FZ1 Fazer Test Ride

Helen tested a demo model 2009 FZ1 Fazer yesterday at Keith Dixon in Accrington.  She expected to love it but she didn’t click with it in the same way she did on her first ride of her BMW or on my VFR…and Mr Sale Yamaha you were wrong, it didn’t make her smile but the VFR does! 

This is Helen’s review of the FZ1 Fazer

Loved:-

The engine – nice and punchy, sounded gorgeous, pulled well and overtakes were an effortless hoot, felt miles more powerful than both the VFR and mine.

 
The gearbox – nice and smooth, never missed a gear and I wasn’t up and down the box like I am on mine.

 
Steering – very agile, turned really well and I felt confident cornering and turning at slow speeds, very well balanced.

 
Part-ex price they offered for mine – about £400 more than the bloke at Sale Yam, and a couple of hundred more than book price gives for 3.5k miles less than mine has.

 
Price for the bike – decent price compared to the tatty 07 plate at Sale Yam which was almost £6k, and it had done just 21 miles after being pre-reg in August (plus the 30 odd I put on it today!) – if anyone’s after one go and check this one out!

 
Didn’t love:-
Riding position – too upright, bars a bit too high for me and I felt a bit exposed and plonked on top (like driving a sports car perched on a bar stool!), rather than at one with the bike, didn’t feel natural gripping the tank with my knees, the ergonomics just didn’t go with my thighs and knees!

 
Seat – uncomfortable compared to mine and the VFR, and I don’t think I could cope with a long day on it.  Although I wasn’t leant forwards, the shape of the seat kind of tilted my pelvis so I wasn’t sitting on the bit of the body we’re meant to sit on (which made for very uncomfy lady-bits!).

 
Suspension – felt very hard and was rough over some of the sunken grids and pot holes you always seem to hit no matter how hard you look for them (I’d have to add some more sports bras to my wardrobe if I bought a Fazer!).

Cost of extras – to get up to the accessories/gadgets standard of my BMW it’d cost me another £1.5k on top of the £4k I’d have to give them in addition to part-exing my bike (fairing lowers, touring screen, crash bobbins, heated grips, luggage, oh and the new sports bras!).

 
I can definitely see how some folk love them, but it just wasn’t for me, we just didn’t click.  Getting back on the VFR and then back on mine on the way home was what really made me smile, I’ve forgiven mine after falling out with him post-VFR riding, and I know that the VFR with higher bars is likely to be the perfect combination for me.