Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (2004-current)

Ive got an 05 with 10k on and i love it! Fantastic fuel ecomomy 50mpg even when pushing it! good handling and great rush above 8k!

I had an fz6 for my first bike and i loved it, The gearbox was bit clunky all the time but otherwise a great bike and a really good first big bike. It loves to rev and you soon get used it, brakes are really good as well, and its one of the fastest restricted 600s out there with more BHP than the hornet and its really good on long distance's to. All in all a great bike

Got mine in '06. I've put 25k on it riding all year round. This bike is very good, build quality is excellent, still looks good after all the winter work. It's fun, loves to rev and after 8k it takes off almost to the red line.Two up it's also good and i've had no complaints about comfort. For winter I fitted a taller screen that cuts down wind/rain blast by about 80%. Loved this bike but traded in for R1...You can't beat a Yamaha!!!

Previously had the fzs 600 02 and although that had the better brakes and more midrange, I still don't find the fz6 lacking. It might not pull as well around 6-8 thou revs but plenty of grunt at the top. This is not a supersports though! Gearbox is the only bugbear in the package, (see last review) but I find you can work around it especially if you gently click the gear lever 2-3 gear in the same way you would try to go from 1st to neutral, no false neutrals here! Handling is excellent and wind protection good. Added powebronze db screen and belly pan, cheap and both add to the looks of the bike.

I bought my bike in Jan . I am pleased with the bike but it has a very clunky /heavy gear change form 1/2/ and 3 and back down from 3to 2/1. i have tried clutch less changing but with little improvment and a oil change. Is this normal or can it be improved ? will a new clutch help or has it a bent selector in the gear box ? any advise ??????????

Hi, I bought my FZ6 in April 08 and have clocked just over 13k miles on it... I love it! Forget the comments about the low midrange pull, the excessive need to change gear and the fact that you have to rev the nuts of the thing to make it move... It's all crap. The only negative thing about this bike is the gear change from 1st to 2nd... that's it! The first weekend I had the bike, I rode from South London to Wakefield and back again... I stopped twice there and once on the way back and the bike didn't miss a beat. The engine is smooth and easy to handle... and then you give it some and it's responsive and efficient. I've had an indicated 162mph on my Fizzle... (on the track of course! ;-)) with no modifications, just regular servicing! Love it, and it'll love you back... I suggest a test ride... you'll think it's great!

I have owned my S2 Fazer for a year and done 4000 trouble free miles. This was my introduction to the world of the big bike and I would say I didn't make a bad choice. As my first big bike I don't have anything to compare it to (except a CBR125 and CB500 which were used to learn on). Before I get to the nitty gritty, I feel I should point out the good bits first. I find it to be 2 bikes in 1, keep it below 7k revs and it is a easy to ride, economical commuter. Push the bike to the better side of 7k and listen to the gorgeous exhaust note as the engine bursts into life and puts an enormous grin on your face and keeps up with most other 600's on the market and copes with the corners pretty good too. The dash is smart and functional as well as being asthetically pleasing. I like the wide handle bar spacing and comfortable riding position. The brakes are superb and really give you good feel and confidence to stop the bike in an orderly manor should the need arise. I love the view of the bike from the rear with it's enormous rear tyre and underseat exhaust. Now the bad points... Where did they find the morons to build that gearbox, I know it has been mentioned before in previous reviews but i am certain that Yamaha can do better than this pathetic attempt at gears( i've been spoilt cos my 125 was a HONDA). Clunky is rather a nice word I would choose, Crap and horrid would be better. Don't get caught in the wrong gear cos it just will not pull. I get a vibration through the bike at about 5k rpm (which is motorway speeds in top gear) which is ok on short journeys but annoying on anything more than 20 mins. I don't find the seat comfortable, after an hour or so I find myself trying to find the nearest place to have a coffee break. Although my bike has only done 4k miles there is a rather disturbing amount of corrosion to some of the bolts and fixings although my bike has not seen rain or salt and is washed and dried thouroughly after every decnt outing. There is excessive play on the throttle (can be reduced by the adjustmenat screw). I Bought my bike for £4500 new, I haven't got the quality of Honda but I certainly am not complaining. I have what everyone else has, a great "low cost" (not cheap) bike that performs well Moral You get what you pay for! Would i recomend to a friend? Definately, but only if you cant afford an Honda! A respectable bike at a respectable price, I love my fazer, a great bike at a sensible price. Ride safely !!! CONCLUSION Good- Brakes Ease of ride 40 mpg+ Bad- Gearbox The finish Pigeon

My first bike was a Yamaha FZS 600s old model Fazer. It was a great bike but I really think that the next model is a level above. When I first tried the FZ6 Fazer I had only ridden a CBF500 as a learner and found the 4-cylinder really different. I kept stalling it and it took me a few starts to get a smooth pull away from lights, and hill-starts were a 'mare. The ergonomics are very good, but it took me a while to adjust from the Honda (and I still maintain that the CBF500 is one of the most sorted bikes around as far as riding position goes). Once I'd settled in, however, I felt really at home. The seat is comfy, the visibility is great and it's really easy going on long-haul trips. However, I'm 5'6" and while I'm happy with it, any taller and I'd not be comfortable with the reach so if you are shorter than me think twice before considering an FZ6. On the road the Yamaha is so sweet, it really is. Of all the bikes I've ridden it is the only one that manages to make me feel comfortable, confident and at the same time gives me a buzz. And the noise is just brilliant once you get above 4k rpm. I spent quite a lot of time riding a Suzuki SV650 recently and the Yamaha combines the weather protection of the SV650s with the upright position of the naked SV. One area the Sook beats the Yamaha hands down is in torque - the V-twin of the SV picks up so quickly, in fact, the engine is sublime. However, in every other area the Yamaha is a much better bike, in my opinion. I think that the clincher is the build quality and equipment spec of the FZ. It really is in a better class with its centre stand, fuel gauge, engine imobiliser and 180 section rear wheel.

I was really hoping to like this bike a lot more than I did in the end. I had a YBR125 which I used to pass my DAS and I thought the Fazer would make a good choice as a first bigger bike. The R6 didn't fit me and I couldn't face a 1000cc bike straight off plus I've always loved Yamahas, so the Fazer seemed to fit the bill. I've ridden over 5,000 miles since passing my test last year, so I don't feel like a complete novice (or idiot). The problem was that the more I rode it, the less confident I felt. I found the riding position to be high - I'm only 5'7" and I couldn't get my toes on the floor. I'm not worried about flat footing, but I did topple over once when the camber was extreme and the grooves in the road claimed another victim. The C of G is quite high and I found that with a pillion and luggage, weight distribution could very easily upset the stability without careful planning. I felt like I was perched on top of the bike and not part of it, and coupled with the lack of feel from the front end, it wasn't building my confidence as I built speed on the twisties. The rear end benefited greatly from bumping up the preload to max, but the weak link in the suspension is definitely the front end, which isn't adjustable. I'm not that sure about the tyres either but having spent quite a lot to get the bike, I wasn't keen to shell out more without any guarantee that it would help. Then there were other niggles - the throttle, even on the new S2, is rather snatchy - so getting really smooth was not easy. The gearbox is clunky and prone to dropping false neutrals. The engine goes well as long as you rev it very hard and are prepared to change gear a lot - I agree with the comments below about the engine being mismatched to the bike's purpose. Plus lots of gear changes means popping into neutral, which can really upset your apple cart in full flow. It's low speed handling isn't the best I've experienced - I can u-turn a Harley on a normal street but didn't like doing it on the Yammy. On the plus side, it is very comfy, well built and well equipped. It looks very nice and is a more distinctive than most of its competitors. It will probably do more things than a more focussed sport bike or supermoto, but therein lies the problem, as compromises have to be made too. So I will be letting the bike go - I appreciate my review is more negative than most here, so I may well be the problem, but it always helps to have another point of view. One thing I've learned is the critical importance of ergonomics - if it doesn't feel right, it isn't right for you.

The FZ6 Fazer S2 was my big bike of choice after passing my test this Summer, following five years of hooning around on a variety of 125s, and the odd spin on an R6, a Z750, a Street Triple and a SV650, all coutesy of very trusting mates and a dealership or two. Like a lot of people, I was initially attracted to the FZ6 for its looks. When it first appeared in 2004, with its underseat cans and moulded alloy frame, it was head and shoulders above its immediate competition, looking like a much more expensive bike than it was. Four years, and a few pleasing mods later, the S2 version continues to hold its own, style-wise, against the increasingly aggressive and stubby-tailed designs that are currently homogenising the appearance of everything on two wheels these days. The second reason for my choice was, well, not being sure what kind of big biker (or should that be motorcyclist?) I would eventually turn out to be, I wanted an all-rounder; something I could commute on, something I could do a bit of touring on (with my gf two-up), and something I could leave traffic far behind with on a sunny day's blast. Having done a little over 2,500 miles on it so far (from new, what with the Summer we've had!!!), I can say the Fazer handles a central London commute in as unflustered a fashion as anything I've ridden in the past, and has seating and ergos, both for rider and pillion, that are conducive to quite a few hours on the open road at a time. Oh, and the handling is solid too. Now, it seems that the main criticisms aimed at the FZ6 are it's notchy gearbox and it's - yep, you guessed it - LACK OF MIDRANGE PULL! Well, the gearbox does have a tendency to be on the notchy side between 1st and 2nd at low revs, but so what? I've had better, but I've certainly had worse, and it's a piece of p*** locating neutral either whilst moving or stationary, which is more than can be said for some gearboxes! As for the midrange; having read plenty of reviews before getting on the bike, I was prepared for the worse, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found that the Fazer wasn't as weak in the lower revs as I'd been led to believe by the biking press. Of course, it doesn't have the poke of the Street Triple - or even the SV - down there at the bottom end of the rev counter, but - it's been said before, and I'll say it again - we are talking about a 600 inline four, after all; you either love 'em or you don't. What is important to add is that the power does work its way down the revs as the miles rack up with this bike; there's a considerable difference between the low-end pull during the first week I had the bike and now that it's heading towards the 3000 mile mark. And, of course, the rest of the fun is really to be had 7000rpm+; being a bit new to this big bike malark I've only been brave enough to take it up to about the 10k mark, but, let's be realistic, the rush you get out the power unleashed there is more than enough for most people! And to think, there's still another 4,000 revs that have yet to be explored! Overall, this multitasker is good enough at all the things I want it to do, with the promise of more excitement to come. Granted, a bike that can suit all the criteria I expressed is never going to be top-drawer at any one task, but the Fazer FZ6 is a more than competent as a commuting-supersport-touring tool; it's great for beginners, due to the engine's character allowing you to grow into it, and yet still has plenty in reserve for the more experienced rider. A far more fun and usefully real-world pair of wheels than some of the bike press would have you believe; no wonder it's been around for nearly as long as the hallowed '98 to '03 original model, ot's coz we love it!