FZ6

[2_SL0]

Well I thought I would make an attempt at writing a review of my new bike. Sorry if I get it all wrong. (been a newbie and all) The bike is 2004 FZ6, 600cc naked. But you prob already new that. Ive just ticked over 1300kmh on it. First off the power delivery, I find the power very smooth with reasonable power down low, (not like a v twin, but a hell of alot better than a 250) I have been informed that once you have a few kms on this bike the mid range will improve even more. The bike is easy to ride at a slow heavy traffic pace, and can be ridden all day long below 6000rpm. (red line is at 14000rpm) When you dial on some gas you get some small vibration in the seat at around 5000rpm -7000rpm (not exactly sure where). When you hit about 8000rpm the bike starts to take off, at around 10000 it really gets up and goes all the way to the redline. To put it simply I find it has a power range for cruising with the ability to really open it up. Weight wise the bike is 180kg (no fuel) and I find it a ease to balance and manoeuver at low speed. (very stable) Im just under 6ft and find I can easily have both feet flat on the ground at rest. Weight distribution feels good (suposedly 49%/51%) Handling wise (Ok Im newbie to the road so you may find this different for yourself) I have taken the bike on a good number of open road trips, I find it a easyier bike to throw around than my previous 250 (FZR) I just have to think about dropping it into the corner and its done, this may well be due to the bars (Very similar to Motocross bars) which give great leverage. I find the front tracks very well and has never shown any signs of going wide etc. The bike has given me coinfidence to taking corners alot quicker. The rear on heavy bumps in mid corner may give the occasional jump, but this is proberly due more to the fact I have a higher corner speed than before and the road conditions are not great. Coming onto power in mid corner does not unsettle the bike at all, though you do feel the drive chain slack been taken up. But this doesnt have any adverse effects. The front shocks have no adjustment on them (this was a concern for me as I am a famed button pusher) but I cannot fault the front end. The brakes are not the latest and greatest but pull the bike up very very well.Even when applying the front in mid corner I have found this (yes its a NO NO) does not unsettle the bike. The rear is very nice and gives good feeling back to the rider. Though the bike is naked I find very little wind turbulance and happily cruise at the legal limits and beyond. The only concern or annoyance I have is if in the saddle for a long period of time, I get a sore ass from the seat, (looking at gell pack?)
I have found the bike to be very forgiving and a excellent bike for someone in my position, not wanting a full on Sports bike.

[Firefight]

Nice yarn mate, easy to read, look forward to seeing this bike, are you coming on the ride saturday morn ?

F/F

[StoneChucker]

Thanks for that. My seat gets a little, lets call it toasty with the underseat exhaust, but luckily it's not uncomfortable. Hey, get a sheepskin, they seem to work

Enjoy the bike, ride safe.

[moko]

Good write-up mate,thought you might like a few lines on your bike`s predecessor the legendary (in Europe at least)600 Fazer.Un-like yours the old Fazer has the 600T/Cat motor,slightly less poke than the R6 motor at the top-end but loads more mid-range,so why change?Fazer/T-Cat motor fails European emission laws while R6 passes.Fazer also has R1 brakes and they`re excellent,600 Fazer will still outbrake GSXR1000 in mag comparisons,also has adjustable front forks.FZ6 is a cracking bike but many bike mags still rate the old Fazer as slightly better.FZ6 is definately better-looking,just a shame Yam didn`t stick to the same brakes and couldn`t use the same motor.Used Fazer prices here are actually rising while FZ range are being discounted.Not trashing your machine here mate just saying how it is.Bikers here are used to the mid-range of the older machine and are going for the Kwak 750 rather than the FZ6.That`s the thing that would turn me away,best bit about the Fazer is it`s mid-range grunt(for a 600/4 at least) and it`s ability as an all-rounder,new bike has lost a bit of that.I dont know if you also get the new Fazer(faired version of the FZ6,or at least badged that way in Europe) but that one`s been panned in Brit press as being a backward step and bland,FZ6 has had much better press as it`s a good-looking bike and because it dosnt have a fairing dosnt get compared directly to the old bike.

[2_SL0]

I hear what your saying, but I have spoken to a few peeps about the old bike and the new bike, realistically they are two different bikes. The old Fazer is a legend, legends are hard to beat. The new bike DOES have good mid range, I have read many a review saying it doesnt but also read many a review saying the exact opposite (One in particular asking the question as to what the other reviews (in particular the Euro magazines) are on about when saying poor mid range). What I have been informed is from very reliable sources, is that having a good few km on these bikes make a big difference to power development. They need a good few kms on them, before they loosen up and develop good midrange power. Alot of the reviews were of pre production bikes etc, they also complained of short clutch operation I have found the clutch to be easy to operate. I did look carefully at the competion in this size and style and was not swayed towards any of them. The fairing version the Fazer is not available in 600cc in nz. The suspension non adjustability was an issue for me, but to be honest I have not yet seen a reason to adjust anything at all. When I reach the limits of this bike I will prob move to a bigger bike or supersport. I find the handling of this bike truly excellent, the chassis has very little flex and is very well balanced, as I said before the bike does not feel heavy. (Unlike a certain 749 I rode, but that another story) As for magazine reviews in general, I take em with a pinch of salt, I jump on, I go for a ride and make up my own mind. I see you ride a Fazer 1000, great bike, I have a friend who had one, then went to a R1 he wishes he hadnt. Does it mean the R1 is a bad bike, nope, just different.
I wish they had left the big brakes on as well (mainly for bragging rights), except would I of noticed, unlikely, does it worry me, not really as I personally find the brakes excellent. Its almost unfortunate that the Fazer 600 was such a great bike as it takes away alittle of how good this bike really is. As I said before its hard to beat a legend.


I just realised your biased you ride the 600 Fazer lmao.

[moko]

Like I said mate wasn`t trying to rubbish your machine,I like them a lot.Difference here is that the old 600(which mine is,not a 1000) was massively popular and people were always going to compare them back to back.Maybe we get better mags than you`re used to but RIDE even took a new Fazer to a meeting of the owner`s club and let those guys ride it.You make a good point when you say they`re different bikes,I really think Yamaha did the new Fazer(Faired one here is sold as a Fazer,un-faired FZ6 like yours)no favours by keeping the name,old machine was always an "all-rounder" that just happened to be bloody quick as well while newer 600 is definately at the sportier end of things.Fazer motor kicked out more power/torque than the R6 at low/mid-range,they were designed to do different things.As for the brakes,again the R1 brakes are still amongst the best you`ll get on anything and one reason for the Fazer`s popularity amongst more experienced riders.Yamaha got quite a bit of flak from those who reckoned they were too much for a bike often ridden by new riders so no-win situation for them over that one.You guys didn`t get the old Fazer so not an issue there but if Yam had introduced the new 600`s the other way round,Un-faired first,followed bythe faired model and called the faired one the FZ6S or whatever then they wouldn`t have had every bike journo in Europe lining up the 2 bikes back to back as soon as the new model was launched,I`m old enough to remember the same situation a few times in the past,Kawasaki when they replaced the Z900 with the Z100 for example,a lot of people preferred the older bike,VFR800 got the same reception when it replaced the last of the 750s,both now rightly accepted as great machines.

[Sensei]

600 Fazer will still outbrake GSXR1000 ????? Say what get fucken real Dude . They don't even have Radial brake's!!! A mountain bike would have better bike's than one of those .
SENSEI

[moko]

RIDE Magazine figures,braking 100-0 m.p.h old model Fazer 4.43 seconds,new model 4.49 seconds,2003 GSXR1000 5.24 seconds.AND,hows about this one,0-60 times,old Fazer3.89 seconds,2003 GSXR1000 3.73 ,new Fazer 3.38,mind you the Suzy starts to pull away after this.RIDE`s most popular,most respected mag in Britain.

[Hitcher]

Congrats on the new ride. Yamaha New Zealand must be pleased. Is this the first one they've sold?

[2_SL0]

Dunno, Ill have to ask them.

[moko]

Congrats on the new ride. Yamaha New Zealand must be pleased. Is this the first one they've sold?

They got off to a slow start here,for one thing Yamaha pre-reg`d all the old model Fazers they had(to get round the forthcoming legislation which would have made them illegal to sell new) and sold them at a big discount,they shifted about a normal year`s-worth of sales in 3 months.SO,you had a lot of potential buyers that had only recently got a new bike,also led to buyers having a choice for a while with the older bike being about £1ooo cheaper as they over-lapped.Now new Fazer is catching on more and out-selling the 600 Hornet,particularly since Yam have cut the price,was quite a bit more expensive than the opposition.

[Hitcher]

They got off to a slow start here,for one thing Yamaha pre-reg`d all the old model Fazers they had(to get round the forthcoming legislation which would have made them illegal to sell new) and sold them at a big discount,they shifted about a normal year`s-worth of sales in 3 months.SO,you had a lot of potential buyers that had only recently got a new bike,also led to buyers having a choice for a while with the older bike being about £1ooo cheaper as they over-lapped.Now new Fazer is catching on more and out-selling the 600 Hornet,particularly since Yam have cut the price,was quite a bit more expensive than the opposition.

Yamaha didn't offer a 600 Fazer in New Zealand prior to the new FZ6, so didn't have the supply/demand issue.

I think the problem in New Zealand is the lack of a middleweight class other than the sports bike models (squidsville). Also the FZ6 offered here is the unfaired model, which is almost without peer the ugliest new offering (touch and go on the BMW Rockster and the "new" Suzuki GS1200SS). It's also expensive. Yamaha NZ appears to have made little investment in dealer demo models as well...

Who says marketing people know what they're doing?

[wari]

Yamaha didn't offer a 600 Fazer in New Zealand prior to the new FZ6, so didn't have the supply/demand issue.

I think the problem in New Zealand is the lack of a middleweight class other than the sports bike models (squidsville). Also the FZ6 offered here is the unfaired model, which is almost without peer the ugliest new offering (touch and go on the BMW Rockster and the "new" Suzuki GS1200SS). It's also expensive. Yamaha NZ appears to have made little investment in dealer demo models as well...

Who says marketing people know what they're doing?

OY you ... da gs1200ss is beee-a-uuu-ti-full ... ... inan ugly kindof way ..

[2_SL0]

Yamaha didn't offer a 600 Fazer in New Zealand prior to the new FZ6, so didn't have the supply/demand issue.

I think the problem in New Zealand is the lack of a middleweight class other than the sports bike models (squidsville). Also the FZ6 offered here is the unfaired model, which is almost without peer the ugliest new offering (touch and go on the BMW Rockster and the "new" Suzuki GS1200SS). It's also expensive. Yamaha NZ appears to have made little investment in dealer demo models as well...

Who says marketing people know what they're doing?

. Its not that ugly. (Judderbar runs out to the garage) "There there my precious the nasty man has gone"

Each to their own.

[Magua]

How could you call that ugly?