New to bikes and the FZ6

[nitroheadz28]

Thanks Carlos!!!

Now I'm just trying to find what years came with black/ silver bars. I'm assuming the ones from that link will be silver? I guess I shouldn't care at this point.

 

[Carlos840]

Thanks Carlos!!!

Now I'm just trying to find what years came with black/ silver bars. I'm assuming the ones from that link will be silver? I guess I shouldn't care at this point.

They only ever came in silver...

 

[nitroheadz28]

Gotcha, I guess I must've seen painted/ aftermarket ones that look like them.

Well $42.35 later and I'm waiting for a bar to come, thanks again Carlos.

Since I'm doing this now, does anyone have some recommendations on bar mounted mirrors that look somewhat sleek at all? I sat on an FZ07 and FZ09 and thought those weren't too bad, I'm kind of tired of the bar end mirrors mine has.

 

[iviyth0s]

I usually got 55-65mpg when I had my FZ6. I could go 225 miles on a tank w/o f-trip coming on. I (OK-my hubby) filled it to the brim either on the center stand or I straddled it while he fueled. I miss that with my Triumph. I averaged 50 mpg on our recent trip.

What kind of wizardry or mis calibrated odometer allowed for you to acheive such wonderful mileage?!

Yes. I parked it in between two cars with a good 3-4 feet of space on either side, I'm assuming that the car that was in front did this backing out.


I've been keeping my eyes open on ebay and craigslist for an FZ1 bar since I bought the bike and all I've seen is the same one on ebay for about $125. I came across a few threads on here where people said they picked one up for $40 from the same source?

Oh, sorry to heard that, but lucky Carlos is awesome for ya. I want to try the FZ1 bars one day...just not today haha

 

[nitroheadz28]

I'm wondering if I can pull out the assembly under the gas cap and massage the dents out from the inside. Apparently its a single walled tank, the dents themselves are from the bars hitting them, so about dime sized. I'm thinking that the paint would crack and flake off.

 

[2old2ride]

What kind of wizardry or mis calibrated odometer allowed for you to acheive such wonderful mileage?!

Oh, sorry to heard that, but lucky Carlos is awesome for ya. I want to try the FZ1 bars one day...just not today haha

I got 68 MPG on my last tank. I'm running K&N filters (OIL and Air) M4 Carbon fiber, a PCIII and a 520 Supersprox with stock teeth front and rear. I ride for fun not to get anywhere. The valves are good and she has fresh plugs. I try and avoid traffic. I also avoid stopping. The roads around here are smooth enough and clear of cars (mostly) so that I can slow down and wait for a red light to turn green.
Even when I'm trying to go 5tuPiD Fa5t, I get almost 50 MPG. I check my tires twice a day, minimum. Once in the morning and again before I stop for the day. I also check before I ride if it's been more then half an hour since I got off.I could get better but I try not to let the RPM's get below 5K in town. I will roll along in 6th at idle when on a back road going from nowhere to noplace. The cows trot alongside and we gossip. That is how I prefer to ride. What I consider fun is going 50 miles or so on the back roads at 30 MPH or so, then finding the Interstate and running for home as fast as traffic allows.
If you are not getting around 50MPG, you need to get a tune up and check your tire pressure.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I'm wondering if I can pull out the assembly under the gas cap and massage the dents out from the inside. Apparently its a single walled tank, the dents themselves are from the bars hitting them, so about dime sized. I'm thinking that the paint would crack and flake off.

Here's with the fump pulled out, looking in, (lots of room):

 

[Carlos840]

I got 68 MPG on my last tank. I'm running K&N filters (OIL and Air) M4 Carbon fiber, a PCIII and a 520 Supersprox with stock teeth front and rear. I ride for fun not to get anywhere. The valves are good and she has fresh plugs. I try and avoid traffic. I also avoid stopping. The roads around here are smooth enough and clear of cars (mostly) so that I can slow down and wait for a red light to turn green.
Even when I'm trying to go 5tuPiD Fa5t, I get almost 50 MPG. I check my tires twice a day, minimum. Once in the morning and again before I stop for the day. I also check before I ride if it's been more then half an hour since I got off.I could get better but I try not to let the RPM's get below 5K in town. I will roll along in 6th at idle when on a back road going from nowhere to noplace. The cows trot alongside and we gossip. That is how I prefer to ride. What I consider fun is going 50 miles or so on the back roads at 30 MPH or so, then finding the Interstate and running for home as fast as traffic allows.
If you are not getting around 50MPG, you need to get a tune up and check your tire pressure.

The only reason you are getting such a good fuel consumption is because you never enter the power band, this has nothing to do with a tune up or tires!

With a perfectly running bike and properly inflated tires i get between 30 and 35mpg, why? I like to run the bike in the power band, rarely lower than 7000rpm, often closer to the redline.

 

[nitroheadz28]

Thanks for all of your help since I got the bike Scott, its very much appreciated! :thumbup:

As far as mileage, I got my best of 43 the day before this happened. This was with mixed driving. I had discovered that my tires were almost 10psi under inflated 2 weeks ago, I purchased a highly rated (On Amazon) Joe's Racing gauge and inflated them to spec. I haven't tracked mileage enough to be sure, but I think the difference netted me 1-2mpg.

 

[iviyth0s]

The only reason you are getting such a good fuel consumption is because you never enter the power band, this has nothing to do with a tune up or tires!

With a perfectly running bike and properly inflated tires i get between 30 and 35mpg, why? I like to run the bike in the power band, rarely lower than 7000rpm, often closer to the redline.

Yeah but I always run mine at lower revs unless the highway forces them up and I struggle for high 40s or low 50s.

I find it very hard to believe an FZ6 can pull mid 60s unless whatever is indicating this is overly optimistic.

 

[FinalImpact]

I think you may have better luck on the tank with dent puller than pushing it out. The reason I say this is the metal is stretched. The initial contact pushing it out often leads to kinks. Then its hammer and dolly time to slowly massage the kink out, sanding, bondo, sanding & fill primers and then paint an top coat.
Suction if may not avoid this, but it does apply pressure at the high point and does more to isolate and control further damage if done right.

Can you throw up a picture of the dent?

You might look around for shop capable of paintless repairs. Sorry to see that! Good luck!

 

[Carlos840]

Yeah but I always run mine at lower revs unless the highway forces them up and I struggle for high 40s or low 50s.

I find it very hard to believe an FZ6 can pull mid 60s unless whatever is indicating this is overly optimistic.

I think your number are pretty normal:

Yamaha FZS600 FZ6 Mileage | Fuelly

I would imagine that mid 60s might be doable if you were riding at 30mph in 6th gear without any throttle variation.
According to gearing commander that would mean running at 2500 rpm, which would surely not use much fuel!

 

[MG-242]

I'll toss this out, but I personally have not done it. I was told by someone years ago that you can fill the tank with water and freeze it to get a dent to pop out. It sounds logical and may work. But, if the metal is stretched it will still leave wrinkles.

For the mpg discussion, I tend to ride rather briskly and normally get mid to upper 50's in Ohio. Last summer in Colorado I was consistently getting over 60.

 

[nitroheadz28]

I think you may have better luck on the tank with dent puller than pushing it out. The reason I say this is the metal is stretched. The initial contact pushing it out often leads to kinks. Then its hammer and dolly time to slowly massage the kink out, sanding, bondo, sanding & fill primers and then paint an top coat.
Suction if may not avoid this, but it does apply pressure at the high point and does more to isolate and control further damage if done right.

Can you throw up a picture of the dent?

You might look around for shop capable of paintless repairs. Sorry to see that! Good luck!

Will do next time I'm messing with it. I don't think the dents are big enough to use suction, either way its not a big deal at the end of the day. I have this feeling that the trashing of my bike has only just begun

 

[FinalImpact]

I think your number are pretty normal:

Yamaha FZS600 FZ6 Mileage | Fuelly

I would imagine that mid 60s might be doable if you were riding at 30mph in 6th gear without any throttle variation.
According to gearing commander that would mean running at 2500 rpm, which would surely not use much fuel!

But do keep in mind its based upon work being done vs throttle opening. Although the RPM may be low, if an engine is laboring it may in fact consume more fuel.
Thus, letting them rev lightly can and often does burn less fuel. i.e. the fuel map kicks in and adds more fuel to keep it from detonating an such. Remember the old vacuum gauge and what happens when an engine does work? It drops the vacuum and adds fuel.

I'd guess the sweet spot would be a speed high enough to let it sing in 6th gear while the speed is low enough that wind resistance doesn't cost you mpg so 50 ~ 65??

 

[FinalImpact]

But do keep in mind its based upon work being done vs throttle opening. Although the RPM may be low, if an engine is laboring it may in fact consume more fuel.
Thus, letting them rev lightly can and often does burn less fuel. i.e. the fuel map kicks in and adds more fuel to keep it from detonating an such. Remember the old vacuum gauge and what happens when an engine does work? It drops the vacuum and adds fuel.

I'd guess the sweet spot would be a speed high enough to let it sing in 6th gear while the speed is low enough that wind resistance doesn't cost you mpg so 50 ~ 65??

Not ideal... likely a better one out there.... but I know you like videos!
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBYVZLRyQjk"]Driving with a vacuum guage for fuel efficiency - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Carlos840]

Yeay, a video!

That vacuum gauge trick is pretty cool...

 

[iviyth0s]

I just still have trouble believing my conservative riding with well inflated tires on all highway riding, gets nowhere near 60. My Ninja 250 struggled for that with mid 50s being its norm

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I just still have trouble believing my conservative riding with well inflated tires on all highway riding, gets nowhere near 60. My Ninja 250 struggled for that with mid 50s being its norm

I ride pretty conservative most of the time (no highway to speak of, occasional higher runs into much higher RPM's) .

My mileage has been averaging about 48 since I've owned the bike. I just checked it a couple of days ago and it dropped to 45, some blasts but nothing different to speak of.

I keep my tires at max pressure on the tires, chain is lubed often, new air filter, newish Iridiums.

I do have a Speedohealer which makes the odometer read low so I just re-set the GPS odometer and topped off. So the next check will be a true MPG and should be slightly higher as it will be true miles traveled.


How someones getting 55-60 MPG I don't know.. Short of riding at 4k, not stopping, on flat ground, maybe.. I was averaging 72/73MPG's on my old KLR 250 single and this engine has 4x's as many cylinders...

 

[2old2ride]

The only reason you are getting such a good fuel consumption is because you never enter the power band, this has nothing to do with a tune up or tires!

With a perfectly running bike and properly inflated tires i get between 30 and 35mpg, why? I like to run the bike in the power band, rarely lower than 7000rpm, often closer to the redline.

Look where you live. I have been to NATO HQ several times. Rented a BMW back in the mid 70's and rode to Italy. Europe is tiny. You have tight roads and too much traffic. I live in the center of America. I can pull out of my driveway and in less then a Km. be on a divided 4 lane highway. Limited access. Get 40Km's out of Memphis and you can sit on the side of that highway and not have an automobile go by for hours during the day.
I can drone along in 6th at 60 MPH, or tuck and run WOT. WOT is fun but I have no reason to do it a lot.
Tennessee is 440 miles long and 130 miles wide. It has a population of around 12 million, which is less then New York City. It is 409 miles from Amsterdam to Berlin, with a LOT more then 12 million peeps living between them. Stop and go traffic kills gas milage. I don't do stop and go traffic. So I can adjust my speed to arrive at a red light after it has turned green. Good milage is built by good riding habits.
I also run 93 octane 'pure' gas. I know the Service manual says we are good up to 10% ethanol but I think she runs better on pure.
Fuelly - Track and Compare your MPG
Lots of peeps get way better then me.
Here is the results for the r;
Yamaha FZ6R Mileage | Fuelly
mid 40's. Join up and get into the details. The 'S' and S2 get better milage. IIRC, the high was in the mid 70's. That could be done with a sprocket teeth change.:rockon: