S—the only return contender. The KLX received... Read more »
2012 Yamaha FJR1300—Road Test
Bill Stermer
December 5, 2012
Sometimes the less things change, the better they remain. Take Yamaha’s FJR1300, for example. The bike was introduced here for 2004, a sport-touring road burner with removable hard saddlebags, electrically adjustable windscreen and a 1,298cc 4-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine with 5-speed transmission... Read more »
Rider Test: 2013 Yamaha FJR1300
Mark Tuttle
November 27, 2012
When we broke the news that an updated Yamaha FJR1300 was on the way for 2013 in the December 2012 issue, the reader reaction was the usual mix of praise and grousing (mostly that the bike hasn’t been changed enough). What surprised us, though, is that almost everyone who wrote qualified their opinions... Read more »
2013 Yamaha FJR1300 and FZ8 – First Look
Rider Magazine
October 2, 2012
Just as this issue was going to print, Yamaha revealed updated FJR1300 and FZ8 models for 2013. The four-cylinder, 1,298cc FJR1300 sport tourer (we test the 2012 version in this issue) gets a new fairing design, new headlights and revised electric windscreen for improved protection. It features quicker... Read more »
Yamaha Announces 2013 Models
Press Release
September 28, 2012
Yamaha Motor Corp U.S. recently launched additional models of its 2013 motorcycle product. In the SuperSport category, the 2013 YZF-R1 ($14,290) and YZF-R6 ($10,999) come back in a variety of new and exciting colors. The FZ1 ($10,790) and FZ6R ($7,790) also return for those who enjoy casual canyon carving... Read more »
Comparison: 2012 Triumph Tiger Explorer vs. 2012 Yamaha Super Ténéré
Greg Drevenstedt
September 5, 2012
The open-class adventure touring segment has grown from a class of one—the BMW R 1200 GS/Adventure—to a class of five in recent years, with the introduction of the Ducati Multistrada 1200, Moto Guzzi Stelvio, Yamaha Super Ténéré and Triumph Tiger Explorer. We compared the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure... Read more »
Yamaha Announces Activities Scheduled During Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix
Press Release
June 27, 2012
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., is pleased to announce its complete schedule of customer-focused activities for the July 27-29 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Yamaha is celebrating its 7th consecutive year as a marketing partner of the event, and most... Read more »
No-Crash Course Yamaha Champions Riding School
Greg Drevenstedt
May 6, 2012
(This Riding Around article was published in the May 2012 issue.) By Greg Drevenstedt • Photography by Jeremy Henrie I’ve got a confession to make. I crashed several test bikes during my first couple of years at Rider. Sure, I could B.S. you with tired clichés like, “If you don’t crash once... Read more »
