Yamaha dealer says FZ1 is a slug.

[Kawboy]

I stopped in at the yamaha dealer to ask if they ordered any FZ1's. One of the staff told me he advised the owner not to get any because it's too slow. This guy rides a ZRX1200 and said when he rode the 06 FZ1 last year he was completely underwhelmed by it's performance and told me I probably wouldn't be happy with it. When I asked him if he wound it out he admitted that being a new bike he didn't want to push it too far up the rev range. He went on to tell me it's not even close to being an R1 motor. All the reviews I've read of the FZ1 say it's plenty fast with power to spare. Is this guy trying to con me into an R1 because he's got one ordered or did he really not even ride the FZ1 like he claims? I know they had one last summer because I sat on it the same day they were sending it to another dealer. I was surprised at this guys comments because I've never heard anyone describe the FZ1 as a "slug".

[garry]

I demo'd a 2006 and wasn't impressed with the motor, but it was a nice enough bike overall. Don't think I'd buy one after riding one though. Seemed to be lacking grunt for a holligan bike. No real chance to wring it out on an official demo ride, but if I wanted to wring a bike out, I'd just ride my Kawi 636. The R1 doesn't have the grunt of the other superbikes and needs to spin some revs to make silly power. I'm sure it's plenty fast if you keep the motor spinning.

[Tropical FJR]

Stock FZ-1's have a FI problem, and most of the power is too high in the rev range.

They can be made to go quite well with a few mods.

[Kawboy]

I demo'd a 2006 and wasn't impressed with the motor, but it was a nice enough bike overall. Don't think I'd buy one after riding one though. Seemed to be lacking grunt for a holligan bike. No real chance to wring it out on an official demo ride, but if I wanted to wring a bike out, I'd just ride my Kawi 636. The R1 doesn't have the grunt of the other superbikes and needs to spin some revs to make silly power. I'm sure it's plenty fast if you keep the motor spinning.

My guess is he kept it in the lower rpm range and didn't really see what it was capable of. I traded in a 636 last spring and really miss it.

[R Doug]

So far, I have 600 miles on my 07 and I'm loving it.  Before the purchase, I knew I could always put lower gearing on it to keep it in the powerband.  But, so far, all is good.  

To me, the engine starts to come alive over 4.5k and really scares the crap out of you around 6k or 7k.  

[MisterSmooth]

Too slow??  

The bike's not slow at all.  120 bhp?  You can scare yourself silly anytime.  The rider might be slow.  

[EffJay]

I stopped in at the yamaha dealer to ask if they ordered any FZ1's. One of the staff told me he advised the owner not to get any because it's too slow. This guy rides a ZRX1200 ...

Sounds like a bad case of "my bike is the best," or maybe a dealer that just wants to sell what's already on order.

My personal ride is an R1, but I have a good friend who's a serious track rat, who bought an '06 FZ-1 last year.  She can't say enough good about it.  A former Ducati racer, I'll take her word over that of a moto salesman any day.  

A salesman's agenda often isn't the same as a customer's.  No big surprise there.

[Grad]

I can't comment on the new FZs, but my '04 is anything but a slug. It has a LOT more balls than any 600 I have ever been on and isn't too far off the liter bikes.

[bluesurf]

I can't comment on the new FZs, but my '04 is anything but a slug. It has a LOT more balls than any 600 I have ever been on and isn't too far off the liter bikes.

'04's are completely different machines than the '06's & '07's.

I had an '06, and after a gearing change, throttle wire tightening (but not too much), and power commander w/light mapping tweaks then it still had sufficient snatchy fueling issues that I wasn't comfortable really pushing it hard, so it's now gone from the garage.  I understand that Yammie redid, with success this time, the stock FI mapping on the '07 FZ-1's.

It sounds like the salesman rode a stock '06 and didn't push it...no surprise, then, that he wasn't aware of the bike & engines real behavior characteristics.

http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/

[Hickey]

There is a fix out there for the fuel injection on the '06 FZ1.  Ivan's Performance Products http://www.ivansperformanceproducts.com/index.htm has a little black box that can be spliced into the control wires that cures the abrupt on-off throttle response and adds some HP to the midrange of the FZ1.

http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60222
http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61228
http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60004
http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59881
http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56628

Supposedly the '07 model has improved fuel injection straight from the factory.  Yamaha should have gotten it right the first time, but at least there is a fix for the '06 model year.

As to the bike being a dog.  By 4000 RPMs the bike is producing around 60 ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheel.  Torque climbs to a peak of about 70 ft-lbs near 8000 RPMs.  The bike revs all the way to 12,000 RPMs producing peak power of around 120 HP or more.  All from a bike that costs less than $10,000 and weighs less than 450 lbs, ready to ride.  Doesn't sound like a dog to me.  

[bluesurf]

There is a fix out there for the fuel injection on the '06 FZ1.  Ivan's Performance Products http://www.ivansperformanceproducts.com/index.htm has a little black box that can be spliced into the control wires that cures the abrupt on-off throttle response and adds some HP to the midrange of the FZ1.

Sure, and I could've paid George Dean another $250-300 to custom map the power commander, but at a certain point, when the manufacturer has obviously f'd up and isn't making it right through a service remapping bulletin, then enough chasing is enough.

Great bike when dialed, but not at any cost...especially with the lack of aftermarket support.  I rolled the dice, enjoyed the bike for ~8 dry months, but it just wasn't a keeper.  Sounds like the '07, with Givi bits now available and improved stock mapping, is closer to the mark/acceptable for a modern-day bike in its class.

re: the power delivery curve, then I've never been a I4 600cc rider, but 70 ft-lbs of torque just doesn't get it done for me unless it's delivered from a good bit lower down than 8K rpm, or in the R1 case two-thirds of the way through the range.

[Red FZ1]

I would agree about the agenda issue- I had an 02 FZ1 but my 06 is so much better in handling, and feel I do not miss the low end grunt. I have played with my 06FZ1 and have got some great results- I spent some time thinking about the Ivan FCE, I even called and talked to him. The 1st thing he told me  was not to post a picture of the FCE, if I bought one. I think that is a fair request, so I went and looked, and sure enough some guy posted one. I work at a Yamaha shop so I do have the luxury of tearing into mine after work, so after looking at the picture, I went at it. here is what I have done so far

1. I replaced the FZ1 velocity stacks with R1 velocity stacks. Graves makes a kit that  costs 150 bucks. The stock version for the FZ1 are tall and these shorter R1 stacks, really help the bike in the upper RPM. I also have the Leo Vince Pipe- I also disconnected the O2 sensor

2. I cut the air dam and the snorkel out of the air box to help it breathe. That also cuts the air temperature down some and the temp sensor is showing about a 10-15 degree drop in the air box when riding

3. I went to the diagnostic mode, and moved my Primary TPS to read 18. My A tech at work says the reading can be between 15-18. the higher the number the richer it is.

4. I decided to to look at the secondary TPS, and it was moved all the way off, so I moved it the same amount I moved the Primary TPS, about a 32nd of an inch. I rode the FZ for about 200 miles and went back in and moved it another 32nd of an inch, and on the second ride, the throttle response was even better. Even less of a jerky throttle, and the bike feels even quicker.

5. After all of that I re-synced the Throttle bodies. My number 1 and 4 TB were off big time. On my 3rd test ride the bike seemed quicker, and even was pulling the front wheel off the pavement in 3rd gear. These quick changes have helped mine. I also used the shops Co monitor, and the bike is spot on.

This bike has the potential to be a monster- I just think it will take some time for folks to get in there and play with it some. That is half the fun of it. IMHO

[FJRmgm]

the major motorcycle mags all dissed the FZ1 because of the lack of low end punch so it's not somebody dreaming.

[Baz]

Slow you say?

Hmmm. Go here & click on the FZ-1 fly by video..

http://www.holeshot.com/videos/

[Kawboy]

Slow you say?

Hmmm. Go here & click on the FZ-1 fly by video..

http://www.holeshot.com/videos/

Sure didn't look slow there. I think he just doesn't want to have to get one from another dealer so would rather I buy an R1 which I don't want. Nice bike but I'm getting too old to assume the position.

[bluesurf]

I would agree about the agenda issue- I had an 02 FZ1 but my 06 is so much better in handling, and feel I do not miss the low end grunt. I have played with my 06FZ1 and have got some great results- I spent some time thinking about the Ivan FCE, I even called and talked to him. The 1st thing he told me  was not to post a picture of the FCE, if I bought one. I think that is a fair request, so I went and looked, and sure enough some guy posted one. I work at a Yamaha shop so I do have the luxury of tearing into mine after work, so after looking at the picture, I went at it. here is what I have done so far

1. I replaced the FZ1 velocity stacks with R1 velocity stacks. Graves makes a kit that  costs 150 bucks. The stock version for the FZ1 are tall and these shorter R1 stacks, really help the bike in the upper RPM. I also have the Leo Vince Pipe- I also disconnected the O2 sensor

2. I cut the air dam and the snorkel out of the air box to help it breathe. That also cuts the air temperature down some and the temp sensor is showing about a 10-15 degree drop in the air box when riding

3. I went to the diagnostic mode, and moved my Primary TPS to read 18. My A tech at work says the reading can be between 15-18. the higher the number the richer it is.

4. I decided to to look at the secondary TPS, and it was moved all the way off, so I moved it the same amount I moved the Primary TPS, about a 32nd of an inch. I rode the FZ for about 200 miles and went back in and moved it another 32nd of an inch, and on the second ride, the throttle response was even better. Even less of a jerky throttle, and the bike feels even quicker.

5. After all of that I re-synced the Throttle bodies. My number 1 and 4 TB were off big time. On my 3rd test ride the bike seemed quicker, and even was pulling the front wheel off the pavement in 3rd gear. These quick changes have helped mine. I also used the shops Co monitor, and the bike is spot on.

This bike has the potential to be a monster- I just think it will take some time for folks to get in there and play with it some. That is half the fun of it. IMHO

Nice work!  There were other considerations for my selling of the FZ-1, but there's no doubt that it can be one of the most comfortable railers out there.  Someone on the FZ board fitted R1 front suspenders to one, in addition to a few of the things that you have, and just loves the bike now.

[Mookie]

I thought the snatchiness was caused by the ECU shutting down the injectors at closed throttle, then when the throttle is reopened all the fuel that got stuck in there surges out.  I'm pretty sure the Ivans box eliminates that.  

[bluesurf]

Slow you say?

Hmmm. Go here & click on the FZ-1 fly by video..

http://www.holeshot.com/videos/

Cool vid, but not really representative of what's being discussed here I think.  I can't quite get a clear still shot, but the description mentions the bike being jetted, as in carburated.  That would mean that the bike is a Gen 1, and not the FI Gen 2 that the '06 & '07's represent.  The Gen 1 FZ-1's have more low-end out of the box, and even more with the jet kit (and unconstricted pipes.)

Also, the engine is already wound up in that vid.  The thing that most people complain about, as they do/did with the '04-'05 R1's (I had an '04) is that there's a dearth of low-end grunt from a stock setup.  This low-end grunt is what a lot of people equate with "fast" from a street-riding perspective...the bikes, both of them, certainly open up like a banshee from about 7-7.5K rpm on up.

[Red FZ1]

I am pretty sure Ivan's FCE works great- and no doubt even do a better job than what I did. My guess is that the FCE affects the voltage going into the TPS's. And when you adjust the timing on those- you also effect the voltage. The big difference is he knows the exact voltage to make it perfect. He really knows his stuff. I have to go by seat of the pants, and a service manual for reference. I am having a ball working on this bike, and learning a ton of good information from folks in forums and trial and error. I am only out the time it takes to get the bike apart and back together again.

[chornbe]

I stopped in at the yamaha dealer to ask if they ordered any FZ1's. One of the staff told me he advised the owner not to get any because it's too slow. This guy rides a ZRX1200 and said when he rode the 06 FZ1 last year he was completely underwhelmed by it's performance and told me I probably wouldn't be happy with it. When I asked him if he wound it out he admitted that being a new bike he didn't want to push it too far up the rev range. He went on to tell me it's not even close to being an R1 motor. All the reviews I've read of the FZ1 say it's plenty fast with power to spare. Is this guy trying to con me into an R1 because he's got one ordered or did he really not even ride the FZ1 like he claims? I know they had one last summer because I sat on it the same day they were sending it to another dealer. I was surprised at this guys comments because I've never heard anyone describe the FZ1 as a "slug".

Slug. That's funny. He's an idiot.