Design Cafe

The XJR 1300 is the successor of the XJR 1200 that originated in 1995. The 1200 was famous for its strong 'big block' character with already massive power, available at very low revs. In addition to its sports appeal, reminiscent of the superbikes of the '80s, this big bike was very easy to ride and the ample seat space and comfortable suspensions offered a relaxed ride.

"We paid a lot of attention to the riding fun in real-life usage situations, that's why we wanted a more torquey and responsive engine." mentions Product Planner Alessandro Polati. "The FZ has always been a high performance allrounder and with the shift to 800cc, we've made it more exciting than ever."

Most of us will clearly remember the first XJ600 Diversion series. For many of us it marked the beginning of an era, of riding Yamaha’s inline 4 cylinder motorcycles.

“Power, power, power!” That’s what you always hear when our riders step off the VMAX, usually with a grin on their faces. “That punch is so impressive, you know. To have power like that is just not known before. Wheelspin everywhere. But the bike handles so easy!”

The road from Almeria to Sorbas is fantastic. It winds on an on and on into the mountains, each corner a different radius, and the tarmac gives tremendous grip.

Following the highly successful launch of the MT-01 torque-sports roadster in 2005, Yamaha have been exploring new possibilities and considering alternative directions for this large capacity V-twin roadster.

"I have been riding the bike in the mountains and it is great", explains product planning manager Oliver Grill. "We went there often for testing, and each time I was amazed how fast you could go. This bike is amazingly sharp. It's fun, it's compact, and the engine is very useable because it works at lower rpm. In the mountains you go from corner to corner and on opening and closing the throttle there is always an immediate reaction."

"I came to work for Yamaha because they always do things differently" tells our product planning manager for the European market. "In today’s hectic world, for many people it is more and more difficult to find the time to ride their motorcycle."

And the friends of the Design Café hold their share in making that possible. Your feedback was a strong support. Exclusively for you, read here how the bike impressed the Yamaha family.

The new MT-03 shows again Yamaha's philosophy of building innovative and characteristic motorcycles. The stunning appearance of the MT-01 at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1999 is not forgotten: again this is a concept based on "sound and emotions". A look behind the scenes.

A product planner at Yamaha Motor Europe remembers: "We decided to let the new Fazer really jump up in terms of technical solutions and design. The only way to free the engineers from restrictions was to give them a free hand to start from scratch. And they did. The new Fazer is new and gives you a new riding feeling as well, without sacrificing its basic qualities of the past."

"We see the FJR 1300 to be a long life model", says the marketing manager of Yamaha Motor Europe. "We have quite carefully considered the changes for the new model and did listen to our customers, to determine the improvements after these 2 years of FJR model life."

Two great-looking show-machines based on a standard BT1100 Bulldog had their debut at the International motorcycle exhibition in Munich.

Interview with the designers: Engine beat like a drum

Mario Inumaru is convinced that bikers are individualists:" Most guys love to personalize their machine. With this version of BT 1100 we wanted to demonstrate, how a much attention we paid to the possibilities of customisation when we created BT concept". He continues: "I have spend many years both in Europe and in the US and when talking to bikers there, they always touch the same point - how can I make my bike fit my personal taste."

When the first TDM was launched in 1992, it was a niche product. Now, 10 years later, TDM has created a category by its own and other makers have been following with similar concepts in the meantime. The new TDM 900 marks the 3rd generation and has the features many TDM owners have been telling us to develop.

Yutaka Kubo likes big bikes and XJR 1300 is a classic big bike to him. This bike has archetype looks, with the massive air-cooled engine and the conventional shape of tank, seat and sidecovers. In spite of the conventional looks XJR 1300 hidden spec is modern technology.

The new Big Twin 1100, nicknamed Bulldog, has European genes. The bike is designed and made in Yamaha's pilot plant on the outskirts of Milan in Italy.

V-max is a category of its own. The mighty V4 has made it to motorcycles cult heaven. The men behind this monument on two wheels recall the making of V-max.

Our web survey on FJR 1300 got a lot of attention. In the past couple of weeks we got thousands of replies from around the globe. For engineers and product planners your opinion is a very helpful information and we discussed the outcome very intensively.

Naoki Segawa, product planner and Yutaka Kubo project leader for Fazer 1000 work in Yamaha Factory in Iwata/Japan. They both give insight in Fazer's development.

FJR 1300 has got a lot of attention at shows and in the media. This new generation of Sport Tourer breaks new ground for riders, who like comfort and protection, but still demand a powerful and sporty machine. Hiroshi Komatsubara, project leader of FJR 1300 explains, how he solved this engineering contradiction:

"Naked bike” is a phrase that came up a few years ago. It describes a category of machines which are actually just big, conventional motorcycles without fairings or plastic covers. What is so special about them?

TDM850 created it's own category. Hennes Fischer, Ex-product planner and today consultant at Yamaha Motor Europe, recalls insights of TDM development:

The FJ 1100 from 1984 marked the start of Yamaha 4 stroke sportsbikes The new FJR 1300 is the start of a new generation of lightweight sportstouring machines.