Aussie Aussie Aussie!!

C

Camo

Guest
So how many FZ8 owners in here are from the land down under?
I know when I bought mine, I had to travel to Sydney to test ride (an hour and a bit trip) and my local dealer had to order one in. First one he's sold haha.

I also haven't seen another around in my travels. I'll enjoy that while it lasts!
 
Ozfazer6

Ozfazer6

Super Moderator
Hey Camo,:welcome: to the forum mate.
I have an FZ6 and I was after an 8 after my crash last year but the insurance wasnt enough.
So I am here to see how the bikes are after a couple of years and then look at a second hand one after you guys have sorted out any problems ,lol

EDIT: Post up some pics of the new ride when you can mate .
 
C

Camo

Guest
Thanks.
I'll get the bellypan on and give her a bath, then I'll get some pics up.
Hoping there will be no problems to report over the next 2-3 years other than me whinging about having to fit Ohlins front and rear because my skill has surpassed the standard kit lol...Trust me, not likely to happen any time soon!
 
G

GarryM

New member
Sydney here. I picked up an ex-demo in April for what I thought was a pretty good price. I've done over 6000km now with no hassles other than the rust marks on the headers and I replaced the woeful shock with a new stock FZ1 shock from the US.

I'm yet to see another one in my travels other than in dealerships.
 
C

Camo

Guest
G'day Garry! I almost bought an ex demo from Kograh but they weren't willing to come to the party with a decent trade in price so I came back to the coast and bought a spanker for the same price.

What's the difference in the rear shocks? Was it an expensive mod?
You ride up the Old Pacific Highway at all?

I also added some pics to my profile. I think they may be a touch big and should probably re-size them. I actually thought they'd resize on upload but no to be.
 
Ozfazer6

Ozfazer6

Super Moderator
Camo said:
I also added some pics to my profile. I think they may be a touch big and should probably re-size them. I actually thought they'd resize on upload but no to be.
Click to expand...

Holy Bandwidth sucking pictures Batman !

Resizing might be a really good idea there mate :tup:
 
G

GarryM

New member
Hi Camo,

I almost bought a demo FZ1 from Sydney City but thought they wanted to much for it so shopped around and got a demo FZ8 from Blacktown. Sydney City couldn't match the demo FZ8 price though I think I could have got pretty close from the ACT mob but I wanted the bike to go away at Easter so went for the demo as it was there and ready to ride away.

I'm in southern Sydney so you'll usually see me around the Natio area. Occassionally I head north to do the Old Road. It's one of my favourite roads but since they dropped the speed limit to walking pace it's a pretty pointless exercise.

I ended up getting the FZ1 shock from the US. From memory it was around $370 shipped for a brand spanking new one whereas a wrecker in Aus wanted $200 for a 30k km used one. Apparently Yamaha Aus wants around $800 for a local version.

US market FZ1 shocks have a black spring while the Aus models come with a red spring so I'm not sure if the valving is different too but for a 75kg rider the US shock/spring works well with the FZ8 front end using the stock FZ1 settings

I found the stock shock to be a bit wallowy lacking in rebound and downright dangerous on some bumps. I almost ended up in the bushes on one bump once.

For example, there's a bump at the end of the causeway at Audley that really upset the stock shock. It's mearly a small blip with the FZ1 shock. I'm sure a well set up Ohlins or similar would produce a better result and a bigger wank factor but for the money the FZ1 shock works really well.

Cheers
 
C

Camo

Guest
Ahhh the national park that you head down to Wollongong through? Actually spent a weekend down in Kiama a few weeks back and drove back that way. That was my first time up through that way..Over the Sea cliff/Coal cliff bridge and stopped at the lookout up top there on a Sunday afternoon to see around 50-60 bikes of all shapes and sizes parked up. The road from there back to civilisation was awesome though. Would like to get down there on the bike one day.
Must get pretty hectic through there on the weekends? Like most of NSW roads, early on a weekday is probably pretty sweet.
You know I never realised the old road had a speed limit..Well maybe on the straights but aside from the Putty rd, It's the best ride within a stones throw from home.

Is the FZ1 shock fully adjustable?
I haven't really experienced anything major with the stock rear shock yet but in saying that, I'm a good bit heavy then you so that may play into it? I also haven't really pushed it hard yet as It's booked in for it's first service on Tuesday.
Did you buy the FZ1 shock off Yamaha USA?
 
G

GarryM

New member
Yeap, the Royal National Park, running between Bald Hill(where you saw all the bikes) and Sutherland (the start of civilisation). Weekends can get pretty hectic and lately it's been heavily patrolled by the Police so a weekday run is the better option.

In the olden days the speed limit on the Old Road was 80kmh with a few overtaking lanes and the divided road section in the middle was 2 lanes each way and 100kmh.

It was like a GP every weekend. I used to sit on the side of the road and watch the boys go at it, sometimes 2 or 3 abreast. Needless to say lots of people's percieved skill level far outweighed there actual skill level so there were crashes galore and a few deaths so the fun police dropped the limit to 70kmh. Needless to say no one bothered much with the new speed limit so the carnage continued. Then part of the road colapsed and the road was closed. After much petitioning from car clubs and other interested parties and a big crash which blocked the freeway the Old Road was grudgingly re-opened as a "tourist road" with a 60kmh speed limit and no overtaking lanes with a friendly policeman around every corner to make sure you complied with the new speed limit. Ever since then I haven't bothered heading up there much.

And neither did the a lot of the boy racers who flocked to the Natio creating more carnage. After a few deaths the safety police have vitually killed the Natio applying the same measures as they did to the Old Road. So the speed limit was chopped from 80 to 60kmh and all the overtaking opportunites were taken out with double white lines, and at the moment a friendly policeman around every corner to make sure you comply with the new speed limits.

I was up the Putty Rd a few weeks ago and the safety police have been through there chopping speed limits left right and centre so now it's pretty much a waste of time too if you need your licence for work like I do.

*sigh* The joys of motorcycling in NSW.

As for the shock. It only has spring preload and rebound damping adjustments.

I got it from http://www.partforyamaha.com/pages/OemParts
 
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C

Camo

Guest
Yeah the fun police have cruelled NSW roads but we can also thank those that you mentioned having thoughts of GP victory on heavily populated roads.
We're kinda victims of our own stupidity in some respects and have our fellow weekend warriors to thank. Not saying I'm completely innocent but some people are just idiots out there.

I'm also one who needs a licence for work as I drive for a living. That and I have a family to come home to every day, that gives me the little voice in my head telling me to back off a little and take it to the track if I want to pretend to be Casey Stoner.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
Safe travels.
 
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J

Jordan

New member
Hello from Brisbane! Got a 2011 FZ8 at the end of July, using it mostly for the work commute at the moment... haven't really taken it anywhere exciting around here yet.
 
C

Camo

Guest
G'day Jordan.
Always good to hear from another Aussie. Enjoying the bike?
 
Z

Zedderate

New member
Hi guys. I bought an FZ8s a few weeks ago as an ex demo from Melb. First thing Im going to do is put some Oxford LED indicators on since the stock ones are an aesthetic hazard to the public and myself. The FZ1 rear shock sound like a good mod too.
Im also interested in a fuel cut eliminator to smooth out the throttle response. How does everone else feel about it; or is is something you can manage with technique?
 
G

GarryM

New member
Hi Jordan and Zedderate.

I adjusted the slack in the throttle cable and the throttle response is a lot smoother than it was. I'm not sure if my throttle adjustment was set up wrong at the factory but there was a hell of a lot of freeplay originally. There's still a bit more play than I'd like but I've almost run out of adjustment on the adjusters. I'm going to ask about it at the next service.
 
C

Camo

Guest
G'day Zedderate.
I also had to adjust the slack in the throttle cable to eliminate the crazy amount of freeplay and it seemed to fix the issue somewhat.
On servicing, I asked about it and apparently I can't have any less due to the bike coming up with an error of some sort if the freeplay is taken out any more?
I just nodded.
Unfortunately I'm not very mechanically minded outside of the basics so I'm not much help I'm afraid.
 
J

Jordan

New member
There really should only be enough freeplay in the throttle to accomodate turning the handlebars to full lock both ways... if there's any more than that, I can't think of a reason to justify it. Having said that, I haven't noticed any problems on mine so you may have an issue to be addressed.
 
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