The new bike was supposed to be used by both, and I could gather that my uncle was in no mood to be caught dead on a sportbike while my cousin wouldn’t settle for anything else. Funnily enough, both of them did not know about the naked bike that Yamaha had launched with its faired sibling…
I remember my uncle silently looking at the orange bike’s rear-three-quarters picture for quite some time, checking out the broadest rear tyre, muscular tank, straight handlebar, and the lack of fairing… Yes, back in 2008, nothing else looked like the FZ-16 and it even managed to retain its ‘most beautiful’ crown for six long years until the arrival of Suzuki’s Gixxer 155 very recently.
Mind you, the old FZ-16 might still be preferred by many over the Gixxer ( talking only about the design here) but there is no doubt that the Gixxer is a fresher design and has managed to come on top in spite of having more competition than the FZ had at its debut. So, we will give credit where it’s due despite this not being a comparison review.
So yes, my uncle did buy the FZ-16 and my cousin was a happy soul too – they both loved the bike’s looks and the build quality; they both were enamoured by the way it handled, both in city traffic and on highways, but my uncle was not happy with the bike’s fuel-efficiency as it used to return around 28-30 kmpl at worst and around 36-38 kmpl at best.
Sadly ( for the FZ) , the much more powerful Karizma and Pulsars could also yield almost that much for every litre of petrol, but still the FZ continued to manage good volumes for Yamaha as not only was the product quality second to none its sticker price was inviting enough for what was such a brilliant package. However, competition has been squaring up against the premium 150cc and factors like ever increasing fuel prices more powerful cheaper bikes and the price-gap between the FZ and Karizma/P220 becoming narrower, among others were definitely big alarms for Yamaha. It was time for an upgrade…
Enter the new ‘fuel-injected’ FZ! Ever since the first spy shots started to emerge on the web, the bike looked like a substantial upgrade to the first generation FZ, however, the spec-sheet came as a major dampener whose intensity appeared to be even more severe in the light of its increased price. Plus, it did not look as good as the previous model, in pictures at least… So at first, it looked like Yamaha has already lost it with the new FZ version 2!
However, like I had said earlier that I would reserve my final verdict on the bike’s looks after I see it in flesh and metal, and I would talk about that in a moment, I also wanted to ride it and see if everyone’s perceptions, bounced off the spec-sheet, are true or false. There could always be more ( or less) than what meets the eye…
We got our media test bike for a few days and here are our findings…
Design and Style
The new motorcycle is still unmistakably an FZ. The fuel tank is again muscular but sharper and the separate extensions on either side are restyled and hold faux air-scoops too. A new and sharper headlamp design looks more aggressive when viewed from the front and the front fender now comes completely in body colour as opposed to the earlier one that had a black lower portion.
The instrument console is an all-new unit and its broader rectangular display screen not only looks better than the previous version’s but is also easier to read in harsh afternoon sun. Also, I prefer the new round exhaust canister to the previous stubby unit but the tail section was decidedly better of the first-gen FZ. It’s primarily because of the full monty splash guard on the new bike and also the porky new taillight, otherwise the aluminium bracket that holds the latter is a nice touch.