Dr Gonzo
New Member
Hi everyone,
This weekend I finally had a chance to take my FZ1 for my first extended "fun" ride, of about 600km (400 mi or so), and I thought I'd share my thoughts so far.
I bought the bike in April, with around 42k miles. I've been commuting on it (about 100km/60 miles round trip) almost daily rain or shine (rain mostly, summer being the rainy season here). The bike now has 48k miles and I have to say, for my riding, this is probably the best bike I've ever owned, I'm extremely happy with it.
The PO had done an outstanding job of maintaining this bike, and it is in great shape. I've only had to do normal maintenance stuff so far. A couple of oil changes, replaced the K&N for a paper filter, new rear contimotion when I bought it and a new front Road Attack evo going in this week. Oh, and a chain. That's it. With that, this 15 year old bike, with near 50k miles commutes and tours without missing a beat (well, to be fair, I did also replace the headlamp bulbs and added a small "fastrax" tailpack to hold my work laptop). At 50k I'll check the valves and change fork oil, probably will be time for front pads too.
I'm much heavier than the PO (skinny 20-something dirt rider), so I had to crank up the preload for my 200lbs, 6'1" self. Compression damping is also up, rebound near the middle. Roads around here are rough, and this seems to work. I am not an "agressive" rider, more of a "spirited" one, so I've not been able to tell any great shortcomings in the suspension. Occasionally, when cranked over in a turn and there's a dip in the road, I'll feel a weave from the back, but I can live with that.
The good:
*Comfy, quick enough for day to day "real world" riding without having to ride it like I stole it.
*The range. I love the big tank and the 180+ miles I get.
*Throttle response. This is a big one. I'm not quite sure what I'll do when the time comes to replace this bike. It seems that carbs, for all their idiosyncrasies, can hardly be touched for smoothness.
*Lack of irritants. I think this is the biggest thing. There are no annoyances, no quirks. The bike does what you ask of it, while remaining an engaging and fun ride.
The bad:
* I suspect the bike may be selling its oil on the side. I have no idea what it does with the very expensive synthetic 10w-40 in the crankcase. There is no oil on the airbox, there is no blue smoke, plugs are clean, yet it will take roughly 1l per 1000km, maybe a bit less if I keep the revs under 9-10k. I can live with this, but it's not ideal obviously.
The fun:
*Surprising "that type of rider" on certain machines with a roundel emblem... 2 out of 2 teutons I ran into this weekend decided to wick it up when I caught up to them. Same scenario both times: catch up, stay behind bimmer with a respectful distance until they notice me and hopefully give way, rider sees me and noticeably speeds up, 3 downshifts on the FZ, 1 corner and I was gone. I have nothing against the bikes (I had a F650 GS Dakar and my Dad had a 1200GSA) but they certainly seem to attract a specific personality. Still, no challenge for the FZ, it's faster on the straights, and surprisingly (to me), no contest in the turns. First corner and their multitude of LED headlights faded into nothingness.
*Keeping up (and then some) with a late model R6, lol. In a set of fast sweepers I came up on a rider on a late model R6, passed him and waved just to find him glued to my rear a minute later, so I moved over to the right and it was on! Midrange was not even in the same league, the FZ walked him. Top end though, that R6 was fast! We played around for a couple of minutes, but the rider seemed very "stiff" and a bit hesitant on the corners so I broke it off after a couple of minutes. Exchanged thumbs up and each went our own way, still was fun, and definitely a testament to the R6. 400cc's les, but if it had had a better rider, I would have stood no chance. I'd love to ride one, 16k+ rpm must be a ton of fun (for the 5 minutes my wrists can tolerate the position).
Summary: great bike. AAAA++, highly recommended, would buy again!
Cheers!
This weekend I finally had a chance to take my FZ1 for my first extended "fun" ride, of about 600km (400 mi or so), and I thought I'd share my thoughts so far.
I bought the bike in April, with around 42k miles. I've been commuting on it (about 100km/60 miles round trip) almost daily rain or shine (rain mostly, summer being the rainy season here). The bike now has 48k miles and I have to say, for my riding, this is probably the best bike I've ever owned, I'm extremely happy with it.
The PO had done an outstanding job of maintaining this bike, and it is in great shape. I've only had to do normal maintenance stuff so far. A couple of oil changes, replaced the K&N for a paper filter, new rear contimotion when I bought it and a new front Road Attack evo going in this week. Oh, and a chain. That's it. With that, this 15 year old bike, with near 50k miles commutes and tours without missing a beat (well, to be fair, I did also replace the headlamp bulbs and added a small "fastrax" tailpack to hold my work laptop). At 50k I'll check the valves and change fork oil, probably will be time for front pads too.
I'm much heavier than the PO (skinny 20-something dirt rider), so I had to crank up the preload for my 200lbs, 6'1" self. Compression damping is also up, rebound near the middle. Roads around here are rough, and this seems to work. I am not an "agressive" rider, more of a "spirited" one, so I've not been able to tell any great shortcomings in the suspension. Occasionally, when cranked over in a turn and there's a dip in the road, I'll feel a weave from the back, but I can live with that.
The good:
*Comfy, quick enough for day to day "real world" riding without having to ride it like I stole it.
*The range. I love the big tank and the 180+ miles I get.
*Throttle response. This is a big one. I'm not quite sure what I'll do when the time comes to replace this bike. It seems that carbs, for all their idiosyncrasies, can hardly be touched for smoothness.
*Lack of irritants. I think this is the biggest thing. There are no annoyances, no quirks. The bike does what you ask of it, while remaining an engaging and fun ride.
The bad:
* I suspect the bike may be selling its oil on the side. I have no idea what it does with the very expensive synthetic 10w-40 in the crankcase. There is no oil on the airbox, there is no blue smoke, plugs are clean, yet it will take roughly 1l per 1000km, maybe a bit less if I keep the revs under 9-10k. I can live with this, but it's not ideal obviously.
The fun:
*Surprising "that type of rider" on certain machines with a roundel emblem... 2 out of 2 teutons I ran into this weekend decided to wick it up when I caught up to them. Same scenario both times: catch up, stay behind bimmer with a respectful distance until they notice me and hopefully give way, rider sees me and noticeably speeds up, 3 downshifts on the FZ, 1 corner and I was gone. I have nothing against the bikes (I had a F650 GS Dakar and my Dad had a 1200GSA) but they certainly seem to attract a specific personality. Still, no challenge for the FZ, it's faster on the straights, and surprisingly (to me), no contest in the turns. First corner and their multitude of LED headlights faded into nothingness.
*Keeping up (and then some) with a late model R6, lol. In a set of fast sweepers I came up on a rider on a late model R6, passed him and waved just to find him glued to my rear a minute later, so I moved over to the right and it was on! Midrange was not even in the same league, the FZ walked him. Top end though, that R6 was fast! We played around for a couple of minutes, but the rider seemed very "stiff" and a bit hesitant on the corners so I broke it off after a couple of minutes. Exchanged thumbs up and each went our own way, still was fun, and definitely a testament to the R6. 400cc's les, but if it had had a better rider, I would have stood no chance. I'd love to ride one, 16k+ rpm must be a ton of fun (for the 5 minutes my wrists can tolerate the position).
Summary: great bike. AAAA++, highly recommended, would buy again!
Cheers!
