Yamaha FZ1 January 2002

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Jos J. Heiloo
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Yamaha FZ1 January 2002

Bericht door Jos J. Heiloo »

Yamaha FZ1 January 2002 ( bron http://bikepoint.ninemsn.com.au/portal/ ... fault.aspx)

Minimalist Missile

He's a horsepower-hound is our ROB SMITH. He likes 'em brutally quick with no bunged-on airs and graces. After a week aboard a Yamaha FZ1, he's been to the top of the mountain. Tell us Rob...

"That's a pretty bold statement"
came the reply to my declaration that the Yamaha FZ1, is (arguably) the best Japanese motorcycle I've ridden. It is bold, but, the simple fact is, the FZ1 is one very bold motorcycle.

Sure, there are other excellent motorcycles on the market that other riders would say are faster, more comfortable, better at this or that, but up 'til now, I haven't been able to find one that has achieved the balance between sports and standard of the FZ1.

You've got to respect Yamaha's R1 for what it can do, after all it's been a winner on the track and in the showroom from Day One, but the fact is that most riders can barely break the seal on the envelope of its performance - let alone tear it wide open.

Yamaha has done what Suzuki did with the Bandit - taken the heart from the sports bike and modelled a package around it that makes what it's got more accessible. In so doing, Yamaha has moved the boundaries and created a new benchmark, which the other factories are going to struggle to match, for a while anyway.

What is it?
As I said, this is the heart of the R1, only the engine now pumps out a claimed 143PS at 10,000rpm instead of 150, and makes 10.8kg-m of torque at 7500rpm instead of 11.0kg-m at 8500rpm. It also weighs in at a fairly hefty - by today's standards - dry 208kg. Quite why any of the factories see fit to make a heavier bike less powerful, I'm not quite sure, but at least the figures aren't that far removed. Unlike some other manufacturers, who haven't cottoned on to what we want yet.

What this means is of course that the FZ-1 can't hold on to the same bit of bitumen as the R1, but in truth it was never meant to. After all, where would be the sense in making the "sensible bike" more loony than the sports bike? The FZ1 is designed to be the thinking man or woman's muscle bike. An R1 for everyone, strong off the bottom to make high-gear riding easy, fast up top, comfortable, with super stable handling that's nimble enough to make every corner quick and exciting.

So what has Yamaha done to calm the raging R1? Most significantly, there are new 37mm carburettors down from 40mm, and a re-designed (smaller) airbox behind the cylinder head to produce more bottom-end and accommodate the bigger fuel tank. There's a heavier crankshaft that's supposed to make the thing smoother, and a slightly lower compression ratio within the alloy (instead of magnesium) head.

In terms of the chassis, the FZ1 steps aside from the now commonplace alloy beam and uses a tubular steel number instead, which besides being heavier than the alloy job on the R1, holds the engine with a new link type rubber mounting at the front for increased smoothness.

When it comes to suspension, Yamaha has aimed for a more compliant ride. As a result the FZ-1 features fully-adjustable 43mm conventional forks with a long and welcome 140mm of travel, sprung with dual-rate springs in place of the R1's single-rate items. There's more of the same thinking at the back-end, which receives a pre-load, rebound and compression adjustable unit offering 135mm of rear wheel travel. Also at the back there's a new, more elegant, aluminium swing-arm, a bigger rear disc, and a 180-section tyre in place of the 190-section found on the R1.


But what's it like to ride?
It's good, really good. The first thing that hits you is the riding position. Here is a bike, which requires no contortions to feel in control of it, and there's an immediate sense that you could go a long way on this one without needing a crowbar at the end to pry you off. The seat feels comfortable, and is the right shape to make you feel you sit in it, rather than on it, a feeling accentuated by the handlebars. Yamaha offers a lower set for those who feel a little too upright.

Instruments are easy-to-get-used-to, old world analogue dials, although technology gets a nod with the inclusion of a digital clock. The mirrors take a bit of getting used to as they sit very high on long stems like the antenna on a wasp. Great for lane-splitting because they clear most car mirrors by a country mile! However, the view the rider gets is not greatly improved because of it, as it's still half full of arm!

So you hit the button, warm her up and drop into first gear. There's no clashing clonk, and as you zip up through the gears you realise someone has done some good work down below. No longer is there the tight notchy feel of the R1 and R6. There's a revised linkage system, and Yamaha has switched to a more compact and lightweight clutch that uses one less clutch plate and one more friction plate. The result is the six-speed box now changes sweetly. Overall gearing has also been changed from the R1, thanks to one tooth larger sprocket at the rear.

A handful of revs, ease out the clutch and... how do the Japanese make such powerful engines feel so docile at low speed? The FZ1 is honey-smooth at low revs, and psycho-nutcase once the needle hits 7500rpm where it goes surreal all the way to the redline.

Alright it's still not in R1 or GSX-R Thou territory, but this bike is seriously powerful, and just like the R1 will pull the front wheel into the air with ease just by winding on hard in first. The utterly infallible 'Seat of the Pants' dyno reckons there has to be 125PS at the rear wheel, 'cos it feels like it.

Of course, you don't have to ride in the fruit cake zone all the time, or even go there at all if you don't want to, because the FZ1 is quite happy to stay in 'best mate' mode if you like and let you ride the bottom and mid-range where it still feels like 1000cc.

Earlier in the piece I mentioned the long travel suspension. Here are the facts. Roads are bumpy, corrugated and full of holes, you know this and I know this! A bike with long travel suspension that has good springing and damping will be better to ride, and kinder on the rider than one that has 50mm of rock hard, track tuned irrelevance. The FZ1 has achieved road compliance and comfort without trading off on control.

Like most road testers I have a corner that I use to test the suspension. It's a mess of patches, cracks and stutter bumps followed by a deep depression that will bottom out softies, or throw you out of the saddle. Hit it at about 80-90 with a fair bit of lean and it'll tell you all you need to know about the chassis, springs, and damping. On this corner, and many others that were almost as bad, the FZ1 is simply the most composed motorcycle to hit those bumps in the ten years I've been riding them.


Interestingly one of the less than favourable comments from other journos has concerned the FZ1's weight. It's my contention that if the FZ1 had been kept close to, or less than the R1, which Yamaha could easily have done of course, then ridden on real roads with the power available and those highish handlebars, the FZ1 would have been an evil, slapping horror.

Okay so we accept that at 208 kg dry the bike is no lightweight, but it hides the weight well, tipping into corners with ease and neutrality.

The front-end is straight from feedback school, and it's stable, as its 1450mm wheelbase, and 26 degree steering head angle dictates.

The widely acclaimed monobloc brakes used on the R1 have become symbolic for being examples of what you should expect from brakes. The FZ1 has the same pair of 298mm discs gripped by the same four-piston Sumitomo calipers as the R1. At the back there's a single disc and a single piston unit.

Under hard braking, some bikes use all the travel in the suspension and virtually bottom out, leading to the tyre casing stressing and causing squirming and chirping, especially if the surface is rough. The FZ1 still retains enough suspension movement to ride the bumps and provide feedback through the lever so that the rider has the information needed to avoid locking up.

So who's going to buy it?
Just as Yamaha re-defined the sports bike, it's also managed to build a sports road bike that combines the attributes of the R1 with none of the drawbacks.

Besides an extensive range of extras which includes a higher screen for the fairing and panniers, there's fully adjustable everything, and an engine that, while not quite the full lolly of the original, is just as compelling. There's comfort, good brakes, more then a decent helping of ratbag toughness.

The kind of people who'll buy it are those who are over pure sports bikes, but appreciate performance and technology. They'll want to go away for a 1000 kilometre weekend on a bike that lets them go hard without needing painkillers. They'll want to feel that they're riding something with some serious attitude. The FZ1 is all the above and then some, they won't be disappointed.
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