FZ1 - Ride report.

[liablemtl]

Today was a perfect March day... about 52 degrees, mostly overcast (with a threat of sprinkles) but with occasional sun breaks and the roads were dry. Since my boss and my coworker decided to infect me with their sore throat... I decided to leave work early because I felt like total crap. I threw a leg over the FZ and started the warm up procedure. Once I rolled outta the parking lot, I realized that days like this were rare in late winter up here in the northwest and that, even though I felt terrible, I should probaby at least take some advantage of the nice weather and ride the long way home. This was especially true since I had yet to ride the FZ for more than 20 minutes...

So, I headed out west (away from my house) and picked one of my favorite but shorter "long" routes home. I hit Cornelius Pass Road and blasted up to Germantown. Germantown is a tight twisty road that runs up the northwest hills of Portland. It splits about halfway up and you can either take Skyline back into town or continue on Germantown until it dead-ends into Hwy 30 (along the Columbia River). Germantown is one of those roads that is compacted gravel and tar and, during the winter, frequently has ice on it... this means it's a really uneven surface, in fact it's grooved all the way. It was a little disconcerting taking an unfamiliar bike up that road... the FJ was a heavy beast that just muscled it's way through every corner and over every bump. The FZ, being considerably lighter, felt way more twitchy and seemed to pick up every groove and want to follow it. With that said, the FZ was much more flickable through the corners and felt sure footed over the bumps... even the corners with gravel. At no point on Germantown did I feel unstable... it just felt twitchier, but that was fixed in short time with a little extra lean and some throttle. Germantown was a good reminder for me that it's been a while since I've ridden. I almost got caught by the "object fixation demon" as I started staring at the gravel on the side of the road and found myself quickly drifting that way. But once I realized what was happening, I changed my eye position to the next corner and rolled on a little throttle to inspire the FZ to lean and work towards the next corner.

When I hit the split at Skyline, I decided that I didn't feel like going out to Hwy 30 and taking the freeway back into town. So, I turned on Skyline and headed back towards downtown. Skyline is a great road... other than the million dollar homes with driveways every 50 feet. It has a ton of low speed curves, some nice sweepers and a few short straights to get some momentum up... not the the FZ needs any help getting her momentum up. She has all the power one could ask for and she's still willing to provide more if you get the motor up past 6k... but more on that later. I took million dollar row, I mean Skyline, at a leisurely pace... I tried to keep the bike under 60 most of the way but she liked taking those 25mph corners at 55 and above. I kept telling myself that I'm technically in a residential neighborhood and that a car could easily come flying out of a driveway in an attempt to slow me down... but the FZ handles so easily that those slow tight corners felt like long sweepers.

Skyline dead-ends into Walker Road which takes you back into northwest downtown by way of the backside of the tree-laden Sylvan Hill. It's exceptionally pretty and you roll right through the Audobon bird watching park. Traffic is usually quite heavy on Walker... and today was no exception. When I rolled by the Audobon parking lot, I thought about stopping for a little bird watching meself... in the parking lot I saw the rare female "red head ample-canned outdoorsgirl" bird in the lot. But then I remembered that I was not only sick but I was married too... so I rolled on into downtown and then onto home.

Impressions of Gundam FZ1: light and powerful. It takes no effort to throw this bike through the corners. The wide bars and upright riding position combined with the broad powerband make it comfortable and easy to manuever... it instills a natural confidence. For being light (ok, light in comparison to every bike I've owned before), it feels sure footed... and when it starts to feel a little squirelly, then a little throttle helps settle it down (if the RPMs are low... I have no idea what if feels like at high rpm because I have yet to break 6k on the tach!!!).

At freeway speed (60) it's a little buzzy in the bars... but this is less noticeable than my old FJ. The shorty windshield throws a lot of air on my chest and neck... that's only really a downer if the temps are below 48 or so. A taller wind screen is on the list. The seating position is positively comfortable. The FJ had a fairly upright seating position... but the FZ makes that look like a superbike. The pegs are well positioned, even for my tall frame (6')... the only complaint is that the heel of my left foot rubs the swingarm. That's largely because I tend to ride on the ball of my foot because I'm used to using my legs for extra leverage in corners. I haven't had time to dial in the suspension... but even at it's current setting, the bike feels fine through bumpy terrain.

Power... did I mention power? This bike has scary amounts of power. It pulls hard from 3.5k on... at 6k it starts to pull even harder. I've only had the engine up to 6.5k or so, but it has plenty of power. It's easy to put the bike in 3rd or 4th gear and just roll through the corners because you know that you can apply some throttle and it will gladly race up to any speed you desire without shifting. 1st gear is fairly long and you can get up to any posted speed limit without having to shift, if you want to. The bike pulls off the line without any hesitation... it is effortless to start riding. The torquey motor provides plenty of rolling power for any application and at low rpm's it never feels like it's bogging down.

The gears are fairly close together once you get past 2nd so shifting is more of a convenience than a necessity. 4th gear on the freeway doesn't feel unnatural... in fact it doesn't feel all that different from 6th gear. The gear box feels a little clunky... but I have yet to ride a Yamaha that had a gear box that didn't feel a little clunky. The shift lever has a long pull and I once missed a gear going from 4th to 5th. Every shift is noticeable through the bike... while the gear ratios feel close, the gearing itself feels like it has to travel a long distance from one gear to the next. It feels a little like each gear drops into place as opposed to sliding into place. It's not terribly smooth... but it's not disconcerting either. The tranny feels like it's big and strong and meant to take a beating.

The seat is a little long but for being stock, it's pretty comfortable. I expected a little more of a plank like the seat on the Z1000 and the ZR750...but it actually has decent cushioning and was not a problem to ride for an hour. The seat is long... it provides a lot of slide room, front to back. It is also fairly wide. Further saddle time is a definite must before I can provide adequate feedback on the seat

As for this bike... I am quite happy I brought it home. I can't wait to get some serious riding time on it. There are somethings I want to change... but most of those are convenience items. Out of the dealership doors? It's great. I give it two thumbs up.

[BigChickenStrips]

I saw the rare female "red head ample-canned outdoorsgirl" bird in the lot. But then I remembered that I was not only sick but I was married too...

nice