Is the FZ6 really that good ?

[desperate]

The only experience I had of biking was many years ago as a teenager thrashing a KH250 with little knowledge or experience (crazy days)

So my return is with my first real bike the FZ6 S2. All the reviews were that this is an excellent all round bike and much praise is heaped upon it.

Then I have read this forum for a few months and there seems to be a re-occuring theme of niggles with the FZ6 that are dismmissed as standard, but in 2009 should we have to put up with them.

For example some of the things I have noticed that come up on a regular basis are :-

just some

PETROL COMING OUT OF THE BREATHER PIPE
BUZZY AND VIBRATES AT 5K
TICKING FROM THE ENGINE
GEAR BOX WHINES
CLUNKY GEAR BOX



Now do all bikes have these sort of problems ? or is it just the FZ6 or is it me.

But you know what---- I love it

 

[rockmurf]

I either don't have or don't notice those problems. For me the bike has been great fun and cheap to keep and it is a great do it all machine.

 

[CanadianFZ6]

People should ride bikes before reading about bikes.... To me, a Harley (or anything with a Harley engine in it... i.e. Buell) is the worst bike ever made (I drove a friends once).... However, to the guy down the street it's a miracle on two wheels. There is no such thing as reality only perception. My advice would be to ride one and draw your own conclusions.... Personally, I would not agree with the list of negative attributes you listed for the FZ6...:thumbup:

 

[steveindenmark]

Petrol coming from the breather pipe...Only when I lift the tank
Buzzy and vibrates at 5k revs....Not enough to bother me..find me a bike that does not vibrate at some point.
Ticking from the engine...I have never heard it
Gear box wines...not on mine
Clunky gear box...It is a Yamaha did you expect something else.

If you put me on any bike I will find good and bad points.

Up to now I have done 20,000km on the FZ6 mostly 2 up and it has not put a foot wrong. It is easy to maintain, rides well and is good on fuel. You can commute, race or tour on it. There is lots of mods you can do to it, or you can leave it as it is.

Personally I can get on it in Denmark. Ride it down to France on holiday and return to denmark. Wash it, fuel up and go off to Sweden on another holiday. Ride on tarmac or tracks that bigger tourers would not manage, and do all this with ease.

What else do I need of a motorcycle?

Steve

 

[Hellgate]

Yes it is a great all around bike. If you want a bike with problems go buy an old Harley ride it for a month, then go back to your FZ and see what you think. :thumbup:

 

[Wolfman]

Yes it is a great all around bike. If you want a bike with problems go buy an old Harley ride it for a month, then go back to your FZ and see what you think. :thumbup:

I recently rode a mate's Harley Sportster for about 150km's on the open road....was the most horrendous experience...does not go, handle, or stop, and i was getting blown off the thing at 100km/h.

The FZ6 is an amazing bike for the money....especially the donk....even better in fz6 de-tuned mode, than in "balls out" R6 tune....

As for the clunky gearbox, that eventually sorts itself out, just takes a few thousand km's of riding for it to "Bed in' IMHO.

As for the rest of the faults mentioned, have not noticed any of them.

:thumbup:

 

[Gilo-FZ6]

the only other bike i can compare it to (in my experience) is my 06 bandit 650 which at the time ticked all the boxes for a novice rider (me)..and it was a great bike for about two months, but then got very boring

the FZ6 is which in my opinion is yamahas equivelent is 100% better ..still a budget bike but with none of the drawbacks..it handles better than the bandit it cruises better ,and raw performance is the difference between night and day..my 08 S2 has experienced none of the niggles that you have listed, all bikes vibrate at certain revvs and most close ratio gear boxes whine to some extent... even in my old subaru wrx

get yourself a test ride and see for yourself,its an excellent bike

 

[Ghost Weim]

The only thing I have noticed off your list is a clunky gear box - but this is only if I am doing sloppy shifting. I love the bike and have no complaints!

 

[blchandl2]

People should ride bikes before reading about bikes.... To me, a Harley (or anything with a Harley engine in it... i.e. Buell) is the worst bike ever made (I drove a friends once).... However, to the guy down the street it's a miracle on two wheels. There is no such thing as reality only perception. My advice would be to ride one and draw your own conclusions.... Personally, I would not agree with the list of negative attributes you listed for the FZ6...:thumbup:

Canadian, very well said.

Desperate,

My $0.02.

PETROL COMING OUT OF THE BREATHER PIPE - as stated only when you tilt the tank with too much fuel in it.

BUZZY AND VIBRATES AT 5K - Very typical for in-line fours to be buzzy at certain RPM's. Nature of the beast. The FZ is not as bad as others I have ridden.

TICKING FROM THE ENGINE - It is a mechanical item with moving parts. Has the ticking ever manifested into a problem for anyone?

GEAR BOX WHINES - Could be manufacturing variation or just the fact they had to cut costs somewhere to keep the price down. I have not heard of many tranny failures (none). Try a BMW if you want a 'whiner'.

CLUNKY GEAR BOX - As stated it smooths out with miles. Again, try a BMW or Harley if you want to experience a clunky transmission. The FZ transmission shifted like "buddah" compared to my BMW's and Harleys.

Please do not take offense, I am just trying to illustrate that it is a matter of perception and all things are relative.

You might think I do not like BMW's or Harleys but that is not true. BMW's are fine motorcycles. A bit overpriced, and too much "technology for the sake of technology" (servo assisted power brakes). Dealer support is spotty but there are some models I would like to have if $$ were no object.

Harleys are fine motorcycles for the type of motorcyles they are. They just are not my style anymore. More disppointing are the dealers and jack@ss wannabe's that think their feces is odorless since they ride a HD.


Enjoy the FZ, and "don't sweat the petty things, but pet the sweaty things".

 

[MisterX]

People should ride bikes before reading about bikes.... To me, a Harley (or anything with a Harley engine in it... i.e. Buell) is the worst bike ever made

Hey, hey, HEY!!! I resemble that remark. :spank:

Seriously though, when I had my FZ6, the only thing that I experienced in the list was the clunkiness while shifting into first. However, I watched a video not too long ago (maybe here, I don't remember) that mentions that a ticking sound may occur in some engines if you use a different octane level than your bike requires. Something about higher octane levels firing before they are supposed to or something. Of course, I could be wrong about this. :don'tknow:

And yes, Canadian, I do love my Buell .

 

[davidsa1]

The only thing I have noticed off your list is a clunky gear box - but this is only if I am doing sloppy shifting. I love the bike and have no complaints!

Same here!

 

[Gilo-FZ6]

ticking is also a feature of how the fuel injection works..you listen to the throttle body of any FI car and you will also hear the injectors firing/pulsing

 

[sideshow_downs]

The FZ is a great bike. You can find 'flaws'n any bikeif you look hard enough.
Ive never heard of petrol leaking other than when the tank was lifted or the bike was dropped. All engines vibrate and the FZ isnt bad at all comparied to V-twin sportbikes. Never heard any unusual ticking from my FZ. Once again the gear box is going to make some noise from the gears spinning on eachother. I personally dont think that the gear box is clunky at all. My last bike GS500 has a clunky gear box the FZ is like butter compaired.

Everyone has their own oppinions about things but to me the FZ is the best deal on the market :rockon:

 

[Cmayer31]

That's the curse of vehicle specific forums. I own a classic car and if you go to that vehicles specific forum or user groups it would seem as if every year of that car was rapidly falling apart. Go to any motorcycle specific forum and you will see every complaint, issue, recall involved with that specific bike.

The FZ6 is a great bike. Of the things that you mentioned mine has a buzz, but it's a revvy I-4 and I don't mind. For me it's the right bike and for someone else maybe it isn't. I wouldn't let issues mentioned in a forum concern you too much unless there are continual major recalls, or other issues which you can find through the manufacturer. For the most part online forums are focal groups of people with similar likes, praise, and complaints. For every one person that's had a ticking issue there are thousands who don't post online that have no issue, and if they ever do have an issue it will probably be their first post on an online forum. :thumbup:

Ride and enjoy!

 

[Andz]

I bought mine new in April 2004 and it has almost 40,000km on it. In the beginning the clunky gearbox used to irritate me intensely. At first I thought it was me, having not ridden for 20 years, but then I realised it was the box. Now I don't notice it, either because it has bedded in or because I have become used to it.

I haven't really had the other problems mentioned, but the bars buzz at 120km/h which is unfortunate because that is our highway speed limit.

Probably 80% of all the distance on this bike has been done two up. Solo or two up the handling is perfect, I can run the BT-010s to the edge of the tread in corners and it is like a train on rails. The only mods I have made are fitting Akrapovics and a Puig double bubble screen.

I have not regretted for one day that I bought this bike. I went to the dealer to buy an XJR1300, my wife saw the Fazer and did the enquiring and I bought it without even a test ride.

The comment about Harleys applies to me, I think they are awful but I have never ridden one.

 

[YamahaMAXdRPMs]

just some

PETROL COMING OUT OF THE BREATHER PIPE
BUZZY AND VIBRATES AT 5K
TICKING FROM THE ENGINE
GEAR BOX WHINES
CLUNKY GEAR BOX

Obviously the OP has never been married, my wife has all these problems too. :thumbup:

 

[Hellgate]

Harleys are fine motorcycles for the type of motorcyles they are. (POS - Hellgate insert edit) They just are not my style anymore. More disppointing are the dealers and jack@ss wannabe's that think their feces is odorless since they ride a HD.

Now that is freaking AWESOME!

 

[Wildcard]

YES!!!! to the thread title

 

[desperate]

the only other bike i can compare it to (in my experience) is my 06 bandit 650 which at the time ticked all the boxes for a novice rider (me)..and it was a great bike for about two months, but then got very boring

the FZ6 is which in my opinion is yamahas equivelent is 100% better ..still a budget bike but with none of the drawbacks..it handles better than the bandit it cruises better ,and raw performance is the difference between night and day..my 08 S2 has experienced none of the niggles that you have listed, all bikes vibrate at certain revvs and most close ratio gear boxes whine to some extent... even in my old subaru wrx

get yourself a test ride and see for yourself,its an excellent bike

I have got an 08 and as I said I love it, I was just being devils advocate with the things I have read on this site. Mine is getting smoother with the miles.

Some very interesting points raised. But "there is no such thing as reality only perception" ---As I see it, "there IS reality, but the perception may differ."

 

[chuckfz6ryder]

I've had my FZ6 for 2 seasons,

PETROL COMING OUT OF THE BREATHER PIPE---NO
BUZZY AND VIBRATES AT 5K----Get some good gloves and better grips
TICKING FROM THE ENGINE---So what? Lift the hood of a car and put your head near the engine, you'll likely hear something you didn't in the drivers seat.
GEAR BOX WHINES----Again, so what?
CLUNKY GEAR BOX---With practice, you can shift smoother, pre-loading the shifter helps alot.

I think it's a great all around bike. Probably much better bikes out there for some things (goldwing for touring comes to mind), but not at the price of the FZ6