Yomama FZ09 Test Ride

[CycleCam303]

Recently Yamaha just released the FZ09. It's a standard bike with an 850cc 3 cylinder motor. It's a budget priced bike coming in at under 8 grand.

First off, I've never really believed that a motor should be the one and only star on a motorcycle. But zomgwtfbbq the motor on this bike is ****ing awesome. The street triple was great. I liked it. But this bike takes the I wish it had a wider powerband out of the equation. It's smooth, it's extremely linear, and it has power every where with a ripping top end. The fueling makes the on off throttle transition jerky. Around town it's annoying and even though the bike has 3 different riding modes they all suffer from the snatchy feeling at lower rpms.

But this is hands down one of the best street motors I've sampled.

As for the actual bike. Aside from the lack of wind protection, its probably the best everyday street bike available. The brakes are okay. Nothing amazing but not horrible either. The suspension looks trick but is soft and doesn't feel as taut as it should with as much power as it has.

On paper the bike looks really average. All it took was 10 minutes and I realized that this is the greatest street oriented bike ever made. The motor snarls around town and howls when you rev it out. The bike is crazy thin. It feel like a dirt bike. The riding position is upright and the bars are a little too wide but they are closer than the street triple's which make it have a much more natural feeling.

But it doesn't tell the story of why this bike is so cool. This bike is easy to ride but don't be deceived, its fast as hell. It has a sporty chassis. It's really the super soft suspension that lets it down.

It's also a total hooligan bike and Im surprised I didn't pick up a "performance award" while bombing around San Bruno and sharp park road. Going to Pacifica pier I slammed the throttle open after making a tight turn and power wheelied in 2nd gear before I caught up to the car in front of me. The bike begs to be abused this way. The motor sounds like nothing you've ever heard before. You literally just putt in 2nd gear at around 25 30 mph and lean back and roll on and the bike just slowly picks up the front end. Every curb turns into a launching pad, and every stop sign turns into a place to practice wheelies.

As expected it is kinda miserable on the freeway due to no wind peotection and chilling in 6th gear the bike has so much torque that you just roll on and bam you pass people. And I was getting 39 mpg riding like a tool shed.

Skip the ninja 650 or sv650. Fz09 should be your next bike. It is so much fun and so easy to ride, yet its simple. Everyone better watch out. Because if the new r6 is getting a 675 triple...it's going to blow everyone away.

[Sirref]

you have me very torn, suspension isn't a difficult thing to fix and I see myself replacing the suspension on any bike short of a supersport anyway. I'm a bit torn between this and the street triple r down the line, luckily by the time I'm in the market for a bigger street bike yamaha should have fixed the throttle issues (or have the r675 out)

what do you think of the area right above the headlight on the front end? I feel like owning the bike I'd end up putting something there to cover it up. As it is it's just a giant fly trap that'll be impossible to keep clean.

[CycleCam303]

Windscreen add ons would make this bike perfect and cutting the bars. I think aside from the blurple colored wheels it looks pretty cool. How do I say this? In that garage is a street triple r. And yea the suspension is better but a zx6r rear shock and some fork springs and you have that mostly fixed. O yea, this thing down right embarrasses the striple in the power and motor department. Torque, like controllable liter bike torque every where. Even launching out of a corner at 70 plus mph the front end gets light and this is 3rd gear. And in rain mode it cuts power to 60% and makes the bike super easy to ride.

[Sirref]

Sounds almost too good to be true once you put the work in. This thing would make an absolutely stunning street bike and at a low price at that.

[anacron]

More food for thought for others considering this beast. I wonder how this stacks up against the speed triple or the brutale 990. Of course, you'd pay an arm and a leg for those two...

Link to original page on YouTube.

[algs26]

Doesnt 39 mpg with 3.7 gallon tank seem like a rather limited (144 mile) range?

[Sirref]

that's around where I fill up on my 300 anyway, so it doesn't make too much of a difference to me. Likely I would fill it up around 100miles which is a bit often but not unbearably so.

[Alex]

An FZ-09 owner on SBR modified his suspension even before picking up the bike, and made it easier for people to follow his lead now that the aftermarket manufacturers know a bit more about what needs to be done.

thread 1
thread 2

I'm not a fan of the tiny tank and zero wind protection, but can certainly appreciate the fun factor. It's almost certain that there will be decent windscreen options at some point, which will help mitigate the second issue. The first one is a harder nut to crack though. That same owner drilled out part of the fuel tank filler to get a few more ounces of capacity but that doesn't really address the problem. For the fueling snatchiness, I'm sure Yamaha will eventually work out the programming like they did on the FZ1. Hopefully it can be reflashed on these initial bikes over time, rather than just being cycled in as an upgrade for the next model year.

[CycleCam303]

I can't remember which one of our local shops are doing $100 Ecu reflashes. I know that he is taking A mode and standard mode and combines them just leaving B mode available. A mode is slightly worse at low speeds because on off throttle response is just exaggerated. But at higher revs its spot on.

I'm not a fan of the naked bike. I don't like upright riding positions. But this bike changes all of that for me. I personally dig how thin it is simply because I'm so compact I like smaller bikes.

But for the price point, this bike is like a ninja 250. It doesn't impress on paper. After riding it, I see why they sold out of the things. It's worth more than the sum of its parts.

[CycleCam303]

Originally Posted by algs26

Doesnt 39 mpg with 3.7 gallon tank seem like a rather limited (144 mile) range?

It most likely would get a bit better mileage babying it. That trip involved me taking to some twisties and revving it out consistently. I will say that after 8k rpms this thing takes off. Like warp speed things start happening. It's fun because the motor outshines the rest of the bike sooo much.

[subxero]

Originally Posted by CycleCam303

Recently Yamaha just released the FZ09. It's a standard bike with an 850cc 3 cylinder motor. It's a budget priced bike coming in at under 8 grand....


...It's also a total hooligan bike and Im surprised I didn't pick up a "performance award" while bombing around San Bruno and sharp park road. Going to Pacifica pier I slammed the throttle open after making a tight turn and power wheelied in 2nd gear before I caught up to the car in front of me. The bike begs to be abused this way. The motor sounds like nothing you've ever heard before. You literally just putt in 2nd gear at around 25 30 mph and lean back and roll on and the bike just slowly picks up the front end. Every curb turns into a launching pad, and every stop sign turns into a place to practice wheelies.

awesome

[Ducati999]

nice Bike. I read a bunch of reviews and ive been waiting for a regular (not a magazine editor) person to give their opinion. I saw the DYNO sheet and it seemed to say the same thing you are saying==linear power with a good hit around 8K. I like the blurple rims but that is just me. Glad you like it and I cant wait to test ride one soon. PICs please (more)

[CycleCam303]

A friend just bought it. It's not mine. I think the magazine writers are making it sound a bit underwhelming. Yea the suspension is soft. For 80% of street riders and 80% of real world roads the suspension and stability is fine. Compared to a ninja 250 yea it's a step up. It's no street triple r with ohlins, and it also isn't a 12 grand bike. The clutch lever pull is similar to the ninja 250. It's very light. The transmission is buttery smooth too. The triumphs all have kinda clunky transmissions.

[choneofakind]

Are you ever going to actually buy a bike or are you just going to keep test riding?

[tfkrocks]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Are you ever going to actually buy a bike or are you just going to keep test riding?

I don't think he'll ever make up his mind

[anacron]

Pretty sure he'll end up buying the Yamaha R675 when it eventually comes out

[Jono]

I want one of these now!

[Byakkotai]

Awesome review Makes me thankful though that my bike is fully faired. But at that price, the FZ-09 is one hard bugger to beat.

[tnr4]

An interesting aside on this bike: I sat on one at the Indy GP race, and it is SMALL. I was riding my 300 at the time, and it both felt and looked smaller under me than the 300. The pic of me looked like a normal sized person on a Grom.

Really killer engine for the money though. I can see the appeal!

[greenaero]

Nice review! Sounds like a great bike.

[CycleCam303]

Originally Posted by tnr4

An interesting aside on this bike: I sat on one at the Indy GP race, and it is SMALL. I was riding my 300 at the time, and it both felt and looked smaller under me than the 300. The pic of me looked like a normal sized person on a Grom.

Really killer engine for the money though. I can see the appeal!

That's the biggest thing for me. It's a small bike. It's literally like a ninjette with 5 times the power. Just so you know though I'm biased. When Im in my leathers I look like dani Pedrosa

[OregonBob]

Back in September I bought a new Ninja 250r... I had never riden a motorocycle before so i wanted to start small to get teh basics down... By good friend comes over about once a month (he lives out of state) and he used to ride motorcross... He wanted a bike, so he went and got a new FZ09... He leaves it at my house, and told me to ride it whenever I wanted ... I got the best of both worlds...

After only about 300 miles on my ninjette, I got on his bike for the first time, and it scared the living crap out of me... This bike has more power than most people know what to do with... I totally agree about it having too much torque at low RPM's... I enjoy riding my ninjette better just because it is so much smoother... But that is probably because my lack of skill... The FZ09 is an incredible bike, and I must say, the seating position is very comfortable on it...

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by anacron

Pretty sure he'll end up buying the Yamaha R675 when it eventually comes out

I know I want to hahaha, a 600 supersport with a linear powerband. That'd be sick (yes I am aware that the daytona 675r exists but I like the idea of a yamaha more if it's a supersport)

Originally Posted by OregonBob

Back in September I bought a new Ninja 250r... I had never riden a motorocycle before so i wanted to start small to get teh basics down... By good friend comes over about once a month (he lives out of state) and he used to ride motorcross... He wanted a bike, so he went and got a new FZ09... He leaves it at my house, and told me to ride it whenever I wanted ... I got the best of both worlds...

After only about 300 miles on my ninjette, I got on his bike for the first time, and it scared the living crap out of me... This bike has more power than most people know what to do with... I totally agree about it having too much torque at low RPM's... I enjoy riding my ninjette better just because it is so much smoother... But that is probably because my lack of skill... The FZ09 is an incredible bike, and I must say, the seating position is very comfortable on it...

Yea, with that kind of torque it is definitely not a beginner bike, particularly considering that you'll likely want to tool around with the suspension settings a bit and install a power commander or reflash the ecu to get the throttle mapping right at low rpms (from what I've heard) It's definitely a comfortable and fun bike that I may get down the line (that or a street triple r)

[rojoracing53]

But can I mount the Niner on the back?

[Sirref]

well it's pretty much the same size as the 250 so probably. I assume you mean to mount it on the back of a suv like you would a bicycle or a dirtbike, I know that can be done with a 250/300 and I don't see why you couldn't with an fz-09. Also if you are trying to mount a bicycle on the motorcycle the fz9 is likely a better choice than the 250 although the 250 should still do it just fine.

[ChrisMKV]

I really like the FZ-09! But a hooligan wheelie-machine with snatchy throttle is maybe a bit too much bike for newbie like me to get right after a 250. That MT-07, however....