Need purchase advice - any significant differences between model years?

[craigmccormick]

I am shopping around for an FZ6 and I don't know very much about these bikes. What do I need to know about the differences between the model years? I want to spend around $3,500-$4,500 CAD. I presume these are typical Yamaha products and the mileage doesn't matter too much, am I right? So should I go with a low-mileage 2004 or a higher-mileage 2005? I just use these years as an example - are there certain years that are better than others? Any advice is appreciated.

Craig McCormick
Nova Scotia, Canada

 

[DefyInertia]

Significant upgrades came with the 2007 models...no changes since then. There should be some threads laying around that go into detail on the changes. Big ones are weight loss, better passenger ergos, better front brakes, better front fairing, and supposedly they improved the front forks slightly and the fuel delivery slightly.

Good luck

 

[abacall]

Here you go....
All you need to know.

 

[tasop7]

Hey Craig...

Well from my experience, I would really try to get a 2007 or later. If you're patient, you should be able to find a 2007 for a pretty good price. Now I have talked to several people that own '04's and '05's and they love them, but I would really try to get an '06 if you're looking to get an older one. I have read several professional reviews that talk about fuel injection issues on the '04's and sometimes '05's (again, lots of people here have them and rarely do I hear about any problems). I have an '06 and an '07. The '07 is just a much better design IMO. I can definitely tell a difference when I go back and forth and ride them both. DefyInertia listed the major changes but they also added a better instrument cluster and a helmet lock lol. I sometimes have a hard time reading the digital tack in the sunlight on my '06 and prefer the analog needle tack on the '07 much more. From what I've seen, there is a much wider support for aftermarket windscreens on the '07's and up.

I bought my '06 with 18,000 miles on it... rides perfectly. These bikes are very well made... built much better than lots of the others out there. As long as the bike was taken care of, I wouldn't worry about the miles very much. The only thing you may have to worry about is replacing tires, etc.

So bottom line, if it were me, I would buy an '07 (the biggest bang for your buck)... and maybe settle for an '06. And by the way, the FZ6 is such a great motorcycle! I have yet to meet someone that has been dissatisfied or disappointed with it.

Hope this helps! :thumbup:

 

[abacall]

07 on the site....
It does say obo....

 

[Ryan T]

Try to get an 07. There were some changes between the 06 and 07. Also, no TPS problems noted on the later models. The fairing is better on the later model as well.

 

[AJ_rider]

There were signficant changed made to the 07+ as already mentioned so if you can find one of those on the cheap go for it. I decided to save some money and go with an 06 ($4k w/ 1012 mi), this allowed me to use the money I saved to purchase a lot of goodies (Two bros exhuast, windscreen, air filter, seat cowl :thumbup. I have no regrets, haven't had any issues with TPS. I'm pretty sure that was most prevalent with the 05 and older models anyway. Also RED is the faster color so make sure to pick up a RED fizzer!