UJM cruisers are a subject worthy of an entire page (indeed, this page replaces one I had dedicated to the UJM cruiser.) I make no bones about the fact that my favorite UJMs are cruisers, and that my favorite Cruisers are UJMs. Here, in a nutshell, is the UJM cruiser story:
The Beginning
By the mid-'70's, the British motorcycle makers BSA and Norton were gone and Triumph was hanging on by a thread. Nevertheless, Harley still commanded an impressive segment of the American motorcycle market. Tradition, reputation, and the "bad boy" image all worked in Harley's favor. Capitalizing on the latter, Harley took advantage of the fact that their product was most commonly associated with the practice of customizing, or "chopping" and introduced a "factory custom" of their own in the early 70's, the Super Glide. These "factory choppers" outsold Harley's more tame models, a fact which was not lost on the Japanese.
1980Yamaha XS-11-the 1100cc "Superbike" Cruiser. IMO one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made!
The UJM Cruiser is born
Riders chopped UJMs too. In the '70's there were aftermarket "hardtail" frames, kicked out girder and springer forks, custom exhausts, and all sorts of gaudy body parts available for all of the popular UJMs, (primarily the Honda 750) but the factory models still looked pretty much the same: A flat seat, a large, boxy fuel tank, and a flat handlebar were pretty much the norm for all of them. (It was during this time the term "UJM" was coined to describe the fact that these bikes were pretty much indistinguishable from each other.) Although riders liked the UJMs, the natural inclination of American motorcyclists is to be an individual, to stand out, to be different. It's hard to be different when your bike looks like 49,000 other UJMs out on the street. UJM riders were dying for something different, something sleek and sexy from the factory, and in 1978, Yamaha introduced the "Special" versions of their 3-cylinder street bikes, the first Japanese custom "cruiser" style bike.
The "Special" was different from the "standard" by having a sleek, teardrop shaped tank that sloped gracefully down towards the low, stepped seat, swoopy buckhorn handlebars, and lots of polished chrome. In 1979, the XS-1100 was available as a "Special" as well.
Magazine Ad Photo for the 1981 Yamaha XS-1100 "Midnight Special"
Popular response to the Specials was far beyond Yamaha's wildest expectations. Demand for the Specials, and for the even more exclusive black-and-gold "Midnight Special", far outstripped supplies available -- Yamaha had tapped exactly the right nerve in motorcycle buyers. Now they could get the sleek looks of the Harley "Factory Custom" with the performance and reliability of a UJM.
By 1980, all the Japanese manufacturers had "cruiser" style bikes. Kawasaki Cruisers were called "LTD's", Suzuki's were the "L" series (as in GS-750L), Hondas were called "Customs" and the term was applied to both UJMs like the CB-650, 750 and 900 Custom, as well as their non-UJMs like the CX-500 (a water-cooled, transverse V-twin) and the CB-450 and 250 twins. From 1979 to 1984 the UJM cruisers were among the most popular Japanese bikes available, and legions of new riders were introduced to the sport of motorcycling by the cruisers. Attracted by the low, novice-friendly seat height, the sleek cruiser styling, and the miles of chrome, UJM cruisers brought new riders in as fast as they could be unloaded. Japanese makers started introducing 2nd generation UJM engines -- distinguishable mainly by dual overhead cams and the absence of a kick starter.
A good example of a "2nd generation" UJM: A gorgeous 1983 Yamaha Maxim 1100 (from the XS/XJ-11 web site)
The end of the UJM Cruiser
But within the UJM cruisers popularity lay the seeds of its own undoing. For one thing, specialization started to affect the universality of the UJM. At first, the Japanese makers assumed they could make essentially the same bike in three different styles: one for cruising, one for sport, and one for touring. But as each segment of the market grew, thier adherents started making demands that couldn't be fulfilled by just one engine and chassis. In 1981, Yamaha replaced its XS series of 3- and 4-cylinder bikes, which were available in both "special" and "standard" form, with a new series of UJMs called the XJ series. The XJs were available in 550, 650, 750, 900, and 1100 sizes, and had two basic styles. The "sporty" or "sport-touring" version was called the Seca, and was available as a 550, 650, 750 or 900. The "cruiser" was no longer called a "special" but had its own line, called the Maxim, and was available as a 550, 650, 750 or 1100. The bikes all featured brand new, DOHC transverse-4 UJM engines (except for the Maxim 1100, which was basically an XS-1100 engine in a new frame.) The XJ-550's were chain driven, while all the bigger ones were shaft driven. Secas had rearset footpegs, low handlebars, flat seats, and a small fairing. Maxims had the familiar stepped seat, teardrop tank, and buckhorn handlebars, but mechanically they were virtually identical to the Secas. Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki all used similar tactics, that is, they offered identical drivetrains in a three different forms. It was an attempt at compromise that was ultimately doomed to fail.
"Compromise" can be defined as something that is equally unsatisfactory to everyone concerned, and this was the problem with the compromise approach to motorcycle design. Although riders loved the UJM cruisers and bought them as fast as they appeared on the showroom floor, the popular "motorcycle press" of the day complained about their uncomfortable stepped seats and upright riding position, deriding their poor attempts to mimic the choppers of the '60's.
By the early '80's, the US was in the middle of a recession, and discretionary funds for luxury purchases like motorcycles were virtually gone, and once again, UJMs had become the victims of their own success. Cruiser riders had lost the exclusivity that the "custom" style gave them. When your UJM cruiser looks like everyone else's UJM cruiser, where is the uniqueness? By this time, UJM cruiser riders were demanding a look that was more like the Milwaukee silhouette, and a sound that was more like the V-twin rumble, as opposed to the high-pitched wail of the inline 4. Sport riders were also unhappy with the UJMs because they weren't sporty enough, with their more upright seating positions, and they demanded the lean, streamlined race bikes. Finally, touring riders found the big, water cooled behemoths like Gold Wings and Ventures could go further, faster, and carry more than even the biggest UJM, with a smoothness and a quiet that no air-cooled engine could match. By 1983, Yamaha and Honda both had V-twin cruisers, the Virago and Shadow, respectively; Kawasaki had a radical, water-cooled sportbike called the Ninja, which looked like it just came off the Laguna Seca race track; the Honda Gold Wing had grown to 1200 cc and Yamaha had introduced the 1200 V-4 Venture touring bike. All of these bikes had two salient characteristics: They were NOT UJMs, and they were taking segments of the market that had previously been held by UJMs. The day of the UJM appeared to be numbered.
To make matters worse, amid charges that the Japanese manufacturers unethically "dumped" motorcycles onto the US market during the recession (i.e. sold them below cost) Harley Davidson was able to lobby congress to enact a protective tariff against all Japanese motorcycles over 700cc displacement. The tariff purportedly would allow Harley to develop its next generation "Evo" engine, which, according the Harley, would allow them to compete with the Japanese on a more equal basis. This was the final blow to the UJM cruiser. The last UJM cruisers to be made, fittingly enough, were made by the company that introduced them, Yamaha. In 1985, Yamaha introduced their all new Maxim 700 (the 699cc engine was designed to slip in under the tariff) to a stagnant economy and lukewarm public acceptance. 1986 was the last year for the Maxim 700.
1986 Maxim 700 -- The Last UJM Cruiser model sold in the USA, considered by many to be one of the best.
Photo from the Yamaha XJ Website
Next: What's so great about the UJM, Anyway?
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