Some may have seen this before but I just found it...
Tested: Yamaha?s 2011 FZ8 and FAZER8 - Best of both worlds? - Motorcycle Sport and Leisure Magazine
Among other things this review confirms that the FZ8 is actually much more advanced than the -- gulp -- FZ-09.
Why?
-Uses 2006 version YZF-R1 engine, with four valve head, sleeved, lighter clutch and rotating parts among many other changes. The R1 engine, folks, is a racing engine, very compact, very potent. 120+ HP at the rear wheel is easy to get out of an FZ8 if you are so inclined.
-Does NOT use the same frame as the FZ1. Looks the same but the FZ8 frame is lightened and made thinner in various areas to achieve REAL tuned-flex. In other words Yamaha didn't just bolt in a sleeved-down FZ1 engine into an FZ1 frame, it gave the frame a specific re-engineering to match the bike's mission. Quote: "So the sleeved-down once-a-Superbike powerplant is solidly mounted at six points as a fully stressed member of the twin-spar alloy frame, which has a degree of balanced flex deliberately engineered in at strategic points."
Lots of other good info in that article but it looks to me like the FZ8 is starting to get "reborn" as far as its reputation; it's still sold worldwide so it is by no means an outdated motorcycle, having been introduced only in 2011. I would not be surprised if the FZ-09 is dropped after a couple of model years, the chassis is so bad along with the throttle mapping that it can't even compare with the FZ8 in the real world. Minimum two grand to fix the problems. Power? A reflash, slip-on, and K&N air filter will put you right up there or beyond the FZ-09 but with the stability in the fast turns and the comfort.
We'll probably see that triple come out in a new, much better chassis in 2016 but be prepared to pay for it.
Meanwhile my eye is on that new SR400!
Tested: Yamaha?s 2011 FZ8 and FAZER8 - Best of both worlds? - Motorcycle Sport and Leisure Magazine
Among other things this review confirms that the FZ8 is actually much more advanced than the -- gulp -- FZ-09.
Why?
-Uses 2006 version YZF-R1 engine, with four valve head, sleeved, lighter clutch and rotating parts among many other changes. The R1 engine, folks, is a racing engine, very compact, very potent. 120+ HP at the rear wheel is easy to get out of an FZ8 if you are so inclined.
-Does NOT use the same frame as the FZ1. Looks the same but the FZ8 frame is lightened and made thinner in various areas to achieve REAL tuned-flex. In other words Yamaha didn't just bolt in a sleeved-down FZ1 engine into an FZ1 frame, it gave the frame a specific re-engineering to match the bike's mission. Quote: "So the sleeved-down once-a-Superbike powerplant is solidly mounted at six points as a fully stressed member of the twin-spar alloy frame, which has a degree of balanced flex deliberately engineered in at strategic points."
Lots of other good info in that article but it looks to me like the FZ8 is starting to get "reborn" as far as its reputation; it's still sold worldwide so it is by no means an outdated motorcycle, having been introduced only in 2011. I would not be surprised if the FZ-09 is dropped after a couple of model years, the chassis is so bad along with the throttle mapping that it can't even compare with the FZ8 in the real world. Minimum two grand to fix the problems. Power? A reflash, slip-on, and K&N air filter will put you right up there or beyond the FZ-09 but with the stability in the fast turns and the comfort.
We'll probably see that triple come out in a new, much better chassis in 2016 but be prepared to pay for it.
Meanwhile my eye is on that new SR400!
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