Backroad Ramblings August 2009

Time Behind Bars: Yamaha-style

Thanks in no small part to the unique dynamics of motojournalism, I spend more than my fair share of time loitering around dealerships under the guise of research. Much in the way the local donut shops offer free coffee to cops in exchange for their very presence, so too is my expert opinion and in-house persona valued by shop owners all throughout the area. Only rather than coffee, I’m paid with countless hours of saddle-time on stationary vehicles where, even long after they’ve grown tired of walking around me, they refuse to call the real cops to have me removed.

I bring this up because just the other day I spent a quiet and rainless (both rare traits around here these days) Tuesday afternoon surrounded by 2010 model-year goodies while waiting for a test vehicle, in this case a new KTM 450 ATV, to be loaded into the bed of my pickup. It just so happens that the dealer in question was slapping plates on a brand spanking new Yamaha FZ6R which was, as my prodding revealed, to become his own personal scoot for running errands throughout the summer months.

The long term plan, or so he said, was to most likely part with the machine late-Fall as a used demo with a substantial discount for the few hundred miles that would be showing on the clock. The only stipulation was that if he had become extremely smitten with the Yammy’s personality over the remainder of the summer, it just might come home with him to join his stable as a full time member and the only of four bikes with a displacement under 750cc.

The kicker was that my apparent gawking hadn’t gone unnoticed and in an unprecedented act of both generosity and trust, I was tossed the bike’s ignition key and told to “put it through the gears” as it were. A few customers had begun to form a line at the counter resembling one of those roped off affairs the bank uses to keep people from rushing the teller all at once. Only rather than ropes on brass-topped velvet poles, the customers here were zigzagging around much more desirable markers such as a helmet rack and shelf containing various oil blends and chain lubes.

“Go ahead, let me know what you think,” the shop’s owner said jovially. “It looks like I’ll be behind the counter for a while anyway.”

Fortunately, and probably not all that serendipitously, I happened to have my helmet, gloves, and jacket riding shotgun in the off-chance that someone would insist upon my performing initial break-in of their brand new motorcycle; a repli-racer in particular, preferably blue with black and white paint to match the theme of my gear. Score!

Marketed as a model to appeal to beginners and as an upgrade to those 250 and 500cc riders ready to advance to the next phase of the performance-bike hierarchy, the FZ6R, as I was surprised to discover, comes equipped with the same Inline four-cylinder mill that was winning championships from within the last generation YFZ-R6 - a bike that regular readers may recall I’ve frequently regretting parting with prematurely.

Looking forward to becoming reacquainted with the old girl, the FZ6R fired up with a surprisingly mellow idle-note, not at all similar to the bark I had managed to coax out of my R6 with a little help from Power Commander and Vance & Hines. Rather, the waves emanating from the stock pipe of the FZ were smooth, precise and not-at-all obnoxious, which really could be the same exact terms used to describe easing out the clutch and rolling on the throttle onto the four-lane highway.

Abundant low-end and a smooth, almost electric-feeling throttle response made the bike much more practical in heavy traffic situations than the R6 I was familiar with. As I reminded myself to ask the shop owner on my return how Yamaha was able to so successfully tweak the pipey curve of the R6, an opportunity arose to stretch third gear out on a long-straight. A pretty incredible thing happens to the FZ6R rider who surpasses the golden 5000rpm mark, not unlike hitting 88 mph in the DeLorean in Back to the Future.

I fear you might suspect me of exaggerating if I said blue sparks engulfed the tires and the bike vanished in a trail of popping flames, so I will just say that the heritage of the R6 isn’t lost on the 6R but rather relocated to the middle-rpm range and up. A pipe and a rider with a strong-willed right-wrist are all that’s required to convert the versatile FZ6R into a trackday giggle-inducer. The abundant low-end and mild manners at slow speeds are simply bonuses that pay dividends when traversing busy village sidestreets and construction zones.

After a lazy few blocks, I returned to the highway that brought the bike back to its rightful owner.

“Well what do you think?” he asked as I dismounted.

“All of the thrill of my old R6 up top but a lot more comfortable. I can’t rule out two-up touring on this bike, so long as we weren’t talking the type of distances that scare off everyone but Gold Wing riders.”

“I wonder if Yamaha would consider putting that in their brochure?”

I thanked him for the ride despite the sudden feelings of longing and scheming that the short jaunt rekindled; sort of a sip of frothy margarita to a recovering alcoholic.

“You know technically,” I told him while he pried the key from my clenched Alpinestar glove, “this particular bike could be sold as a used-demo model at a substantial discount right now.”

For an instant it looked like he may have considered calling the cops.