Yamaha FZ8 (2010-current)

I've just purchased a new 12 plate FZ8 from Arnold's Motorcycles in Leicester and at £6799 with 0% finance I am a very happy camper (ok, biker hehe) and the service from Arnold's was second to none. I got a very good trade-in price for my 1999 Triumph Daytona 955i against the new FZ8. I test rode the XJ6 Diversion and wasn't overly impressed although the bike did handle very well and once on the dual carriageway was a swift mover indeed if a little high revving, but that's 600's for you. Anyway, I picked up the XJ from Arnold's in Leicester and rode up to their head office branch in Loughborough to pick up the demo FZ8 taking in the A6 for most of the 10 or so miles to get there, once there , quick loo break and the guys had the demo bike out the back ready for me to ride. As I walked out of the back door of the showroom I was greeted by the black curves of the 12 plate demo FZ8 and instantly a huge grin was upon my chops, even better the sun was shining and I was in just the right mood for riding back to my house near Oadby and then finally back the 3 or 4 miles into Leicester to return the bike to Arnold's. The entire ride was a joy, nothing aching, nothing hurting like it did on the Daytona and after an hour I arrived back at Arnold's with a smile that said just start the finance application I want one !! Reluctantly handing over the keys to Ian the sales guy and before I knew it my finance application had been accepted, a great p/x on my 13 yr old Triumph had been offered and I was asked when did I want to collect my new bike, how about the following day I replied.......the bike is awesome, so easy to ride, still running the engine in so cannot comment on top speed but I just love riding it, did 400 miles this weekend and got off it as refreshed as when I got on , seems pretty good on fuel too with it's 17 litre tank, 3 of which is reserve, I clocked nearly 170 miles on a full tank costing around £18 quid or just over, not bad for a naked and the fact it has to carry a lump of a bloke, my old Daytona used to give me around 150 miles to it's 18 litre tank which considering it's a 150cc bigger than the FZ is pretty good going. Anyway, to summarise, a great bike, easy to ride, fantastic styling and comfort and at present Yamaha have a 0% finance deal on the FZ8 plus a selected few others in the Yam range. My only slight negative is when pulling away, the bike is probably a little too light in weight and you tend to sway from side to side as you get going, other than that, perfectamundo ! Buy one you won't regret it !

This is my new favourite bike - bar none! And that is a bold statement, as I trade bikes. This bike is very confidence inspiring and very easy and fun to ride. Everything does what it should, just like the XJ6, only with the FZ8, you get considerably more power. The way that power is delivered is smooth and predictable, building from low down, pulling strongly. The torque vs bhp is bang on for the road. This bike is without doubt the one I would pick for any road ride! There are comments re the price, but you must remember that Yamaha have superb engineering and build quality, I rate it over the coveted Honda quality, as every Yamaha model I have had has never failed to impress me, with attention to detail, fit and finish. Buy one of these and keep it for ever, you won't need or want for anything else...

I used to have an XJR1300 and Street Triple. I part ex'd both for the Fazer 800 as I wanted a comfy sports tourer with some wind protection. I've had it 3 months and have done 4000 miles now. I'm very pleased with it. It might not have the same grunt as the XJR as you would expect, but there is plenty. Acceleration is good enough for what I want. I thought about getting the Fazer1000 but the 800 has a bigger fairing, and everyone I spoke to who had the 1000 said fuel consumption wasn't that good, a maximum of 130 miles till the light comes on. I get 45-55 mpg on mine. MCN dont mention the dip in torque at 5,000 rpm. Its quite noticable, and if you want to overtake quickly at lower speeds you need it at 6000. 5000 in 4th and it takes a while to pull through to 6000. I guess its all down to reducing emissions to pass the tests. The can seems to get a lot of stick in reviews, but its not huge and doesn't look as bad as other cans you see these days. The Street Triple has 2 great lumps of metal next to the pillion seat. There are some bungy points to tie luggage to. I wish the pillion grab handles were 2 inches longer at the back to tie straps to though. The suspension is great on bumpy roads, I prefer to go the scenic routes so often the road surface is often less than perfect. Whacking the rear pre-load up helps to stop some of the initial soggyness. It would be nice to have fully adjustable suspension, but I probably wouldn't adjust it that far from what it is now for my riding. I dont do track days anymore. The other bikes I considered were a Tiger or new CBF1000. I didn't like the service costs of the Triumph, valve checks every 12000 miles. Long term the Yamaha will work out cheaper, my local dealer 1.5 miles away are very reasonable, hence the higher value mark than you might think. Also the extras I got were well under RRP which helped. The new CBF looks a lot better than the older one, but still doesn't have the looks, and after talking to a friend it didn't sound sporty enough.