Yamaha FZR1000R EXUP (1990)

Track Days!

Did several Track Days at Brands Hatch during the 90's. Couldn't fault the bikes handling, braking or speed. The engine suited the track and it certainly held its ground against other machines.

The Mighty EXUP

Got this new in July 1990 and still own it to this day.

After having previously owned a Suzuki RG500 and also a Suzuki GSXR750 Slabby it was time to get something else. Didn't want to add another 2-Stroke to the garage and wasn't keen on the newer model Suzuki 4-Stokes. I'd had a bunch of Kawasaki Z's and again wasn't hugely keen on the newer Z models at the time. I don't do Honda's because I don't do Hondas! and still wasn't keen on the Italian model options of the time.

Had a look at loads of write-ups and wandered around the dealerships to check out what they had. Eventually decided on the original Yamaha FZR1000 which I managed to get at a great price as the newer Exup versions were about to hit the market. That bike was amazing compared to other things around at the time so when the newer Exup variants came down in price I wanted to see how much of a difference there was.

There didn't seem much difference on the specs. with the original FZR1000 around 135bhp & 102Nm torque and the Exup 145bhp & . 107Nm, so had to ride one to see what's what.

Got a ride on a Demo bike at a Romford dealership and almost immediately you could feel the additional go it had lower down and into the midrange. It also clearly had quicker acceleration and faster overall. The rest of the bike was very similar to the FZR1000 which I got on with, plus I also like the new styling of the Exup.

What I like about these Yamahas.

For the time, these 1000 models were fantastic all round performers.

Where older model bikes rode and felt like they were a series of bits all bolted together, and often feel like they all move differently when you’re riding, these bikes felt like all the parts worked as one.

For the time they were fairly light and although heavier than latter sports bikes they were not that bad at around 220kg and the weight was distributed very well.

The brakes and the ability of the bike to not get out of shape when the brakes were pulled hard and were, at the time, the best I'd ever used. Very confident when hard breaking.

The engines were very smooth and very quiet at slow speeds or high. Power was smooth and progressive and bags of it.

At 170mph+ they were fast and even compared to modern bikes it's still pretty impressive 36 years on.

I took the bike on several Track Days around Brands Hatch in the 90's. Couldn't fault it's handling, the engine suited the track and it certainly held its ground against other machines.

Deal done and got the bike delivered by van on 31st July so I could ride it first thing on 1st Augusts with the new registration plate. Spent the next few days getting the engine bedded in and run in. When I did start to seriously open the bike up, it was much slower than I'd expected! Far slower than the demo bike and slower than my original FZR1000.

Went back to the dealership and said 'there's a problem'.

Took the demo bike out again and that just confirmed what I had though and my new bike was seriously slower. Conversations at the dealership with sales team and the mechanics went on for a bit and a few phone calls were made before they said 'we know what it is'. They then informed me that my Exup came from the factory with restricted horsepower, WFH!

Up until this point I hadn't seen or heard about these bike being restricted in any way so this was a bit of a shock. Many weeks later I discovered  this had been happening to lots of people and was common knowledge in some quarters. I believe later models came in without these 'factory' restrictions.

'So what you gonna do about it' I asked. The response I got was, we know where the restrictions are but have been told by Yamaha we can't change it as that invalidates the warranty. A further conversation ensued asking how their demo bike clearly wasn't restricted , making it clear that my decision to purchase was based largely on that test ride and as such  they had better give me a solution or they were getting the bike back!

They said the restrictions were caused by a blanking plate on the inlet side of each carb and that the rubber just needed to be cut away. If I would do that myself then they would honour the warranty on the bike themselves.

So at the weekend I set about removing all the bikes panels to get to the carbs, cut out the offending restrictors and hey presto the bike was great.

Bike all good and took it in for its first service, no issues and picked the bike up later that day. The next day took the bike out for a spin and just coming out of a bend and still a bit lent over and an open throttle I clicked it up the 3rd, found a false neutral and almost immediately jumped back down to 2nd and with the now closed throttle the rear wheel locked up and pinged me into a kerb.

A lot of cosmetic damage. Side panels, top fairly, bars, bar ends, levers front wheel etc.. As I was going over the bike looking at what needed to be replaced I spotted that the way they had badly adjusted or re-attached, such that the top and bottom arms were hitting when the lever was operated meaning more force was needed to operate.

Sourced all New original bits and sorted out over the following weeks