FS: Fazer 600

My 750 has been the only bike so far where I've been able to take my
left hand off the bars to give a gesture to a drive whilst knee-down
on a roundabout.

Good thing I wasn't actually thinking about what I was doing or I'd
never have done it. Or the bike would have read my mind and gone and
beaten him up.

 

Oh, I'm not disputing that's what it says, just saying it's a laughable
claim whoever's making it.

Not entirely true. I rode the SRAD and Fazer back in, umm, 2003 or
thereabouts, at which point my exposure to bigger, newer stuff was far
less than it is now. My next bike was, I think, older than either of
them.

But lets not get any further bogged down in this. It's a Fazer 600. It's
not a cutting-edge sports bike, it's a practical commuter. There's no
point battering it for not being something isn't, nor is there much
point slating it for the same. It'd probably make a more suitable steed
for my commute through central London than the thou.

 

I can see why they've said it, tbh... compared to the CBRs I've had, this is
much more fun to ride, and much easier to live with day in day out than the
R6.

I'd still like another one of those, mind - nutty power delivery. :-D

Aye... it just happens to be more fun and quicker than I expected, (given
'practical commuter' is a label associated with pap like the Divvie 6), and
not something I look at as an inferior alternative to say a CBR600 of the
same era.

Unless we're talking finish, in which case a CBR600 is far less work.

Oh, well in that case let me do you a favour by making you the very generous
offer of a straight swap.

 

Please, stop clutching at straws.

I give up. It's the meds.

 

Actually, the thing I liked most about the old Fazer was that it
didn't *have* to be revved: it had a nice dollop of torque. Like you,
though, I never gelled with the R6.

 

Yes, but that's exactly what I like about it - unlike a lot of stuff where
you either have a load of torque or peaky power, these have a bit of both.

Open them right up and they sail past the redline without the feeling of the
power tailing off as it approaches it, which is what I've found with so many
bikes over the years.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it... and I'd have another one, albeit with a
steering damper, and as an occasional toy.

However, for day in day out, 'do it all' riding, I'd still want something
else, quite possibly a Fazer.

 

There was that superb experiment done by Bike, in whichj they took a
new-generation Fazer, stuffed some old TCat era Fazer cams into it,
and generally fiddled with it, to boost the midrange albeit at the
expense of top end.

And everyone who rode it back-to-back with a stock modern Fazer,
including ordinary punters who hadn't been told what had been done to
it, preferred it.

I like peaky engines in some bikes: generally, little ones, like up to
maybe 400cc. A peaky engine in anything bigger than that is, IMHO, a
pain in the arse in 95% of riding situations.

Ever ride the last model of the old air-cooled Kawasaki GPz1100? The
Uni-Trak one? That was a classic case. Went like **** (even by
Kawasaki standards), for an old two-valve aircooled lump, and you
didn't really notice the lack of low-down grunt on the track because
you were always revving it hard anyway, but on the road it was a pig.

A fast pig, but still a pig.

 

Alex Ferrier wrote:

I would if I were you - you're patently lacking in 'clue' when it comes to
how much faith should be put in standalone dyno figures, how relevant the
outright peak BHP figure is to how a vehicle actually performs in the real
world, and aren't particularly good when it comes to 'putting words into
other peoples mouths and then backing it up afterwards when someone actually
questions it'.

HTH

 

I learned that trick on my GSXR1000, and sometimes freak people out on
trackdays by giving them a cheery wave as I go under them kneedown on
righthanders.

--
Lozzo
New bike (arrives Friday)
Fireblade 929 (For sale)
ZX-7R P4 (for sale)
CBR600F-W trackbike
SR250 SpazzTrakka,
RD400F, somewhere
I see a bright new future, where chickens can cross the road with no
fear of having their motives questioned

 

No. I really do. You can take a horse to water and all that.

This bit however, I feel, needs further comment.

I'm well aware that dynos are notoriously unpredictable,
one from another and even the same one, one day to the next.
But not to the level of inaccuracy required for you point
to hold water.

I concede, engine torque and delivery is at least, if not
more, important in the way that a motorcycle feels and
behaves on the road. One of the reasons why I have an RGS,
in fact.

Which words have I been attempting (poorly) to put into your
mouth?

If you are referring to:

"> I have ridden an early Fazer and, like most bikes,

If you can show me where I've claimed any of that,
I'd be grateful."

You gave an opinion of the gixer and enquired as to whether I'd
ridden the Fazer. I responded in the positive and gave you *my*
opinion within the context of the discussion (comparison to the
gixer). Hardly putting words in your mouth, is it? I attributed
nothing to you, nor did I intend to.

However, none of the above has any bearing on the original point
of contention.

HTH

 

My point was and still is, that the GSXR I tried felt flatter higher up the
rev range than my Fazer.

T'was you, unless I'm mistaken that then deemed that wasn't possible because
the GSXR happens to have a higher stated level of peak BHP than the Fazer...
and then started reeling off dyno BHP figures for your and Boots bikes, and
all I've done is outline as a tangent so to speak, why those figures aren't
worth the paper they were print off on from the dyno if they're to be
considered for the purposes of an accurate and relevant direct comparison of
the two.

Good stuff.

Fair enough... but given the rest of the discussion, it would be easy to
construe the above as being uttered in the context that I'd implied the
above at some stage, and I haven't.

What? That the GSXR I tried felt flatter higher up the rev range than the
Fazer?

I still stand by that.

 

Go on then, one final effort...

And my point was and still is, that the GSXR750 SRAD is a lighter,
better handling, faster, more aggresive, more powerful *and* a more
torquey motorcycle than a 600 Fazer. Either the bike you rode was
fucked or you've been sucking at a crack pipe.

 

....maybe it was.

Which is why I'm going to try another at some stage, possibly if the Fazer
goes and I find I can't get on with a Chunderace after all.

And just to keep the flame alive so to speak, I looked up the 0-60 of the
GSXR and Fazer earlier... 3.4 vs 3.8.

Not as much difference as you'd expect given their respective stats / design
briefs, methinks.

 

Really? I've found a rattle gun just about always does a sprocket
nut, and is way easier (not to mention safer) than huge breaker bar.

 

Next time I need to do a chain, I'll try the rattle gun again.

Actually: no, I won't. For the price my friendly local mechanic charges,
it's not worth me getting my hands dirty.

 

Plenty of life left in that, there's still teeth on it

P.

 

'Once a Superdream owner... always a Superdream owner...'