Official FZ6 Thread

I have a Corbin seat, Knight Designs lower pegs and bar risers. These mods really transform the FZ6 for long distance riding.

The FZ6's are great bikes, I've owned a couple. I had a Corbin seat on my 04 and it didn't seem much better (aside from looks) than the factory seat. I did have a Puig double bubble windscreen on both bikes and it was an improvement over stock for me, I'm 5' 10". I ditched the fairings on the 04, rode it for a while, sold it, then ended up getting the 06 about a year later. The biggest and cheapest improvement made was going down to a 15t front sprocket.

Newbie reporting in! I got my bike license recently and I've decided to get an FZ6 as my first bike, as I rode one as my school bike and it seems a good fit and a fine compromise in my situation with its easy handling, decent power, reliability and suitability for a bit of light touring as well as daily commutes. It's also cheaper to buy than a Z750 or a later, fuel-injected CB600F Hornet and there are many 10.000-25.000 km examples to choose from on the market.

My price range (~5000 euros - bikes are expensive here) encompasses bikes both before and after the -07 "facelift" (S2 models post-07). Are the differences (brakes, swingarm, styling etc.) notable enough to warrant a 10-20% price gap between similar-mileage 06 and 07 bikes?
The 40.000 km service is an expensive one (500+ euros), but before that it should be pretty easy on the wallet? Are there any general or year-specific things that go wrong that I should be on the lookout for? Dealerships have a law-mandated 6 month warranty on used bikes here, but if I save a grand or a half buying from a private seller, how likely is it to come back and bite me in the ass?
Anything else I should know?

I have the ROX risers with the FZ1 bars on mine and put heated grips on her as well.
So close to being a great bike- I am going to mod the seat, I have to get it a little higher and more comfortable for that long commute!

The injectors are computer controlled so they adjust themselves automatically up and down. because of this, at idle the bike is trying to keep the lowest RPM to keep the bike running. when it gets too low it adjusts up and vice versa. you can make a cheap manometer to balance out the TBs but it wont make much difference.

And join us at The Forum. www.fz6-forum.com

it does run slowly sometimes, but you'll get much better info there. im the *SweaterDude* there BTW.

and congratz on getting a faster blue one

good choice for a first bike. thats what i did. first, try to get an 07+. second, get one as close to stock as possible. Ad the general consensus is as follows: Blue is faster but Red is sexyer. and last, join the Forum!!!!! www.fz6-forum.com

SnappNBrapp....thanks for the info on the "hunting" idle. I have a set of guages so someday I'll see if the throttle bodies are out of sync. It probably only matters mostly at idle, since the percentage they might be off becomes very slight at highway speeds. At least that's they way I've always viewed carb sync'ing.

We recently got faster internet and my computer has been de-loused of viruses and is running faster now, so I'll take another look at the FZ6 forum.

Lynn

A TB balance will supposedly smooth out the 5-6k RPM buzz too.

Well, now we're talking. I may have to do the sync sooner than later. I do find that buzz in the pegs a bit annoying, but liking the bike in so many other ways I was willing to deal with it. Maybe I don't have to. Thanks!

Lynn

yep, 2" risers off my Buell Ulysses and enough room in the cables.

I have them pulled back a bit and higher for a relaxed ride, fels like a dirt bike with the FZ1 bars.
with the stock bars they may not work though.

I just picked up this '08 today!

It had, get this, 200 miles! Yes, 200 miles!!

The PO bought it as his first bike to commute on, but immediately got a new job at work that he had to travel for, so he stuck the bike in a garage, moved to Florida a while later, and moved the bike into his dad's garage. It fell over on it's left side, but zero plastic damage. Only the engine case cover has scratches.

Starts and runs perfect. All the fluids were changed. I'm wary of the tires, but they look perfect, I'll change the battery, no surface corrosion, chain was well-coated the whole time. I asked if he used fuel stabilizer, but he didn't. His dad rode it at least once a month.

Anything else to look for?

sent the seat to Spencer's seat mod. here's a link:

http://greatdaytoride.com/

cheap mod and everyone says the return is relatively fast. supposedly every bit as good as a corbin would be except not as slick.

for good softbags check out the SW Motech Blaze sysetem. and you should be able to get lower pegs relatively cheap.

nice ride AG! looks just like mine, even has the massive license plate holder. just make sure it runs fine and that if you take it up to 10-12k that it doesn't lose pressure or spit fluid out of the case. if you havent ridden one of these before. it is a bit bipolar. really tame until about 7k then from 7500rpm+ it comes alive.

Nice find, ag_streak. Good luck with it.

I'm leaning towards a set of Givi V35s for the 2008 FZ6, but before I plunge, I was wondering if anyone could post any pictures of aluminum or other top-opening adventure-style hard bags mounted on an FZ6.

My search-fu is weak today. Couldn't come up with any!

Thanks in advance...

Found some on the FZ6 forum. SW-Motech Trax cases.



http://www.fz6-forum.com/forum/album.php?albumid=1236


And here's the link to twisted throttle, who sells them. You'd have to get the right adapter for Trax cases, and the cases themselves.

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/3776/660/

Oooh, yeah, those are nice. Thanks for posting that.

I had some on a Versys. For some reason, the brackets from SW Motech are a lot more than Givi racks. Decisions, decisions...

I got to get a good look at a co-workers 2007 FZ6 today as we went on a short ride together, about 80 miles. I was quite impressed with how I felt while sitting on it. I will be picking up a new bike this summer and have looked at everything in this range and have gravitated towards a Versys or a Weestrom, but after spending a little time on my co-workers bike I now very interested in the new FZ6R. After a quick look on CycleTrader it seems that you could pick this bike up on the cheap. Looks to be a decent aftermarket as well, at least for the farkles I want, like V35's, risers, and lower pegs.

Here are a couple of a mate of mine on his FZ6. He is pushing 70 but he isnt scared to take it anywhere.