FZ6R for a newbie

[dbk23]

Hello Everyone:
I am 50 years old and am taking a riding course this spring to get my bike licence then I plan on getting my first bike. So I am looking for advice from senior riders. I love Yamaha's so I have been looking at the Yamaha V Star 650 for a first bike, but then I came across the Yamaha FZ6R line and liked the bikes. I was wondering would the FZ6R would be a good starter bike? does it have the power for 2 up riding? and how is it on the highway? does the wind shield offer good protection? as I will be doing both city and highway adventures. On the highway I will be with guys on cruisers mostly so I hope I can keep up easily. The other bike that I am considering in the same class is the Suzuki GSX 650. Thanks very much in advance, looking forward to the replies. Oh by the way I am 5ft 10" and weigh 225 lbs.

Thanks
Darren

 

[MistahT]

There are bikes that are easier to handle for a beginner (I think the FZ is a bit heavy for a beginner) but the power is very smooth and manageable. In my experience, it handles 2-up riding wonderfully and the fairings give you great deflection on the highway. People say the stock windshield leaves something to be desired, but I think it's fine because I've ridden a naked bike for years.

My 2 cents

 

[Scott_Thomas]

Hello Everyone:
I am 50 years old and am taking a riding course this spring to get my bike licence then I plan on getting my first bike. So I am looking for advice from senior riders. I love Yamaha's so I have been looking at the Yamaha V Star 650 for a first bike, but then I came across the Yamaha FZ6R line and liked the bikes. I was wondering would the FZ6R would be a good starter bike? does it have the power for 2 up riding? and how is it on the highway? does the wind shield offer good protection? as I will be doing both city and highway adventures. On the highway I will be with guys on cruisers mostly so I hope I can keep up easily. The other bike that I am considering in the same class is the Suzuki GSX 650. Thanks very much in advance, looking forward to the replies. Oh by the way I am 5ft 10" and weigh 225 lbs.

Thanks
Darren

The FZ6R is also my first bike (got it in April), but I did a little riding a while back and had my license for 4 years before convincing the wife to let me get one. It is a great started bike and unless you crave extreme Super Sport track speeds you'll love the FZ6R for years to come. It's been gaining popularity so there are lots of aftermarkets items and mods to be done. I say it's a good started bike, but don't get me wrong the bike has some serious giddy up. I haven't ridden two up on my FZ6R, but many others here have and said it was no problem. The bike definitely has the power for it. Also the suspension can be adjusted in seconds for increased load capacity. The shield and fairings offer decent protection, but because you are more upright you won't be totally protected. You can tuck a little if riding fast to hide from the wind or get a touring shield which is quite a bit higher. The gas mileage is very good at 45MPG or so. The cruisers will more than likely have trouble keeping up with you. They have way more torque in the bigger cruisers, but aren't meant for high speeds. Definitely take the safety class first and whatever bike you get make sure you familiarize yourself with it preferably where there's no traffic until you're comfortable. This forum is one of the very best out there. Many people here eventually upgrade for faster Sport Bikes (many keep the 6R though for daily driver), but even after the upgrade they remain on the forum. Good luck and I'll be happy to answer any more questions you may have.

 

[DragonBlu]

Welcome dbk, Be sure to try our search feature here as almost every question you might have has probably been discussed. Feel free to ask questions. The Fz6r is a great little bike for starting out. I would usually recommend a 250cc
size for beginners but as long as a person respects the power and weight it will do just fine for you. Good luck!

 

[Brock Kickass]

Have you ever been on a bike? Street bike? Dirt bike? 4-wheeler, even? If you're used to machines that you straddle to drive, the 6R can be a pretty decent introduction to street riding. If you've never piloted anyhting like this before, it could be a little much for you.

If the 6R is a bit much, don't be afraid of buying a 250 or something and riding it for a year. It's no 600, and it's not good for 2up, but carrying a passenger is advanced theory anyway. Get your sea legs before you take someone else's life in your hands. The nice thing about 250 street bikes is that they are generally beginner bikes, so there is a good supply of gently used ones out there for a good price. Once you've outgrown it, you'll probably be able to sell it for a good percentage of what you paid to begin with. There are new riders every day, so they're in demand.

As for the V-Star, it's a different experience. I don't have many cruiser miles under my belt, but they seem to me to be better suited to cruising, exactly as labelled. I can't see wanting to ride one in the city. Sport tourers and supermotos seem a lot more manuverable to me. I don't think the cruiser would get away from you power-wise, but it might be a little heavy and slow to turn. Again, I don't have much experience with cruisers, so correct me if I'm wrong.

My first street bike was a 6R. I grew up on dirt bkes, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, etc, so I had a comfort level. I found it to be a great bike for learning the ropes on the street. I used for long trips, rips through the twisties, blasts around the city, and I took my wife to lunch a few times on it. I put over 20,000km on my 6R and it never let me down. It was reliable, fun to ride, and good looking. I ended up moving on to another bike because I found the 6R to be working a little too hard on long trips and 2-up riding. That is just me, though. There are several members here who use their 6R's for exactly those applications and love them. Ask Marthy about long distance riding on a 6R, or ask JonKerr or CrazyCawi (formerly Cautious Corner) how it stands up to spirited riding.

Ultimately, you know youself better than any of us do. There are lots of people here who will give excellent and honest advice. Take it to heart, and be honest with yourself. At 50, I am betting there is little danger of you buying too much bike just to look cool. If I was you, I'd do the course, and then try some bikes. Test rides are hard to get, but consider renting for a weekend and keep your eyes open for demo days. ...and if you do get a bike in this class, don't buy the Suzuki. Just don't.

 

[Nastybutler]

Slow speed manuvering (ie: parking lots) can be tricky with the 6R since it is a bit on the porcine side. The clutch is super easy to use and it's pretty tough to stall the bike getting it going in first gear. The pros of this bike definitley outweigh the cons, IMO. It doesn't have the gobs of torque a lot of cruisers have, but if you downshift once or twice, you'll have no trouble keeping up with any hog on the road, or passing cars for that matter, even with a passenger.

A few mods can improve comfort considerably for longer trips, like an aftermarket windscreen and seat (or Spencer's seat mod). The built in adjustability of the bar reach and seat hight is a nice feature you usually don't see on bikes at this price point (or at all really), but if that's not enough to get you in the right position, there are aftermarket bar risers that will move them even closer to you.

The engine on this bike is darn near bulletproof. Maintainence is simple if you're a DIY kind of guy, and since parts are pretty ubiquitous, the costs involved if something does need replacing aren't too bad.

Overall, it's a great starter bike that you won't outgrow unless you're a speed junkie. I've smoked Corvettes and Harleys on it, if that tells you anything. I've spent a small fortune tweaking it to my liking, but most of the mods were more because I enjoy working on my bikes than for anything really lacking on the bike.

The best bang for your buck mods I've done are swapping out the stock rubber brake lines for braided stainless ones, and swapping my stock fork springs for a Hyperpro kit. Firms up the ride nicely and gives me more control and feel when I brake.

I'm not a senior citizen, but I'm no young buck anymore either. If you look up old_blue's threads you'll get an older riders point of view.

Good luck with whatever bike you choose, and stay safe.

Edit: Forgot to add my $.02 on the 6R for highway use.

I also put in a front sprocket with an extra tooth in order to lower the RPM's while crusing at 75mph on the highway. It really makes a difference and corrects the speedo (in case you didn't know all motorcycle speedos are off by 5-10%. It's the government's way of tricking you into thinking you're going faster than you actually are. ). The downside is that it doesn't have as much first gear umph off the line. Once you get it above 8,000 RPM in first gear, you won't really notice the difference in acceleration, but you will notice the lower RPMs on the highway. Not that it's terrible on the highway stock, particularily if you keep it under 70mph.

 

[RoadTrip]

I rode a dual sport for a year while in college, and did not pick up motorcycling until 20yrs later, I chose the FZ6R; I found it to be a very enjoyable and friendly bike with plenty of sporting potential. It can hang with most other sportbikes out there at sane riding speeds, but is a much better choice than a SS if you are just starting out. I briefly considered a Ninja 250, but it is a tiny bike, and I knew I would outgrow it in a month.

 

[Scott_Thomas]

Slow speed manuvering (ie: parking lots) can be tricky with the 6R since it is a bit on the porcine side.

I disagree with this a little bit. The 6R is heavy compared to 600 SS's, but is not nearly the weight of a cruiser (even 650 cruisers). I also find that low speed maneuvering is actually quite easy with the 6R. Not as light weight as the little 250's I rode the figure 8 on in MSF four years ago, but the 6R is extremely well balanced. The balance of the bike is what IMO makes the 6R handle quite well for low speed maneuvering. Not sure that I could do the figure 8 in a tight box with the 6R, but it would be close. I took her to a parking lot the first day I took her out and did low speed maneuvers and was shocked how slow I could maneuver the bike without putting a foot down or falling over. I guess for someone smaller it may be more difficult, but at 5'10" 210 I don't find it to be problematic. Wanna talk about bad low speed maneuvering try doing the figure 8 on a R1. My buddies R1 is a speed demon, but at low speed it sucks. I took it out and tried to turn it around in a tight spot. Felt like doing a K turn in an 18 wheeler. I think the rest of your post was spot on.

 

[Maadi]

I'm not a senior but had a V-star 650 for 7 years before buying the Fz6r in August 2012. The V-Star is a very gentle bike, good to start with speed-wise (hard to get into trouble with) but harder to balance and turn. I do not mean it is hard as a motorcycle to maneuver, it is actually very easy, but the Fz6r is much much more easy. That goes for both on the bike and off it. The actual weights are similar but in my opinion the Fz6r is easier to push around because it is shorter.
You will sit a lot lower on the V-Star so it is easy to balance while stopped, and your knee angle is >90 when seated, but if you're taller than me at 5'7", it will feel too short. I feel very comfortable on the Fz6r with feet under me instead of in front like on the V-Star. I have a very arthritic knee and it is remarkably happy in that <90 degree position. Also, you will see more from on top of the Fz6r, since you are higher up
I also used to have severe back pain when riding home from work on the V-Star due to the "relaxed' posture you adopt on a cruiser (trying to sit upright but sloughed nevertheless) and that has altogether disappeared on the Fz6r. I believe it is because I am actively using my core/back muscles to hold myself up while leaning into the wind.
The Fz6r is a lot more "reactive". You can twist the throttle and get a comfortable acceleration on the V-Star but it won't scare you. Coming from that, the Fz6r did, a couple of times (I am not a speedy speed rider)... until I got used to it and now I'm fine because I know what to expect.
Without all the chrome the Fz6r is faster to wash. Just don't forget to take care of the chain! The shaft drive on the V-Star doesn't need much maintenance, but the oil filter is easier to reach and oil level easier to check on the Fz6r and that is much more important to me!
Basically I would say if you like the look of the Fz6r and will commute with the bike a lot, get it. I got hard side cases for mine to carry all my stuff in, and it works very well. Actually after re-reading what I just wrote I'd say unless you really really want a cruiser style bike (for which I would recommend the V-star wholeheartedly), get the Fz6r!

I hope this helps!

 

[MichaelInVenice]

I'd say the biggest problem some newbies have with the 6R is lack of respect for the power it CAN produce if you want it to. Sort of like driving any decent performing car with a big engine. You can drive it quite happily at lower speeds and RPMs, but there's a lot there for you to use or abuse if you wish to.

Those of us who are up in our 40s and better tend to be much more capable of not rushing to use that available power than some of the younger people out there. I rode a 6R within a couple of months of getting back on a motorcycle and did fine. Still haven't bought one, but that's mostly a personal/financial issue at this point. I would have no problem doing so. Just, as might be the case if you were to suddenly go out and by a BMW M-series, take it easy, get to know the bike, and add power slowly and conservatively as you get better. This bike makes it easy. Some of the supersports don't allow that option, as their engines just don't run well at all except at higher RPMs and can really get away from you. This one is tuned beautifully for normal riding by normal people, while still having enough at the top that anybody should be able to have plenty of fun on it on a track.

 

[MichaelInVenice]

You've posted an almost identical message in at least two forums I frequent, with just the bike models changed, for very different styles of bikes: V Strom for a newbie - Stromtrooper Forum : Suzuki V-Strom Motorcycle Forums

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt in concluding that you're not just trolling, but are really undecided and taking a bit of a "shotgun" approach to getting information.

If that's the case, I'd honestly say, take the rider course, then get an inexpensive used road bike of ANY variety and ride it for a while. What you need in a bike is likely to become obvious only after riding for a while. Taking a "shotgun" approach and hoping for some miracle words of wisdom is not likely to work out.

 

[nismos14]

The FZ6R is a pretty heavy bike for a beginner. You have to not let the bike scare you in the beginning, don't feel like you're going to hurt it by maneuvering it with some muscle. Once you get that down, it's helpful, but it's still a heavy bike no matter what way you cut it.

 

[dbk23]

Thanks to all that have replied to my post. You have given me insite about my decision that only you can. I can tell that you love your bikes and riding and I can wait to join the ranks. Thanks!

 

[dbk23]

Yes MichaelInVenice, I have posted on several sites as I am looking at several bikes not just one. I think it would be foolish to just look at one brand or make of bike as that would be self limiting. I am not looking to offend anyone in this forum, just looking for what you love about the bike or what you dislike about it. I am hoping this research will aid me in making a decision.

 

[Perdurable]

being 225 your not gonna want a 250 you'll feel like your on a moped after about 1 month of riding regardless of your skill at that time. i started on a fz6r and after a month i had to get the performance mods due to the fact that it just felt way to slow the bike may be a bit heavy for a beginner but anyone over 200lbs should be able to man handle it alot better then a 150lb kid i think its a good bike for new riders hands down

 

[Michael67]

I am 45 and a new rider. I went through the course at a HD dealership, got my endorsement, and then purchased a 2012 FZ6R in November. I got to ride it for a little over 300 miles before the weather turned. I absolutely love this bike and an very glad I did a lot of research prior to making my decision. I know I've got a ton of learning to do, but it's everything I wanted in a first motorcycle and I'll probably always have it. I can't wait to get back out and really get proficient in riding.