Norm
Senior FZ6 Advisor
I posted this a few days ago on the Maxi-Scoots web site. I still only have 100 miles on the FZ6 due to the fact that MA has been like a tropical rain forest this summer:
OK so I only have 50 miles on the Fizzer. That absurd paucity of information has never stopped me before in spooning out my opinions in large doses. So here goes:
Comfort: Hard to say. The FZ seems to almost feel like an ergonomically correct position. But it's the only position so it better be good. I'll need a few hundred miles to weigh in on this with any authority. The SWing, it's comfortable...like your favorite seat in front of the TV. Don't like the position, just change into a thousand different ones.
Wind/Weather Protection: The Silver Wing, with the Givi windshield offers the same protection as standing under the eaves of Wendy's while it's pouring. The rain is a foot and a half away from you and spattering you with a drop here and there and the wind is something you hear but don't feel too much. What can I say, the SWing's got great protection. The Fizzer fizzles here. No protection, you're on your own, good luck, thank you very much. Well, wait a minute...when I bent over and touched the dash with my considerable nose the wind did seem to forget where I was temporarily and go just over me.
Storage: The Silver Wing will lock up a week's worth of clothes, some candy bars, your registration, your dog's favorite squeak toy, my 47 pound Mastiff Bike Lock, my neighbor's 100 foot extension cord...well you get the picture. The FZ won't store sh^t. I showed up this morning for the ride to work with my usual assortment of crap and the bike just looked at me as if to say: You best be puttin' that stuff on your back because Homey don't do storage." Damn!
Power: The Silver Wing has all the power any level headed rider would want. I was never in a position that left me longing for more. The FZ has power up the ying yang. It's saving grace is its so-called "dual personality". At low rpm's it handles quite tamely and as Dave alluded to, it is not as dangerously twitchy as many sport bikes. Keep turning the throttle, the rpms rise, and the bike does a Jeckyl and Hide, turning into the sport bike that it is. I can't handle this right now. I probably will never be able to handle this. So I'm sticking with low rpms. I haven't felt the need, nor have the skills or the gonads to deal with that personality of this bike. I have't gone past 5000 rpms in any gear and the thing red lines at 14,000 rpms...sick power to this scooter riding girl scout.
The Ride: Alright ladies and gentlemen, that's what this bike does well. It rides like it's on rails. It turns just by thinking about turning. It grips the road like nobody's business. On the highway it pulls me forward like my Golden Retriever on his leash, pulling me towards some little rascal only he can smell. How it does all this I don't know (JohnB, a little help?). It's a full hundred pounds lighter than the SWing but for whatever reason it does all of the above better. It's big wheels and I suspect more advanced suspension smooth out the road like I've never felt before.
Having said this about the ride there is one small problem I've noticed so far. While the front of this bike looks like a torpedo to the oncoming wind the rider (that's me) does not. The wind can't do anything to slow this thing down. That gets the wind pretty pissed off and we all know it's not nice to fool mother nature. So the wind takes out its frustration on the rider (that's me again) by slapping the living sh^t out of him. As soon as my lips fall back into place I'm calling to see if my Silver Wing is still there. "You don't know what you got till it's gone."
Since writing that 3 days ago I have been reading about my new bike like a madman and loving everything I've read. I've also never had so many compliments on any vehicle I've ever owned. I can't wait to put some real miles on this bike.
OK so I only have 50 miles on the Fizzer. That absurd paucity of information has never stopped me before in spooning out my opinions in large doses. So here goes:
Comfort: Hard to say. The FZ seems to almost feel like an ergonomically correct position. But it's the only position so it better be good. I'll need a few hundred miles to weigh in on this with any authority. The SWing, it's comfortable...like your favorite seat in front of the TV. Don't like the position, just change into a thousand different ones.
Wind/Weather Protection: The Silver Wing, with the Givi windshield offers the same protection as standing under the eaves of Wendy's while it's pouring. The rain is a foot and a half away from you and spattering you with a drop here and there and the wind is something you hear but don't feel too much. What can I say, the SWing's got great protection. The Fizzer fizzles here. No protection, you're on your own, good luck, thank you very much. Well, wait a minute...when I bent over and touched the dash with my considerable nose the wind did seem to forget where I was temporarily and go just over me.
Storage: The Silver Wing will lock up a week's worth of clothes, some candy bars, your registration, your dog's favorite squeak toy, my 47 pound Mastiff Bike Lock, my neighbor's 100 foot extension cord...well you get the picture. The FZ won't store sh^t. I showed up this morning for the ride to work with my usual assortment of crap and the bike just looked at me as if to say: You best be puttin' that stuff on your back because Homey don't do storage." Damn!
Power: The Silver Wing has all the power any level headed rider would want. I was never in a position that left me longing for more. The FZ has power up the ying yang. It's saving grace is its so-called "dual personality". At low rpm's it handles quite tamely and as Dave alluded to, it is not as dangerously twitchy as many sport bikes. Keep turning the throttle, the rpms rise, and the bike does a Jeckyl and Hide, turning into the sport bike that it is. I can't handle this right now. I probably will never be able to handle this. So I'm sticking with low rpms. I haven't felt the need, nor have the skills or the gonads to deal with that personality of this bike. I have't gone past 5000 rpms in any gear and the thing red lines at 14,000 rpms...sick power to this scooter riding girl scout.
The Ride: Alright ladies and gentlemen, that's what this bike does well. It rides like it's on rails. It turns just by thinking about turning. It grips the road like nobody's business. On the highway it pulls me forward like my Golden Retriever on his leash, pulling me towards some little rascal only he can smell. How it does all this I don't know (JohnB, a little help?). It's a full hundred pounds lighter than the SWing but for whatever reason it does all of the above better. It's big wheels and I suspect more advanced suspension smooth out the road like I've never felt before.
Having said this about the ride there is one small problem I've noticed so far. While the front of this bike looks like a torpedo to the oncoming wind the rider (that's me) does not. The wind can't do anything to slow this thing down. That gets the wind pretty pissed off and we all know it's not nice to fool mother nature. So the wind takes out its frustration on the rider (that's me again) by slapping the living sh^t out of him. As soon as my lips fall back into place I'm calling to see if my Silver Wing is still there. "You don't know what you got till it's gone."
Since writing that 3 days ago I have been reading about my new bike like a madman and loving everything I've read. I've also never had so many compliments on any vehicle I've ever owned. I can't wait to put some real miles on this bike.
