It’s not every day you see a 1986 Yamaha FZ600 restored to museum quality sporting a fuel tank that has never had gas in it. There are plenty of nice ones around, but their value isn’t commensurate with a full restoration, and most have been ridden enough to just be cool old-school riders. This one is the exception. It hasn’t cracked 3,000 miles, and the seller completed most of a cosmetic restoration with the intention of making a time capsule.
1986 Yamaha FZ600 for sale on eBay
According to the listing, most of the bodywork is NOS, and we assume that includes the fuel tank, since its almost 2,500 doesn’t jibe with the notion that it has never had gas in it. Still, you really just won’t see a more perfect example of a bike from the dawn of fully-faired race replicas.
The 1986 Yamaha FZ600 was designed to tap into rising demand for 500cc GP-aping street bikes, and used a modified version of the engine from the XJ600. It was something of a parts-bin special, sharing its engine and brakes with a raft of contemporary Yamaha offerings. It was replaced in 1988 by the much better known and better-loved FZR600. But there is nothing like the original, and this bike embodies its era wonderfully.
From the eBay listing:
99% perfect FZ600 museum piece. I purchased this bike about 5 years ago as a display only keeper.
The bike was in perfect running order but hasn’t been started since it’s minor cosmetic restoration.
If the next owner chooses to ride it, at minimum it will need a battery and gas (the tank is NOS and has never had fuel in it. Other than that it might need a carb cleaning at the most.When I purchased the bike it was a little beat up cosmetically, nothing major just a scratch here or there. Over the last 5 years I replaced all flawed items with NOS parts including most body panels. My intention was to bring it back to showroom condition.
The FZ is 100% stock, unmolested and is a perfect as you will find, you will not be disappointed.
US sales only/ shipping is buyers responsibility/ 0 feedback bidders will be canceled unless I am assured you are serious.
With more than five days left in the auction, bidding on this cool time capsule has yet to eclipse $3,000. If this keeps up, someone is going to snag a deal.
This looks so cool. These came out around when I first started riding and were written up in Cycle World etc. as “a great used bike buy.” Kind of primitive even by the standards of the day and a real “parts-bin special” but I love the dual headlights (not shown in the pics??) and Yamaha speed-block design. How much would it cost to own maybe the best example extant of this awesome ’80s bike?
Dallas – I’ve got a 1987 FZ600 that I ride every day, it’s a really solid bike. I’ve fixed it up just about as much as this one, could use a few more little details though. Tire options are limited because it uses a 16″ front and an 18″ rear, and OEM fairings are more or less unobtainium, so don’t crash. Otherwise, as a parts-bin-special it is actually really easy to find parts for it as needed – just got to use a little Google-fu. If you get one that’s already been fixed up, or has simply survived relatively un-blemished, you won’t have to spend any more on it than you would on a newer bike for oil/gas/tires/brakes. Cheers!
I’ve never ridden 600cc version, but when I was growing up in Japan, the FZ400R was one of the gateway drug. I think the 600cc is air cooled, right? The 400 was water cooled, came with half-fairing, and looked and sounded fabulous. I never fit comfortably on the bike though, the tank is strangely shaped, and i remember having pretty hard edges to it. God, I love it, I’m such a child of the 80s.
Boy that frame sure looks like it came off an rz500. Did someone say parts bin?!
Love Yamahas and the FZ/FZR line in particular. This would get so much attention at a bike night, from the older crowd anyways. These just seemed to be “close but no cigar” type of bikes though. Handling was supposedly off the charts (I never actually rode one in anger so can’t say) but the FJ air cooled motor was a dinosaur even at the time. But it look the business and at this point isn’t that what matters? By the time I was buying bikes the Hurricane was fast approaching and it blew away (see what I did there?) these FZs and the Ninjas and it was all out war with the FZR to soon follow. So for me these were relegated to “cool bikes but not competitive” and I never wanted to add one to the stable. Still… This is a sweet piece of nostalgia for the right buyer and given how difficult it is to find one in this condition anything under $5k is a deal.
Agree completely with Billy. I owned one. Looked pretty cool and were fairly light. One word sums it up though: Crude.
The motor was a low end dog and felt like a tractor. This is a super clean nostalgic purchase. The market is very very small. It is cool to see though.
Meh, got an FZR 600, (single headlight, US spec), doesn’t do anything spectacular, but besides the shopping cart handling, molasses acceleration, funky tyres,and wooden brakes, the COOLEST diesels to ever roll of the pacific rim shores!
Wow this thing looks terrific. I love the color and styling. Very chic.
Air cooled sportbike!? I realize that AC suzukis were a thing, but this is a machine I was completely ignorant of. How – characterful.
Like others I can’t get past the antiquity under the clothes but sure like looking at her all the same.
Thanks for the brain candy RSBFS!
It’ll scoot with a 650 Wiseco piston kit, Megacycle cams, 29mm Mikuni flat slides and D&D exhaust attached despite the Seca 550 roots. My ’87 season club racer sure did.
Crashed one at Brainerd International Raceway in 96’. Certainly well past it’s prime, and no match for the FZR400 which dominated the class at the time. (Lightweights).
It was my first foray into a four cylinder, stepping up from my 250 Ninja,and GS500e.
Reliable and cheap to run.
Super cool bike. Nice to see such a clean example.
Auction ended reserve not met at $3700.
dc