BikeTest/Yamaha FJR 1300AS:Yamaha's new bike moves towards the goal of fully automatic gear control, but is it worth it, asks Rohit Jaggi
The Yamaha FJR 1300AS is a gloriously pointless machine. Pointless because its unique selling point, a semi-automatic gear change, does not do anything better than a reasonably skilled rider already can. Glorious, because in spite of the shortcomings of the concept, it does the job really rather well.
This bike's unique feature is an electro-hydraulic control of the conventional multi-plate clutch, so that each time you twitch your left foot to change a gear, the clutch is operated for you by electronics and solenoids. There is not even a manual clutch lever - slipping the clutch to move off from a standstill is done automatically, along with disengaging the clutch as the bike comes to a halt to avoid stalling.
Taking the concept one degree further, there are upshift and downshift buttons on the left handlebar that allow the rider to use a left thumb instead of a left foot to swap gearbox ratios - with the same set-up of leaving the clutch to the machine. This is exactly equivalent to the better paddle-shift set-ups in cars such as the semi-automatic Aston Martin V8 Vantage and it means effortless shifts, with the electronic brain working out how much to slip the clutch. The Yamaha's arrangement even allows you to move off from rest in second or third, though the aroma of a frying clutch might fill the air and the gear indicator will flash reprovingly.
The way that the clutch is slipped to move the bike off the line is predictable enough. It is not very fast though - so a few times when I opened the throttle to move off, my opportunity disappeared and I then had to grab the brake as well and close the throttle as the bike was confused enough to start leaping all over the place.
Smoothness of gear changes on the move is much better, though not as good as my changes with a manual clutch - a finding corroborated by my usual pillion passenger, the professor. Most disturbing, though, is the noise. Every time you change gear, there is a huge, loose, clangy sound as a solenoid moved the gear-shift mechanism.
So if you can operate a manual clutch better and there are no performance or safety advantages, what is the point of Yamaha's impressive technology?
The point could just be innovation for its own sake or to be able to claim the first automatically shifted, conventionally geared, production bike. Yamaha has a noble history of technological experimentation: hub-centre steering instead of forks; valves in the exhaust system to broaden the power range; and two-wheel-drive among them.
More likely, this is a step towards the ultimate goal of fully automatic control of the gears. This is something fraught with difficulty on motorcycles. A gearbox that changes gear when you are cranked right over in a bend falls into the category of Very Bad Things.
The Yamaha's electronics already prevent you from doing silly things such as selecting neutral while going along. So, with full automatic control, it would just need a few more lines of computer code. The other easy modification would be traction control, which has only crept on to one or two road bikes.
As a halfway house to these end-goals, though, the Yamaha is rather a strange beast. This is a shame because it does many things brilliantly. It is wonderfully balanced. Better still, it is the most accomplished bike for carrying a pillion that I have ridden. Ever.
My passenger raved about it. The rear seat has a profile that kept her in place and, as importantly, meant I was never worried about her falling off and was able to use quite a large proportion of the bike's prodigious acceleration. She said the footrests were low and comfortable, with the added stability of heel rests, and the generously proportioned grab-rail allowed her to avoid clonking helmets with me when I used the powerful brakes.
There is a conventional gearbox version of the motorcycle but I would buy the automatic-clutch one, if only to reward Yamaha's innovation. But then I already have two examples of Yamaha's hub-centre-steering motorcycle - the GTS1000, dropped after a very short run because it sold too slowly - basking in my dining room.
Factfile
Engine: 1298 cc liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, DOHC, forward-inclined parallel 4-cylinder. 143.5bhp @ 8,000rpm; 134.4Nm @ 7,000rpm; electronic fuel injection; wet multiple disc clutch; TCI ignitions system with electric starter.
Chassis: Aluminium, diamond-shaped chassis with telescopic front suspension forks and swingarm link-suspension at the rear; front brake - dual discs; rear brakes - single disc; front tyre - 120/70 ZR17M/C (58W); rear tyre - 180/55 ZR17M/C (73W);
Dimensions: length - 2,230mm; width - 750mm; height - 1,315mm (with screen on lowest position); seat height - 805mm; wheelbase - 1,545mm.
How fast? 237 km/h
How thirsty? 6.9 L/100km (41 mpg)
How heavy? Dry weight: 268kg
How much? Irish price to be confirmed but £11,999 in Britain