(23-04-14, 08:46 AM)Dave48 link Wrote: begs the question:what could/should they have done to the Gen 1 to retain its essential essence/character?

(23-04-14, 10:06 PM)Stupid Luke link Wrote: I think if you have to own 1 bike only, and like sporty riding, the Gen 2 makes a strong case. i would rather have a Tuono V4 but you cant get those for less than 4k.

My preference for the Gen 1 is biased in that I intend to keep a sportier bike for fun rides and use the FZS for everything else.

(24-04-14, 12:13 AM)FuZzBoM link Wrote: The older Tuono V-twin was the one I had my eye on. can get a nice one for about £3k
But I just know I will be too big for it. I am in no rush to change just yet so will see what my trip in May brings. Most of my riding is out with mates for fun. only minimal touring really BUT I know I will miss it if I had something more sporty.

(24-04-14, 12:15 AM)Kosmic Kartman link Wrote: "Thinking about going from Gen1 to a gen 2.. thoughts?"

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

(24-04-14, 01:52 PM)FuZzBoM link Wrote: Don't get me wrong I love the bike. But with my mates having newer machines I feel a bit like the poor relation so to speak.
Makes me feel bad because I know I would rather have the mighty fazer over say a street triple of a v-strom 650 etc. like my mates have.
And Going touring this year my mate with the street triple said he could not do 800-900 miles in 4 days with us because the seat, riding position and lack of wind protection would kill him... I have also had no issues keeping up with him through the twisties so not a performance issue.

I dunno, maybe I am just looking to change for the wrong reasons..

(24-04-14, 07:32 PM)AyJay link Wrote: What I actually want now (and I've said it before) is a comfortable 1100cc Cross Plane R1 with an upright riding position, a big tank and a comfy seat. Failing that, the new BMW will probably fit the bill. What I do not want is a heavy bike. Large, certainly, because I'm 6'1", but I don't see why sports tourers have to be heavy. And from that point of view, the FZ1 Fazer was right on the money.

(24-04-14, 07:32 PM)AyJay link Wrote: It's interesting looking at the stats on howmanyleft.co.uk. Yamaha sold a hell of a lot more FZS model bikes such as the thou and the original Fazer 600 than the later FZ1 and FZ6 models. In fact the FZS600 sold almost 10 times better than the later bikes.

I can kind of see Yamaha back in 2004 planning the next FZ models thinking that since the uprights sold so well, they could see a shift to that kind of bike from sports bikes coming and so made the second generation machines more like sports bikes - revier engines, shorter stroke suspension and so on.

But I think they missed what was fundamentally driving sales of those bikes, and that was the sheer usability of the earlier models.

Tank range, for instance has gone down consistently over the years. I'm sure Yamaha and the other manufacturers look at the annual mileage of bikes, see 5000 miles per year and think 'oh, no one needs a big tank because they're not doing big mileages', or perhaps it's a mass centralisation question - small tank of fuel means better handling.

Also, long stroke suspension is ideal for road bikes and so are engines with loads of grunt, both attributes which Yamaha has picked up on with the new MT zero series of bikes.

Maybe they screwed up with the second gen FZ bikes because they were still stuck in the horsepower race, where every year, the bikes had to be faster so they responded by making them revier and revier. Nowadays, the horsepower race is pretty much over and again Yamaha's new MT zeroes seem to have picked up on that and instead are now trying to make the engines usable over a wide rev range (by over, I mean that if you want more power, you just get a bigger engine - the licensing laws across Europe now mean that no one is stuck with a small capacity bike and revving it's tits off)

And now we have half the biking population going over to big trailies, probably because of their usability. But they're not much cop at commuting because they are enormous and have ludicrously wide bars. Can't tell you how many times I get stuck behind these land yachts in traffic because of that. Maybe we will see more standard road bikes like the Z1000SX, MT0xx, BMW S1000S coming through once the Ewan and Charlie effect starts to wear off.

Personally, I just want a great sports tourer and they are like hen's teeth. There's only been two - the original VFR750 (the K model to be specific, the later bikes are water buffalos) and the Gen 1. I think the reason the VFR-FK was such a good sports tourer is that it was a cutting edge sports bike that just so happened to be comfortable, had a big tank and was exceptionally well made.

What I actually want now (and I've said it before) is a comfortable 1100cc Cross Plane R1 with an upright riding position, a big tank and a comfy seat. Failing that, the new BMW will probably fit the bill. What I do not want is a heavy bike. Large, certainly, because I'm 6'1", but I don't see why sports tourers have to be heavy. And from that point of view, the FZ1 Fazer was right on the money.

I'd just love to see Aprilia to take the V4 Tuono a little bit more towards the sports tourer side of things. That bike, with decent weather protection, would be the ultimate for me. It's sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it, but even if I got one, I'd have to get the tank enlarged and maybe fit the fairing from the RSV4. That's a lot of work. Oh, and then I'd do something about the chronic fuel consumption, because from what I hear, it's pretty thirsty. But still, what a machine that would be. You could do Cadwell Park on the weekend, commute to work monday to friday and then pop over to the Alps for a holiday the following week.


And that is exactly what I did on my FZS1000 a couple of years back. It didn't flinch and was totally at home doing any of those things.

Oops, I've blethered on again….

(25-04-14, 12:59 AM)nickodemon link Wrote: the latest model tuono v4 has a larger tank and there are several companies that make larger screens. I love mine. Engine is utterly sublime and the sound of the v4 is heaven. Still wouldn't sell my gen 1 tho

(24-04-14, 07:32 PM)AyJay link Wrote: ...Personally, I just want a great sports tourer and they are like hen's teeth. There's only been two - the original VFR750 (the K model to be specific, the later bikes are water buffalos) and the Gen 1. I think the reason the VFR-FK was such a good sports tourer is that it was a cutting edge sports bike that just so happened to be comfortable, had a big tank and was exceptionally well made.
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