Finally got my new Yamaha

[Centerline]

Fantastic machine, your new FZ1!!! Hard to find near me in Texas, tho I haven't looked very diligently.

 

[TheRepairMan]

Fantastic machine, your new FZ1!!! Hard to find near me in Texas, tho I haven't looked very diligently.

There are still some FZ1 waiters posting their pain on the FZ1oa message board, but I also have read of guys just walking into their local Yamaha stores and buying one right off the floor.

Mine was ordered last Sept. and just came in last Friday, May 13th, so it's been much like getting a new FJR.

I think Tony at the Yamaha dealership in Texarkana may be able to find you one if you are ready any time soon. I'll try to find his contact info. and post it up. He is on both forums pretty often updating the Yamaha delivery schedules for both models ...however, mine came in and the Bristol, VA dealer never made the list for some odd reason.

Roger

Okay ...here it is.

Tony is "lotecredneck" here on the FJR forum, and you can reach him @...

Tony Orihuela

Yamaha Sportscenter

[email protected]

www.yamahasportscenter.com

 

[sparky3008]

Delete

 

[luvtoride]

Hey Roger,

I was with Travis this past Saturday while doing the Valley called Shady. We definitely would've helped you scrub in those tires. I am, as yourself, scrubbing in new tires. My rear is just this side of the fence from de-chicken stripped.

And Travis... if you read this you've got pics @ your home email account.

Heidi

 

[FJRZON]

Congrats Mr. RepairMan! Now see if you can import the hard bags & plumbing from Europe and you will essentially have yourself a mini-FJR!

 

[Scab]

My local dealer has one on the floor. Sticker is like 9k or something.

 

[bikepoor]

There is a new FZ-1 site trying to get off the ground if anybody wants to check them out. It's starting slow so they could use the support of any fz riders.

fz1riders.com

 

[TheRepairMan]

Congrats Mr. RepairMan! Now see if you can import the hard bags & plumbing from Europe and you will essentially have yourself a mini-FJR!

You're killing me! You all know I'm here in this forum because my goal was to own a new FJR.

I wanted the new FJR to replace an ST1300 sold in November but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience the 06 FZ1. I love this bike in it's stripped down street fighter stance for now.

She runs good but I don't want to make it any heavier. It just doesn't have the bottom end torque to handle a lot of add ons. I might need a GPS and a good radar detector though! :yahoo: Don't want any performance awards from the local LEOs this year.

Roger

I'll have my new full size FJR someday.

 

[brazos parker]

Congrats, Roger. We'll have to meet up on the road sometime.

 

[FJRZON]

Lights...

Camera...

Action!

TheRepairMan Posted Today, 08:28 PMShe runs good but I don't want to make it any heavier. It just doesn't have the bottom end torque to handle a lot of add ons.

Throw the ***** on the bottle. LOL.

 

[worldbound4now]

How insane is this. I went from looking at this post to looking at the Yamaha website. Off to VStroms, drifted to Toyota and built a few vehicles, then drifted to Land Rover's website. Damn I'm a dreamer. This topic just cost me 30 minutes.

 

[newsantafe]

I will tell you I have had mine since 1 March, and have about 3500 miles on my 06FZ1 already. I love that bike!!! Unfortunately, I had to change my tires this week, Mine came with Dunlop 221's and I ran over a nail in the rear, and since Yamaha says, the soonest I can have a new rear is in June, I replaced both tires with Dunlop Qualifiers. Now those tires are great!!!! Hope you enjoy your FZ as much as I do. I had an 02, and it was OK, but this bike rocks!

 

[TheRepairMan]

I will tell you I have had mine since 1 March, and have about 3500 miles on my 06FZ1 already. I love that bike!!! Unfortunately, I had to change my tires this week, Mine came with Dunlop 221's and I ran over a nail in the rear, and since Yamaha says, the soonest I can have a new rear is in June, I replaced both tires with Dunlop Qualifiers. Now those tires are great!!!! Hope you enjoy your FZ as much as I do. I had an 02, and it was OK, but this bike rocks!

(yesterday Sat. May 27th, 06)

I finally got a chance to ride my new FZ1 on highway 421 from Bristol TN into Shady Valley TN and back today, on this beautiful warm Saturday.

They call 421 the "snake" for obvious reasons and that was the perfect test bed for my both this great bike and my skills or lack there of. Well, I still tend to ride the twisties pretty much as if I was on a trail bike, staying more straight up rather than leaning into the turn like you are suppose to. I'm working on my line more than my style right now. They will come together as I gain more experience and get more comfortable with the new bike.

I'm not pushing nearly hard enough to consider hanging off into a turn and my knee pucks are still on a shelf at the store anyway, but the bike has so much in reserve in the performance and handling department that it was as if it didn't really care how I wanted to hang on, it just goes where you think it should and without any fuss or fight.

I got the biggest rush accelerating hard up out of the turns and then slowing fairly hard early in so not to accidentally mess up a perfect day. This lets me mostly coast through the turns and easily correct my line for lose gravel and other obstacles in the road. I'm not real big on feathering the outer edges of my chicken strips anyway. Not that I have much strip left ...at 200 total break-in miles there may be 3/8ths of an inch unscathed on the big rear 190/50 Dunlop.

I've never had anything that was so much fun to ride. I won't say it makes me look good but it certainly is forgiving of the lack of rider talent. I can still go way too fast on it with complete confidence. I racked up about 95 more mountain road miles today and I am so looking forward to more as soon as I can.

Yeah, you got to start saving up for your new FZ1. I think even riders with lots of experience will appreciate this bike. Pure sport bikers, probably not so much, until they someday tire of laying over the tank all day. The new FZ1 is in a class of it's own in my opinion.

Who said it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast?

It's more fun to ride a fast bike fast !

Roger

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Now you need to order some FJR bags and subframe mounts, that'd be killer. It's doable!

Definatly gotta hack off that tail.

Who says you can't do it to an fjr?

A company that chops the uglies off rear ends of bikes has asked if they can borrow my '06 FJR for a prototype. Unfortunately, they are working on so many bikes it won' be until October. The downside is the splooge that gets onto the tail.......but extra washes and wax work for that !

As for those bicyclists, I would hate to see one after a fall during a long sweeper down a mountain road -- oh the roadrash! :dribble:

 

[TheRepairMan]

It looks like a pissed-off insect. I like.

I'm with Scab. I sorta like the looks of this mad insect.

The 1st generation FZ1 owners had their "bee" and I have my "wasp".

The tail does have a section that hangs down below the tag that serves no function what so ever. I think I could chop it cleanly and make the back look some better.

I'm not quite ready to make any big changes to anything about the bike quite yet ...although, I can see a touring windscreen and an inch higher set of bars in it's future for more sport/touring comfort.

Roger

 

[newsantafe]

I love my 06 fz1, In fact, we just got an 06 silver in!!! Now that is great looking also. So if you live in the central Texas area, (Killeen) stop on by. I am the service manager there. I invite ALL FJR riders to stop by and say HI. (Texas Motor Sports)

 

[Blueliner]

Now, guys. You all are no different for the FZ1 owners over on their forum. Always trying to turn the latest version of the FZ1 into an FJR.
Having had ridden the new FZ1 I think is won't impress many of you FJR owners when loaded up and pulling at lower rpms. She just doesn't have big torque like the FJR1300 or the ST1300 I had the pleasure of working out with last year ...

...but, having said that, if you do love the upright riding posture yet want something very capable of going fast and cornering hard, the FZ1 is the ticket and closely resembles the performance, feel and sound of Yamaha's R1 yet lets you slow down and sit up to enjoy a more relaxed ride if you so desire.

Giving my own comparison between the new FZ1 and the much heavier ST1300. This Yamaha offers very little protection from the elements and no factory bags are offered in the US, but it does everything else way better in every way. This is simply a lighter, more powerful and much more fun machine to operate in almost all riding conditions IMHO. That's why some rags have already named it bike of the year for 06.

Roger

Roger is right and wrong. The FZ1OA people don't try to make an FZ1 into an FJR. Maybe 10% put hard luggage on them. Even when I did a SS1000 on mine FZ, I used a 35 litre tail bag and a street fighter windscreen and stock seat. The only other "mod" I did was put the gearing back to stock. Most FZ owners take weight off, lower the bars and gearing, jet the carbs (01-05) and power commander the 06, an aftermarket can andfull exhaust is a popular change as well. More have made it a naked bike by getting rid of the fairing than have added luggage. Personally, mine is 20 lbs lighter than stock, with about 18 more I can remove easily, and up about 12-13 horses and 5-6 ft/lbs of torque over stock. Mine would definitely be more typical of FZ owners than sport touring version. FZ owners who want an FJR simply buy an FJR to park next to the FZ like I did, or sell the FZ and buy an FJR as a few have done.

He is absolutely correct about the rev range though. The 1300 is a brute down low and in mid range, while the FZ doesn't start to make appreciable power until after 7k rpm. Not that it is slow in the low rpms (a litre bike is seldom slow anywhere) but it doesn't have the FJR's torque. Almost 20 ft/lbs less. That said, after 7k, the FZ will flatten your eyeballs and run REAL hard all the way to 12k in the first five gears and most of the way through 6th. Aerodynamics start to hurt a lot after 140 or so... I was told that anyway... B)

 

[TheRepairMan]

"Now, guys. You all are no different for the FZ1 owners over on their forum. Always trying to turn the latest version of the FZ1 into an FJR."

(snip)

Roger

Roger is right and wrong. The FZ1OA people don't try to make an FZ1 into an FJR. Maybe 10% put hard luggage on them. Even when I did a SS1000 on mine FZ, I used a 35 litre tail bag and a street fighter windscreen and stock seat. The only other "mod" I did was put the gearing back to stock. Most FZ owners take weight off, lower the bars and gearing, jet the carbs (01-05) and power commander the 06, an aftermarket can and full exhaust is a popular change as well. More have made it a naked bike by getting rid of the fairing than have added luggage. Personally, mine is 20 lbs lighter than stock, with about 18 more I can remove easily, and up about 12-13 horses and 5-6 ft/lbs of torque over stock. Mine would definitely be more typical of FZ owners than sport touring version. FZ owners who want an FJR simply buy an FJR to park next to the FZ like I did, or sell the FZ and buy an FJR as a few have done.

He is absolutely correct about the rev range though. The 1300 is a brute down low and in mid range, while the FZ doesn't start to make appreciable power until after 7k rpm. Not that it is slow in the low rpms (a litre bike is seldom slow anywhere) but it doesn't have the FJR's torque. Almost 20 ft/lbs less. That said, after 7k, the FZ will flatten your eyeballs and run REAL hard all the way to 12k in the first five gears and most of the way through 6th. Aerodynamics start to hurt a lot after 140 or so... I was told that anyway... B)

Thanks Mike!

BTW, I didn't mean anything bad about my comments. I think even the 06 FZ1 could be transformed into a pretty decent sport/touring ride with some limitations, but I believe it wasn't really intended to be used this way.

The stock gas tank for instance only holds 4.3 to 4.6 gal of gas and at 38 to 42 mpg that dictates a stop about every 150 to 175 miles. That isn't a problem in the bike's stock form because my butt can't stand even that many miles on the R1 style saddle. Corbin already offers a nice touring option for seat and pillion, as well as a smuggler's trunk or a backrest with glovebox.

No real wind or weather protection either. That makes it not much fun out on the big slab. My first full month and I have stayed away from the interstates as much as possible. Me and my bike are much happier just traveling the back roads and mountainous twisties. A taller shield might help but only slightly.

I haven't ridden an FJR but I'm guessing there's no comparison on the freeway, but given riders with equal skills I dare say the FJR couldn't possibly keep up with the FZ1 in the tight stuff. Not to say the FJR isn't very capable and a LOT of fun, but the FZ1 is way more akin to the R1 in that area. 131 hp to the rear wheel @ about 485 lbs fully wet, huge tires, rigid frame and a fully adjustable suspension. The 06 FZ1 can be pushed way fast right out of the box!

The first generation FZ1 was much more comfortable than the 06 and many owners have said it was too much like the FJR to be a true street-fighter or sport-bike thus leaving many of them wanting a more sport oriented machine. Just as with the newly designed FJR, Yamaha listened and completely revamped the FZ1 utilizing much of the current R1 parts inventory and technology to create a more solid sport platform for the street. Even us older guys (50+) are reporting riding experiences in which bike and man meld together as one enjoying a perfect blend of near upright dual purpose comfort and exhilarating performance that would satisfy all but the most hard core sport-bike riders. Touring optional.

Roger

 

[temp357]

Nice!

Where are the bags and lower fairing?

 

[TheRepairMan]

Nice!Where are the bags and lower fairing?

The fairing lowers are available from Yamaha here in the US now.

https://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/accessor...7/0/detail.aspx

The bags should be available here also sometime this year.

Roger