Can FZ6 Tour?

[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

[fz6kd7]

I haven't really toured on mine a few overnight trips from vegas to utah, no luggage yet but there are plenty to choose from givi mainly for hard luggage.
A very fun bike around town or in the twisties. I've put 14k on my 06 and it makes me glad I bought it every ride. no trips to the mechanic yet for anything but oil, tires.

[phlatlander]

A friend and i went touring last summer in colorado. She averaged over 50mpg. One tank was 65mpg calculated, and one she didn't fill but based on my fuel ecomony hers would have been in the 80's mph. Yes that is correct 80mpg. Think hers is a 05. The bike just plain impressed me. One cavet is that she had surging/fueling issues when in higher elevations. Never did find out what the cause was.


However, for my size 6'1" 220#'s the bike felt a little small to me. To tour on it i would have to make some changes, but i think i could get it comfortable enough.

[fz6kd7]

the only bad points you will here repeated are the friction zone on the clutch is short but if you just dump it and go no problems
touring I would definitly but some driving lights on it(I'm in the process now of deciding which ones)

[KTMRyder]

Zapp, my buddy rides an FZ6 and went with us on 3500 mile one week trip in September. we did Colorado, Utah and part of Idaho.

We convinced him to go and he did buy some Givi luggage.
he only got them the week before we left, they bolted up nice but he had to make some bracket to relocate the turn signals.

The bike ran perfect and his gas mileage was good. I was on the Wee, another friend on an older model FZ1 and Dick on the FZ6.
we usually tried to stop every 150 miles, I doubt 175 would be a problem.

Here is a picture from the trip with his bike.



He has a Bagman tankbag setup and I believe he has a Corbin seat.

[vicsar]

With a few mods (seat, hardbags, throttlemeister and windscreen) you can put some serious miles comfortably. This guy ride his FZ6 across Canada and the US last summer.

http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/fz6...ht=caladin%27s

[Mike Butt]

A modern R100S. Hell yes.

[Zapp22]

Sounds like a well-done middleweight 'tweener to me. sort of a half-step between an SV and Vstrom .. a lot faster than a V-strom 650. Did I read a review somewhere... top speed 140'ish?? that sounds high. Anyway, its passing power that comes in handy

[Dennis van Dijk]

I have had an FZ6s like the blue one in the photo above and can not fault the bike. Bought it in March last year and use it for a busy commute on the M25 around London, UK. Put about 11000mi on it and it runs fine. Only had normal maintenance. Did suffer once from a sticky gearlever due to all the crap weather the bolt lost its grease. Two minutes to fix.

I installed a scottoiler and never have had to adjust the chain. The dealer does it at the service interval and that is all that is needed. ALso installed some heated grips from oxford, a dodle to fit. Bar end come off so easy. The whole bar end is threaded itself so a big thorx wrench gets it off so much easier than corroded bolt that normally hold on the bar ends. (my wife's SV is a prime example).

Bike goes as you like, cruise at easy speeds. But there is a beast lurking inside with that R6 engine. Two gears back and it goes like a bat out of hell. Triple digits very easy. I cruise at 80mph to work and it copes fine.

Go for it. Another good reason is they are cheap and the build quality is way beyond suzuki and kawasaki.

[Zapp22]

sounds like fun to me....

so is Givi the only way to go for real bags?

the referenced link to the canadian uber-tourer - that looks like a Sargent or ?? seat on the bike. Anyone know? is there corbin/mayer/sargent avail?
he's got a taller fairing also, right?

[cmack]

Where the FZ6 shines is as a commuter or weekend strafer. It is certainly competent as a tourer. However, I think there are better steeds for that function... especially if you plan on doing a lot of touring. Personally, it lacks the low end torque punch I like in a touring bike. The FZ6 motor is a detuned R6, but it's still rev-happy and makes its power up high. For touring, that means more shifting and slightly buzzy. I'd go for the FZ1 over the FZ6 for that reason alone.

[apor]

haha my first post on here is about a bike i'll soon be looking to sell.

i've been riding my fz6 for 2 years now, and i've taken it all over the east coast. it's pretty good for touring. i'd say it's pretty good at everything, but excellent at nothing. i've even taken mine on 1/2 day fire-road rides. if you do get one, you'll appreciate having givi luggage on it, as well as a corbin (i have both). bar risers are also nice if you're spending endless days in the saddle and aren't a fan of the crouched position. as a sport bike, it does well in the twisties. the suspension is only adjustable for preload in the rear. gas mileage is awesome- i was getting mid 50's, even with luggage and my slightly heavy wrist. i have not modded my bike's powerplant at all, so if you want louder exhaust you mileage will suffer. the stock exhaust is very quiet, and that's great for all day rides.
despite the weight, the detuned motor, etc., the bike is surprisingly fast. it can easily go in excess of 140mph fully loaded (so i've heard ) .

i love my fz6, and would probably not be getting rid of it had i not been eyeing a dr650. i will soon be moving to oregon, and on the way i'd like to do the trans-am trail. can't do that with the fz, so sadly, it's gotta go.

p.s. oh yeah, and it's cheap!
apor

[Tenacious B]

Originally Posted by Zapp22

Sounds like a well-done middleweight 'tweener to me. sort of a half-step between an SV and Vstrom .. a lot faster than a V-strom 650. Did I read a review somewhere... top speed 140'ish?? that sounds high. Anyway, its passing power that comes in handy

An SV is generally good for around 130mph with ~70hp. The FZ6 dynos I've seen have it around 90hp, so 140mph doesn't sound out of the question. I think it was Rider or Motorcyclist that did a comparo with the SV, FZ6, and 599. The FZ6 left them all for dead in the 1/4 mile, of course you have to wind it to the sky to do so.


How are the vibes? I know it is very subjective, and I've seen a few reviews that had mentioned it.

I really like the features, build quality, and style of the bike. It seems like a more expensive bike than the others in its class, yet it is not.

[chrisjohn]

Awesome bike all the way around. The '07 and later have revised front calipers and a nice gauge cluster.

Nothing like it at the price. Not buzzy for me, YMMV.

[fendermon]

Does she need premium? That compression ratio is sky high. A little higher and you won't need spark plugs.