Yamaha FZR600.

It was a sunny morning when I first encountered an FZR600 for real. I had read about them in the press of course, about how much fun they were, how they were a four stroke LC, how good they were at everything, and how they were cleaning up on the track. You take it all with a pinch of salt until you can play with one yourself. This fine sunny morning I received a telephone call from my brother in law. 'Would you like a go on my new bike'?. 'What is it'?, I asked. Aha, I see you're way ahead of me here. So I got on my trusty Kawasaki Z550 and rode the 25 miles or so out to the residence of Raymond my brother in law, To ride his brand new FZR600. The ride there was a good one, with few idiots in cars to get in the way a good pace and rhythm was set through the leafy Sussex lanes. I arrived with a real appetite to see what a modern supersport 600 was really like.
After a cup of tea and a chat the beast was wheeled from its lair. My first impressions were of the small size of the bike and it's compactness. Everything is densely packed within the Deltabox twin spar frame. Sitting on it found all the controls falling easily to hand as they say in time honoured cliche. However the hands have to be at the end of slightly longer than average arms and supported by a strong spine. On first acquaintance the riding position is excruciating. Compared with a Z550 that is. At five foot ten and a half inches I felt crammed into a space slightly too small for me.
With a last word of warning not to crash on pain of death, Raymond sent me on my way. Trolling the couple of miles out to the country lanes, letting the engine warm up, it struck me that magazine reviews are no substitute for the real experience. For instance, most of the reviews I had read in the rags had made a big issue of the fact that the FZR600 has very little low to mid-range urge. Yet now I was actually riding one, I was thinking that the bike had adequate quantities of power from 2000 rpm up. Certainly it didn't feel far short of the Suzuki GS1000 I had owned two years before. Then I came to the junction that led to the road I was seeking. A quick glance at the temperature gauge showed that all was well. I could give the bike some stick.
Turning on to the road, a straight of some 600 metres beckoned and I let it rip through the gears. In first at around 8000 revs the front wheel lifted from the ground so gently I hardly noticed until it hit the road with a thump as I shifted to second. As the revs climbed towards the red line again I noticed that I was rapidly running out of road. This bike accelerates at an astonishing rate of knots. The next surprise was the brakes. I had left myself minimal room to brake for the corner ahead by my usual frame of reference, so I was shocked and amazed when a small squeeze on the lever produced an instantaneous halt from 80 miles per hour ish, a full 20 yards before I had intended. This was going to be big fun.
Another 5 minutes and I had the hang of the acceleration and braking. I was going faster on bumpy roads than I had ever been before. Then I made a mistake and failed to scrub off enough speed for the next bend. Having my heart in my mouth was the only thing preventing me from screaming as I lay the bike over another few degrees. With no fuss at all the FZR sailed around the corner. I stopped. I had a fag. I scratched my head. I went back and did it again. Both ways.
On the Z550 I had trouble maintaining 50 mph round this particular bend. The FZR was exhorting me to double that. I did it easily with the bike cruising in fourth gear. I could hear the chassis and engine combining in their cries of , 'Whip me, Whip me Boss'. By the end of my ride I was taking that bend at 120 mph and not feeling at all in trouble.
I was sold. I had to have one of these machines. I took this particular example back to its owner and tried to forget it. I didn't have two beans to rub together. I couldn't afford one. Life can be so cruel.
Two years later I still couldn't afford one but the dream had never left me. Eventually after a period of unemployment, I obtained a new job, came into some money, sold everything I had loose in the garage, gave up racing, and sold my beloved Z550. I had £3000 and started scanning the ads. Isn't it always the way that when you want a specific item whether it be girls, HiFi or motorbikes, there is never one to be found at the price you are willing to pay. I found one unbelievable bargain, A three year old with 18,000 miles on the clock for £2,200. I went to look at it. It looked a little doggy but acceptable for the price so I took it out for a spin. I only went 400 yards and in that space the bike tried to throw me off 3 times.
When I took it back the owner tried to persuade me that they all handled like that because they were set up for racing. I disabused him of this idea and told him that the frame was seriously bent. I expect that some poor sap bought it and to this day is blaming himself for not getting the best out of his machine.
On the way home I decided to console myself by looking in at the local dealers. There it was ..... 6 months old, 800 miles on the clock, a beautiful red and white FZR600, at £3,500. I offered him £3,000. He wouldn't take it. The race was on. How to raise the cash before another FZR hunter found it. It took 4 weeks to beg and borrow the extra cash and I finally secured the bike for £3,400. Joy oh joy. It was mine.
So why am I now trying to sell it 6 months and 2000 miles later? Well, although the bike more than lived up to expectations it has a number of problems which make it difficult to live with.
The riding position has proved to be just that little bit too radical for someone with a back condition. Moving the handlebars up 2 inches and the pegs down and back a couple of inches would help, but the work involved in carrying out the mods can't really be justified. The straight cut primary gears are a real pain when trying to ride smoothly in town. The acceleration and handling are addictive. This last may not sound like a down side, but when you have nearly been speed trapped at 125 mph after blowing of a Golf GTi you have to wonder if it is really necessary to have that much power at your disposal. The advantages are the power weight and handling, fuel consumption of 65 to the gallon on a run, (Average over 400 mile round trip to South Wales), and the Fun Fun Fun. I shall miss it when it goes, but I have another 350 LC built up now, and in reality that bike can fulfil almost every function that I require.