I bought one as soon as they came out.
I used to have an XJR1300 and Street Triple. I part ex'd both for the Fazer 800 as I wanted a comfy sports tourer with some wind protection. The XJR was good for touring but not too throwabout in the twisties, the Street Triple was the other way. The Fazer8 is a decent compromise between the two.
I've had it since August 2010 and have done 17,000 miles now. It might not have the same grunt as the XJR as you would expect, but there is plenty. Peak torque is at 8,000 rpm so doesn't need a lot of revs like a lot of sports bike engines. I'm not too sure where the top end rush is, according to Yamaha's sales blurb there should be one, but there isn't. Between 6-10,000 revs there is enough power to get me where I want to go as quick as I want so not too bothered.
The fairing is nice and wide, wider than the 600/1000 Fazers, and with the touring screen its very good. No flies on my jacket anymore and no buffeting on the helmet. It makes touing a lot more comfortable.
Fuel consumption is good, I get 50-55 mpg on mine, which is around 150-165 miles until the fuel light comes on after 3 gallons used. I quite like the trip which comes on telling you how many miles you've done since the light comes on. The furthest I've been on a tankfull is 195 miles and was pleased to see the petrol station.
The softer suspension is great on bumpy roads, no jolting or out of the seat moments. I prefer to go the scenic routes when touing and have the time so often the road surface is often less than perfect and it works well enough. Whacking the rear pre-load up helps to stop some of the initial soggyness. It would be nice to have fully adjustable suspension, but I probably wouldn't adjust it that far from what it is now for my riding although I think the rear could do with a bit more rebound damping. I've not thought of getting an after market shock as it doesnt really warrant the money. I think it would be fairly shit around a track as the suspension is so soft and the pegs would deck out to early, but I dont do track days any longer so aren't bothered. As long as you are smooth on the throttle and brakes on the road its no problem there either.
It only comes with ABS brakes, if there had been an option of not having ABS I would have taken that. After bedding the pads in I tried them out on a bumpy back road yanking them on as hard as I could. The bike dived down due to the soft forks, the tyres squealed and the bike stopped as quick as I would have liked. After having the bike for so long and riding in some bad weather I think if there is the option of ABS or not I would go for them now.
There are some decent bungy points to tie luggage to. I wish the pillion grab handles were 2 inches longer at the back to tie straps to though. As a recent addition I put a rack and top box on which doesn't exactly enhance the looks but is very handy. Bit of a pisser having to remove a bit of plastic from the seat unit to fit the rack though, very un-Japanese like, but it was an easy task with a hot knife. Only £200 for the Yamaha rack and box was good.
It came with BT021 tyres originally, which are fine sport touring tyres. Bridgestone now have BT023 replacing them and I thought it was a bit cheap of Yamaha not supplying the bike with those. When I replaced the tyres, BT021s were still available at £25 less, so I bought them again.
No real issues with the bike reliability wise. It was a bit slow to start once when left unused for a few weeks. The injection system needs maximum volts, so its now left on the trickle charger all the time when not in use. I also had to top up the coolant with distilled water as it went below the lower limit in a hot Germany. It hasn't lost any more since. No rust anywhere, and the chain and sprockets still look fine, I only have to adjust the chain every 2,000 miles.
Servicing is cheap enough at Poole Motorcycles and they are only a mile away. Valve clearances are at 24,000 miles and wont cost me much. I couldn't believe the price Triumph charge for theirs every 12,000 miles.
The bike came in for a bit of stick in magazine tests for 'only' being a sleeved down 1000 motor, but if you think of it as a non race 750 engine its fine. I was quite glad it shares parts with the FZ1 as in Germany in 2010 I had a dumb 20 mph off on wet tram lines and the start motor cover cracked on the corner of the tram line. As the bike had only been out a couple of months I was worried spare parts may not have been available (I had to wait 4 months for the centre stand when I bought the bike), but a new cover, same as the FZ1, was dispatched and turned up next day.
Downsides are the dip in torque at 5,000 rpm. Its quite noticable, and if you want to overtake quickly at lower speeds you need it at 6000 rpm. If its at 5000 in 4th and it takes a while to pull through to 6000. I guess its all down to reducing emissions/noise to pass the tests. After having the bike for 15 months I put a Mivv Ghibli end can on, which looks neat, sounds good with baffles in, and it gets rid of the dip in torque. It provides a bit of character, something the bike lacks engine wise. With the new can fitted, there is little in the way of exhaust, the box containing the catalytic converter is small. Some bikes these days have huge ugly metalwork in the exhaust system.
Shame it doesn't have the torque curve of Suzuki's GSR750.
The seat could be a bit better for long distances. I've had a gel pad put in and now its a little better, 2 - 2 1/2 hours before twitchy bum sets in. What I like about the set is its narrower at the front than the back. Going around the corners if you sit forward on the narrower part it feels better, then for comfort if you are on a straighter road move back a couple of centimetres to the wider more comfortable part.
Price wise is was expensive, but I got a load of extras at cost price, touring screen, alarm, datatag, heated grips and they took my XJR1300 in part-ex and it had 50,000 miles on the clock. I think trying to sell that privately might have been tricky. I see they are a grand cheaper this year.
You dont see too many around in the UK, but in France I noticed quite a few at Magny Cours WSB. They tend to go for the naked versions over there.
Must take one with the can on and loverly top box.
