New to forum (bike pics included)

[funkycold]

Hey all,

I'm new to the forum and just getting back to riding after taking 18 months off. I had to sell my previous bike, a 2008 Harley Nightster, to pay for some of the wifey's medical bills. I got a rather large bonus this year so I decided to get a new bike. I wasn't looking for a FZ6, but after the local dealership didn't have what I was looking for I decided to test ride it. I was really impressed and decided to go with the 2007 FZ6 instead of a vstrom 650. The FZ6 I got my hands on only had 1915 miles on it, the previous owner bought it and didn't like it (he ended up getting a GoldWing) and decided to keep it until he could sell it without losing his shirt.

Anyway, I've got a set of Givi sidecases coming later this week and I'm really excited about my commute moving back to two wheels. Unfortunatly I work in Seattle and its raining all this week, so I've got to get new rain gear, but I'm hoping to commute in by the end of the week.

As promised, here are some quick pics of my new toy.

 

[2nd childhood]

Congrats on the bike, good choice. I have an '07, also in the faster blue, and love it. Around 15 months or so ago I decided to scratch an itch I've had for many years and purchased an Aprilia Tuono, with every intention of selling the FZ6 in the Spring. But dang, it's such a fun and versatile bike, I decided to keep both. And my wife didn't even complain! FYI, with good tires (I just put some Dunlop Sportsmax Q2s), it behaves very well in the rain.

 

[funkycold]

Congrats on the bike, good choice. I have an '07, also in the faster blue, and love it. Around 15 months or so ago I decided to scratch an itch I've had for many years and purchased an Aprilia Tuono, with every intention of selling the FZ6 in the Spring. But dang, it's such a fun and versatile bike, I decided to keep both. And my wife didn't even complain! FYI, with good tires (I just put some Dunlop Sportsmax Q2s), it behaves very well in the rain.

I'm going to need to tires in a few hundred miles so thanks for the heads up on the rain tires.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I'm going to need to tires in a few hundred miles so thanks for the heads up on the rain tires.

You should have received new tires from the dealership as part of your purchase price. Can't believe they would let you leave the dealership with stock tires.

 

[Humperdinkel]

:welcome: :welcome: to the best forum on the webs !! Sweet lookin' ride, may she bring you many years of happiness just like all of ours have done & continue to do

 

[funkycold]

They didn't even fill up the gas tank for me! Its ok though. I've bought from them a few times over the years and I'm pretty far ahead of the curve in terms of how much money I've cost them form my wheelin' and dealin'.

 

[JayyVee]

Welcome aboard - That is quite a find with that low mileage - barely broken in, and ready for the twisties!

 

[FIZZER6]

I'm going to need to tires in a few hundred miles so thanks for the heads up on the rain tires.

How many miles a year might you put down on the bike? I would go with sport touring tires, not sport tires if you put more than 6,000 miles a year down. Also sport touring tires are designed to do better on wet pavement. Example: Michelin Pilot Road 2/3/4 will usually get 8-11K miles on a commute bike. Sport tires won't last you over 5,000 miles. With sport bike tires you either cry every other year and spend $275 on a set of Sport Touring tires or cry every year and spend $180 on a set of supersport tires.

 

[funkycold]

How many miles a year might you put down on the bike? I would go with sport touring tires, not sport tires if you put more than 6,000 miles a year down. Also sport touring tires are designed to do better on wet pavement. Example: Michelin Pilot Road 2/3/4 will usually get 8-11K miles on a commute bike. Sport tires won't last you over 5,000 miles. With sport bike tires you either cry every other year and spend $275 on a set of Sport Touring tires or cry every year and spend $180 on a set of supersport tires.

I'll put between 5,000 and 6,000 a year. I don't ride to0 aggressive during my commute, so I should be able to get good milage from the tires.

 

[Pagey]

Welcome to the forum. You have made a very good choice in both bike and website.

Although i dont have a FZ anymore (moved to a Tiger 1050) i still miss it.

I have found here if you want a thread to go on and on then mention tyres or oil Blah that will be debated till the end of time lol

Bike looks great btw would look even better with Scorpion or TB cans on it !

ps. PR 4's are awesome in the wet..... i should know im from the UK

 

[Motogiro]

I'll put between 5,000 and 6,000 a year. I don't ride to0 aggressive during my commute, so I should be able to get good milage from the tires.

:welcome:to the best forum! :rockon:

Do a little research on what tire you'll want. I've used more sport type tires over the years and I would go through rear tires approximately 2 rears to one front. I switched over to a sport touring tire and I'm very happy with it's performance. Even in more demanding aggressive riding in turns the sport touring tire has worked very well and I'm not replacing the rear so often.

Compounds have gotten better on the newer tires to help with wet grip. If I were a wet weather rider I would roll on the PR3. There's a review here: Michelin Pilot Road 3 Review - webBikeWorld

 

[2nd childhood]

Another "upgrade" you should consider for your bike, especially if you're gonna commute with it, is the horn. When on the freeway, the stocker is practically useless.

 

[FIZZER6]

I'll put between 5,000 and 6,000 a year. I don't ride to0 aggressive during my commute, so I should be able to get good milage from the tires.

Coming from the cruiser world you are used to rear tires lasting 10,000-20,000 miles. I know I also have a cruiser with Dunlop E3 tires that last 15K miles. It won't happen on sport tires, even if you ride like a grandma I garuntee you a sticky sport tire will be badly flat spotted on the rear tire by 5,000 miles. I ride very easy on my FZ6 but at 25K miles I'm on my 5th set of tires already. The only tires I've had that have given me over 6,000 miles on the rear were dual compound Pilot Power 2CT's and I'm going to PR2's this month in hopes to get 9K miles on the rear.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

They didn't even fill up the gas tank for me! Its ok though. I've bought from them a few times over the years and I'm pretty far ahead of the curve in terms of how much money I've cost them form my wheelin' and dealin'.

From your other post on another thread you mentioned you paid $6500 for your bike? In my opinion, you paid at least $2500 too much, even if it came with the Givi's. There are members on this forum who paid $6500 or less when it was brand new five or six years ago. From what I have seen on this forum, a great condition, low mileage 2007, 08 or 09 from a private seller would be around 4k. But the bright side purchasing a bike from a dealership will come with a warranty and is inspected and certified. But I would question why they would leave a 7 year old tire installed on the bike. It has obviously lost it's shelf life and has little or no grip at all, regardless how much tire tread is remaining. In my opinion, that is dangerous! So now, you will have to pony up another $300-400 for a new set of tires, pushing your cost to almost 7k?

 

[funkycold]

Welcome to the forum. You have made a very good choice in both bike and website.

Although i dont have a FZ anymore (moved to a Tiger 1050) i still miss it.

I have found here if you want a thread to go on and on then mention tyres or oil Blah that will be debated till the end of time lol

Bike looks great btw would look even better with Scorpion or TB cans on it !

ps. PR 4's are awesome in the wet..... i should know im from the UK

Man...I'm alreayd wanting some new cans and I've only had this bike a couple of days! I don't need super loud like my old harley, but something with a bit more "growly" sound would be nice.

 

[FIZZER6]

Man...I'm alreayd wanting some new cans and I've only had this bike a couple of days! I don't need super loud like my old harley, but something with a bit more "growly" sound would be nice.

I lot of FZ6 guys run Scorpion cans. They are affordable compared to most. I got mine for under $400 new and you can find them used for $200-250. They sound awesome. The bike sounds like a beast once you clear 8K rpms!

 

[funkycold]

Coming from the cruiser world you are used to rear tires lasting 10,000-20,000 miles. I know I also have a cruiser with Dunlop E3 tires that last 15K miles. It won't happen on sport tires, even if you ride like a grandma I garuntee you a sticky sport tire will be badly flat spotted on the rear tire by 5,000 miles. I ride very easy on my FZ6 but at 25K miles I'm on my 5th set of tires already. The only tires I've had that have given me over 6,000 miles on the rear were dual compound Pilot Power 2CT's and I'm going to PR2's this month in hopes to get 9K miles on the rear.

Wow...I got 22,000 out of my last set of crusier tires...getting 5k to 6k is going to be quite an adjustment...lol.

 

[funkycold]

I lot of FZ6 guys run Scorpion cans. They are affordable compared to most. I got mine for under $400 new and you can find them used for $200-250. They sound awesome. The bike sounds like a beast once you clear 8K rpms!

What about air cleaners and tunes? Do you run a K&N filter? Something else? What about tuning the ecm? PowerCommander?

 

[Pagey]

Mine had Scorpions on it, no need for any adjustments except taking out the DB killers :rockon:

 

[FIZZER6]

What about air cleaners and tunes? Do you run a K&N filter? Something else? What about tuning the ecm? PowerCommander?

You don't need to change anything else but the cans. My bike ran just as well or better with nothing but can swap. A lot of guys do run Power commanders but usually they reduce fuel economy by a lot without a proper tune (which is expensive). This bike is plenty fast stock, I've been riding it since 2006 and still don't feel like it needs more power. I can't safely use half the power on the street.