FZ8 Thoughts?

[mister]

I myself am going on the Team Moto ride by the river test ride day on the 9th Oct to test ride the FZ8N and the Street Triple. I'm sort of leaning towards the street myself but till I sit on both I won't know. I'm doing my shopping testing for next year when I upgrade myself.

Bring some cooling pads for your butt when you ride the Striple. The exhaust heat comes up through the seat quite bad.

Gonna keep the GS?

Michael

OH dam didn't know that about them. Interesting, I think I'm second for the day on it so it hopefully will not be to hot...

1st or 2nd on the day makes no difference. Within 10 minutes of being on a cold Striple my butt was boiling from the heat from the exhaust. With a 25 minute TM ride, you WILL feel the heat.

Be sure to come back and post about your experiences

Michael

[Shaddow]

I myself am going on the Team Moto ride by the river test ride day on the 9th Oct to test ride the FZ8N and the Street Triple. I'm sort of leaning towards the street myself but till I sit on both I won't know. I'm doing my shopping testing for next year when I upgrade myself.

You gonna try the GSR750 as well? They look very nice

Its on my list to try as well. My list of finalists are at the moment:
Suzuki SV650S, GSR600, GSR750
Honda VFR800
Yamaha FZ6N, FZ8N
Kawasaki ER6N
Triumph Street Triple

I had others on the list but they have been knocked off for one reason or another. I actually have a whole spread sheet with scoring on it too. I may be researching it to much but it fills in time while I wait for the plan...

[Pelikan]

^^Yeah, curious your thoughts on these two.

[mister]

No Z750 on the list. Had you discounted it or just not interested in it in the first place?

Michael

[Shaddow]

No Z750 on the list. Had you discounted it or just not interested in it in the first place?

Michael

No I'm interested I just forgot to type it in.

[Shaddow]

Test Ride - Yamaha FZ8N vs Triumph Street Triple R
Recently I went and attended TeamMoto Blacktown's Ride by the River Demo day. The two bikes I test rode were the Yamaha FZ8N and the Triumph Street Triple R, both are on my what do I get next list, which I have been compiling for next year (If your reading this my wife, yes I seriously want to upgrade the bike next year). So here is my opinion on each of the bikes and then I'll give you my preference at the bottom. Enjoy the read.

YAMAHA FZ8N

So my idea of my next bike was to go back to owning a naked. I'm over my fully faired Suzuki GS500F, don't get me wrong its a great bike but I want a naked one again. So I did some research on the net (as one does) and came up with a list of bikes. One of the bikes at the top of the list was the FZ8. Enter TeamMoto's ride day.
First impressions of the bike was it looks mean and sexy. I loved the headlight, with the parker light tucked up the top like a third eye.  Its stance says tough but it still looks ridable without being uncomfortable and lets face it I want this next bike as a daily so it has to be comfortable.
Sitting on the bike the first thing I noticed was how big the tank was. Its only a 17L tank but it is so much wider in feel than my GS500s. The foot pegs are in a nice neutral position and work well and the riding position is slightly forward of neutral but still a comfortable spot for long distance riding. I noticed to the air scoop on the tank which to me looks cool. The handle bars are not to narrow thankfully (though narrower then the zooks), the switch gear is easy to use and the mirrors are positioned well. I did notice the 815mm seat height though. My preference is for around 800 but that is cause I like to be able to put my foot flat. Its something I could live with if I got this bike.
So time for the ride. Bike fires and idles nicely. The exhaust note is quite sweet but lacks grunt noises. The clutch has longer throw then I'm used to but is easy and smooth none the less. Gear changes feel smooth but are noticeable (ie slightly mechanical clicky feel). The brakes are responsive and powerful. The back brake felt tight but did not grab quickly allowing you allot of play room. The front I found to be a perfect match to the size and weight of the bike.
Out of the first corners the bike felt well balanced and wanted to travel nicely in a straight line without deviating. A slight twist of the bars or lean of body weight and it would gently roll through the corners. It felt like it held allot of potential to be a good handling twisties bike but didn't beg for them. It was happy cruising as much as being pushed.
The throttle response was impressive for the four cylinder and you could really feel the extra torque it was carrying. Even from idle the bike could be pushed through all the gears with barely a complaint. By this I mean I stuck it in 6th and let the revs die down to idle and then accelerated, just to see if it could. It pulled cleanly through its rev range, maintaining even power through most of the rev range. Riding under power the bike responded to all my inputs fast and did not leaving me wondering if I was asking to much. The engine noise was nice but lacked that appeal of a Vtwin or Parallel twin.
On the road the dials are an easy read, the mirrors don't vibrate and still offer a good field of vision. I purposely found many potholes for I had read reviews saying the bike was over stiff for a naked upright. Not so I say. I found it near perfect. Stiff enough to make corners feel like chocolate coated dreams while soft enough to be able to cope with the Horrible roads in the Newcastle Area.
All in all I'd have to say I instantly fell in love with this bike.

PROS
Smooth but firm ride, Smooth engine delivery with loads of torque, Looks sexy, easy riding position, versatility

CONS
Notchy gearbox, Non Grunty sounding engine, maybe not sporty enough


Triumph Street Triple R

I've always like triumphs. They have that appeal to me that many find Duccatis have to them. The Triple though was in my list to check out for that reason. When I saw the bike in the flesh I looked at those front headlights and asked WHY??? They just don't look right. Hoping onto the Street Triple my first impression in the seat was, where was the rest of the bike? It felt little, small, compact. Gripping the tank with my knees I felt like the bike was almost skinny?Quickly forgetting that I gripped the handle bars and started checking the position out. The handle bars were very narrow, the indicator to far for almost for my stubby thumb (thank god it was the good thumb as the other one is even shorter these days. Remember bike chains and thumbs are NO!) and the rev counter looked to metro try hard. Yes I at first was not a fan.
The seat was however quite comfortable and the pegs and foot controls seemed to be well located. Kicking the bike into life I noticed one thing first it has a gear indicator. WOW! I was later informed allot of modern bikes have them since dashes went digital. :| Next thing I noticed was the clattery
Taking off I found that I had allot of Revs to play with, in fact more than I seemed able to use ever. The bike had a distinct noise and when the throttle was cracked open, it howled its pleasure. The bike right from that first moment felt like a caged beast ITCHING to get out. But with all that power it seemed to suffer a bit low down in the rev range when loaded. However the mid to high range, it would shoot forward with the merest caress of the throttle.
The bike's ride was extremely firm and felt out of place on the rough roads of Windsor. No this was not a bike for country riding, it want smooth, fast corners, it wanted a track and I wish I had had a track to try it on. It hated potholes and tried to avoid them at all cost. The brakes were extremely powerful. My first serious use of them made me have to push myself away from the handle bars. Their power was quite impressive.
The riding position on the move made cornering a dream (well except for potholes). This bike took no effort ever to go round any corner. It took them all in its stride. however because of that position my wrists quickly complained of the near full sports bike riding position for my upper body. I also found when I only had the balls of my feet on the pegs that the bike body work pushed my heels out away from the bike. Awkward.
The gauges were easy to read on the move and the gear indicator kept me amused for many moments. I found the mirrors had decent rearward vision but I struggled to get my stubby thumb use to the indicator.
All in all I'd love to own this bike as a weekend only bike.

PROS
Amble power, beast like quality, light, sports suspension, beautiful cornering

CONS
Sports suspension, ride position, range

Final Say
In all while the Triumph was far the sportier, better handling bike for a race track in day to day riding, I would say you would soon get annoyed at that ultra firm suspension, the lack of bottom end, the riding position and lower range. Still it would be a lovely bike to have in the garage for weekend racing.
Having said that the FZ8N was a well handling, smooth bike that offered seemingly effortless daily riding and potential fun when pushed. To me the debate ended ten minutes into riding the Triumph. the FZ8N would make a brilliant daily in comparison. Still the ear to ear grin the triumph gave was worth the test ride.

[kml.krk]

thanks a lot for this write up and review!
I am so happy that you liked FZ8 as I am more and more seriously considering it to be my next bike. It won't happen anytime soon but it's good to know that the bike is good and comfy commuter and decent overall bike.

I guess I will have to start saving some money