I like it! Who had one?

[EVskiy]

I have never seen one, knew of its existence until this morning, when I came across a short video on book of faces.
Generally speaking I am not overly mad about sports tourers, even less so (if hardly at all) about sports bikes. However, this Yamaha GTS1000 does tickle my fancy. I like the smooth lines and that front end arrangement is to be admired .



Perhaps Lemon Drizzle Gang can do a video about the bike?

So who had one, what’s it like?

No I am not looking to buy one, as 790mm seat height is likely to be very cramped for my legs.

 

[Oldrat]

They were not very well regarded at the time Ev, very few sold and subsequently Yamaha dropped them like a hot potato

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

They were not very well regarded at the time Ev, very few sold and subsequently Yamaha dropped them like a hot potato

Bit like the Nikken

 

[OnHellas]

Fuel injection and ABS back in 1992 when they were first introduced. Plenty of go and sound handling but very heavy.
Official Yamaha luggage (made by Krauser) fitted very well.

Flitwick motorcycles grafted a YZF750 engine in to one and raced it at the Isle of Man (I think that’s correct)

 

[EVskiy]

They were not very well regarded at the time Ev, very few sold and subsequently Yamaha dropped them like a hot potato

Yes I’ve read about the production run being only a year or so old.

I suspect the maintenance of that front end, put punters off?

Still a very nice looking motorcycle.

 

[EVskiy]

Bit like the Nikken

Now that is one ugly duckling

 

[cookie]

A guy I knew had one and loved it.

Very heavy and expensive when new. Stays heavy as it gets older.

 

[EVskiy]

A guy I knew had one and loved it.

Very heavy and expensive when new. Stays heavy as it gets older.

Not much heavier than a 1200/1250/1300 GS/A at ~250kg, many a tosser still entertain them.

I can see it being expensive a bit like this Bimota at nigh on £35k

 

[GADGET]

I had one, in green, yes they were expensive, sold it in 1996, to finance buying an unconverted barn, sold it for £6k to a guy who was currently disqualified from driving and hadn’t got his bike test either, needless to say I delivered it!

 

[Mzokk]

Fuel injection and ABS back in 1992 when they were first introduced. Plenty of go and sound handling but very heavy.
Official Yamaha luggage (made by Krauser) fitted very well.

Flitwick motorcycles grafted a YZF750 engine in to one and raced it at the Isle of Man (I think that’s correct)

Ridden by Steve Linsdell. A friend of mine still has one tucked in his Garage. I rode it about 25 years ago and it went well and handled well (not much steering lock though). Remember it came out when everyone (myself included) were starting to ride light sports bikes and had no truck with "big old barges with funny front ends" and anyone who rode a "big traillie" like an R80GS, had an open face helmet jeans Derri boots a barbour waxed jacket and smelt of wee. Much has changed in the "Adventure bike world". Though given the demographic the "smell of wee" persists.

 

[MartinK]

Bit like the Nikken

They were not very well regarded at the time Ev, very few sold and subsequently Yamaha dropped them like a hot potato

AND the XT1200 Super Tenere.

All 3 didn't receive much press acclaim, and therefor didn't sell well, and subsequently were short-lived. Shame really because all 3 of these bikes (IMO) had a decent future but we'll probably never know!

 

[Santa-2512]

Bit like the Nikken

Only ever seen one on the road, is it still in production?

 

[EVskiy]

Only ever seen one on the road, is it still in production?

Stayed in production longer that GTS 1000 did.



From what I understand, our very own @Tbolt has one.
Just like you Martin, I only ever seen one or possibly two on the open road, and not even in the UK.

 

[squibb34]

I took a test ride back in the day, when I had a CBR1000F as my tourer (with those dastardly linked brakes). Can't say I was impressed with the front end feel, the ABS was certainly busy.

The Steve Linsdell race bike was heavily modified; not only the engine but also the HCS set up which he completely redesigned to get it to handle, so not much of the original GTS remained.
It's a shame Yamaha didn't take on Steve's ideas & modify the road bike, rather than drop the concept, but I guess the market had spoken, as it has with the Niken.

BTW, I struggle to see how the Super Ten can be included in this category - a marketing disaster yes, but a bulletproof old school adventure bike it remains, only taken off sale recently in the US, we lost it to Euro5 legislation.

 

[theoneandonly]

i rode the press fleet one .
what it needed was the cams from an FZR1000 in it .
P&H in Crawley had all the special tools for it.

 

[snelly]

i rode the press fleet one .
what it needed was the cams from an FZR1000 in it .
P&H in Crawley had all the special tools for it.

The were a bit under powered for the weight but they were very comfortable and handled well; my mate had one.

 

[Neil W]

Yamaha seem to make a habit of investing multi millions into developmental dead ends but NOT investing in products that they already do well .

Prime example is the multi millions spent on the Nikken yet they dicked about for at least a couple of years getting the 700 Tenere into production , the MT09 engined Super Tenere replacement that was talked about four or 5 years ago still hasn't surfaced .

The Super Tenere was a good bike but it was too late and never really developed in subsequent years , I remember a local Yamaha dealer telling me about the Super Tenere (engine details , shaft final drive styling etc ) about 4 years before Yamaha got round to launching the model.

The XV550 V twin was another one that nobody wanted

I rode the GTS 1000 demo bike and really liked it but not enough to buy one at the price

 

[Tbolt]

Stayed in production longer that GTS 1000 did.

View attachment 441175

From what I understand, our very own @Tbolt has one.
Just like you Martin, I only ever seen one or possibly two on the open road, and not even in the UK.

Yes EV I did own a Niken GT for a couple of years before trading it in for a FJR (a Yamaha success but now replaced with a twin cam R1200R).

I the enjoyed the Niken before I started taking a pillion passenger again as I found mini roundabouts became awkward.

It drew a lot of attention from the public and laughter from the East Mids members of UKGSER.

It was a bit underpowered because of the weight of the front end. The upgrade model got the capacity increase along with the other 900 Yams.

 

[longdog]

I have never seen one, knew of its existence until this morning, when I came across a short video on book of faces.
Generally speaking I am not overly mad about sports tourers, even less so (if hardly at all) about sports bikes. However, this Yamaha GTS1000 does tickle my fancy. I like the smooth lines and that front end arrangement is to be admired .

View attachment 441105

Perhaps Lemon Drizzle Gang can do a video about the bike?

So who had one, what’s it like?

No I am not looking to buy one, as 790mm seat height is likely to be very cramped for my legs.

If you look hard enough, you will find one of these finished on the podium in the TT Production racer class

 

[seahorse]

That's the Flitwick Motorcycles one, still being raced on occasion, was at the Manx last year