Why is my motorcycle naked?

A

Area57

Well-Known Member
Visit site
I'm under the noob impression I have basically a sport bike that has a more upright riding position and the fairings removed. Is this correct? Why are the benefits of a naked bike? I can see the benefits of the upright riding position. What about the lack of fairings? This is the only bike I have ever ridden but I get buffeted by the wind pretty hard. Maybe all bikesget this though. Anyways. Just curious why these motorcycles are the way they are.

I like it though. Very fun to ride. A small second question would be why did people tell me not to buy a liter bike for my first? It seems fine. What am I missing?
 
Correct. More comfortable for sport touring. Without out the fairings the bike is a lot easier to work on. The buffeting can be helped with a different windshield. Try to check around before spending money though because they can get expensive and some taller ones don't help much. If your bike is running anywhere near close to right, it will be very powerful. But these bikes are also very forgiving. If you get on it hard and turn it up it's going to come alive yet the bikes have plenty of torque and do fine just tooling around. Be careful, have fun.
 
I think I don't realize the power because it is the only bike I have ever ridden. I try to be a pretty careful person so I have not gotten the RPMS too high yet. Probably if i had started on a Ninja 250 I would be blown away with how fast this is, and it isn't that I'm not, it's just that this is the only throttle I have ever used, so I am getting used to how sensitive it is.

I keep reading you have to get above 8000 RPMS for it to really come alive and I shift before that. Not that it doesn't feel powerful in the lower range. I'm impressed. I will have to try out some other bikes to compare at some point. Then I will probably really gain more appreciation for it.

Sport touring doesn't mean putting panniers on it and camping right? It means doing what I'm out doing today, going for weekend cruises to the mountains or coast or wherever right? As opposed to touring which is long distance, and commuting which is going to work, and sport bike which are to be ridden fast for pleasure and cruisers like some harley's which are to be comfortable and look cool? A sport touring bike is the middle distance bike that shines going for couple hundred mile day trips but also can go further and is decent at tooling around town?
 
Is your FZ1 stock? If so it is a beast that is hiding a monster. With the wisdom that you can gain from this forum and another, you will be able to "fine tune" it to your riding style. An old friend of mine bought an R1 in '04 and this bike is every bit as powerful as his was, if not a ltitle more. Like Smitty said, be careful and have fun.
 
Area57 said:
Sport touring doesn't mean putting panniers on it and camping right? It means doing what I'm out doing today, going for weekend cruises to the mountains or coast or wherever right? As opposed to touring which is long distance, and commuting which is going to work, and sport bike which are to be ridden fast for pleasure and cruisers like some harley's which are to be comfortable and look cool? A sport touring bike is the middle distance bike that shines going for couple hundred mile day trips but also can go further and is decent at tooling around town?
Click to expand...

You got it man!

This is sport touring:
sri1214_sprt_001.jpg


It's all about fun roads and beautiful landscapes, as short or long as you like.
 
That's right! as long or as short as you like. Just got back from a 1000 miles sport tour into Florida. Last summer I sport toured 2200 miles from SC to Maine and back. These bike are great naked or as pack mules just find what you want to do and GO!

States.jpg
 
ooo, fun! I just got back from my longest trip yet, my 14th day and I did over 100 miles. I'm please with that. My back is tired. The windy parts in the mountains and the part where it rained made me tense I think.
 
Area57 said:
I'm under the noob impression I have basically a sport bike that has a more upright riding position and the fairings removed. Is this correct? Why are the benefits of a naked bike? I can see the benefits of the upright riding position. What about the lack of fairings? This is the only bike I have ever ridden but I get buffeted by the wind pretty hard. Maybe all bikesget this though. Anyways. Just curious why these motorcycles are the way they are.

I like it though. Very fun to ride. A small second question would be why did people tell me not to buy a liter bike for my first? It seems fine. What am I missing?
Click to expand...

Is this correct? YES!

What are the benefits of a naked bike? Easier to work on, looks great and different, looks more respectable than a fully faired bike (those are for those younger riders who don't know what they are doing)

What about lack of fairing? The stock FZ1 is not a naked bike, it is a street bike with what is called a bikini fairing. It does provide considerably more protection than a true naked bike, which has absolutely NO fairing or windshield. You can get more protection from a cruiser with a full fairing and touring windshield (like the Goldwing), but short of those, the FZ1's fairing is pretty good. Try a true naked bike going 70mph for 10 minutes and it will stretch your arms and your neck to the point of discomfort. The main difference between the FZ1 and the R1 for instance, fairing-wise, is that the R1 has better aerodynamics around the engine and that you lay lower on the bike so your head does not stick out as much, so the bike can go faster, and since you are more crouched on the R1, you will get less air on your helmet and torso, but if your crouch on the FZ1, you'll be getting about as much air as on the R1.

The issue of liter bike as a first bike is one of these things that can result in a 20 page thread with little data and a lot of arguments.

I rode for about a year when I was 18 then I started driving cars and stopped riding. I am now 63. I restarted riding last year when a friend loaned me a Harley for 3-4 weeks (!). In essence, that was a new beginning for me after 45 years of not riding. I did fine with the Harley and I knew then I had to have a bike again, just not a Harley (not my style). I then bought the '03 FZ1 in late July. I now have almost 8,000 miles on it and I absolutely love this bike.

Would I recommend the FZ1 as a beginner's bike to everyone? Absolutely not. 1/8th of an inch throttle gets you to about 70mph. I think it's best to understand the responsibility that it entails before you get on it, but if you can show some restraint, it's a wonderful bike. More importantly, I do not have anything to prove to anyone, particularly I do not have to show anyone that I can be more of an idiot than they are.

Yesterday I was stopped at a traffic light, 1st in line. When it turned green, the road was open in front of me so I had a little bit of fun. You can have a ton of fun on this bike while not going over 5,000 rpm and I did. Apparently, the guy in the minivan behind me thought he had something to prove, so at the next traffic light (there were 2 cars in front of me at the light), he pulled on the right, turn-only lane where there were no cars, and when the light turned green he took off like a bandit, turning back into the lane in front of the two cars. Good for him, his wife must have been so proud of him... I do not have to prove that I can be more stupid than him. I do know that this bike will do 0-60 in about 3 seconds and that will not be with me on it and I am fine with it.

The only thing I want to prove is that I want to prove to my family and friends that I can ride my bike without major accident.

The biggest problem with a bike like this is that it will test your resolve to be responsible and not an idiot. The rest will be pure enjoyment.

Be responsible but have fun and enjoy it. My bike is like honey for my soul.
 
Last edited:
Area57 said:
I think I don't realize the power because it is the only bike I have ever ridden. I try to be a pretty careful person so I have not gotten the RPMS too high yet. Probably if i had started on a Ninja 250 I would be blown away with how fast this is, and it isn't that I'm not, it's just that this is the only throttle I have ever used, so I am getting used to how sensitive it is.

I keep reading you have to get above 8000 RPMS for it to really come alive and I shift before that. Not that it doesn't feel powerful in the lower range. I'm impressed. I will have to try out some other bikes to compare at some point. Then I will probably really gain more appreciation for it.
Click to expand...
Well some of us think it gets alive progressively over 4,000 rpm and above 6,000 rpm it gets really fun or scary depending on how you look at these things :)

Area57 said:
Sport touring doesn't mean putting panniers on it and camping right? It means doing what I'm out doing today, going for weekend cruises to the mountains or coast or wherever right? As opposed to touring which is long distance, and commuting which is going to work, and sport bike which are to be ridden fast for pleasure and cruisers like some harley's which are to be comfortable and look cool? A sport touring bike is the middle distance bike that shines going for couple hundred mile day trips but also can go further and is decent at tooling around town?
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good definition. When you think touring, think Honda Goldwing or Kawasaki Concours, that kind of bike. Quiet, big, fast in a sedate kind of way, with lots of room for a passenger and for luggage. I use my FZ1 for commuting and since I have a mix of highway and sparse city, it is perfect. When I ride my daughter's FZ-07, I most enjoy it in the city because the lack of fairing/windshield makes it less comfortable on the highway, but it is smaller and lighter with a torquey engine so it's great for quick turns and on parking lots. I refer to the FZ-07 as "the scooter" and my daughter thinks it's funny :)

Cruisers puzzle me a little. I agree with your definition, but most are very noisy and I do not understand the desire to be noisy if you are actually going to ride medium or long distances on the highway. There are very few quiet cruisers as they come from the factory, even though some are definitely good candidates for touring. I would like to have a small but comfortable cruiser to take my wife on short trips around town or for fun on week ends, but there are not too many that fit the bill the way the FZ1 fits the sport touring bill. I saw a 1985 Honda Shadow 500 (discontinued since 1985 or 1986?) recently that would have fit the bill if it had been available as a newer model. The Harley Street 500 or 750 would probably be the closest. I am just not ready to buy my own Harley...
 
Last edited:
Well, I've finally got the RPMS up and I don't get it. I didn't get a surge of power I was expecting. As a matter of fact, I think it felt weaker. I feel the most pull around 4-5000 RPMS. That is where it really seems to pull, like If I turn the throttle much I ave to hang on. I let it get up into 7-9000 in first through third and it really just seemed to be buzzy sounding, but the throttle didn't feel powerful.

What am I doing wrong?

As a side not, how am I supposed to launch faster? I assume you don't do any gear changes and just stay in first to get 0-60 in under three seconds, but I left it in first and throttled up and it didn't seem to be anywhere close to 3 seconds, more like 10-12. I wasn't going flat out, so I know I could do better, but I just don't feel the power up top or even in the middle. Am i looking wrong?
 
You're not opening the throttle up enough. If you fully open the throttle from 5k on and keep it wide open you will loop the bike.
Just take your time with it and gradually open the throttle more.

Sent from my Nexus 5
 
Ok, I'm going riding now, so I can launch in first and as the RPMS raise open the throttle more an more and then I will feel the power? You're right, I had very little throttle open. So I need to really get fuel to the engine to feel it? It's not just about where the RPMS are at?

It's my first bike so I don't ride super aggressively. I will try that an report back. It makes sense. I watched a video on Launching and that is how they start out, clutch in, throttle open. Where I start slower clutch in, throttle closed, slowly opening it.
 
Don't get carried away, after all this is your first bike..... don't make it the last. Make sure you cover the rear brake, so if the front comes up you can apply the rear brake to bring it down. Subtlety is important. The street isn't really the place for drag launch practice. Just saying.
 
Area57 said:
Ok, I'm going riding now, so I can launch in first and as the RPMS raise open the throttle more an more and then I will feel the power? You're right, I had very little throttle open. So I need to really get fuel to the engine to feel it? It's not just about where the RPMS are at?

It's my first bike so I don't ride super aggressively. I will try that an report back. It makes sense. I watched a video on Launching and that is how they start out, clutch in, throttle open. Where I start slower clutch in, throttle closed, slowly opening it.
Click to expand...
If I really want to get a fast start then I will rev the bike up to 7k rpm and then slightly slip the clutch while applying a lot of gas.
It's your first bike so this will take some time, experience and practise before you will perfect it.
As I said before, take your time with it and gradually open the throttle more and more.
I've been riding for years, done plenty of track days and my modified FZ1 still surprises me with the amount of power it has.
My bike is a full naked so the sensation of speed is heightened but bugger me it goes hard once you hit 7k rpm with a good amount of gas.


Sent from my Nexus 5
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top