Life is full of little ups and downs

[kebab19]

Is the fazer worth doing about £600 senpension mods, all these other mods when... It's just a fazer?
I might offend a few people saying that but i have just bought a cheap one to run around, and as fun as it is - It's no match against my ZX6R or newer up right bikes

It depends on whether you're keeping the bike medium to long-term.
The suspension is by far the weakest point in the package, fix both ends properly (no half-measures) and you basically have an upright FZR600R giving 50+ mpg, 200 mile + tank range, room for a full size pillion, fairly low insurance group, 24k valve clearances, hard luggage capability, having a useable engine midrange for the road and being able to get off it after 300 miles without booking an osteopath appointment.
Also, according to this month's Classic & Motorcycle Mechanics, it's also destined to become a future classic and prices are at an all-time low before they inevitably start picking up again.
Just as a matter of interest, what newer, upright BUDGET bikes did you feel were better, since the FZS600 was Yamaha's Bandit 6 rival and we should be comparing apples with apples?

[tommyardin]

Don't panic mate - all sorted 

Wooo! wooo!
Where do I buy a pair of them bad boys

[tommyardin]

Is the fazer worth doing about £600 senpension mods, all these other mods when... It's just a fazer?
I might offend a few people saying that but i have just bought a cheap one to run around, and as fun as it is - It's no match against my ZX6R or newer up right bikes

I think £600 is a lot against a 1-2k bike.
I actually find nothing wrong with the suspension although only 18k on the clock and I have been the owner for 15 years, I only weigh between 9.5 and 10 stone so perhaps the suspension doesn't get abused much.

Foccing heck!
Fazersharp you really are a racing snake, I will get the Red Cross to pop around your pad with a Food Parcel.
I thought I was a racing snake at 12.5 stones.   

[tommyardin]

quote
when... It's just a fazer? Kebab! Kebab! (Oh another thing Kebab you should never spell Fazer with a lower case 'f' its rude.

What the foc are you saying man? 'JUST A FAZER' how do you sleep at night?

You do realise this is The Fazer Owners Forum don't you?
Admin bounce his arse out of here LOL!

My ole 2003 FZS600 is worth spending 600 quid on (Hoping to sort it for £500)
It is in great condition 38K on the clock, pulls like a train, have to admit it does handle mediocre, not badly, but not in a inspiring way, but I love the retro look of her and she is comfortable.   
My thinking on it is this, If I throw it up the road cos the back is bouncing about like Jordan's breasts, I am going to knock some bark off me at the very least, and, the bikes value will be much lower if anything at all (Depends how hard I throw it I guess) so £500 to Poss £600 is a good investment and I should get more mileage out of my tyres cos I have 3/4" of rear tyre each side not brought into play as yet.

There you are, you know it makes sense.
 
A thousand apologies Kebab (grovel grovel)
It was Html who was was coming out with blasphemy. Only a fazer (notice his use of the far inferior lower case 'f')
Html likens the Fazer to his Kwacker ZX6R, completely different beasts designed for completely different tasks. London to Edinbourgh on that Kwacker would be a killer for my old bones but on the Fazer manageable. 

But I do have to admit as to taking a liking to the Ninja.

[darrsi]

quote
when... It's just a fazer? Kebab! Kebab! (Oh another thing Kebab you should never spell Fazer with a lower case 'f' its rude.

What the foc are you saying man? 'JUST A FAZER' how do you sleep at night?

You do realise this is The Fazer Owners Forum don't you?
Admin bounce his arse out of here LOL!

My ole 2003 FZS600 is worth spending 600 quid on (Hoping to sort it for £500)
It is in great condition 38K on the clock, pulls like a train, have to admit it does handle mediocre, not badly, but not in a inspiring way, but I love the retro look of her and she is comfortable.   
My thinking on it is this, If I throw it up the road cos the back is bouncing about like Jordan's breasts, I am going to knock some bark off me at the very least, and, the bikes value will be much lower if anything at all (Depends how hard I throw it I guess) so £500 to Poss £600 is a good investment and I should get more mileage out of my tyres cos I have 3/4" of rear tyre each side not brought into play as yet.

There you are, you know it makes sense.
 

On the sauce last night perchance?
Kebab has been around here more than long enough to never ever belittle a Fazer, you're addressing the wrong person! 

[Dave48]

There are those who spend their cash on "Bling"(Tommys socks spring to mind here!) and then you have FAZER owners who LOVE their bikes & actually ride for fun-not just as a workhorse commuter although thay are good at that also.
When the Fazer was new it had to compete in the price dept with other "budget" bikes so the way Yamaha saved a few yen was in the suspension area. Fortunately they had a lot of Blue Spot calipers left in the parts bin to go with the proven Thundercat derived motor. So now we have a bike that goes & stops like a good un.
Economy suspension might be ok for the more sedate,lightweight rider for a year or so from new but most of us FAZER afficionados know that springs and oil get tired and to buy a well used but cared for example it makes sense to UPGRADE the worn out bits & REPLACE with good stuff that does what it says on the tin.
According to the knowledgeable guys at Revs Racing-even the likes of BMW, Triumph etc are economising on the standard of shocks fitted to their new bikes & in their opinion the shocks fitted to say the MT07 are inferior to those fitted by Yamaha as OEM to their "budget" bikes of 10 years ago.
This is similar philosophy to makers of white electrical goods over the last few years who have kept their RRPs down at the expense of longevity/reliability.
An example of this is the "cheap" TV i bought 3 years ago-the built in DVD player failed soon after the warranty ended & I have just replaced my upright fridge/freezer after 5 years. My previous one lasted 18 years! At least I didnt buy one of those tumble driers that self combust!
So for those who might think spending money on suspension is a waste-DONT KNOCK IT TIL YOU TRY IT

[misterjayb1]

Im with Fazersharp on the £600 suspension on a £1500 bike thing . I'd be more likely to sell the fazer and put the £600 toward a £2100 lower mileage bike with far less worn components.. I love all my bikes but never get that attached to any.. 

[anutz]

Im with Fazersharp on the £600 suspension on a £1500 bike thing . I'd be more likely to sell the fazer and put the £600 toward a £2100 lower mileage bike with far less worn components.. I love all my bikes but never get that attached to any.. 

I did my suspension for one reason, to make sure it stays on the road with 18 and a bit stone pootling around on it - now i have a thousand i am moving the R6 shock i had on the FZS600 over to that.


The R6 shock is the cheapest route i expect and if you go to a 1000 it can be re-used....so for me its worked out well....


I did look at racetech but the pure cost was too much, i ended up spending around 300 all in to get the front and rear sorted, i was lucky to find a set of hyperpro progressives on ebay, but spacers and other tricks can save a lot of money here.


Anutz

[fazersharp]

Foccing heck!
Fazersharp you really are a racing snake, I will get the Red Cross to pop around your pad with a Food Parcel.
I thought I was a racing snake at 12.5 stones.   

Yep I weigh about the same as a tank of petrol -- basically the bike doesn't know I'm there.

When you think of some of the things that people spend there money on, bike bling or personal goodies, suspension would be one of the more worthy and benefit producing spends.
For me, one day I will sell and get a 1 or 2 year old speed triple and I would never get that £600 back. 



The Racing Snake      I think I am going to change my user name

[kebab19]

Cost for my bike's setup:

Modded R6 shock £200
Fork Oil                 £20 (max)
Fork Springs         £80 (well actually, mine were from a VFR800 and about £10 off ebay)
Debrix Emulators  £60

That's a fair bit short of £600 even by my pitiful maths abilities and the emulators are optional

[tommyardin]

Cost for my bike's setup:

Modded R6 shock £200
Fork Oil                 £20 (max)
Fork Springs         £80 (well actually, mine were from a VFR800 and about £10 off ebay)
Debrix Emulators  £60

That's a fair bit short of £600 even by my pitiful maths abilities and the emulators are optional

Hey Kabab,
Enlighten this simple country boy, WTF are Emulators? and what function do they have and do they help?
The Nitron shock is expensive a tad less than 415 quid, I am hoping that a fork clean out and recharge with 15 weight oil will improve the situation up front and maybe the next stage for the forks will be pre-load shims/washers added to top of springs then next try raising the fork tubes up through the yokes by 15mm.
I'm hoping to be done by 450 maybe 500 quid if I change the springs for linears matched to my elf like gazell weight.

[kebab19]

Hey Kabab,
Enlighten this simple country boy, WTF are Emulators? and what function do they have and do they help?


Emulators are small oil valve mechanisms created by Race Tech about 20 years ago that fit inside your fork legs & emulate the compression stroke of cartridge forks. Fazers (and most other budget bikes) have forks with damping rod internals within which have a fixed orifice oil hole size that flows oil at a particular speed; they work good at one 'speed' and feel a bit harsh everywhere else. Emulators open at a variable speed to let differing amounts of fork oil through, hence they get rid of the harshness you normally feel. 
The 'catch' is that you drill out the standard damper rod oil hole orifices, so only the Emulator transfers fork oil. In other words, it's a permanent alteration to the forks (unless you buy a spare pair of damping rods). This puts quite a few people off...
The original Race Tech versions are expensive, available from PDQ for around £150.  There are however cheaper 'Debrix' versions from the far East which are surprisingly good quality and about a quarter of the price.
 
Technical explanation for Gold Valve Emulators:
http://www.sportrider.com/technicalities-damping-rod-forks-and-race-tech-gold-valve-emulator?image=0

Emulatro installation guide for FZS600 forks:
http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,71.0.html