Hey guys,
I haven't posted on here forever, so thought I would post up on how my 2007 FZ6 has evolved over the past 5 years.
I've always liked mid sized bikes and still have my 2007 Yamaha FZ6. I have put a lot of time and effort into setting it up to work well in almost any street situation, from smooth/fast roads to bumpy goat roads. It still has stock exhaust, stock turn signals, and stock mirrors, along with a stock motor. I did not want to draw any attention from any of the LEO's up in the mountains or around town, so kept it fix-it ticket free. I could have bought any 600 I wanted at the time, but chose the FZ6 as best for my own personal needs. I was tired of clip ons, peaky motors, poor gas mileage combined with small tanks, and sub par comfort...features that most of the 600 sportbikes all seemed to share. I especially like the 5.1 gal tank on the FZ6 that can easily go 200 miles between fillups.
The first thing I did when I got the bike was to concentrate on the ergonomics and get it set up for my body and riding style. I went over to the Corbin factory in Hollister, CA and had them custom shape a seat for me to my specs. Then I put on fully adjustable Rizoma rearsets and a Rizoma superbike handlebar with a bend that suit me. I now have a bike that has perfect ergonomics for me in all riding scenarios.
I wanted to keep the motor and exhaust bone stock, but dial in the throttle response. I did this by putting on a Power Commander and installing a custom map for a stock motor. This made a big difference in the throttle response throughout the rev range, but especially at low rpm's where it cured the surging coming from off throttle. I added a K&N air filter at this time to complete the package. One more thing I did was to go 2 teeth higher on the rear sprocket to gear it down just slightly. This allowed me to have a choice of 2 gears in most corners depending on the pace I was running.
Next up was the suspension which was definately not up to par when the pace got spirited. I installed an Ohlins shock in the rear with adjustable rebound and compression. The damper rod front forks were sorely lacking, so I put in some RaceTech fork springs, a set of the RaceTech Gold Valve Emulators to help with the compression, and a heavier weight oil to help with the rebound. These modified damper rod forks still will never be the equal of the fully adjustable cartridge forks that come stock on all the 600 sportbikes, but they work a hell of a lot better than the stock setup. I also added a Superbike fork brace for a little more rigidity up front. I've got my suspension dialed in for the backroads, whether they be smooth or bumpy, and it just works for my riding style.
I installed stainless brake lines front and rear and am running Vesrah brake pads. I went with a Brembo radial master cylinder up front for that extra bit of stopping power and feel at the lever, and am loving that mod.
Last thing was installing an Ohlins steering damper. It came with an FZ6 mounting kit and was a breeze to install. I know there is a lot of controversy about steering dampers and if they are even needed, especially on a bike like an FZ6 which has a more relaxed steering geometry than the 600 sportbikes. Where it comes into it's own for me is when I'm riding at a very spirited pace on those really bumpy goat roads. Yes Virginia, it does make a difference in those situations!
There might be a couple little things I left out, but that is pretty much how I have the FZ6 set up. It all works very well together in the real world backroads. To keep this in perspective, I'm sure an R6 will kick the living shit out of my FZ6 on the race track, but my FZ6 can hold it's own on the backroads and is a lot more civil to ride. It's kind of a sleeper and is basically an old man's pseudo sport bike . Here are a couple pics.
Mel
Five Years With My FZ6
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