BRUCE IN BRIEF

My brother’s got two of these in race bike form so I’m familiar with them from a track-ridden point of view, but how the Yammy would perform on the roads had me guessing. It felt a pretty meaty bike to straddle and had a well-finished look about it. I liked the fact there was a reserve switch woven into the fairing, and the general cockpit hammered home its period guise.

Heading out on my first blast, I was a little bit disappointed with the oomph on offer. The motor demanded some heavy throttling and the pace felt as rewarding as a striptease from Anne Robinson – it just wasn’t nice. But power isn’t everything, right? After all, what was to be expected from a bike nearly as old as me, and a fraction of the capacity of the stuff I normally knock around on? Back in its day the FZR would’ve been considered a worthy rival in its class, and I dare say it would’ve been one of the better options in the handling department.

This bike had a very planted disposition; it wasn’t nervous or difficult to lob around and it felt positively good in and out of bends. That was its biggest quality, along with its spacious ergonomics and easy going gearbox. I liked it, kind of.