+ Click to Enlarge APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY: Yamaha's midweight Fazer combines a honey of a motor and an innovative frame with budget-basket brakes and suspension to produce an unexpectedly competent streetbike.

March 23, 2004
By Dave Abrahams

South Africa has always been "big bike" country. Apart from the insanely quick 600cc supersports machinery, of which Yamaha's R6 is a prime example, middleweight road bikes have never been a big deal in this land of vast distances.

Now, however, motorcycle distributors are starting to wake up to the fact that the best-selling over-500cc motorcycle in SA is BMW's dual-purpose 650 single. Yamaha, in particular, has reversed its decision not to import the second-generation 599cc Fazer street bike, first shown at the Milan motor show in September, and limited numbers are appearing on SA roads.

And I do mean limited; there are no bikes for media evaluation because the first batch has all been sold. This example was loaned to motoring.co.za with the permission of the customer (thanks, Danny) and I was threatened with all sorts of physical damage if I got so much as a scratch on it.

The first Fazer was a budget street bike using the ThunderCat motor in a tubular steel frame with very basic cycle parts; this all-new version uses appropriate technology to produce a capable middleweight that's more than the sum of its parts.

Motive power comes from the current R6 motor, tuned for more mid-range with milder camshafts, longer inlet tracts and Yamaha's group type fuel injection that uses fewer sensors (five, not seven) and more compact electronics to save space and money.

A progressive twist-grip helps to make the power delivery less jerky at small throttle openings.

It works, too; despite its racetrack breeding, this motor will pull, growling ferociously, from 2200rpm in the lower gears. It'll tolerate full throttle anywhere above 5000 and, although there's no obvious step in the power band, from 7500 it pulls with serious authority up to its peak of 72kW at 12 000rpm.

There's some high-frequency secondary vibration as the power comes on strong, at its worst between 7000 and 10 0000; after that it smoothes out but never disappears

The power tails off sharply after 12 500 and there's no sense bouncing off the rev limiter at 14 200rpm because you're actually losing ground; you'll get better results changing gears around the torque peak at 10 000.

The Fazer accelerates strongly up to 210km/h; after that you need supple back muscles and a long straight to reach its max of 228km/h at 12 180rpm – which shows that once again Yamaha has the gearing spot-on.

It accelerates vividly through the gears; although lacking the manic top-end rush of the R6, the Fazer's wider spread of torque provides impressive mid-range muscle. The consistent and disconcertingly strong headshakes you get on full-throttle upshifts are mostly due to the fact that there is very little, if any, weight on the front wheel.

And yes, Cyril, it will pull power wheelies without dipping the clutch if you wring its neck hard enough in first and second.

The rest of the transmission is something of a mixed bag; the clutch boss, spring rate and friction plates have been redesigned for this model to produce one of the Triple Tuning Fork's better clutches. Its take-up is smooth and predictable, hot or cold, and I couldn't make it slip or judder.

Gritty gearshift

The gearshift, however, is poor even by R-series standards. Miwa's brilliant idea of turning the conventional motorcycle transmission on its end has enabled Yamaha to produce some of the most compact four-cylinder engines yet built but this layout places the shift mechanism about as far from its lubricant as it can get and still be inside the casing.

As a result all R-series motors, even the hand-built R7, have a notchy, unpleasant shift; Yamaha owners accept it in return for the advantages it confers in terms of superb handling and lightning response while the factory has put considerable effort into improving it in successive R-series models.

This one, however, is as bad as the original R6 of 1998, with a stiff, almost gritty, feel.. There's also little tactile indication of when it's gone into the next gear, although it's impressively vocal, especially in the three lower gears – I can't remember a noisier box on a Japanese bike.

R6 owners say their bikes improve as they rack up the kilometres; I hope the Fazer will do the same. By contrast, however, it has far less driveline lash than other R-series bikes, most of which suffer in this respect.

Cast-alloy frame

This compact drive train is rigidly mounted (hence the vibration) in an alloy frame made up of two big, die-cast spars, mirror images of each other made using the controlled filling process. They're bolted together at the steering head and engine plates so that welding and cross-struts are unnecessary and its a brilliant way of using complex technology to make an absurdly simple yet rigid motorcycle frame.

The rest of the chassis consists of a low-tech, tubular-steel sub-frame and a long rectangular section swing-arm.

The running gear is equally straightforward: the forks are non-adjustable, relying on their 43mm diameter and short stanchion length to keep the front wheel in line under all circumstances. In the same way the rear shock-absorber mounts directly to the frame and swing-arm without any linkages, instead using its valving to simulate rising-rate geometry without the extra weight.

Twin-pot sliding callipers on 298mm discs brake the front wheel; I've long had reservations about this maintenance-intensive layout that only works well when it's clean and correctly greased and which is prone to fading under severe abuse – particularly since Yamaha itself pioneered the opposed-piston type, immune to both problems, on its RD series of sports two-stroke twins in the 1970s.

Be that as it may, the brakes on the test Fazer were more than adequate, providing all the power I could use on the street without the sudden grabbing often found on race-bred, four-pot callipers. They're predictable and superbly modulated, the more you squeeze the more you stop, until the front tyre howls.

The rear brake, in the modern idiom, is far less powerful and barely held the bike on a steep hill. It's also spongy, mainly due to the length of the lever – while you lose feedback it also means you are unlikely to lock up the back wheel no matter how unfeeling the hoof with which you thump it.

On the road

The bike had a tendency to shimmy at more than 160km/h, shaking its head in a straight line. This disappeared when I lay on the tank for the top-end runs and I realised that it's caused by the slipstream buffeting the rider's shoulders, which in turn shakes the steering through the high, wide handlebars.

Fitting a higher screen would probably cure it – a 90mm taller one is available as an optional.

The switchgear is simple and robust, the instruments are all in one LCD pod, with the bar-graph rev counter running around a rectangular digital screen showing your speed, the time, fuel level, odometer, two trip meters and even a digital revs read-out if you want it.

While I admit that digital instrumentation is cheaper, lighter and more accurate than dials and needles, I find bar-graph rev counters difficult to read at a glance and would have preferred a conventional gauge for this the most important data. It is, however, neatly back-lit and no more difficult to read at night.

Supple suspension

I was very impressed by how well the unsophisticated suspension handled motoring.co.za's bumpy test road, soaking up the big bumps without bottoming and dismissing the ruts better than a lot of big tourers. The only bikes that have scored better on this section are big off-road machines with long-travel suspension.

The compliant suspension costs the Fazer a little in precise steering on fast sweeps so you have to brake a little early and turn in neatly to get the bike settled; then it'll hold its line as well as most street bikes.

The steering is as light as the rest of the controls with lots of leverage from the wide bars; the bike responds best to gentle, accurate input from the rider.

Firm saddle

When I first threw a leg over the test Fazer I thought: "This saddle's too hard for comfort – this is not going to be fun." But, firm as the padding is, its contours are right and the geometry of the seating position is such that it's comfortable for long rides.

I rode out a tank of fuel one morning without any serious discomfort – and then I had to stop anyway.

Yamaha's middleweight Fazer combines a honey of a motor and an innovative frame with budget brakes and suspension to produce an unexpectedly competent do-anything street bike. Its 35° steering lock, upright seat position and smooth throttle response make it a superb commuter, its comfort and ergonomics, especially for the pillion, ensure passable touring ability and there's enough of the R6 in its genes to hold your attention when you twist its tail.

It even has that rarity on modern bikes, a centre stand. I could live with one of these…

Thanks to Linex Yamaha Cape Town for the test unit: a new Fazer costs R69 540.

As you see in the photos, all the Fazers in the first batch are half-faired versions. "Naked" models are expected by June.

Click here to use Motoring.co.za's repayments calculator.

Specifications:

Motor: Liquid-cooled four-stroke transverse four.
Capacity: 599cc.
Bore x stroke: 65.5 x 44.5 mm.
Valvegear: DOHC with four overhead valves per cylinder.
Compression ratio: 12.2:1.
Power: 72kW at 12 000rpm.
Torque: 63.1Nm at 10 000rpm.
Induction: Group injection-type fuel injection system.
Ignition: Electronic.
Starting: Electric.
Clutch: Cable-operated, multiplate wet clutch.
Transmission:Vertically stacked, six-speed, constant-mesh gearbox with final drive by 530 chain.
Suspension: 43mm conventional cartridge forks at front, monoshock adjustable for preload at rear.
Brakes: Twin 298mm discs with twin-piston floating callipers at front, 245mm disc with single-piston floating calliper at rear.
Tyres: Front: 120/70 -ZR17 tubeless radial. Rear: 180/55 - ZR17 tubeless radial.
Wheelbase: 1440mm.
Seat height: 795mm.
Dry weight: 187kg.
Fuel capacity: 17 litres.
Price: R69 540.

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