Gremlin
25th August 2008, 01:27
Well... we can hardly disappoint a bike shop when they ask if you would like to take one out, can we? It all started in my Rant thread about KTM. Dave from Waikato Yamaha mentions in the thread that when I am down in Hamilton, would you like to ride a FZ1? Sure says I... I'll let you when I am in Hams.
So on Saturday, with Zapf in tow, we pop down. First was Boyds with the KTM950 they brought in, then it was over to Waikato Yamaha. Nice and refreshing to have friendly sales staff. Up in Auckland, they either don't pay attention, or don't get back to you when they said they would. Dave is true to his word, bike is sitting there, quick bit of paperwork, and the keys are mine. Zapf wants to try a xt660, and Dave sorts it on the spot.
Its unfortunate that the weather decided things couldn't ALL go well :oi-grr: as I found the weather was packing it in when we reached the outskirts of town. Decided it was best not to run out to Raglan again, on a completely foreign bike... wrapping/scratching demos is usually more expensive work than ruining your own bike, so best to play it safe.
mmm oh... the bike? Yeh, about it I suppose :rolleyes:
Its a little odd around town, not completely smooth, seemed hesitant at 3k revs, either wanted to go, or slow down, but like the 04 zx10, it runs fine when you load the box and use the throttle a little more. When I did give it a little gas away from an intersection it pulled very smoothly. Still, it was tractable from down low, and pulled quite well from 3-5k. Brakes are not ball destroying sharp, but certainly have the bite if you yank on them hard enough (best not to in the wet).
Riding position (being a big bugger) is quite important, and while I found the pegs were a little on the high side (which meant less distance between seat and pegs) it definitely felt correct for getting into some country work, as you don't sit completely in the bike, but not perched on top either.
I would certainly place it in the performance naked category, but speaking to Dave, you would probably want to alter the gearing and drop a tooth on the front, or go up a few on the back, to increase the low down. Top speed on a naked bike is a bit irrelevant. Exhaust has to go... its dem uuuugleeeee.
The main seat is reasonably small, the start of the pillion seat was right behind me, so probably good for those that have pillions that like sharing the front seat.
Overall, a fun alternative to a sportsbike, but I think still a bit too much biased to sportsbikes rather than something like the hornet 900, unless you messed with the gearing.
Certainly a nice change having a guy ask if you want a bike, rather than chasing the dealer to get them to organise something... Big ups to Dave, wished I could have given it a proper ride :2thumbsup
You probably want to know what it looks like? Here's a generic pic... in the flesh it looks the part, with aggressive styling.
<img src=http://mybikeshop.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/yamaha_fz1_euro_2008_01.jpg>
So on Saturday, with Zapf in tow, we pop down. First was Boyds with the KTM950 they brought in, then it was over to Waikato Yamaha. Nice and refreshing to have friendly sales staff. Up in Auckland, they either don't pay attention, or don't get back to you when they said they would. Dave is true to his word, bike is sitting there, quick bit of paperwork, and the keys are mine. Zapf wants to try a xt660, and Dave sorts it on the spot.
Its unfortunate that the weather decided things couldn't ALL go well :oi-grr: as I found the weather was packing it in when we reached the outskirts of town. Decided it was best not to run out to Raglan again, on a completely foreign bike... wrapping/scratching demos is usually more expensive work than ruining your own bike, so best to play it safe.
mmm oh... the bike? Yeh, about it I suppose :rolleyes:
Its a little odd around town, not completely smooth, seemed hesitant at 3k revs, either wanted to go, or slow down, but like the 04 zx10, it runs fine when you load the box and use the throttle a little more. When I did give it a little gas away from an intersection it pulled very smoothly. Still, it was tractable from down low, and pulled quite well from 3-5k. Brakes are not ball destroying sharp, but certainly have the bite if you yank on them hard enough (best not to in the wet).
Riding position (being a big bugger) is quite important, and while I found the pegs were a little on the high side (which meant less distance between seat and pegs) it definitely felt correct for getting into some country work, as you don't sit completely in the bike, but not perched on top either.
I would certainly place it in the performance naked category, but speaking to Dave, you would probably want to alter the gearing and drop a tooth on the front, or go up a few on the back, to increase the low down. Top speed on a naked bike is a bit irrelevant. Exhaust has to go... its dem uuuugleeeee.
The main seat is reasonably small, the start of the pillion seat was right behind me, so probably good for those that have pillions that like sharing the front seat.
Overall, a fun alternative to a sportsbike, but I think still a bit too much biased to sportsbikes rather than something like the hornet 900, unless you messed with the gearing.
Certainly a nice change having a guy ask if you want a bike, rather than chasing the dealer to get them to organise something... Big ups to Dave, wished I could have given it a proper ride :2thumbsup
You probably want to know what it looks like? Here's a generic pic... in the flesh it looks the part, with aggressive styling.
<img src=http://mybikeshop.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/yamaha_fz1_euro_2008_01.jpg>