These days, jaded motorcyclists accuse the Japanese OEMs of losing their mojo. Where are the exciting, performance-oriented and just-plain-different machines of the past, asks the 50-year-old speed freak. And while I think there are plenty of bikes to get excited about in the 2020s, I understand their point. We rarely see OEMs think too far outside the box today, offering motorcycles like the machine seen here—a 1986 Yamaha Fazer 700.

Was it a naked bike? Sportbike? Cruiser? Standard? The Fazer had elements of all those machines. Photo: Williams Vintage Cycle

Mini Max

The Fazer 700 was a bit of a recycling job. The engine came from the FZ750 sportbike, slightly retuned for this muscle bike chassis, but there wasn’t much change besides the obvious reduction in capacity (done to dodge the Reagan-era 750 tariff). The 20-valve inline four (three intake valves per cylinder, two exhaust valves) was liquid-cooled, still a fairly new idea for inline fours in the mid-’80s. It made about 85 hp at 10,500 rpm, and 60 lb-ft of torque at 8,000 rpm. There was a 750 model in foreign markets that made more power, but still, for the open roads, that’s sufficient. Reviewers of the mid-’80s had no complaints about lack of muscle; in fact, they happily praised the bike’s torque.

The styling was very modern, but also arguably a recycling job, similar to the much larger V-Max. I believe this was no mistake; Yamaha wanted to offer riders a sporty and lower-priced alternative to its mighty muscle bike. The Fazer 700 fit that bill.

I think there’s a bit of V-Max DNA here, although not as strong as the strain Yamaha bred into the Maxim-X. Photo: Williams Vintage Cycle

The chassis, however, was unique to this machine. The air-adjustable fork and dual rear shocks would be antiquated today, but standard stuff for their time—the fork was considered pretty decent, although the rear suspension was reckoned a bit weak. As this was the 1980s and the OEMs were trying weird things with wheel sizing, there was a 16-inch front on the bike and a 15-inch rear.

Add it some aggressive chassis geometry, and you had a bike that reviewers said was surprisingly sporty in the corners, working well as a sorta-cruiser, sorta-canyon carver.

That tank wasn’t just a tank. It hid the carburetors as well as storing three-and-a-half gallons of fuel. Photo: Williams Vintage Cycle

The main drawback with the bike was tank size. What looked like the fuel tank was actually part tank, part cover for the downdraft carburetors. This reduced capacity, and left riders looking for gas fairly quickly, as max capacity was 3.4 gallons, including 0.8 gallons of reserve. Test riders complained about this in the magazine write-ups, and real-world users echoed those complaints in the years to come.

This bike here

Yamaha only brought the FZ700 to the US market for 1986 and 1987; in other countries, they had the 750 version of the bike until the 1990s. Why the short import run? I suspect the dilution of Yamaha’s four-cylinder lineup had something to do with it. Along with the Fazer 700, they had the Maxim models, including the Maxim-X which sold alongside the Fazer 700 in 1986, offering a more cruiserish take on the same four-cylinder formula. Or maybe US buyers just weren’t keen on the small-bored 700 engine, even if the reviewers loved the bike.

A 16-inch front wheel seems odd today, but it was normal for the mid-1980s. The 15-inch rear wheel was definitely an odd choice, even back then. Photo: Williams Vintage Cycle

Whatever the case, they are a somewhat rare bike to find in good shape today. This machine at Williams Vintage Cycle in Xenia, Ohio, appears to be in particularly good nick. It has minimal modification, and looks like it should be a good runner. Here’s what the shop says about the machine:

These bikes are very rare and hard to find, especially nice ones like this. This is a super nice 1986 Yamaha FZX700 Fazer. From the collection of a local Ohioan. Always very well cared for. Super clean bike is mostly original condition, other than the mufflers and updated hi-performance radiator . This bike runs very well, and everything works like it should. It currently has only 17,200 miles on it. Very clean and original inside the gas tank, no rust. New battery just installed.

This bike will make an excellent addition to your collection. Perfect bike to take to shows, or ride and enjoy it.

This bike has been inspected & serviced. We put all motorcycles thru a 27 point inspection process & a professional detailing.

You won’t find many of these bikes on the market in this condition. Photo: Williams Vintage Cycle

Asking price for this 1986 model is $4,995, which might be more than you want to spend on such a machine in our current era, but if bike collectors keep raising the prices of used Japanese machines, it might not seem so high. See the ad here, if you’re interested, and take note that Williams says they will ship this bike nation-wide for the buyer.