VOL. 51 ISSUE 24 JUNE 17, 2014 P93
through out the whole
bike when you quickly
open it up and put the
motor under a load
(such as when you're
too lazy to downshift just
before making a pass)
and when you scream it
at high rpms. All is good
elsewhere, though.
The '09's six-speed
transmission shifts but-
tery smooth, and clutch
pull is light and predictable.
Quick and smooth launches are
a breeze on the '09. The trans-
mission does, however, produce
a noticeable gear whine in third
and sixth gears that would, de-
pending on my mood, get under
my skin a bit.
I felt noticeable heat coming
off the motor but it was nothing
I couldn't live with, even with out-
side temps nearing the century
mark. I could also — very easily
— live with the approximately 49
mpg I got on the FZ-09, which is
significantly more than Yamaha's
published, estimated 44 mpg
figure, at least for highway and
conservative riding. The highest I
ever saw was 49 mpg, which I got
on the highway while in B Mode.
The lowest I saw was about 38
mpg after nothing but city (okay,
hooligan) and back-roads riding.
The fuel tank holds 3.7 gal-
lons. That's not a lot but for high-
way commuting it was plenty for
me.
Comfort Zone
The FZ-09 has a unique feel
about it after you climb aboard. It
kind of reminds me of sitting on a
YZ450F or supermoto bike. The
FZ' feels narrow between your
legs and the tapered aluminum
handlebars greet you just where
the YZ's handlebars would. The
only real difference is that my
relatively long legs can reach the
ground with a lot more room to
spare on the FZ-09. It has a fairly
low 32.1-inch seat height but with
its narrow junction at the tank, it
feels much lower than that.
With the '09's decent seat pad-
ding and flat layout, combined
with its overall neutral and upright
riding positioning, the FZ-09 is
surprisingly comfortable. I didn't
suffer at all on my daily hour-long
commutes, nor did I on a couple
of daylong rides I put in on the
bike.
Shocker
The FZ-09's soft suspension is
good but nothing to write home
about. Overall, I found the ride to
be a bit bouncy, and the front end
to dive excessively when you get
on the front brake. Unfortunately,
there isn't a whole lot you can
do about it. Both the KYB 41mm
inverted fork, with 5.4 inches of
wheel travel, and the horizontally
mounted single shock, which of-
fers 5.1 inches of travel, do offer
preload and rebound damping
adjustments (no compression
damping), but there is only so
much you can do to get the bike
to soak up the bumps a bit bet-
ter. I cranked up the rebound a
bit at both ends and went in a
The FZ-09's rugged
looks matches its
rugged performance.
