Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Ok i havnt posted here for a really long time.
I sold my M50 and im looking at buying a Ninja 650R (2006) or a FZ6 (2007)

I remeber the older Fz6 having issues with stuttering because of emissions levels. i think that was all cleared up in 07?

Im experiance and i know the fz6 has more horseys in it.

Has anyone driven both these bikes?

I like the digital dash on the FZ6 but i like the look of the black ninja more.

I remember the under seat exhaust got hot sometimes on the FZ6.

Yeah, Yamaha corrected that problem as well as the "throttle by wire" one. I'll probably end up on an FZ6 as my next bike, but when I compared it to the Ninja 650 I thought the FZ6 had a much more upright seating position, which I preferred. It also seemed taller than the Ninja. You'll really have to go to the dealer and sit on them both before you can make a decision. Seating preference is something that can't really be related. You have to park your butt on them both.

Hey thanks.

Im off to look at an 06 Ninja tomorow. Only thing that scares me is it has 7800 miles on it. You think this is high for a motorcycle?

The 3000 miles 07 FZ6 is gone...dang it.

jonbailey19808 wrote:Im off to look at an 06 Ninja tomorow. Only thing that scares me is it has 7800 miles on it. You think this is high for a motorcycle?

Heck, no. Unless it was abused or something, that's just broken in.

jonbailey19808 wrote:Hey thanks.

Im off to look at an 06 Ninja tomorow. Only thing that scares me is it has 7800 miles on it. You think this is high for a motorcycle?

The 3000 miles 07 FZ6 is gone...dang it.

7800 miles? That's nothing.

Too bad about the FZ6. I rode a new 07 last year and was very much impressed. Great seating position with high end power, brakes and suspension. What's not to like? (OK, I'd rather have it naked, but I've resigned myself to living in a plastic world).

I really did not like hte FZ6. The injection is pretty much crap, the suspension wasn't anything to write home about, and you had to wind the motor up to get it to do anything. The fueling issues still haven't been resolved as far as I know.

I liked the Ninja a little better for regular street riding. The suspension on that was the same deal, pretty bargain bin. But if you were looking at a Ninja 650R, I'd get an SV650 instead and throw a pipe on it. SV parts are easy to come by, and cheap, as well as the used bikes themselves are plentiful and cheap. Huge aftermarket support due to their abundance in the race world.

DivideOverflow wrote:I really did not like hte FZ6. The injection is pretty much "crumb", the suspension wasn't anything to write home about, and you had to wind the motor up to get it to do anything. The fueling issues still haven't been resolved as far as I know.

Did you ride an '07? I rode an earlier model (with the FI problems) and they've definitely improved dramatically. No more jerky spots and dead spots.

They did tame the motor a bit to provide more midrange, but in the end, it's still the R6 motor and it's going to behave like a high powered inline 4. There are always tradeoffs. Twins have better low end grunt, I-4s tend to have more on the top end. Personally, I liked having the zippy power of the R6 in a package that was actually practical for the street. YMMV.

The FZ6 has much better performance numbers than the Ninja 650
The only weak spots on the FZ6 is the front suspension and the weak goose neck bearings and the 2004 and 2005 has bad TPS sensors