Thinking about buying an FZ6R

[bmatic586]

Hello everyone,
I am new to the forum and I've been reading a lot of posts and a lot of things about the FZ6R and there don't seem to be a lot of issues with the bike, and I looked at some at a dealership and I really liked the bike.

Currently I have a Buell Blast (I know). It is my first bike, but I am looking for something else to purchase in the next few months that will allow me to go on longer trips and be more comfortable while doing that. I know some people here are saying that their back is hurting when riding the bike and most are saying it's a non-issue.

So anyway, I really like the bike, with all the features, there is only one thing that I'm not sure about.

I want this bike to last me a while, years, and I don't want to grow out of it, so while I really like this bike and the price (new) I am afraid that I will "outgrow" it after two or three years. So my dilemma is, should I look at getting something more or should I just stop and seriously consider getting this bike?

Again, I want to use it on long trips, and also around town.

Can you guys give me some input as far and what you love/hate most about this bike?

Thank you all!!!

 

[Diluted]

The only thing I'd like this bike to have would be a fully adjustable suspension. Other than that I love mine. I feel fine after 12hrs worth of riding yesterday. There's plenty of power for me.

I've had mine for just over a year, only at 2350mi's though. There are folks here who have over 20k mi's so the bike will definitely last.

 

[bmatic586]

The only thing I'd like this bike to have would be a fully adjustable suspension. Other than that I love mine. I feel fine after 12hrs worth of riding yesterday. There's plenty of power for me.

I've had mine for just over a year, only at 2350mi's though. There are folks here who have over 20k mi's so the bike will definitely last.

Ok, good. I just noticed that on yamaha's website it states that this is a beginner to experienced bike, and I just want to make sure that it will have enough torque (in every gear) so when I twist on the throttle it'll go.

I'm no speed daemon by any means, but I like to know that I can pull out of corners fast.

 

[Diluted]

I'll let the more experienced people speak on the torque through corners, I don't have nearly enough experience to give you a good answer. I can say that for me I don't have a problem with it. Once I'm more proficient in twisty riding I'll be able to see.

 

[dart1963]

You may "outgrow" this bike in 2-3 years... however, that's the average time-frame for when most people change bikes (how long have you had the buell?)... in 2-3 years, there may be a newer bike out that catches your eye, and not necessarily because you've outgrown this one.

The FZ6R is great, I'm at just over a year and just over 22k miles. It has plenty of street torque to get up and go, it does lack the full suspension adjustments, like Chris pointed out, but you can upgrade it if you feel you are pushing the bike beyond it's limits. If you've looked around here a bit, you'll find "I like it", "I like it, after I fixed X Y and Z" and "I hate it" threads... most who "hate" it, just were looking for pure sport or pure touring bikes, the FZ6R falls somewhere in between.

 

[roundhouse]

yesterday i traded my R6 for the FZ bike. so far i am very impressed. i rode about 110 miles yesterday and early this morning. i couldnt do that with my old sportbike with its aggresive stance. its a great compromise between performance and comfort.

very happy

 

[JSP]

The bike will do anything you want it to. It has good power and does get up and go when you want it. It is not uncontrollable power. It is great for the street. Some have even tracked it, but dont expect to keep up with much on the track. Its NOT a track bike. It is very comfortable and you can ride hours on it at a time. Many of us have done 8 hour rides or more.

As stated, the only real drawback of the bike is the suspension and how it is not adjustable except for the rear preload. You can (for rather cheap) though, change the springs and the fork oil to get it where you want it.

I'm not saying the bike handles like a slug, it really doesnt. It handles great on the road. You will only really notice it on hard cornering twisties most likely.

The only reason I upgraded to an R6 was because I totaled my 6R. If I could have done it again, now that Ive put about 2k miles on my R6... I would have bought back the FZ6R and just fixed it. I love the R6, its just way more power than needed on the street. It is usable power in the lower RPM, but why waste the bikes potential? 1st gear goes 70+mph! haha, thats already breaking all speed limits hear. So its just way more bike than is needed on the street. 170+mph top end will get ya in some quick trouble. Hell, the FZ6R will break 120+mph without a sweat though too so you can still get in trouble with it! I love the R6 and the adrenaline of it, just not practical really. I may hit up some tracks in the future, but I dont know. My ideal would have been to keep the FZ6R and get a dedicated track bike.

You will no doubt be very happy with this bike though.

 

[bmatic586]

Ok, that helps a lot..the thing is, i really don't want to change it in 2-3 years. I've had the buell for about a year and half, and I just want something more comfortable that I can go on trips with and normal everyday ride to/from work, etc.

As far as the engine on this bike...is it a good engine...durability...any major problems...etc?

 

[bmatic586]

The bike will do anything you want it to. It has good power and does get up and go when you want it. It is not uncontrollable power. It is great for the street. Some have even tracked it, but dont expect to keep up with much on the track. Its NOT a track bike. It is very comfortable and you can ride hours on it at a time. Many of us have done 8 hour rides or more.

As stated, the only real drawback of the bike is the suspension and how it is not adjustable except for the rear preload. You can (for rather cheap) though, change the springs and the fork oil to get it where you want it.

I'm not saying the bike handles like a slug, it really doesnt. It handles great on the road. You will only really notice it on hard cornering twisties most likely.

The only reason I upgraded to an R6 was because I totaled my 6R. If I could have done it again, now that Ive put about 2k miles on my R6... I would have bought back the FZ6R and just fixed it. I love the R6, its just way more power than needed on the street. It is usable power in the lower RPM, but why waste the bikes potential? 1st gear goes 70+mph! haha, thats already breaking all speed limits hear. So its just way more bike than is needed on the street. 170+mph top end will get ya in some quick trouble. Hell, the FZ6R will break 120+mph without a sweat though too so you can still get in trouble with it! I love the R6 and the adrenaline of it, just not practical really. I may hit up some tracks in the future, but I dont know. My ideal would have been to keep the FZ6R and get a dedicated track bike.

You will no doubt be very happy with this bike though.

Thank you so much...This is really helping out a ton...I wonder if a dealership will let me test drive it...

 

[Diluted]

I'd say 22k mi's in a little over a year is pretty damn good. That's 1/4 of what my car has on it lol.

 

[JSP]

Ok, that helps a lot..the thing is, i really don't want to change it in 2-3 years. I've had the buell for about a year and half, and I just want something more comfortable that I can go on trips with and normal everyday ride to/from work, etc.

As far as the engine on this bike...is it a good engine...durability...any major problems...etc?

You wont need to upgrade ever if you dont want to. He was stating you just may want something else that comes out. You know, how you may change a car because you like something new that came out. It may not be a better bike in any aspect, you just like the look of it and "want" something different. OR if you change what you want in a bike... such as a supersport and track days, or a full out touring machine that you can carry your whole house on

This bike will last you forever if you want to. The engine is a great engine! Its based off of a previous generation R6 engine with some different internal profiles (i cant remember all the differences). The inline 4 is a very smooth engine and has good power all the way through the power band. Oil changes are VERY easy as with the rest of the maintenance on the bike. There is tons of info hear to help you. Dart has put over 20,000 miles on his and hasnt had a single problem. I was about 11k without any issues at all. Besides the mountain that got in my way haha.

This really is a great all around bike. Many have put large bags on the side and loaded up it still handles and rides great. I did the spring upgrade and it took mountain twisties awesome!

 

[bmatic586]

That's awesome...Thank you all for yourhelp, and any other suggestions and input is much appreciated...I really enjoy reading the posts on site...a lot of helpful information.

 

[travstoll]

That's awesome...Thank you all for yourhelp, and any other suggestions and input is much appreciated...I really enjoy reading the posts on site...a lot of helpful information.

Ya, this site is a good resource if you have questions on the 6r...as for your Q bout long trips...I put just under 1000 miles on the bike in 2 days a few weekends ago, and could have gone more.

...if you are still thinkin bout buying a bike....mine is for sales HERE....umm, now w/ 39XX miles

 

[bmatic586]

Ya, this site is a good resource if you have questions on the 6r...as for your Q bout long trips...I put just under 1000 miles on the bike in 2 days a few weekends ago, and could have gone more.

...if you are still thinkin bout buying a bike....mine is for sales HERE....umm, now w/ 39XX miles

It looks really nice. It's probably going to be close to the beginning of next riding season before I get one though.

I'll keep you in mind when buying one.

 

[Superzoom]

Hi Bmatic,

Sounds like you're getting good responses so far.

Yes, the suspension could be a lot better, but that is easily upgraded, and 90% of bikes could stand to have their suspension improved. Ride the bike how it is for a year, then get suspension that suits your weight and riding style. The suspension is decent out of the box, so you should be fine for a while.

I find the FZ6R is absolutely fantastic around town because of its engine. Great torque curve for either aggressive city riding or just putting along with the flow of traffic.

The only thing I can see you outgrowing is the sedate power below 6000 rpm, which is common to absolutely all smaller engines. If you want to be able to crack the throttle at any speed at any rpm, then you will definitely feel a 600 is lacking, and again, this applies to any smaller engine. But the fun of a smaller bike is rowing the gears and keeping the engine in its power band. If you find changing gears a lot tedious, you will definitely want to upgrade sooner rather than later.

My last bike was a 1200 Sportster Roadster, which was very torquey and would accelerate smartly at pretty much any engine speed. I could ride that bike without worrying much about gear selection at all, and ride it quickly because I was never in the "wrong" gear.

I am learning how to keep the FZ6R engine on the boil when riding quickly and it's turning out to be very different from my Sportster, but very fun in a different way. Frankly, I miss the character of the Sportster, but the FZ6R is a very capable bike which is easy to handle for beginners, but will reward more skilled riders who want to push the performance envelope.

 

[bmatic586]

Hi Bmatic,

Sounds like you're getting good responses so far.

Yes, the suspension could be a lot better, but that is easily upgraded, and 90% of bikes could stand to have their suspension improved. Ride the bike how it is for a year, then get suspension that suits your weight and riding style. The suspension is decent out of the box, so you should be fine for a while.

I find the FZ6R is absolutely fantastic around town because of its engine. Great torque curve for either aggressive city riding or just putting along with the flow of traffic.

The only thing I can see you outgrowing is the sedate power below 6000 rpm, which is common to absolutely all smaller engines. If you want to be able to crack the throttle at any speed at any rpm, then you will definitely feel a 600 is lacking, and again, this applies to any smaller engine. But the fun of a smaller bike is rowing the gears and keeping the engine in its power band. If you find changing gears a lot tedious, you will definitely want to upgrade sooner rather than later.

My last bike was a 1200 Sportster Roadster, which was very torquey and would accelerate smartly at pretty much any engine speed. I could ride that bike without worrying much about gear selection at all, and ride it quickly because I was never in the "wrong" gear.

I am learning how to keep the FZ6R engine on the boil when riding quickly and it's turning out to be very different from my Sportster, but very fun in a different way. Frankly, I miss the character of the Sportster, but the FZ6R is a very capable bike which is easy to handle for beginners, but will reward more skilled riders who want to push the performance envelope.

Ok, that's good.

How high is the RPM when you are riding in 6th gear going say..65-70mph?

 

[travstoll]

Ok, that's good.

How high is the RPM when you are riding in 6th gear going say..65-70mph?

6000 rpms....

5th gear matches the rpm gauge almost perfectly...60mph = 6k, 70mph = 7k

6th gear is slightly lower...70mph is going to be right around 6k rpms, maybe just slightly higher

 

[bmatic586]

6000 rpms....

5th gear matches the rpm gauge almost perfectly...60mph = 6k, 70mph = 7k

6th gear is slightly lower...70mph is going to be right around 6k rpms, maybe just slightly higher

How does this wear on the engine? gas mileage?

Is it fine to run the engine at 6k rpm for 3-4 hours at a time??

 

[Diluted]

I got around 50mpg yesterday on the way home, and still had about 1.2 gallons available. So I probably could've made it 200mi's on that tank.

Yeah, the engine likes running that high. I had mine way up in the RPM range yesterday for the whole time I was out.

 

[travstoll]

How does this wear on the engine? gas mileage?

Is it fine to run the engine at 6k rpm for 3-4 hours at a time??

Its what these engines are made for....if you change oil every 3k miles and just take care of the bike...the engine will last years and years.

I have a 1971 honda 350. The rpm range is the same proportionately to what the 6r is. I am rebuilding the engine now for the first time in almost 40 years, because it started to seap oil around the clutch cover, not because the engine broke down or anything.....

Japan knows exactly what they are doing when it comes to building reliable engines.

and for mpg's....with this bike on the highway, I get around 44mpg, I have no idea how people get 50+mpg on this bike.