Quick, Comfortable Sports-tourer
EVEN SEVERAL DECADES AFTER THE XJ650T WAS launched, the appeal of Yamaha’s first and only turbocharged street bike is easy to understand. All you need is a fairly straight and clear road, 6,000 rpm or more on the rev-counter, and the needle of the boost gauge in the angular instrument panel pointing to the green zone, showing that there’s pressure in the intake system.
With all that in place, cracking the throttle open has the Yamaha responding with a wonderfully strong surge of acceleration. There’s no hesitation as it rips through the national limit and continues to gain speed. Moments later, you back off and let the XJ hold a steady cruise while you sit comfortably behind its efficient full fairing, occasionally checking the usefully large and clear mirrors.
Such effortless high-speed travel feels good now and was far more impressive back in 1982, when very few production bikes had fairings and even fewer came close to matching the sports-touring ability of a bike whose list of useful features included a roomy riding position, shaft final drive, and
