This is Jim Evans' FZ6 Web Page

Story:
  On April 8th, 2004, I bought a new Yamaha FZ6 motorcycle.
  I previously had a 2000 Honda CBR600F4, which everyone claims is so comfortable. Well, the people saying this must not be 6'3" tall, because I couldn't ride it for more than 15 mintues without my wrists and forearms hurting.

  Last year I test rode a FZ1, with intentions to buy one, but it felt heavy, and I was really disappointed by the amount of wind that came up from below the fairing. Although powerful, the FZ1 reminded me of my first street bike, my old Honda CB750F SuperSport, and that was not a feeling that I wanted.

  I really like the size, weight and performance of a 600, thus I was really interested in the FZ6 when I read about it in the winter of 2003. The FZ6 is comfy for me, light, fast and still cool looking. It seemed to be just what I was looking for, but the dealership that I bought my bike from doesn't give test rides on sport bikes. After my FZ1 test ride, there was no way that I was going to buy the FZ6 before riding one, since I thought I might hate it. Somehow or another, I managed to get a test ride on the bike that I was planning to buy, and I was quite pleased with the FZ6. The design of the bike had lots more wind protection than the FZ1 (especially from below the fairing) and the bike was light like my F4. Yee-haw! I bought it.

Here's a picture of my FZ6 with the Laser Quads installed:

Mods:
  Well, with any vehicle that I buy, I feel the urge to modify it. Here are the mods that I've currently done and the mods that I plan to do:

I modified the headlight wiring so that two lights are on at low beam. Yamaha has a two filament (H4) bulb on the high beam side, but didn't connect the wiring for some reason. The wire comes from the headlight switch all the way to a harness by the steering head, but the other side of the harness is empty. You basically need to extend this wire (dark green) and hook it to a new terminal installed in the high beam headlight plug. It works nice and provides a noticable difference at night.

Another light mod that I did, was to install pod lights on my bike. The euro version of the FZ6 has small running lights installed above and to the side of the headlights, but North American models do not have them. The headlight assembly has the space for them, but the holes are not drilled out. Basically, I just drilled out the holes, installed R1 pod light sockets, inserted a set of amber 194 bulbs, and wired them so that they function as running lights, but also blink (opposite state) with the appropriate turn signal. It's a neat looking mod.
Here is a picture: FZ6 with amber LED pod lights
(I also installed a louder aftermarket horn that you can see in that picture.)

Here's a link to how I wired the pod lights to flash alternately with the turn signals, and work as running lights; all with no relays:


Not really a mod, but I did have to adjust the headlights on my FZ6, as they were aimed too low. For some reason that I can't fathom, the owner's manual doesn't tell you how to adjust the headlights, so here is how it is done:
You need to remove the sides of the fairing as explained in the owners manual. Each side has three 4mm hex bolts and a plastic phillips head fastener. Remove the side panels on both sides and look at the assembly. There is one 10mm bolt on the outside bottom of each side that adjusts the beam height. Turn the bolt counter-clockwise to raise the beams, and the opposite to lower them.

These two pictures show you which bolts to turn:
Left side headlight adjustment. (275k)
Right side headlight adjustment. (292k)

I installed a fender eliminator kit on my FZ6 and boy did it clean up the rear of the bike. I really didn't like how the rear turnsignals stuck out so far with the stock fender, but with the FE kit, they are really moved inboard. With the internal "hugger" fender on the FZ6, I doubt that running the FE kit will even affect splash that much.

Below are some before and after pictures. This group has the "after" pictures taken at night and aren't that good:
Pictures from the rear. (196k)
Pictures from the right side. (150k)

Here are some better before/after shots from the daytime:
Left side. (211k)
From the rear. (255k)

Here's a shot of the right side:
Right side. (146k)

After installing the kit, I realized that I'd like to put some side reflectors on, in order to increase the side visibility of my bike. I looked at the stock reflectors, and realized that if I made some brackets, I could neatly tuck the factory side reflectors onto the FE kit.
Here's are some pictures of my bracket: (Yes, they are rough looking, as I roughly hacked them out of scrap aluminum with a hacksaw....) Unpainted(202k)
Sprayed black(205k)
From the rear(137k)
Left side(110k)
Right side(115k)

If you want to buy one of these fender eliminators for your FZ6, check out this thread over on sportbikes.net, or contact Mike directly at mgracer65@hotmail.com.
It's an excellent product and Mike is great to deal with.

Since I finally did a track day on the FZ6 (on 09/12/2004), I removed the centerstand to avoid any dragging issues. Wow, does the bike look a lot better without the centerstand on there. I'm going to leave it off now. Besides, I have a rear race stand that I can use to lift the back of the bike, and I don't recall ever using the centerstand anywhere but in my garage.

Here's what it looks like without the centerstand.

I also took a picture of the bike in "race trim".

And here's a picture of the FZ6 next to my pickup truck, showing the setup that I use (notice the ramps under the front wheels).

And finally, here's a picture of me wearing my leathers, standing next to my FZ6.

Another mod that I did tried (Autumn 2004) was to install the tall Yamaha windscreen. I was hoping that it would reduce the amount of windnoise that I experience over 45mph, but it didn't really make a difference. Actually, it did block more wind off of my body, keeping me warmer, but it also caused some funky turbulence. The bike doesn't look as sporty with the tall windscreen installed, so I took it off when the weather became warmer. I'm still looking for a solution for reducing the windnoise, as I'm already wearing earplugs and it's still a problem.

Another update, I sold the tall windscreen to another FZ6 owner and just ordered a light smoke Puig shield for my bike. I know that the puig looks better, so I also hope that it works better too.

Update to the update (July 2006), the Puig looks better and functions better, but not well enough to ride without earplugs. A word about the Puig: it is not a bolt on replacement. The factory windscreen is a molded piece with complex shapes. The Puig windscreen is pressed from a flat sheet of plastic. When you go to install the Puig, you notice that the fit isn't great and you have problems with the topmost bolt hole. I ended up creating rubber wedges and using longer screws to fix the mounting angle. Very annoying. There is a good thread on this topic over on sb.net here.
Here is a (poor) picture with the Puig installed:
Puig Installed
Here is a better picture of my FZ6 (actually clean) with the Puig installed. You can also see the frame sliders and R6 forks/brakes in this picture.

I finally (June 2006) got around to doing the major suspension mod that I was planning. I installed R6 front forks and brakes onto my FZ6, along with braided front brake lines. It's an awesome upgrade that really improves the performance of the FZ6. I think that it also improves the visuals of the bike by replacing the lame silver forks with black forks.

The place for instructions on this modification can be found here on sportbikes.net. I think it's an awesome mod because it improves the braking and adds adjustability to the front suspension, for a decent price.
Here are some pictures of my bike, after installing the R6 parts:
R6 forks and brakes installed
Side view
With a train in the background

Here's a link to my "modfest" when I detail installing all of the parts back in 2006: Jim's Spring 2006 modfest

Frame sliders. I finally got around to getting some frame sliders for my bike. I ordered the two-piece sliders from FS6 sliders.
They are nicely made and look nice installed on my bike. Here are some pictures of them as received:
In the package
Assembled
(Yes, one slider is longer to protect the things that stick out further on the left side of the bike.)

You can see them installed by looking at some of the pictures above, detailing the R6 forks/brakes mod.

Tires: My stock tires are finally worn out, so I ordered and installed a set of Continental Road Attack tires (June 2006). I also bought a Harbor Freight tire changer, along with a Mojolever and installed them myself. The new tires are working well for me. The handle well in the wet and dry and are supposed to last for a while.

I also installed (June 2006) a set of grip heater elements under a set of new Pro-Grips. I finally got around to wiring them in the Spring of 2007 and they are really pretty neat. They really allow me to keep warmer and wear my non-isulated glove for longer in the season before having to switch to my bulky insulated gloves.

In the Fall of 2006, I picked up a used Laser Quad exhaust system. Wow, that is one nice exhaust! I had wanted one, but couldn't justify the high cost when new. I have the cat eliminator pipe installed and am running with the DB-killer inserts in the exhaust. It really sounds sweet and the looks are awesome. I tried the exhaust with the race inserts installed, but it was a bit to loud for me. Either way, this is one awesome exhaust system and it looks like the Yamaha designed it this way, unlike most aftermarked FZ6 exhausts which just have two cans poking out of the back of the bike....

Links:
  There is really only one place on the web to go for FZ6 info:
Sportbikes.net FZ6 page


Page last updated on 08/17/2007

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