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Originally posted by ses310Must admit that even though its a Yamaha it is a cracking bike to ride. Felt like an armchair compared to my Blade in France and goes and handles really really well.
A true bike that does it all, well apart from the fuel economy!I got used to the Thundercat doing 45-50mpg, and it has a bigger tank too…so 180-200 miles could be covered before having to refuel. It has surprised me how much this bothers me!
Well the FZ passed its’ first MOT last week at the excellent Grand Prix Motors in Kidderminster. Thorough but fair.
The bike now has 7500 miles on the clock and has continued to impress since the last update a few months ago. The horrible summer has limited how much I have used the old girl, the majority of its’ miles were added on the epic Assen run with Kat, his crew, Ses, Champs and Thumper. The biggest mileage in a day was over 500 in one hit. Too many really, but it was only me that was knackered; not the bike as it ran flawlessly and was comfortable for such a powerful bike. The big addition has been an excellent Givi rack and luggage case, that apart from some problems with the catch (my stupidity) early on has been really excellent. Other than that it has been used for a bit of commuting and few local blasts which it has lapped up without problem
The Metzelers have been fine, but the long stright run to Assen has flat spotted the rear especially and so I will be replacing them soon. I will probably go the Maxxis route as they have served me well on the Thundercat.
Over the ‘summer’ I also had the opportunity to ride a 2011 Triumph 1050 Speed trple…a FZ1 competitor and I came away impressed, especially with the tuneful triple power plant. However overall I prefer my Yamaha and it is way more comfortable than the slightly brutal Triumph.
The next question is do I take the FZ or the Thundercat to the Pyrennes next year??
Well Pirelli Corsa tyres have been fitted now and the old girl is all set for the Pyrennes run next week, she got the nod over the Thundercat…
I also applied for a job on a bike rag, but sadly my application didn’t get anywhere…
I updated and edited my review from here as one of the three articles I had to submit, take a look: Knowing me it will be riddled with spelling and grammar errors, oh well. It had to be about your own bike and you had stick to a limit of 500 words:
Do you remember that scene from the iconic film ‘The Blues Brothers’ when Elwood turns up in the new Blues mobile, an ex police cruiser coolly stating;
“It’s got a cop motor, 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, it’s a model made before catalytic convertors so it’ll run good on regular gas.”
He then nailed the throttle, smoked the tyres and leapt across a river. My Yamaha FZ1S somehow reminds me of that ex-cop cruiser:
“it’s got R1 shocks, R1 brakes and a R1 motor” to paraphrase Elwood
What we have here a sober suited assassin who looks like that nice bloke next door, but the attaché case he carries to the office each morning doesn’t contain his butties, but rather a snipers’ rifle and sights!
When letting loose all 140 bhp available the FZ1S feels both potent and arrogant. The upright and relatively high riding position gives a feel somewhere between a Supermoto and a Supercharged Range Rover! Whilst the top-end will not have the ultimate rush of a sports bike, I wonder if the power curve and gearing is generally better suited to quick progress on our pot holed roads.
Mention of the gearing brings me to the Fazers’ Achilles heel…the clunky gearbox, particularly noticeable engaging 1st or shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. Why Yamaha fail so consistently with gearbox design baffles me. However the stiff, R1 inspired frame and brakes back up that potent engine brilliantly so the Fazer is great fun to ride, especially on the more open sweeping type road where its’ inherent stability really comes to the fore. In tighter bends the 220kg+ weight starts to have an influence, but it can still be hustled along with aplomb. Comfort is excellent thanks to the riding position and on long, fast runs this is a great asset. The Fazer has been a companion on several continental trips where it struck me just how wide its’ capabilities are; covering ground with the ease of a tourer and the verve of a sports bike. However the design of the tail piece made fitting soft panniers awkward.
These trips showed up another concern with the FZ…fuel consumption. I was not expecting it to sip fuel like a C90, but the 40mpg returns were disappointing. This thirst combines with a small tank to limit range to about 120 miles before you start hunting for more fuel, but this is a criticism that can be levelled at many big bikes these days.
The bike has performed near faultlessly, only needing a new rear tyre every 4,000 miles and a tweak to the TPS after it developed a slightly uneven idle after a lengthy enforced layup.
So what we have here is a sports bike without many of the downsides and crucially the comfort to enable you to access the bikes capability easily. However it does also lack that final little dash of panache, intent, whatever it may be that a full on sports-bike can deliver.Cheers Ses
As you know the old girl has been traded in now. I will do a ‘close-out’ review this week. Cracking bike, loved the power, will miss it, but very pleased with the new bike so far
Well the FZ has been gone about 6 weeks now and how do I sum up my time with the old bus? For me the bike has been a near perfect companion but it just felt right to move on and try something different. I had owned the Yam just about four years, covered just on 10,000 miles and raided Europe three times. It was right time to go out on a high, like a boxing champion retiring with the belt.
In summary the bike has been reliable, slight TPS glitch aside, gone through two and a bit sets of tyres and was still on its’ original pads and C&S. I would happily recomend one to a friend. My only miss giving would be the seat height for a stumpy like myself.
A cracking bike it is up for £4695 at the Value Bike Centre in Wymondham, Norfolk.
https://www.valuebikecentre.net/used-bike-details-norwich-norfolk.asp?ID=2536
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