I have been looking at buying this machine for about 3 years now. I had a Hayabusa and liked it, until I crashed it, go figure. I was trying to decide between this and the Honda 919. The specs and the looks sold me toward taking a chance on the FZ1. I picked up my new toy and within about 4.5 days I had about 1000 miles on it. My first impression was that it was light and nimble. It cornered pretty good with the suspension set with dealership settings. The brakes are pretty good as well, no complaints. The bike will stoppie easier than it will lift the front wheel. After I got about 800 break-in miles on it I wanted to see what kind of power it had. I found out pretty quick that 2nd and 3rd gear wheelies were going to take a lot of clutch and a pretty good tug on the handle bars. In 1st gear, wheelies are more doable though you still have to do a little work to get the front end up. (all in the clutch around 3000 RPM's) Once it's up you can loft the front wheel fairly predictable and catch 2nd, then a 3rd if you have the guts and the room. Driving around town is better than good. The engine isn't a torque monster but is has enough zip to still be a lot of fun. The gearing is a little taller than the R1 so the bike isn't screaming at you or by-standers as you cruise around town. The highway is really good and the RPM's aren't way up there which keeps the noise down. After about 2 hours in the saddle it became clear that my first mod will be a gel seat. Now, IF you want to haul buggy pronto, just stay in 1st and get the RPM's between 5500 and 12,000 and continue from there. You won't be disappointed. The bike pulls pretty good as long as you keep the engine in this range. HOLD ON though, the more upright seating tends to want to leave you where you sit. Over-all, I think this is a good, fast fun bike. I brought it up to 185 MPH and still had room for more. I wish it would be easier to wheelie but I really need to not do that anymore anyway, so maybe that's not so bad. However, with a new pipe, air-box tubes and a PCIII chip it will probaby do as my Honda CRF450x (dirtbike) does and wheelie on demand! So far the FZ1 has my thumbs up, especially for a 42 year old fart like me!
Reviews are provided on an "as is" basis with no warranty and should be considered entertainment only. Reviews should not be used for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to, making decisions about any referenced vehicles, products, modifications or other information.
