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First Ride: Yamaha FZ-1

33434 Views 97 Replies 47 Participants Last post by enewmen, Mar 27, 2001

Nutabegga

Discussion Starter · Feb 16, 2001

Yaaah! The obligatory first post!

21 - 40 of 98 Posts

minime

· #21 · Feb 17, 2001

Please read the above post in regards to checking a bike over before mounting it.

As for the comparisons to the R1, Yamaha did bill the bike as an "R1 for the real-world." This encompasses more than just the motor. It referrs to the chassis which, although different by design, is to provide a similar degree of sportiness.

minime

· #22 · Feb 17, 2001

Wheat and others -

This was an intro with extremely limited riding time on roads that could best be described as adequate. To generate a whole lot of real data from the short ride would be next to impossible. And comparing it to other bikes? We could lie and make guesses, but we'd rather wait until we have the bikes side-by-side on some local, good roads for hundreds of miles before making blind assumptions.

That would be more of a disservice to all you readers than leaving out how seating positions differ between a Bandit 1200S and the FZ1 when the two bikes are, quite literally, oceans apart.

ironhead83

· #23 · Feb 17, 2001

cool guy, understand why you wrote the article the way you did. Me I am glad that the fZ1 is not a R1 with high bars. To many potholes and sand traps out here to even think of driving R1 style. I'm getting an FZ to turn it into a sport tourer, the RT and ST are too vanilla for me but I still want a bike to pull distance with. Sides the price is 7K less and that will buy a lot of plastic for the FZ, the big bandito looked good but I havent had real good luck with suzuk's and the FZ should be able to keep up with my buddies valk's.

rvfrules

· #24 · Feb 17, 2001

Re: Review falls short

Fair enough Brent, and I hope my criticism didn't obscure my appreciation of MO making the effort to do the review in the first place. I, and judging from the posts a lot of other people as well, am looking forward to more info on the FZ-1, and an eventual shootout including the Bandit, Speed Triple and ZXR1200. In the meantime, how about a VFR800 vs. Bandit shootout? If I'm not mistaken, MO has long-termers of both sport-tourers.

nick_nolastname

· #25 · Feb 17, 2001

Re: www.yamahafz1.com

Thats the spirit! Whats a finger or two compared to the exilerating performance of the Yamaha Fazer. I would rather give up my pinky fingers however. Without my thumbs it will be difficult to pull the clutch in. Would you be interested in starting an 8-fingered club for Fazer fans? I know a "doctor" who will do the work for free. Although I cannot afford a Fazer at this time I am accepting contributions. Rock on.

wheat

· #26 · Feb 17, 2001

Point well taken.

wheat

· #27 · Feb 17, 2001

Say, thanks for the wallpaper image.

Any chance we could get the image at the top of the article?

badsac

· #28 · Feb 17, 2001

Re: Review falls short

I hope you're not having a go at me minime.

I was showing my support for blip in my above post. I was just getting a little fed up with some foolish posts from some people on this topic.

fuzzione

· #29 · Feb 17, 2001

OK, I'm sorry...

My slam against your literary content may indeed be undeserved considering the limited time spent with the FZ. It must be obvious by now I'm in that "40-ish" cranky-old-dude category. Starving for FZ details at that. Yes, I have a deposit on one albeit fully refundable if necessary.

I hope you accept my apology to the extent you can find it in yourselves to at least address points 1) - 5) above. I don't believe you need a full-blown test to simply clarify some of the statements already made in your article.

Thanks.

DCH3HASHER

· #30 · Feb 17, 2001

I like the blend of style, performance and practicality. What's missing is fuel injection and a center stand.

YellowDuck

· #31 · Feb 17, 2001

How can anyone express even mild disappointment in 141 bhp and 78 ft-lbs? Has the world gone mad?

Does this type of power really make a "standard" more enjoyable for the typical rider? We all need to give our heads a good shake.

minime

· #32 · Feb 17, 2001

Re: Review falls short

And I'm right there with you.

minime

· #33 · Feb 17, 2001

We'll get HackFu on that Monday. Cool!

3896

· #34 · Feb 17, 2001

Writers...

I agree with most people that the article is wishy-washy. I attribute that to the writer of the article. There's nothing wrong with the writing, but the staff at MO seems to lack a valiety of perspectives.

I'd love to see some reviews by a writer that has never been on a track or attended a racing school. Someone who's ridden a few years and is confident and in control, but who has also mellowed out and rides at a bit slower pace.

I feel that this sort of writer could offer a more real-world perspective on the performance of a real-world bike.

3324

· #35 · Feb 17, 2001

Check the pictures man! There are at least 2 photos of the bike sitting on the centerstand in the article. Fuel injection would be nice though.

I am in love with this class of bike and I too can't wait for a shootout with the z-rex, fz-1, bandito, and maybe a speed triple! Comfortable for two, enough torque for two, sporty styling, able to commute, its perfect! I impatiently await!

badsac

· #36 · Feb 17, 2001

Re: Writers...

How are you really going to form a definitive opinion on a motorcycle if you don't test it over the full range of it's operation? If MO took your advice, IMHO, at best all you would get would be reviews stating that all these machines are competent and satisfy their design brief. At worst the review would be subjective opinions with no real basis in quantifiable facts.

No, I can't agree at all with you. Just because a rider spends some time at the race track doesn't mean they are incapable of judging a motorcycle on real roads. I mean, I'm sure minime has spent countless hours riding on the road. I'm sure you aren't saying that all that experience goes out the window since he spends time at the track as well. That just makes no sense.

I'd like MO to keep the reviews coming from riders with high skill levels who can take a machine to it's limits and give us real, quantifiable judgments on their qualities. Just as they are right now.

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DCH3HASHER

· #37 · Feb 17, 2001

Oh, THAT center stand!

(Thanks.)

DataDan

· #38 · Feb 17, 2001

Yeah, how come you didn't compare head-to-head with the competition? It was a press intro in Spain. So what? Carry-on bins these days are big enough to take a couple of extra bikes along.

And what's with this nuance crap? All road tests, first rides, and even first glimpses should be boiled down to one of two words: Sucks or Rules. You think I got time to read a thousand words about how this and that feature have both upsides and downsides? I want answers, not questions!

3896

· #39 · Feb 17, 2001

Re: Writers...

I guess it wasn't obvious that I meant a mix of perspectives. You're right in saying that the track riders offer a lot of valuable information by riding a machine to the limits.

But all that experience can also taint the review. Read through the archives and most of them have a race-replica bias. Sure you need a base line for comparison, but the bias shows in the writing, usually in the form of "The brakes were ok for this class, but they don't compare to the R1."

I'm sure it's not as easy as it sounds, but I'd like to see some input from people who more closely represent who will be riding the bike.

How about getting some riders who are a month or two aut of the MSF class to offer opinions on the beginner bike shootout? They will be riding bikes in this class the most and have the perspective of a newbie.

I have yet to see a new GoldWing review where a 50-60 year old guy loads the bike down and carries his wife on the back for a few thousand miles. That's what GoldWings do and that's the type of person who usually rides them.

It would at least make for a nice sidebar or add color to the articles.

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3896

· #40 · Feb 17, 2001

Before I get flamed

I understand that this was a limited press showing of this particular bike and not a full review.
It would be impractical to send 2 people to cover the event.

I just happened to choose this article to speak about the issue because it was an excellent example of the lack of perspective. I have hopefully phrased my critisism as constructively as possible.

21 - 40 of 98 Posts

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