I put hyperpro front and rear springs on my gen 1 to cope with varying loads (solo vs luggage/pillion) and it made the bike ride a lot better. Obviously not as good as a complete suspension rebuild but for a couple of hundred quid well worth it. Also put a taper roller bearing in the head while it was apart. Supposed to be better than the standard ball race.

MEZ4s are the worst tyres ever! Yamaha might have sold loads more FZSs if they hadn't speccedv them with MEZ4s from new! Best thing I ever did was replace them even though they were hardly worn. And when they do wear they develop a little ridge in the middle of the front which makes it fell like you're riding on marbles!

Its a thing we all will face at some point. I have owned gen1s since 2001, when I bought my blue Y plate. Did 38k on that. Sold it for sprint 1050 in 2005, quickly realised it wasn't  a direct replacement. Bought another gen1 in 2008 with just 8k on clock. That now has 42k up, and just been serviced , including some work by dealer. Who praised the bikes power and handling. That's 1990s technology against 2014 current bike range....so it kinda makes one think 2 questions ...
1. Is there a bike out there to replace the fazer ...kwak sx1000?...maybe new s1000R ( faired)...whadya think ?

2.If not , how long will it keep running ?...my only concern is the exup valve, as dealer reckons its wearing , and is reluctant to touch it ! I can see some rethreading being needed this year ( again ! )..it still works , but is getting loose due to end wear. But that could be a blessing in disguise...as it wont probably seize.

Hey Jon, I'm pretty much the same. I put about 38ish on my lovely blue '02 one, traded it for a 54 plate with 8k on also in 2008. That also now has about 32k (or is it 36?) on it, but I'm starting to feel the urge for something different. I wondered about the Zed Thou SX but in the end I decided to get something totally different as a "second" bike tha would be a bit lighter and easier to thread through rush hour traffic in central London. Ended up with a Street Triple R. Nothing like the power of the Fazer, or the luggage capacity, but more suited to the kind of riding I do these days, and a lot smaller and lighter. Haven't really ridden the Fazer much this year, so in spite of new chain and sprocket, and barely used tyres, I'm thinking of letting her go. Feel a bit sad about it really as I've had Gen 1s for so long, but can't justify 2 bikes any more. It's amazing what a contender the old Fazer still is though – I just watched Sadlonelygit's track video!

a couple of my worst (dad/kid jokes?):

What do you call a Fish with no eyes?

A Fsh

There's more where that came from:


What do you call a deer with no eyes?






No eye deer.






What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?






Still no eye deer.

Well, I'm not the expert either, but I think if you actually do have an issue with your timing chain, you would first hear rattling, then more engine vibration than normal. Once it slips a tooth that can result in the valves dropping and hitting the pistons. If that happens you would lose a lot of power and shortly afterwards the engine will die and never start again. You may also get backfires. It happened to my car (which had a belt snap). Chains don't snap generally (less often than belts anyway) but if the tensioner fails then the chain can easily jump and wreck your top end.


Seems worrying that the mechanics in country didn't want to get involved, so maybe it really is the timing chain.


There is a thread on here not very long ago where someone had a cam chain tensioner fail twice. He'd be in a good place to tell you the exact symptoms on a Fazer.


With my bike (2004, 32,000 miles), I had a problem where I rode down to the Nürburgring and back with no problem, parked the bike up for a couple of weeks, and when I came to start it, the engine wouldn't fire and was turning over so fast I thought it was that the starter clutch had failed (see recent thread). Bump starting wouldn't work either. Turned out it was turning the engine over (I could feel gases at the exhaust) but it had lost compression due to the oil draining out of the bores and the rings getting stuck in a 'loose' position. Thank goodness this turned out to be the case, and was fixable.


The only reason I mention this is because the cause (long ride on old-ish engine followed by a lay-up) and the symptoms (lack of compression, not starting) could be confused with a timing chain issue at first glance.

2004. Pic taken after I junked the old Blue Flame Evo for a nice carbon Mivv.

Other mods are Renthal 758s and Oberon s/s weights, heated grips, comedy stick-on blind spot mirrors, trimmed rear number plate holder, triboseat, belly pan, Hyperpro springs front and rear, some kind of double bubble screen of unknown make, Pazzo levers and some custom crash bungs by Justy that are knurled ally so you can rest your feet on long trips.

That's normal behaviour from a gen 1 Thou. The fan comes on after a couple of minutes idling (well before engine temp gets hot enough to make the light come on) and stops when you put it in gear. It will then subsequently only come on if the coolant temperature reaches a certain point (such as when stuck in traffic on a hot day). I think the light only comes on if the temp gets "into the red zone" or if there is insufficient coolant.

Cheers Mike. Your input is always gratefully received. Interesting to hear about the other guys that had similar trouble. Your experience is invaluable.

Thanks mate, I believe there are 2 coils, so I don't think it's them.
I've tried connecting and disconnecting various connectors and checked the fuses (including the main 30A one in the other box) and it doesn't seem to be that.

I'm not really very good with electrics so might have to call out a mobile mech.

Here's mine just after fitting the Mivv I got off one of the forum guys. Well chuffed. One-off crash bungs/foot rests by Justy. Nice to stretch out on during a long journey or when overtaking Harleys!



In action at a certain well-known location in Germany.

I know what you mean about just having to get out. We went for a blast down to Brighton (from Bagshot) yesterday. It was great just to get out, roads were damp and sketchy to start with but got better. I was also very glad of my Gerbing gloves!

Unfortunately (I noticed you mentioned brand new Pirellis), one of the lads on a brand new Street Triple just lost it on the way into a roundabout. No brakes, no diesel, the front just washed out and he wasn't even going quick. We had only been going 5 minutes, so the tyres were stone cold. He'd done about 800 miles on these tyres (Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa), but due to the crap weather they weren't properly scrubbed in, and the "chicken strips" on the front were like most of the tyre. Anyway, they looked and felt like shiny hard plastic so I'm kind of not surprised he lost the front. Just saying, be careful out there!

Some ham-fisted muppet had used my toolkit plug spanner to try to undo the front wheel (I assume) and it's knacked. However I managed to use a socket with a long bar and a swivel joint on it, plus one of those bendy grabber thingies. Replaced all 4 plugs without an issue. See pics: