Yamaha Bids Farewell To FJR1300 With Ultimate Edition

After almost 20 years, Yamaha’s venerable, uber-comfortable FJR1300 sport tourer is on its way out the door in Europe courtesy of incoming EU5 emissions regulations. To pay proper homage Yamaha just announced the FJR1300AS and FJR1300AE Ultimate Editions.

For Joyous Rides:

Why Yamaha's FJR1300 Is Still Relevant

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The Ultimate Edition packages are only available on AE and AS trims and are largely cosmetic upgrades, adding:

-        special black / gold body colours

-        black seat with gold stitching and logo

-        high screen

-        wind deflectors

-        gold wheels with logo

Those model suffixes might confuse North American readers, as here we get the A and ES with the A being the base model FJR1300 and ES being the model with electronic suspension. In other markets, the FJR1300 comes in base model A, AE with electronic suspension, and as the FJR1300AS, which has a clutchless gearbox. Their A is our A, their AS is our ES, and their AE isn’t sold here. Got it? Good.

That clutchless transmission is not to be confused with Honda’s dual-clutch transmission (DCT) offerings seen on the NC750X and the Africa Twin. While Honda’s system is a fully automatic gearbox, the Yamaha model merely eliminates the clutch. Riders still need to change gears themselves using either the traditional foot shifter or thumb buttons on the left handlebar. It was available in North America for a short time, but slow sales saw it discontinued here in 2010.

These changes add a little visual flair to the FJR1300 which is one of my personal favorite touring bikes. The electronically adjustable screen, comfortable ergonomics and stout 1,298cc inline four make for easy long distance touring.

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For the moment, it looks like these upgrades are designed for the European market only, and it’s not known if North America will get the Ultimate Edition. We are also fortunate in that EU5 regulations don’t apply here, and it’s possible we’ll continue to have the FJR1300 in showrooms for a little longer than our friends across the pond.

 Ultimate Edition FJR1300s will arrive in European dealers in December, 2019.

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