Zealot
The Village Idiot
Heya folks, really glad to be here and moreso than that I'm excited to get out riding this new bike of mine come spring. I picked up a 2008 FZ6 with only 11,000KM on it from an older rider who seems to have taken really good care of it as far as I can tell. There's a tinted windscreen, HID headlights, frame sliders, aftermarket exhaust (two brothers) and a little 12V phone outlet in the fairings. A little test ride to the end of my block and back (not insured, so I've gotta be careful) was fun as hell! I do however, seeing as the bike is a number of years old and has been used a bit in the past, have a couple of questions.
Firstly, the idle RPM. It sounds good and matches a million other videos with the kind of characteristic "wubwubwubwub" sound it does. Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McKzF9Zga1g if you're not exactly sure what I'm talking about. I had to make sure the bike was properly winterized recently, so I let it idle for a bit in my garage to get fuel stabilizer through it - and it sounded perfect, but I noticed that a possible reason for that 'wub' sound seems to be that my RPM's sit right where they should be, but the needle keeps blipping up the tiniest bit and then back rapidly. It's only a tiny amount, but it's there - and I feel like it should be 100% stable. As the bike warms up to operating temperature, there's points where the 'wub' sound seems to vanish, then comes back. Is this something I should be concerned about?
Edit: Related video outlining my exact problem on an -almost- identical bike engine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUsMO0KM-9w
(Might help someone troubleshoot in the future, if they're having the same issue - working on solving it bit by bit)
Second, the clutch. I'm coming from a Honda CBR 250R (great little bike by the way, if you know anyone interested in learning to ride) where the clutch is really light, and in the case of the FZ6 it's really heavy and only seems to grab around the farthest point out - and that's hard to control because I'm barely able to get my finger tips around it. It'll take some getting used to of course, but I'm interested in knowing if levers made much of a difference for you. I'm looking at a decent pair of adjustable levers, but they're expensive and I'd like to make sure I'm not wasting my money.
Third, general maintenance. I can do a lot of the very basic stuff myself, but I was thinking it might be wise to take the bike to a local dealership and have them service it and ensure it's in perfect riding form. I'm hoping to have this bike for a number of years, so I want it to last through preventative maintenance. While I can do things such as reduce throttle free play (which I'm pretty certain could use a touch up at this point), I'd like someone with more knowledge than me to take a look at the bike in a more detailed manner and see what's what. Would this be advisable, not knowing how the bike has held up over the years?
Thanks in advance!
Firstly, the idle RPM. It sounds good and matches a million other videos with the kind of characteristic "wubwubwubwub" sound it does. Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McKzF9Zga1g if you're not exactly sure what I'm talking about. I had to make sure the bike was properly winterized recently, so I let it idle for a bit in my garage to get fuel stabilizer through it - and it sounded perfect, but I noticed that a possible reason for that 'wub' sound seems to be that my RPM's sit right where they should be, but the needle keeps blipping up the tiniest bit and then back rapidly. It's only a tiny amount, but it's there - and I feel like it should be 100% stable. As the bike warms up to operating temperature, there's points where the 'wub' sound seems to vanish, then comes back. Is this something I should be concerned about?
Edit: Related video outlining my exact problem on an -almost- identical bike engine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUsMO0KM-9w
(Might help someone troubleshoot in the future, if they're having the same issue - working on solving it bit by bit)
Second, the clutch. I'm coming from a Honda CBR 250R (great little bike by the way, if you know anyone interested in learning to ride) where the clutch is really light, and in the case of the FZ6 it's really heavy and only seems to grab around the farthest point out - and that's hard to control because I'm barely able to get my finger tips around it. It'll take some getting used to of course, but I'm interested in knowing if levers made much of a difference for you. I'm looking at a decent pair of adjustable levers, but they're expensive and I'd like to make sure I'm not wasting my money.
Third, general maintenance. I can do a lot of the very basic stuff myself, but I was thinking it might be wise to take the bike to a local dealership and have them service it and ensure it's in perfect riding form. I'm hoping to have this bike for a number of years, so I want it to last through preventative maintenance. While I can do things such as reduce throttle free play (which I'm pretty certain could use a touch up at this point), I'd like someone with more knowledge than me to take a look at the bike in a more detailed manner and see what's what. Would this be advisable, not knowing how the bike has held up over the years?
Thanks in advance!
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