VOL. 51 ISSUE 24 JUNE 17, 2014 P91
Triple The Fun
Don't let the FZ-09's ridiculously
low $7990 price tag fool you into
thinking that Yamaha skimped
when it came to fitting the FZ-09
with some of the company's lat-
est engineering feats. This bike
has plenty of them, most notably,
of course, its all-new 847cc liq-
uid-cooled, in-line three-cylinder,
DOHC, 12-valve engine, which
is hung in an all-new aluminum
frame. The motor also features
Yamaha's Chip Controlled Throt-
tle (YCC-T) and D-Mode systems.
YCC-T is Yamaha's version of ride
by wire and is carried over from
its MotoGP racing technology,
and D-Mode allows you to ad-
just through three throttle valve
control maps (Standard, A and B
modes) while on the fly.
Hit the starter switch and that
sweet and unmistakable sound
of the FZ's three-cylinder motor,
through its three-into-one ex-
haust system, pleasantly fills your
ears, and the pleasure certainly
doesn't end there. Pull in the
clutch, put it in gear and when
you open up the throttle for the
first time, you'll be saying to your-
self, "holy crap!" I did. The FZ-
09 springs to life as soon as you
crack the throttle; it just wants
to go. It has tons of torque, it's
downright fast, and it will have
you blowing through almost any
posted speed limit in an instant if
you're not paying attention. (Ya-
maha claims 115 horsepower and
64.5 lb-ft of torque at the crank.)
Again, the FZ-09 is just plain fast,
