rtw
Junior Member
Hi All,
I am new to the FZ6 and this group. If you recall I posted a few weeks ago with my description of fixing up a 2006 (fast blue). I am also new to street biking; my other bike is a Suzuki DRZ400.
The weather here is Salt Lake finally warmed up enough to ride, so out I went. I headed west into the desert. Lots of mostly empty two-lane highways with visibility for miles. The kind of place where someone, if he/she were so inclined, might be tempted to ride well above the speed limit. There are a few low passes between basins (basin and range country) with tight turns through the high desert scenery. I rode for several hours, and saw bunches of other bikers with the same spring fever that I have. Interestingly, 2 out of 3 of them were on Harleys.
My impressions of my new bike are as follows:
1) Wow. So much fun. The handling of this bike is so very, very good. It happily buzzes along at pretty amazing speeds (in 4th gear!), without missing a beat. Turning is consistent and smooth. I did the RaceTech-0.95+15wt fork upgrade, and I am happy with that. No real diving on the front; although it's a little stiff on the potholes, I wouldn't want the front end any softer.
2) Shifting 1-2-gears is notchy/clunky, as everyone says. These seemed to improve significanlty as the bike warmed up (or was I just getting used to it).
3) I am somewhat perplexted about the complaints I have seen of high-rev nature of this bike. I think this engine is great. It's quiet and the power is relatively smooth. Just embrace the bike and rev it up! People have complained about too much shifting, but they have they ever driven a manual automobile? I shift my truck every 10-20MPH increment.
I can put the FZ6 in 2nd gear at 15 MPH and leave there until 60-70MPH. I have never driven another vehicle that does that. That means I basically stay in second gear all over town. On the other hand, if I know I am settling into a 50MPH pace, put it in third and enjoy the peace and quiet of that engine (and increase your MPG). What a great engine!
Sure my DZR400 (450 with a big bore) has tons more torque and will kill the FZ6 in the first couple of yards, but you also have to be super careful not to wheelie (unless that's the plan). I can slam the FZ6 throttle all day long (even at high RPMs) an the front barely lifts. I like that stability for the street.
4) Grabby/jumpy throttle. This is my major complaint with this bike. The grabiness of the throttle going from off-on and on-off is annoying. I have ridden other similar bikes that don't do this (e.g. Kawasaki Z750 and Z1000). What causes this? Is this in the design of the fuel injection issue or the way the transmission/clutch is desined? Of course, with practice I am learning to pass the on-off threshold more delicately to get smooth transitions, but it's still annoying.
5) Tank grips. I could not stay comfortably seated with the tank as is, so I added Techspec snakeskin grips. A great mod.
In any case, this is a great first street bike for me, and I hope to wear this thing out before getting another one.
Regards,
RTW
I am new to the FZ6 and this group. If you recall I posted a few weeks ago with my description of fixing up a 2006 (fast blue). I am also new to street biking; my other bike is a Suzuki DRZ400.
The weather here is Salt Lake finally warmed up enough to ride, so out I went. I headed west into the desert. Lots of mostly empty two-lane highways with visibility for miles. The kind of place where someone, if he/she were so inclined, might be tempted to ride well above the speed limit. There are a few low passes between basins (basin and range country) with tight turns through the high desert scenery. I rode for several hours, and saw bunches of other bikers with the same spring fever that I have. Interestingly, 2 out of 3 of them were on Harleys.
My impressions of my new bike are as follows:
1) Wow. So much fun. The handling of this bike is so very, very good. It happily buzzes along at pretty amazing speeds (in 4th gear!), without missing a beat. Turning is consistent and smooth. I did the RaceTech-0.95+15wt fork upgrade, and I am happy with that. No real diving on the front; although it's a little stiff on the potholes, I wouldn't want the front end any softer.
2) Shifting 1-2-gears is notchy/clunky, as everyone says. These seemed to improve significanlty as the bike warmed up (or was I just getting used to it).
3) I am somewhat perplexted about the complaints I have seen of high-rev nature of this bike. I think this engine is great. It's quiet and the power is relatively smooth. Just embrace the bike and rev it up! People have complained about too much shifting, but they have they ever driven a manual automobile? I shift my truck every 10-20MPH increment.
I can put the FZ6 in 2nd gear at 15 MPH and leave there until 60-70MPH. I have never driven another vehicle that does that. That means I basically stay in second gear all over town. On the other hand, if I know I am settling into a 50MPH pace, put it in third and enjoy the peace and quiet of that engine (and increase your MPG). What a great engine!
Sure my DZR400 (450 with a big bore) has tons more torque and will kill the FZ6 in the first couple of yards, but you also have to be super careful not to wheelie (unless that's the plan). I can slam the FZ6 throttle all day long (even at high RPMs) an the front barely lifts. I like that stability for the street.
4) Grabby/jumpy throttle. This is my major complaint with this bike. The grabiness of the throttle going from off-on and on-off is annoying. I have ridden other similar bikes that don't do this (e.g. Kawasaki Z750 and Z1000). What causes this? Is this in the design of the fuel injection issue or the way the transmission/clutch is desined? Of course, with practice I am learning to pass the on-off threshold more delicately to get smooth transitions, but it's still annoying.
5) Tank grips. I could not stay comfortably seated with the tank as is, so I added Techspec snakeskin grips. A great mod.
In any case, this is a great first street bike for me, and I hope to wear this thing out before getting another one.
Regards,
RTW
