Middleweight Yamaha strikes a fine balance
By, Trevor Hedge

Fire breathing superbike, lightweight commuter, scooter, dirtbike, it doesn’t matter. Two wheel fun gets delivered in all sorts of ways. The smile when you take your helmet off rarely changes no matter what your ride. Sometimes though a bike proves a whole lot more fun than you imagine and recently the FZ-6S certainly proved a very pleasant surprise.

Versatile and sporty commuter style motorcycles need three things on their side to make for great mounts. Great balance, manageable weight and sensible gearing. The FZ-6S delivers on all three criteria and would make a much more suitable first step in to middle and large capacity motorcycling than a full monty sportsbike.

I managed a consistent 225km/h at the end of Phillip Island’s main straight every lap so the machine is far from slow. I was curious to see if a better run onto the straight combined with a less testicularly challenged entry to turn one would bring much improvement so I sent Superbike legend Kevin Magee out to see what he could do. The Foxtel presenter only improved on that mark by 6km/h. This clearly demonstrates that the gearing is spot on. The speed range across the six ratios gives the machine plenty of pep around town while also allowing the YZF-R6 sourced engine to spin freely up to 14,000rpm in top. 110km/h registers 6000rpm on the absurd bar style LCD tachometer.

The brakes are impressive. The front takes a decent squeeze for maximum braking effect but this poses no problems and is actually an advantage for inexperienced riders. The rear brake is outstanding in both power and feel.

The suspension is up to all but the most aggressive riding. The rear damping can go away a little when really having a red hot go but ride smooth and a decent pace can be generated at track days. All but perhaps the quickest 10 or 20 per cent of riders would find the machine more capable than them when the going gets hot. Commuting with a pillion would pose no problems but getting serious in the hills with a passenger would be a bit too much to ask.

The machine impressed me so much that on my return to Perth I got straight on the blower to Five Star Yamaha’s Aurelio Taccone. Aurelio was nice enough to throw me the keys to their demonstrator so I could see if my initial impressions would be backed up in real world riding. My 1250km on the middleweight included an 850km one day jaunt through our South-West and the smile rarely left my dial throughout.

The riding position is a great balance between comfort and sport. Sit high and relaxed in the seat, or get your head over the inside bar and put some body language into the equation. The FZ-6S is happy either way. The mirrors are brilliant and the generous 19.4 litre fuel tank consistently returns a touring range in excess of 300km.

I was quite impressed with the overall quality of finish of the machine apart from a couple of blights. The swingarm looked as though it had been salvaged from an old parts remnant bin and the tachometer would be more suitable on a Fisher-Price toy. Yamaha has seen the error of their ways and the 2007 model scores nicer instruments and a more attractive swingarm. So with both of my major complaints taken care of in the upcoming model, I am left with nothing to whine about. Wonders will never cease…

The 2007 model also scores trick looking four-piston monobloc calipers, refined fuel injection mapping and tuning for more mid-range grunt, lower pillion pegs and a redesigned seat. Yamaha have priced the 2007 FZ-6S at $11,999, with the fully naked variant on the theme, the FZ-6N, aggressively priced at $11,299. A new one model race series dedicated to the FZ-6 swings into action late this month at Winton Raceway as a supporting act to the 2007 YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship. And If I wanted to try my hand at road racing then I know that's certainly the avenue I would be chasing. I'm happy to leave 200 horsepower Superbikes to better men than me.

Images from our time with the 2006 FZ-6S - By, Trevor Hedge