Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542341
2006 Yomoho FZI ond FZI Fozer FZI is below 60OO rpm. Sronv gv Aulr Carxcnr Pxoros gY Plul Bansron, AND ArEssro I n what must be the bike world's I longest binhday party, Yamaha contin- L"a ,o attack cuslomers'bank I "aaorn,, around the world with the ! latest ,n a lineup of leading-edge prod- ucts celebrating the 50th anniversary of its entry into motorq/cles back in 1955- After the trend-sefting R6, RI/SE, MT- 03 siogle and an deco-styled XVl900 MidniSht Star/Stratoliner cruiser, now it's the turn of the Rl-derived FZI and FZI Fazer four-cylinder street rods iust launched to the world's p.ess in South Africa's Cape Province, and set to hit showroom floors next month, Though on paper these terrible twins are nea y iden- lical beneath the skin, it's a surprise that in practice they're so dynamically different Irom one another, as a 200-mile day spent hot roddinS them alonS the magnilicent scenic coast roads east of Cape Town, then up into the wine.ountry to Stellenbosch and Franschoek, amply proved. They may be like twin brothers, but they're easy to tellapart. "To be honest, we did not expect these two models to be so different to ride, but so enioyable in quite different ways, once we began to test them in prototype form two years ago," admitted Yamaha FZI proiect leader Takashi Tominaga, already notable as leader of the team responsible for transforminS the l'1T-01 show bike into production guise. With the FZS|000 Fazer launched at lntermot 2000, a top seller with more than 30,0O0 bikes sold in Europe alone in the five years since then - once Yamaha stopped overpricing it - the fact that the carbureted steel-framed bike couldn't meet the tough new Euro 3 emissions and noise laws coming into force next year, made it time to update and upgraded the model that tops the one-liter nudie-bike sales charts in several key markets. This time around, though, Yamaha has decided to expand the FZI Fazer's appeal by offering both a naked street-fighter ver- sion ofthe bike, as well as a swoopy-styled luccessor to the existing half-faired model, both of them sharing the same chassis and suspension, and powered by a detuned version of the current fuel-aniected Rl superbike enSine. Both are already in pro- duction and reach the shops in February with the half-faired Fazer version selling for euro 10,990 (about $l3,l15) in Europe, and its bro'-with-attitude streetfighter twin retailing for euro 500 less (about $12,520). "[b .reate the two bikes, Tominaga and his team staited with the 2006-model Rl 's short-stroke 77 x 53.6mm 998cc 20-valve slant-block motor, with its cylinders inclined forward at a steep 4o-degree angle, and of course featuring Yamaha's benchmark R-model tri-axis stacked gear- box introduced back in 1998. This engine has been retuned to give a claimed 150 bhp at I 1,000 rpm at the crank - 25 bhp less than the Rl, but a classJeading figure for the naked street-f8hter class, while the.e's the same 106 Nm of torque as the super- bike but delivered 1500 revs lower at 8500 rpm, with a much wider midrange spread, says Yamaha- Compare this to the carbureted FZSl000's 143 bhp output in a steel- framed bike weiehing 457 lb6. dry and it's evident that the new fuel-iniected FZI with its 20 lbs. lighter cast-alloy chassis helpin8 it scaie in at 437 pounds in half-faired Fazer form, ll pounds less in streetfighter guise, represents a big step up in performance over its outgoing predecessor. To obtain this, Yamaha employs the same crankcases, pistons, cylinder block and cylinder head as the 2006-model Rl motor, delivering the same stiff package represented by the closed-deck design that positions the cylinders close together, with just a 5mm metal wall betlveen each coat- ed-alLrminum bore. The engine's light- weight forged three-ring pistons feature a very short skirt and deliver a lower I 1.5: I compression (compared to 12.4:l on the Rl - the compression difference (omes via a thicker gasket). These are fitted to car- burized fracture-split con rods mounted on a heavier crank with altered flyrvheels compared to the Rl, which deliver 40-per- cent greater crank inertia aimed at produc- ing stron8er midrange torque. Up top, the unchanged cyljnder-head design features the same valves as the Rl 28 FEBRUARY22,?@6 , CYCLE NEWS I 1 n I @ : l 4 -A 7-' .: / ffa ,F- { a) v i\ \\ r) t; I a \. -.'\\ \'\ \ -/