YZF600R, YZF600F, FZ6

[PirateT7]

Talk to me about the differences between these three; two older models and one current-year bike. Ergos, mid-range power (roll-on passing), gas mileage and range, etc.
My main interest is mostly commuting & around town, with some weekend sport-touring in the North Georgia mountains, to the coast etc.

[livewellandfree]

I'm on my second YZF600R: 2005 was bought new and rode it 40000 miles in three years, until someone ran a stop sign and I went over his trunk. Bought the 2007 last fall with 6000 on it and turned 10000 last Saturday on a 200 mile afternoon. A couple weeks ago a guy on a new ZZR600 got me into a 30-100 race and we were neck and neck. New school had nothing on old school. The first one was stock and got 44mpg with 200 mile range. The 07 has a jet kit and gets 38mpg and 180 range.

That said, I commute 100+ miles a day: Up I-75 in the morning and back roads home. My 47 year old, 6ft frame has rode all day and I can walk circles around the young guns on the newer sport bikes at the end of the day. The FZ6 looks like it has a more upright position, but I can't vouch for that. The YZF engine is a workhorse but the transmission has a known problem with 1st to 2nd, if abused, so work up and down hard on test drive to feel for hard shifting up and slipping out engine breaking. Transmission repairs on the Genisis engine requires a complete case teardown to fix. The FZ6 has the newer R6 based engine, but lacks the fully adjustable suspension of the older race based YZF.

There is a lot of info on the YZF600R forum: http://www.yzf600r.com/phpBB2/index.php

Hope that helps. Ride both, if you can, and get what feels right for you and meets your needs.

[DogBoy]

The YZF600 (R of F) are the same bike as far as I can tell. Don't know why there are different designations.

The YZF600 was a Yamaha's main 600cc sportbike when it was released (eclipsed by the R6 in '99). The YZF has a comfortable "sport" riding position, full fairing, a 90hp carbureted engine with good midrange for a 600, fully adjustable suspension, steel frame and a large fuel tank offering 200 mile range. I have a really old YZF600 and it gets between 40-50 mpg depending on how I ride.

The FZ6 is a standard with an upright riding position, handlebars (as opposed to clip-ons on the YZF), an aluminum frame, half-fairling, lower quality damping rod forks and a shock with adjustment for preload only, underseat exhaust and a fuel injected engine from the R6 with less midrange than the YZF600 engine. The FZ6 has a five gallon tank and should also offer almost 200 mile range.

Both are good commuter or sport-touring bikes, are fun to ride and you can't go wrong with either one for these duties. The YZF is older tech (except the suspension) and more like a sport bike.



Yamaha also offers an FZ6R for 2009 that is similar to the FZ6 but has full bodywork and a steel frame. You can compare the FZ6 and FZ6R here: click me

[wolf46]

I have the FZ6R and it's a great commuter, fully faired, more lower and midrange torque than FZ6 but bit less hp and lower top speed (Yamaha states 120+-), 4.6 gallon tank, upright position and ergos pretty good. I took it to 110mph just once and felt like had a little more but that is plenty for me. It needs a bit bigger screen for highway as get quite a windblast upper torso and shoulders at 80+mph but I'm really happy with it.

[PirateT7]

The YZF600 (R of F) are the same bike as far as I can tell. Don't know why there are different designations.

Thanks, that was confusing me too, hence including both in my question. I'd read through the threads I could find here and on ADV other forums I frequent, as well as browsing yzf600r.com and an evening of google searching, but nowhere could I find one place that mentioned both models or any comparison. odd.

The three replies so far pretty much confirm what I was thinking - both sound good though I may like the more upright position of the newer FZ6. I do need to stop by the local dealer and check the differences between the FZ6 & FZ6R in person. May's Rider mag has a writeup on the R and they seemed pretty happy with it too. Keep the info coming, guys, and I'll keep searching for good deals out there 

[livewellandfree]

http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/fz6/328012-yzf600r-vs-fz6.html
http://www.fz6-forum.com/forum/main-lobby-new-member-section/4065-yzf-600r-vs-fz6.html

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

I just bought a FZ6 2007 brand new from the dealer great little bike.   Seems pretty fast enough and the way you are positioned on the bike is very comfortable.

[chornbe]

I just bought a FZ6 2007 brand new from the dealer great little bike.   Seems pretty fast enough and the way you are positioned on the bike is very comfortable.

Ditto my '05. I've got nothing bad to say about this bike.

Here's what I wrote about it in '07 long before I bought it off my friend:

Some times bland is ok

I never met a motorcycle I didn't like, to some degree. Ok, that might not be entirely true, but for this discussion, let's make that assumption. Even some bikes that I wouldn't own often have some level of appeal to me. I think it comes down to the fact that I like riding more than I like bikes. Bikes are just the tool to afford me the chance to ride. Some tools are better than others.

My friend Steve has a Yamaha FZ-6, a 600cc "sport naked". Specifics about his bike can be found at the Yamaha FZ-6 site. The thing is, he's owned the bike coming up on two years and it has less than a thousand miles on it. He's had the battery go dead once or twice from sitting. Every now and then he'll ask me to take it home, ride it for a few days, get some miles on it, flow some gas through it, air it out a bit. The last time I did so I swore I'd had enough of that bike. I was convinced it just flat out sucked. So, I was a bit hesitant when he asked me again.

This time... it's different.

The bike is smoother - much, much smoother - than the last time I rode it. This is not my imagination. I know smooth bikes, I ride an F4i. I rode an F4i last time I rode his bike. This time it's much smoother, so maybe last time I had it there was an issue with some bad gas or something (remember, this bike sits - a lot!).

When I rode the bike home the other day my thoughts during the entire trip were on how bland and seemingly uncharacteristic this bike is. The brakes work. The throttle makes it go. Pushing on the bars makes the bike lazily turn in and take you through a turn. Everything seems to work, but nothing jumps out as "wow". No feature is really a stand-out. I decided to ride the bike to work today and take the bike down a twisty road that is part of my "most of the time" commute.

The roads were a little damp this morning and there was a heavy mist in the air. The FZ-6 doesn't develop half the torque of my FJR, so I wasn't worried about spinning the back tire through every turn or low-siding from delivering too much power mid-turn. As I pushed the bike through the the first 90-degree turn at about 45 miles per hour and rolled the throttle on a little farther, this bland and boring machine took me through the turn with no excitement or upset at all, then straightened up to take me the 3/4 mile down the next turn at about 70 miles per hour.

This next turn is a 90-degree to the left, then about a 1/8 mile later, a 90-degree to the right. Both are fairly tight radius turns, and after lazily turning through both of them at speeds in excess of 40, I stood the bike up and continued on my route. Yep, still bland and boring. By the end of this stretch of road, I was very much in tune with how much I needed to hang off, or not, and how hard I had to push the bars, or not. I was perfectly comfortable with the throttle and power delivery, and the somewhat different clutch feel from my bikes.

The 2 1/2 "S" turns at the end of this road fell behind me with nary a concern and my speed was hovering somewhere around 55-60 as I exited the last of the turns. The engine wasn't screaming, though I did have it wound up pretty well in 3rd or 4th gear. I don't even remember which. It didn't matter. The engine felt bland and smooth enough. The ample disc brakes brought me to a smooth an secure stop at the stop sign as my left thumb just naturally fell to the turn signal switch with no excessive reaching or hunting.

Then it hit me, all of a sudden and with such realization that I laughed aloud in my helmet.

This bike isn't bland. This bike is well-freaking-engineered, to the point of actually working with you and for you, rather than needing to be pushed and coerced into every part of riding. Holy Crap! Is this bike really that good? That well thought out?

Yes. I believe it is.

The seating position is absolutely perfect. I mount the bike and fall immediately into a neutral and comfortable seating position. If I were to change anything, I would simply soften the angle on the wrists; a simple and easy handle-bar change.

Don't get me wrong... the bike isn't perfect (but which one is?).

    * It does turn in fairly lazily, but I wonder if that's just yet-another issue with cheap OEM tires and proper tire pressure (the stock tires on my FJR were complete trash).
    * The forks are non-adjustable, standard rod forks. They could use beefier springs and thicker oil, like nearly every damping rod fork. I'm no 160lb light-weight.
    * The wind management could be a little better; I get a slight draft up the front of my Scorpion helmet, but then I think the chin skirt on that helmet is too small anyway.

But really, if those are the only issues... this is a bike done right. I hated this bike the first couple of times I rode it. Maybe I'm more open-minded now, or maybe Steve made some adjustments I'm not aware of. Maybe I just needed more saddle time. I don't know.

But, I could easily see myself slapping some luggage on it and doing long, tour-style rides on that bike with no issues if were mine.

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

Very nice report chornbe, from riding a Blackbird and my Vmax this bike isn't the fastest bike out there but when your ride it its so smooth and its like you are one with the bike. Sounds weird but that the only way I can describe it. I am also looking into getting the FZ1 a 2006.

[PirateT7]

I just took a ride on a very nice 2008 model. Coming from an old R1100RS, the FZ6 felt every bit of the 125lbs lighter that it is.  The ride was spirited and the engine plenty powerful, the ride enjoyable.

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

I take my Wifes FZ6 out as much as I can. I just picked up a new left over FZ1 due to how much I like her FZ6.

[chornbe]

I take my Wifes FZ6 out as much as I can. I just picked up a new left over FZ1 due to how much I like her FZ6.

2nd gen FZ1? ('06 and up)

I actually think that for all the power and sporty handling that the gen-1 FZ1 is capable of, overall the FZ6 is a better bike. The 2nd gen FZ1 is a whole other animal. It's what the FZ6's big brother should definitely be.  

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

2nd gen FZ1? ('06 and up)

I actually think that for all the power and sporty handling that the gen-1 FZ1 is capable of, overall the FZ6 is a better bike. The 2nd gen FZ1 is a whole other animal. It's what the FZ6's big brother should definitely be.  

I bought a brand new 06. It seems nice so far it was a short ride due to rain  

[PirateT7]

Thanks again for all the great info

I picked up my new-to-me 2008 FZ6 today

[wolf46]

Very nice, I'm sure you'll enjoy it alot.

[barb]

Congrats! You will NOT be disappointed!!

[livewellandfree]

Prudy, now enjoy this wonderful weather!

[Ferine41]

The new FZ6 is a very nice bike. I think it is a really good step into a bike with more HPs or if someone really doesn't like the ridding position of the true sport bikes. If you're looking to put a ton of miles over the course of a weekend the FZ6 won't kill your lower back. Big fan of this bike.

Of course the R6 is an awesome bike.

PirateT7, not sure what your schedule is like, but I'm in Alpharetta too. I have a couple of friends who ride together most weekends. We do the Ga loop or whatever. We're doing the loop this weekend with a stop in Helen for some food. I'm going to try to hit Tennessee next weekend. Let me know if you are up for some weekend rides, and we can exchange info. I'll let you know on our rides.

[PirateT7]

thanks, I'll drop you a PM