Can FZ6 Tour?

[Cortez]

Originally Posted by Zapp22

I know little of this bike but spent some time looking at it yesterday... touchy feely. A hair lighter than my Vstrom 650, in-betweener ergos, peppy engine from what I read, popular following.

can this thing be luggaged and toured? fuel range??? reliable???

educate me the quik way, pls.
z

Long story short - YES.

Fuel consumption is about the same a Vstrom when you're taking it
easy (you said touring!), never heard anyone had reliability problems
with the FZ6 (even some of my friends who prettymuch keep it above
10krpm most of the time).

As for comfort and wind protection, it's somewhat worse then your
Strom, but again, I did 7k miles on my ER6F in 3+ months with one 1,5k
mile trip in 6 days without any problems, and the FZ6 has even more
comfortable seat and better wind protection then the ER6F.

The only thing I disliked about it was.. no torque..
The engine is VERY smooth, and the power/torque builds up evenly from
2,5k rpm up to 10k when you get a sudden burst of power.

Not really a touring engine.. you'll need to work that gearbox a bit
for overtaking.. but droping it to 5th at let's say 60-70mph will get
you the torque you're used to having at that speed in 6th on your
Vstrom..

Howerer.. you can drop another cog.. and WOOOSH a lot faster then
on your strom

Just my $.02

[Thinman]

Had an 04 FZ6 and included a 2300 mile trip averaging 300 to 500 miles a day. A little tiring on the slab, but worth it once you get on the backroads/twisties. This was one-up - would not want to do an extended two-up trip though.

[giblets]

a riding bud of mine has a yamaha FZ6-S2*, the 98 horsepower version, which i've driven a few times. great all-around bike for city/highway applications. a higher windshield might be desirable for all-day stints in the saddle.

as for reliability: he is brutal with it. the poor bike gets an oil change once every two years (i chit you not... i have even offered to change the bike's oil myself, to no avail), the chain has never been adjusted, and it gets washed only when he needs to read the clocks or oil fill window. the bike has performed spotlessly in 22,000 kilometers, although i'm convinced that someday it will just spontaneously combust from neglect. as a result, i try not to park too close to him at rest stops.



as for touring: he's gone all over europe with the FZ6, including several trips from vienna to croatia. additionally, his family lives 750km away, so he makes regular all-day trips on the autobahn to visit the rents. one of the croatia trips was with his girlfriend sitting sozius, and he said the bike performed well.

FWIW.

*in the EU, here are three variations on the theme fazer: the 34hp version, the 78hp version, and the S2 with 98hp. they all have the same engine/chassis, just different outputs. it's possible that the only version stateside is the S2.

[Foxy]

Originally Posted by giblets

*in the EU, here are three variations on the theme fazer: the 34hp version, the 78hp version, and the S2 with 98hp. they all have the same engine/chassis, just different outputs. it's possible that the only version stateside is the S2.

There are? The 34bhp machine is just a restricted full power machine. Never heard of any 78bhp version, are you sure that isn't just the power at the rear wheel?

Oh, and of course it'll tour, any bike will tour.

[kbasa]

It can tour if you decide it can.

[Cortez]

Originally Posted by Foxy

There are? The 34bhp machine is just a restricted full power machine. Never heard of any 78bhp version, are you sure that isn't just the power at the rear wheel?

Oh, and of course it'll tour, any bike will tour.

He got it mostly right.
There's actually all 3, but the 78hp version is the old Fazer now,
NOT the S2. You can still buy the now old Fazer here, but it's been
detuned to 78hp for some reason.

The new S2 is avaliable as mentioned with 98hp, like the old version,
and restricted in some countrys at 34hp.

Also worth mentioning is that the S2 is reworked a bit, and it's not only
cosmetics, so it SHOULD be a better bike.

Only one downside, and it's a big one considering the subject of this
thread. The windscreen is _smaller_ and sits lower then before, and
most mags have reported that the wind protection is worse then on
the old model

[motolocopat]

Any bike can tour........
is it the ideal tourer?? no
You mention LUGGING the motor?? I never lug my motors if I can avoid it, to me lugging is down out of the range where the bike will pull away, maybe slowly, with light throttle. Doesn't sound like it is the ideal bike if you lie to LUG your engine.

On the other hand it looks like you live in the Texas Hill Country so other than touring do you get out and hit the wonderfull roads of that area? I'd think that the FZ6 would be a GREAT Hill Country weekender/Commuter/Part-Time Tourer.

[ag_streak]

Originally Posted by motolocopat

Any bike can tour........
is it the ideal tourer?? no
You mention LUGGING the motor?? I never lug my motors if I can avoid it, to me lugging is down out of the range where the bike will pull away, maybe slowly, with light throttle. Doesn't sound like it is the ideal bike if you lie to LUG your engine.

I think he said "luggaged", as in, can it be equipped with hard bags? Not "lugged"...

[SnappNBrrap]

Id go 500+ miles on mine anyday. And the sudden burst of power kicks in at about 7.5-8k rpms. Givi makes a good bag setup, puig makes a tall screen, there is a headlight mod to turn on both low beams, and yes the bike is capable of 140mph. iv had mine almost to 130 and there was plenty of RPMs left and my bike is completely stock other than a windscreen.

[Cortez]

+1

I've done 20k+ miles of touring on a less comfortable bike with worse
wind protection and less power. Other then torque, the FZ6 is an amazing
mix of sport and touring with almost no compromises IMHO.

Maybe a Bandit 650/650S/GSX650FA is a better choice, but the FZ6 is
a riot to ride, and it's electric motor smooth up to about 6000 (and
you can lug that engine all day long, it's smooth from idle up).

But after 8k, it's turbo-time, yeah baby!

[mrbreeze]

Originally Posted by Zapp22

I know little of this bike but spent some time looking at it yesterday... touchy feely. A hair lighter than my Vstrom 650, in-betweener ergos, peppy engine from what I read, popular following.

can this thing be luggaged and toured? fuel range??? reliable???

educate me the quik way, pls.
z

one of the finest do it all bikes you can get. Put a decent seat on it (I had a Corbin on mine, big improvement) and it is comfy enough to tour on. I never got less than 50mpg, so range was well over 200 miles. You can add some Givi V35 panniers to it and a top box for touring. If you go with soft luggage you have to get a bit creative with how you mount it due to the underseat exhaust. I did a multi day camping trip to the mountains on mine. It was a blast.

I highly recommend the FZ6.

[Grainbelt]

Its the only thing it can do.

[Dranrab Luap]

Originally Posted by ag_streak

I think he said "luggaged", as in, can it be equipped with hard bags? Not "lugged"...

I love when 4 year old threads get bumped and people still respond to the OP.

[somclan]

You can go any where on any bike I reckon.... I tried a FZ6 and brought it away for a few weeks ..It did the job well but I remember working the gearbox a lot ...No big deal...Fuel will be around the 50 per gallon and the tank is large enough to give you decent range.... Go for it ...Bring it on a tour !

[mrphotoman]

Damn, you guys that whine about having to shift a gear once in a while or high revs must be 400lb sloth cruiser riders lol. I much prefer a high revving bike, that is where all the fun is. Who wants a street bike that redlines at 6k That is boring and slow like an old coal truck.