Having had my FZ1 N ABS for four and a half years, I have traded it against a Ducati Scrambler. My new bike is being built in Italy this month, but a demo ride convinced me to make the change. The Scrambler has precisely half of the claimed horsepower of the FZ1, but it's low, light, characterful and great fun to ride. I enjoyed my FZ1 a lot, and went to plenty of places on it, including two trips to France, but it was always slightly tall and heavy for me on awkward cambers, gravel, etc. While I'll no doubt sometimes miss the raw power, I think that the Scrambler is a better "fit" to me.

I'm going to need to change the tyres on my FZ1-N fairly soon. There's not much in it between front and rear, so I'll need a new pair. I've very nearly worn out the original Dunlop D221s. I think I'll get about 4500 miles before they need changing. While the originals are OK, they don't feel like the best tyres in the world. My first thought is Pilot Powers (NOT the 2CT ones though) as I've really rated them on my last two bikes, even though I've never liked any other Michelins that I've tried. I had them on an '06 R1 (rear worn out in about 5000)  and an '08 Hornet 600 (special fitment for the Hornet, rear worn out in about  4300). My concern is obviously how long they'll last on an FZ1-N in my hands. While the R1 was more powerful (and had the same sizes in standard fitments), the FZ1-N is quite a bit heavier. Does anybody have any experience of how they last on an FZ1-N and any views on how many miles I'm likely to get, given how far I've got on the OE tyres? I don't do a huge annual mileage, and Pilot Powers are fairly cheap, so I'm not looking for them to be really long lived, but I don't want to have to change them much before 4000 miles.
 
The other option, which I'm sure would last somewhat longer, is BT023s, but they're also about 20% dearer and probably wouldn't be quite so much to my liking.
 
I'd be grateful for any advice.
 
Thanks
 
 

We decided to get the bikes ridden yesterday, to get them warmed through, batteries charged, etc, on what will almost certainly be our last opportunity to ride on dry roads before we head off to Florida for a fortnight on Wednesday. We rode the six or so miles to get them fuelled up, and then had to decide whether to turn for home - it was still quite cold and the roads were busy - or to press on to Fowlers, our usual dealers, a further 15 or so miles. We decided to press on to Fowlers, and when we got there we discovered that this weekend they have 20% off all Arai helmets. This was good timing, as my mum always gives us £500 for Christmas, to buy something we really want, and we'd already decided to invest in some new helmets. With the 20% off we were able to get the helmets we really wanted, a Black Frost Axces for Andy and a Chaser V in the Pride scheme for me. We then pondered on whether to stop for a bite to eat in their cafe, but decided to head straight home. We got home and parked up the bikes, and less than 20 minutes later it poured down with rain.

All in all a successful day.