New Horsie in the stable

[koenigcitizen]

Have been shopping for an upgrade bike for about a month now.

Short version: 2009 Yamaha FZ-6 with 700 miles on the clock. Brought her home last night and snapped a couple of pics, scroll below.

Long story:
I went to the dealer a couple of weeks ago and ended up buying a 1994 Honda VFR750F Interceptor with 24000 miles. I just LOVED how it rode. The vtwin is so smooth, and it was super easy to ride. I felt at home on it, the acceleration was great and very manageable. Sadly too many issues with the bike. When I got home and it got dark, I realized it had some electrical issues. The instrument cluster didnt light up, and the horn was getting quieter and quieter and died. I took the bike back, they said it was a bad circuit board, and they will rebuild it.
Anyhow, a week later I got the bike back. Rode it around, it was okish, I had an appointment with my regular repair guy to check it out in a couple of days. Until I was coming to a right turn (regular 90 degree red light turn), and the bike died on me mid turn. I coasted to a stop. Started the bike, and it kept dying after sputtering for a minute. So I took the bike back to the dealer. The manager was amazing, he said that they just want me to be happy with the bike, and they will be happy to take it back.

So here I am. 2009 Yamaha FZ6.
I find the bike a little hard for me to ride. I am having a hard time shifting smooth on it, up and down. Very twitchy/responsive throttle and very narrow friction zone on the clutch. I either overrev the throttle or dont give it enough.
I hope I will get better with experience.

But man, the top end rush of an inline 4 is so much fun! LOL

And now to a couple of crappy pics, I snapped with my phone last night (my Ninjette in the background under cover).

[Bosgarage57]

Very nice, sounds like that dealer took care of you, and thats great. I had an 05 fz-6 that I liked. Love the SBK Leo Vince Exhausts on them. I think you got a great bike.

[Stingray1000]

Not a fan of the front, but I bet she rides smooth! LOL

[NDspd]

Pretty cool man, congrats!! Not a huge fan of the styling, but to each his own...

[koenigcitizen]

I really like the naked look, and a very upright position. It is more of a standard than a sport bike. I am way more hunched over on the Ninjette, but I am tall, so that might be the reason.

[outasight20]

good choice my friend! i ride an 05 myself. you will get better at shifting smoothly and once you do its unlikely youll ever encounter a bike more difficultto shift smoothly. i can shift mine smooth as butter after 3K miles. i recommend the fz1 bars also
Posted via Mobile Device

[koenigcitizen]

Originally Posted by outasight20

good choice my friend! i ride an 05 myself. you will get better at shifting smoothly and once you do its unlikely youll ever encounter a bike more difficultto shift smoothly. i can shift mine smooth as butter after 3K miles. i recommend the fz1 bars also
Posted via Mobile Device

Nice! Thanks for the encouragement. I will be riding a lot of 2up with my fiance this summer, hence the reason for looking for an "upgrade" bike that is a little more capable 2up than little ninjette. So I am trying to make my shifts as smooth as possible, and there is a lot of jerking on this beast.

I rode back from the dealer, and hit a couple of my favorite back roads on it. Still not super comfortable shifting, especially downshifting with rev matching. It is such a second nature on ninjette, I dont even think about it when I blip. I keep overreving on FZ6 and it makes the bike lurch forward. I logged about 150 miles on this bike so far.

Gonna go back to the basics, I think. Gonna hit an empty parking lot, and spend a couple of hours doing MSF drills.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by koenigcitizen

I rode back from the dealer, and hit a couple of my favorite back roads on it. Still not super comfortable shifting, especially downshifting with rev matching. It is such a second nature on ninjette, I dont even think about it when I blip. I keep overreving on FZ6 and it makes the bike lurch forward. I logged about 150 miles on this bike so far.

Gonna go back to the basics, I think. Gonna hit an empty parking lot, and spend a couple of hours doing MSF drills.

I bet you find the sweet spot for blipping on it soon enough. The FI I4 is touchy compared to the carbed 250.

Gratz and enjoy feeling it out. And have a great time on your trips!

[alex.s]

bitchin. paint the exhaust black

[Xoulrath]

Congrats man! I haven't ever ridden one, but I have heard nothing but good about these bikes. Well, except for the clutch, but that is apparently a Yamaha thing. They have an on/off switch clutch with no friction zone according to everything I have heard or read about their bikes.

[Ninja Justin]

Congratz on the new bike, not my favorite (cause it looks like a bug...) but if it makes you happy... ****! your set!make sure you are safe... i know how it is when you get a new toy! i think we all do lol.

[koenigcitizen]

Originally Posted by Xoulrath

Congrats man! I haven't ever ridden one, but I have heard nothing but good about these bikes. Well, except for the clutch, but that is apparently a Yamaha thing. They have an on/off switch clutch with no friction zone according to everything I have heard or read about their bikes.

You have heard correct. Really narrow friction zone on that bike, I am still trying to get good at feathering the clutch to achieve smooth shifts.

[outasight20]

The clutch is not on/off, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. It is simply a narrower friction zone than the Ninjette. Once you get good at it, you will find that there is still plenty of clutch control available in the ~1/4" engagement point. My dad recently bought a Ninja 500R, and compared to my bike, it is incredibly easy to ride.

[koenigcitizen]

Originally Posted by outasight20

The clutch is not on/off, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. It is simply a narrower friction zone than the Ninjette. Once you get good at it, you will find that there is still plenty of clutch control available in the ~1/4" engagement point. My dad recently bought a Ninja 500R, and compared to my bike, it is incredibly easy to ride.

Exactly. To me being used to a wider friction zone on the two bikes that I was familiar with (my 250, and Honda VFR750F which I rode for two weeks, and about 400 miles), it felt like the clutch was on/off. LOL... I am getting used to it better now. I can actually feather the clutch, and keep the bike from fully engaging, while reving up the throttle, and not increasing the speed by much.

Outsight20, I have a couple of questions for you.

1. Do you use 1st or 2nd gear for slower maneuvers? Lets say, you are coming up in the left lane and have to do a Uturn. There are no cars coming in the opposite direction. You have to slow down, but you wont be doing the Uturn from a dead stop. Do you slow down and complete it in second gear or downshift into first? Right now, I am finding that I am using first for just starting from a stop, and second seems to be adequate enough for slow speed maneuvers and more manageable. First gear is way to jerky rolling on and off the throttle (and I am trying to be super smooth).

2. When you shift (especially down), do you gradually release the clutch to smooth out the shift, or do you rely on rev matching by blipping? I am having a hard time blipping, as I seem to not being able to match the revs properly... either over or underrev it.

3. Not really a question but my observation. The throttle is a little jerky. For example, lets say I am coming to a sweeper turn. I am in second gear already, I roll off the throttle/tap the breaks a little to scrub off speed. I setup for the corner, and when I roll back on the throttle, the bike jerks (lurches) a little forward. I don't whack the throttle open, I try to do just a little roll on, as smooth as I can. Do you have any comments on that?

Thanks

[outasight20]

Originally Posted by koenigcitizen

Exactly. To me being used to a wider friction zone on the two bikes that I was familiar with (my 250, and Honda VFR750F which I rode for two weeks, and about 400 miles), it felt like the clutch was on/off. LOL... I am getting used to it better now. I can actually feather the clutch, and keep the bike from fully engaging, while reving up the throttle, and not increasing the speed by much.

Outsight20, I have a couple of questions for you.

1. Do you use 1st or 2nd gear for slower maneuvers? Lets say, you are coming up in the left lane and have to do a Uturn. There are no cars coming in the opposite direction. You have to slow down, but you wont be doing the Uturn from a dead stop. Do you slow down and complete it in second gear or downshift into first? Right now, I am finding that I am using first for just starting from a stop, and second seems to be adequate enough for slow speed maneuvers and more manageable. First gear is way to jerky rolling on and off the throttle (and I am trying to be super smooth).

2. When you shift (especially down), do you gradually release the clutch to smooth out the shift, or do you rely on rev matching by blipping? I am having a hard time blipping, as I seem to not being able to match the revs properly... either over or underrev it.

3. Not really a question but my observation. The throttle is a little jerky. For example, lets say I am coming to a sweeper turn. I am in second gear already, I roll off the throttle/tap the breaks a little to scrub off speed. I setup for the corner, and when I roll back on the throttle, the bike jerks (lurches) a little forward. I don't whack the throttle open, I try to do just a little roll on, as smooth as I can. Do you have any comments on that?

Thanks

1. For slower manuevers, I find it easiest to be in 1st gear and feather the clutch. That is key though, because as you noticed if you don't use the clutch the bike will jerk more than a middle schooler hitting puberty.

2. When I upshift, a lot of the time I don't use the clutch. But when I do, I find it easiest to do the whole motion as quickly as possible. This doesn't let the revs drop much while the clutch is in and you end up with around the right rpm for the next gear. For downshifting, I usually use a combination of blipping and feathering the clutch out. I don't really have an exact method, rather I just do what I have gotten used to and it works for me.

3. Yup, the throttle is very jerky. Combine that with a fuel injected I4 and a suspension that has a little more sag than it should, and you get an uncomfortable lurching when you open the throttle in a turn. I have simply gotten used to opening the throttle as little as possible to reduce this. They also sell something called a G2 Throttle Tamer that is supposed to help a little. I don't think it's worth the money personally and I would just ride the bike and get used to it as it is. I love mine more and more the longer I have it. It's unique in that it's unlike every other super sport that I see squids riding around here, yet it is just as fast, if not faster from a stop. I've only seen one other FZ6 on the road in the 4 months I've owned mine.

You should join up on fz6-forum.com if you haven't already, great buncha guys over there. Also, a 17T front sprocket would help a lot with the jerky throttle as well as fixing your stock speedo error to under 1% (Stock is about 6-7%). I have a 15T front sprocket on mine because I wanted the extra acceleration in first gear. It makes the speedo error about 12% which is quite annoying, so I might actually switch to the 17T. We'll see...

[koenigcitizen]

Originally Posted by outasight20

1. For slower manuevers, I find it easiest to be in 1st gear and feather the clutch. That is key though, because as you noticed if you don't use the clutch the bike will jerk more than a middle schooler hitting puberty.

2. When I upshift, a lot of the time I don't use the clutch. But when I do, I find it easiest to do the whole motion as quickly as possible. This doesn't let the revs drop much while the clutch is in and you end up with around the right rpm for the next gear. For downshifting, I usually use a combination of blipping and feathering the clutch out. I don't really have an exact method, rather I just do what I have gotten used to and it works for me.

3. Yup, the throttle is very jerky. Combine that with a fuel injected I4 and a suspension that has a little more sag than it should, and you get an uncomfortable lurching when you open the throttle in a turn. I have simply gotten used to opening the throttle as little as possible to reduce this. They also sell something called a G2 Throttle Tamer that is supposed to help a little. I don't think it's worth the money personally and I would just ride the bike and get used to it as it is. I love mine more and more the longer I have it. It's unique in that it's unlike every other super sport that I see squids riding around here, yet it is just as fast, if not faster from a stop. I've only seen one other FZ6 on the road in the 4 months I've owned mine.

You should join up on fz6-forum.com if you haven't already, great buncha guys over there. Also, a 17T front sprocket would help a lot with the jerky throttle as well as fixing your stock speedo error to under 1% (Stock is about 6-7%). I have a 15T front sprocket on mine because I wanted the extra acceleration in first gear. It makes the speedo error about 12% which is quite annoying, so I might actually switch to the 17T. We'll see...

Thanks for the response!
I know I should get better with experience. I do love the bike
I have been lurking on fz6-forum but have not registered yet. Do you have the same name on that forum as well?

[outasight20]

Originally Posted by koenigcitizen

Thanks for the response!
I know I should get better with experience. I do love the bike
I have been lurking on fz6-forum but have not registered yet. Do you have the same name on that forum as well?

I do have the same name on that forum. BTW, what tires do you have on yours? I like the tread pattern. My bike came with Dunlop D616's, and they are great tires with great grip, but I can't stand the way they look.

[koenigcitizen]

Originally Posted by outasight20

I do have the same name on that forum. BTW, what tires do you have on yours? I like the tread pattern. My bike came with Dunlop D616's, and they are great tires with great grip, but I can't stand the way they look.

Sorry for delayed response.
Those are stock tires Dunlop Sportmax D252. I don't know if you have any info if they are decent or not. They seem fine to me so far for regular street riding. But, I have very limited experience with them, and I have not pushed them even close to their grip potential.

I did send the rear tire spinning, chirping and sliding for a brief second during a bad downshift when I overreved the engine first day I got the bike, but that one is on me, LOL

[outasight20]

Took me a while before I felt comfortable leaning mine over to the edge of the tires. It's a heavy bike compared to the 250 and doesn't feel as nimble. But it WILL scrape pegs easily if pushed hard.