VOL. 52 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 20, 2015 P119
N H
OOLIGA
and the sound emitting from the
exhaust is music to the ears. One
of the great things about the FZ's
motor is how versatile it is. Whether
you're going for a weekend ride,
doing your daily bumper-to-bumper
traffic commute or heading out on
a long road trip, the FZ-09's engine
can handle all three—and more—just
fine.
The available three power-delivery
modes, via a bar-mounted button,
make a noticeable difference. We
found that B-mode works great for
commuting with its smooth de-
livery, but the downside is that it
has a noticeable decrease in peak
horsepower, but is this really a big
deal when it comes to commuting?
A-mode is fun for the back-road ex-
pression sessions, but the delivery
is still a tick on the abrupt side and
the aggressive nature can be a little
too much for the softer suspension
to handle at times. Yamaha did a
good job with the Standard mode
I
t's no secret that the FZ-09 is a
great motorcycle. The fact that it's
been Yamaha's best-selling model
since its introduction two years ago
is proof of that. When we rode the
bike for the first time, when Yamaha
first launched the bike in San Fran-
cisco, we knew right away that the
tuning fork company had a hit on its
hands. The bike, however, was far
from perfect—notchy fueling quickly
comes to mind—but the overall fun
factor far outshined any flaws it
might have had.
Luckily, Yamaha was quick to
address this quirk with the 2015
model, and we recently got the
chance to ride it and spend some
time living with one of our all-time
favorite hooligan street bikes.
Without a doubt the best part
about the FZ-09 is its lively 847cc
DOHC inline three-cylinder engine.
The FZ-09 has fun torquey power
that is delivered via a broad power-
band. It just begs to be run hard,
We can't get enough of Yamaha's inline triple
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON ABBOTT
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