New Member, No FZ6 - yet

[BigNick1988]

Hello all, my name is Nick and I live in Western MA.

I spent this past summer buying and fixing up my current bike, a 1985 Honda Sabre VF700s. Had a lot of fun, learned a lot, but ended up paying someone to do the carbs only to find out 2nd gear is slipping horribly, and the transmission will sporadically shift out of gear and into neutral.

I dealt with the issues as its a 32 year old bike, and it served me faithfully and reliably in all I asked of it.

However, I enjoy commuting on my motorcycle, and 35 mpg/ not having 2nd gear to romp through is taking its toll. I love the seating position the sabre offered me, and while I will never drag a knee, I learned how to ride on it.... all 500 lbs of her. My acceptance of carbs and their faults is at an end. I found a 2005 fz6 for sale for $3990 with 13.4k miles. Reading up on it, the bike has much less torque and small amount HP more than what I am used to, but more importantly, it provides the riding position I prefer and weighs 80lbs less.

Some things I was wondering......

Without clutching up, will this bike lift it's front tire under WOT? I weigh 280 lbs. If it does, it's not a bike i want to consider. this is my second motorcycle, and I want something that will grow with my experience and be forgiving of my mistakes.

What are your biggest complaints about your bike?

thanks all for your time and replies.

 

[Yasko]

:welcome: from Texas:cheer:

The FZ6 can be nasty if you want her to be, but if you keep her down in the rpm she's a perfect lady. Get her up in the rpms and the ----- in her comes out.:cheer:

 

[Ramarius]

I just got mine at the end of the summer, the power is very controllable. If you want it to be wild it can be. I really like it, and think it would be a good all around bike for you. It also gets around 45mpg. You might look around for a different bike though, I bought my 06 with 2300 miles on it for $3000.

 

[TheSandman13]

Hello all, my name is Nick and I live in Western MA.

I spent this past summer buying and fixing up my current bike, a 1985 Honda Sabre VF700s. Had a lot of fun, learned a lot, but ended up paying someone to do the carbs only to find out 2nd gear is slipping horribly, and the transmission will sporadically shift out of gear and into neutral.

I dealt with the issues as its a 32 year old bike, and it served me faithfully and reliably in all I asked of it.

However, I enjoy commuting on my motorcycle, and 35 mpg/ not having 2nd gear to romp through is taking its toll. I love the seating position the sabre offered me, and while I will never drag a knee, I learned how to ride on it.... all 500 lbs of her. My acceptance of carbs and their faults is at an end. I found a 2005 fz6 for sale for $3990 with 13.4k miles. Reading up on it, the bike has much less torque and small amount HP more than what I am used to, but more importantly, it provides the riding position I prefer and weighs 80lbs less.

Some things I was wondering......

Without clutching up, will this bike lift it's front tire under WOT? I weigh 280 lbs. If it does, it's not a bike i want to consider. this is my second motorcycle, and I want something that will grow with my experience and be forgiving of my mistakes.

What are your biggest complaints about your bike?

thanks all for your time and replies.

Good all around bike. Has plenty of power, but not too much. You would have to really try hard to get the front wheel off the ground. Especially at 280 lbs.

And that price seems awfully high for that year and mileage. I paid $3300 for a 2006 with 13k miles.

 

[SweaterDude]

Hello all, my name is Nick and I live in Western MA.

I spent this past summer buying and fixing up my current bike, a 1985 Honda Sabre VF700s. Had a lot of fun, learned a lot, but ended up paying someone to do the carbs only to find out 2nd gear is slipping horribly, and the transmission will sporadically shift out of gear and into neutral.

I dealt with the issues as its a 32 year old bike, and it served me faithfully and reliably in all I asked of it.

However, I enjoy commuting on my motorcycle, and 35 mpg/ not having 2nd gear to romp through is taking its toll. I love the seating position the sabre offered me, and while I will never drag a knee, I learned how to ride on it.... all 500 lbs of her. My acceptance of carbs and their faults is at an end. I found a 2005 fz6 for sale for $3990 with 13.4k miles. Reading up on it, the bike has much less torque and small amount HP more than what I am used to, but more importantly, it provides the riding position I prefer and weighs 80lbs less.

Some things I was wondering......

Without clutching up, will this bike lift it's front tire under WOT? I weigh 280 lbs. If it does, it's not a bike i want to consider. this is my second motorcycle, and I want something that will grow with my experience and be forgiving of my mistakes.

What are your biggest complaints about your bike?

thanks all for your time and replies.

That is too much for that bike. you can get the newer generation bike (2007-2009, its referred to as the S2 model) for $3500. you will find that without gearing changes this bike can be very difficult to wheelie. i think it would be a fantastic 2nd bike, but the power delivery is going to be extremely different from your Sabre's V4 engine. if you like the feel of the V4, you might also want to consider a VFR800, its got a little more GO!!! than the FZ but a similar riding position and characteristics. on paper its heavier than the FZ but it doesnt feel that way.

 

[BigNick1988]

Thanks for all the replies. I personally prefer to keep the front wheel on the ground at all times... a guy my size neither bounces nor slides... he splats so yeah

I figured that bike was about $1000 on the high side. I was actually going to trade mine in for it, if I was going to pull the trigger. $2000 + my bike is reasonable IMO. $2300 and my bike would be the highest. This bike is mint and stock. That being said, motorcycles tend to cost more where i live, as I am 100 miles south of Laconia and there aren't a lot of motorcycles for sale. Poor roads and 5 months of the year being too cold (below 50F) has that effect.

I appreciate everyone's input, and will probably browse the classifieds around here a while, although I am not a fan of taking on someone else's modifications.... especially in the phallic internet world of must-go-faster.

 

[BigNick1988]

That is too much for that bike. you can get the newer generation bike (2007-2009, its referred to as the S2 model) for $3500. you will find that without gearing changes this bike can be very difficult to wheelie. i think it would be a fantastic 2nd bike, but the power delivery is going to be extremely different from your Sabre's V4 engine. if you like the feel of the V4, you might also want to consider a VFR800, its got a little more GO!!! than the FZ but a similar riding position and characteristics. on paper its heavier than the FZ but it doesnt feel that way.

It was my understanding that the Sabre's V-4 power delivery is very similar. On the sabre forums, we called it a 3-mode bike.

idle - 4k rpm, wimp mode. Feels like it's running on 2 cylinders.
4k-7500 - What you'd expect out of a 700.
7500-11000, Hold on. Tightly.

The one thing I really enjoy about my sabre is it was essentially a sleeper. It just looked like another mid 80s Honda with a ridiculous horn.

If any of you ever get a chance to drive a Sabre or a Magna V65, do it. 1300CCs of carb'd v4 maelstrom is quite a ride.

 

[iviyth0s]

Hello all, my name is Nick and I live in Western MA.

I spent this past summer buying and fixing up my current bike, a 1985 Honda Sabre VF700s. Had a lot of fun, learned a lot, but ended up paying someone to do the carbs only to find out 2nd gear is slipping horribly, and the transmission will sporadically shift out of gear and into neutral.

I dealt with the issues as its a 32 year old bike, and it served me faithfully and reliably in all I asked of it.

However, I enjoy commuting on my motorcycle, and 35 mpg/ not having 2nd gear to romp through is taking its toll. I love the seating position the sabre offered me, and while I will never drag a knee, I learned how to ride on it.... all 500 lbs of her. My acceptance of carbs and their faults is at an end. I found a 2005 fz6 for sale for $3990 with 13.4k miles. Reading up on it, the bike has much less torque and small amount HP more than what I am used to, but more importantly, it provides the riding position I prefer and weighs 80lbs less.

Some things I was wondering......

Without clutching up, will this bike lift it's front tire under WOT? I weigh 280 lbs. If it does, it's not a bike i want to consider. this is my second motorcycle, and I want something that will grow with my experience and be forgiving of my mistakes.

What are your biggest complaints about your bike?

thanks all for your time and replies.

Smart man on ditching carbs! Btw highfive on the Sabre, my dad has an '85 Interceptor 700 so I know allll about that, though even he has taken a liking to my FZ6 and may consider getting one (he is hating his carb too :Flip

Anyway, like the others said, the bike you're thinking of buying is priced way too high. I think I paid too much with a 2007 with 3800mi @ $4100 2 months ago and should have haggled more but that dude is definitely off at least $1000!

The power is a lot like the V4 though like you said, though our power band keeps going into a 14K SCREAM . You're going to love all the no choking fuss, that's one of the main reasons I have mine now. I was tired of choking my Ninja 250 every time I had to use it.

 

[BigNick1988]

heh, choking my sabre.... more like ready to stuff a towel down it's tank and.....

yeah

 

[whynot]

Hi, Nick,

Welcome from Eastern MA!

The FZ6 is a really great bike. Sounds like you may be all set with your trade-in deal. But if you'd consider an outright purchase, here's a sales pitch -- please consider my '07 for sale on this forum -- take a look -- 11K miles:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/sell...89-fs-2007-yamaha-fz6-11k-3700-boston-ma.html

I'm thinking $3500 right now.

We riders here in Eastern MA think of Western MA as our destination -- great roads! Do you know about NER New England Riders? Check out the NER forum and BEST roads etc. http://www.newenglandriders.org/
... and NER has a FB page, too. Great group of people, (Not to be confused with NESR, New England Street Riders.)

In any event, welcome!

Kurt

 

[Karate.Snoopy]

Hi, Nick, welcome, the FZ6 is a really great bike. Sounds like you may be all set with your trade-in deal. But if you'd consider an outright purchase, here's a sales pitch -- please consider my '07 for sale on this forum -- take a look -- 11K miles:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/sell...89-fs-2007-yamaha-fz6-11k-3700-boston-ma.html

I'm thinking $3500 right now.

We riders here in Eastern MA think of Western MA as our destination -- great roads! Do you know about NER New England Riders? Check out their forum and BEST roads etc. http://www.newenglandriders.org/
... and NER has a FB page, too. Great group of people, (Not to be confused with NESR, New England Street Riders.)

In any event, welcome!

Kurt

Get this bike NOW.....it has all the mods that you would need on your FZ6 and then some. :thumbup:

 

[whynot]

Get this bike NOW.....it has all the mods that you would need on your FZ6 and then some. :thumbup:

Thank you :thumbup:

Nick, from all reports, the FZ6 performs great two-up touring, so I don't think 280lb would be a problem.

Some impressions: I find the FZ very easy to handle and maneuver, it feels light for the size of it. As a "sporty-tourer" as I call it, I think it tends a lttle more toward the touring feel, stable and comfortable, but still plenty fast with flexible power. I put both feet down flat easily (30" inseam). It has a good fuel range, I went on reserve at 172 miles recently. The tank holds 5.1 gallons total, and last tankful I got 48 mpg. The power delivery is smooth from lowest revs on up. Overall, my impression is that Yamaha is over-built, a good thing for reliability and longevity. I find it *very* comfortable.

I've got it up for sale to help treat my MBS -- Multiple Bike Syndrome -- and to free up time, garage space, and money for my vintage projects, which have been feeling neglected lately

HTH,

Kurt