Dennis in NH
Member
I picked it up a few days ago and drove it home; as many of you know, this is FZ1inNH's previous bike. At first (i.e., 2 miles), I wasn't that excited (didn't feel like a CBR) so I kept riding; I tell you the more miles I put on the FZ6, the more I understand it and the more I enjoy it. As of this writing, I've put about 350 miles so I think I have a better feel for it. I'll just go through each thing and maybe ask a question here are there.
First, the brake feels good and I only need 1 finger -- middle finger -- but still use 2 most of the time. Braking/downshifting/rev matching all at the same time feels nice and quick on this bike.
The shifter feels like the gears are very close together; you don't need much of a kick up or down. In fact any more or any less effort results in a shift with a sound. If you apply just the right amount of force, there is no sound and the shift is super smooth. Maybe this is the oil the dealer put in -- if it is, I really need to find out what oil they used. I wear earplugs so maybe it's that too. But I know a butter smooth shift when I get one at it feels great.
The clutch engages far away from the handle. This has taken some time to get used to. I've tried clutchless shifting (on upshifts only) and that is very smooth. I still have trouble shifting into second gear smoothly. It seems you need to rev it to get a smooth 2nd gear shift or just don't use the clutch. I wonder if most people add more clutch freeplay to make it so the clutch engages closer to the handgrip? It's embarrassing to rev and not let out the clutch enough and go nowhere.
Height -- I feel like I'm really high up there. I feel if I want, I can hunch over and I do sometimes to get out of the wind but this bike feels comfortable ridden upright. I rotated the handlebars forward about 1/2" and it feels more sporty and I can tuck a little farther down. Plus it makes me feel more like I'm on the CBR -- in a weird way, I kind of miss the sore back of neck I always got after a long ride on the CBR. With the FZ6, that sore neck thing is still there but minimally.
Fairing -- seems I get good wind protection up front (probably mostly due to the Puig aftermarket touring shield. I get a lot of wind on the sides. I think my hands get wind but so far, I don't feel it that much. This will become more evident in Winter. I took off my gloves tonight and felt the wind on the hands and I think the part of my hand with the ring finger and pinky get most of the wind
Seat -- Topsaddle, ahhh nice -- 'nuff said.
Vibrations come, I think, after 7K RPM and go away about 8K RPM -- still need to get more accurate numbers here. I've been rev'ving more and more but have not exceeded 10K RPM. There is a vibration but as you increase the RPM, the vibrations will go away.
I think the torque is not linear. This bike loves between 4-6K RPM on the medium speed highways. I've only begun to explore the higher RPM on the highway. The FZ6 feels good but doesn't feel hard/fast like the CBR but it can certainly get up to speed. I think it's hard to compare because the FZ6 is so quiet when you all rev'ed up. When you get a CBR all rev'ed up, she screams in ecstacy. Maybe those louder pipes would help.
The FZ6 feels very nimble, I think that height contributes to this; I still need to get used to it. I spent about 1/2 an hour doing figure eights in the local school parking lot and that helped to scrub all but about 1/3" of chicken strips on my rear tire. After that the bike feels different and more fun. I think after getting used to it, I like this bike a lot better.
Exhaust note -- is there a noise here? I think you can hear it if you duck under the windshield and listen hard. Seriously, it's way too quiet. Need to louder pipes or drilled baffles? At 10K RPM, it sounds good but still too quiet.
Why are my pipes purple/blue/silver? and how to get them back to silver? I read here they start out silver and then turn purple and then you can polish them back to silver only for them to go back to purple. Hey, they match the bike so I'm not going to worry about them.
This bike came with foam grips. They are really comfortable and I think dampen lots of the vibration -- maybe that's why I don't feel the buzzing everyone mentions. However, the shape of the handlebar is not so ergonomically pleasing. Specifically, the handgrips make a "V" and your wrists are twisted outside up -- not much, but enough that my thumbs felt discomfort after riding. Contrast this with the CBR where the wrists are twisted outside down (a more natural position). I wonder if the foam grips exacerbate the issue and have contemplated removing them to see if that makes a difference.
I did some night riding the light put out by the dual lamps is great -- thanks for doing the headlight mod.
So where's the power band on this thing? I've only gotten to about 8K RPM and it doesn't feel too bad -- still need more seat time.
It seems each time I ride this bike, I feel more and more confident with it. I feel like the bike gets faster and faster the more I ride and the more I feel comfortable rev'ing it. I'm hoping I can rev this thing near 10K often and not harm the engine.
The bike is beautiful but not as sexy as the CBR with the fairings and colors, etc. I think I'm ok with that; I'll see what things I can add to make it look sexier but every time I look at it, it looks sexier to me. Maybe I'm biased -- I have always loved the dark blue; maybe those aftermaket side fairings are what I need.
I rode about 3 hours with a few breaks this morning and came home and plopped on the couch as I usually do after a long sport bike ride -- only to find out that, hey, I'm not tired. Also, it's nice to be able to do 90mph and feel like the bike is just humming along and not really phased by it.
I guess I'll update as I go along but for now, I really love this bike -- a few days ago, I only really liked it. I think the "best all arounder" description really says it all. You can tuck if you want or you can sit upright. When I had the CBRs, I was careful not to choose a second bike that was too comfortable because I already have a cruiser. But now, I see that a comfortable sport bike is a nice thing. I hope to take many long trips on the FZ6 this summer.
Another update: I had to ride in rain (as many know, most of June has been rain here in New England) and it felt good. The dealer put a new set of Dunlop Roadsmart tires and I think I really like them.
Here're a few pics. Sorry for the cheesy grin -- I just got back from riding in the rain and it was great!
And I just got done washing/waxing it and I take it back -- this thing is sexy!
Dennis
First, the brake feels good and I only need 1 finger -- middle finger -- but still use 2 most of the time. Braking/downshifting/rev matching all at the same time feels nice and quick on this bike.
The shifter feels like the gears are very close together; you don't need much of a kick up or down. In fact any more or any less effort results in a shift with a sound. If you apply just the right amount of force, there is no sound and the shift is super smooth. Maybe this is the oil the dealer put in -- if it is, I really need to find out what oil they used. I wear earplugs so maybe it's that too. But I know a butter smooth shift when I get one at it feels great.
The clutch engages far away from the handle. This has taken some time to get used to. I've tried clutchless shifting (on upshifts only) and that is very smooth. I still have trouble shifting into second gear smoothly. It seems you need to rev it to get a smooth 2nd gear shift or just don't use the clutch. I wonder if most people add more clutch freeplay to make it so the clutch engages closer to the handgrip? It's embarrassing to rev and not let out the clutch enough and go nowhere.
Height -- I feel like I'm really high up there. I feel if I want, I can hunch over and I do sometimes to get out of the wind but this bike feels comfortable ridden upright. I rotated the handlebars forward about 1/2" and it feels more sporty and I can tuck a little farther down. Plus it makes me feel more like I'm on the CBR -- in a weird way, I kind of miss the sore back of neck I always got after a long ride on the CBR. With the FZ6, that sore neck thing is still there but minimally.
Fairing -- seems I get good wind protection up front (probably mostly due to the Puig aftermarket touring shield. I get a lot of wind on the sides. I think my hands get wind but so far, I don't feel it that much. This will become more evident in Winter. I took off my gloves tonight and felt the wind on the hands and I think the part of my hand with the ring finger and pinky get most of the wind
Seat -- Topsaddle, ahhh nice -- 'nuff said.
Vibrations come, I think, after 7K RPM and go away about 8K RPM -- still need to get more accurate numbers here. I've been rev'ving more and more but have not exceeded 10K RPM. There is a vibration but as you increase the RPM, the vibrations will go away.
I think the torque is not linear. This bike loves between 4-6K RPM on the medium speed highways. I've only begun to explore the higher RPM on the highway. The FZ6 feels good but doesn't feel hard/fast like the CBR but it can certainly get up to speed. I think it's hard to compare because the FZ6 is so quiet when you all rev'ed up. When you get a CBR all rev'ed up, she screams in ecstacy. Maybe those louder pipes would help.
The FZ6 feels very nimble, I think that height contributes to this; I still need to get used to it. I spent about 1/2 an hour doing figure eights in the local school parking lot and that helped to scrub all but about 1/3" of chicken strips on my rear tire. After that the bike feels different and more fun. I think after getting used to it, I like this bike a lot better.
Exhaust note -- is there a noise here? I think you can hear it if you duck under the windshield and listen hard. Seriously, it's way too quiet. Need to louder pipes or drilled baffles? At 10K RPM, it sounds good but still too quiet.
Why are my pipes purple/blue/silver? and how to get them back to silver? I read here they start out silver and then turn purple and then you can polish them back to silver only for them to go back to purple. Hey, they match the bike so I'm not going to worry about them.
This bike came with foam grips. They are really comfortable and I think dampen lots of the vibration -- maybe that's why I don't feel the buzzing everyone mentions. However, the shape of the handlebar is not so ergonomically pleasing. Specifically, the handgrips make a "V" and your wrists are twisted outside up -- not much, but enough that my thumbs felt discomfort after riding. Contrast this with the CBR where the wrists are twisted outside down (a more natural position). I wonder if the foam grips exacerbate the issue and have contemplated removing them to see if that makes a difference.
I did some night riding the light put out by the dual lamps is great -- thanks for doing the headlight mod.
So where's the power band on this thing? I've only gotten to about 8K RPM and it doesn't feel too bad -- still need more seat time.
It seems each time I ride this bike, I feel more and more confident with it. I feel like the bike gets faster and faster the more I ride and the more I feel comfortable rev'ing it. I'm hoping I can rev this thing near 10K often and not harm the engine.
The bike is beautiful but not as sexy as the CBR with the fairings and colors, etc. I think I'm ok with that; I'll see what things I can add to make it look sexier but every time I look at it, it looks sexier to me. Maybe I'm biased -- I have always loved the dark blue; maybe those aftermaket side fairings are what I need.
I rode about 3 hours with a few breaks this morning and came home and plopped on the couch as I usually do after a long sport bike ride -- only to find out that, hey, I'm not tired. Also, it's nice to be able to do 90mph and feel like the bike is just humming along and not really phased by it.
I guess I'll update as I go along but for now, I really love this bike -- a few days ago, I only really liked it. I think the "best all arounder" description really says it all. You can tuck if you want or you can sit upright. When I had the CBRs, I was careful not to choose a second bike that was too comfortable because I already have a cruiser. But now, I see that a comfortable sport bike is a nice thing. I hope to take many long trips on the FZ6 this summer.
Another update: I had to ride in rain (as many know, most of June has been rain here in New England) and it felt good. The dealer put a new set of Dunlop Roadsmart tires and I think I really like them.
Here're a few pics. Sorry for the cheesy grin -- I just got back from riding in the rain and it was great!
And I just got done washing/waxing it and I take it back -- this thing is sexy!
Dennis
