Nick E.
New Member
Heya Folks!
I am a new '09 FZ6 owner who is now bringing it onto a long trip starting from Prescott AZ and ending in Northern VA. The reason why I am doing this is not just for funzies (though that certainly is a large factor), but mainly because I am moving back as I just finished my degree in AZ. U-Haul costs were estimated to be $3,400 including fuel and no hotels, which is ridiculously high considering that I can ship most of my belongings in USPS flat rate boxes and just ride myself over for a quarter of that price. Considering that I now also have the FZ6, which is a far better touring machine than the R3 I sold recently to buy the Fazer, this trip is also a lot more feasible to complete.
As for the bike itself, I got used at a family owned dealership down in Phoenix. It surprisingly came only 8,000 miles on the odometer, which meant that it was ridden barely 470 miles per year on average!
However, it came with a few issues. Although the bike itself was clean, a lot of the internal and fluids were sketchy. Coolant was completely brown, oil was pure black alongside being overfilled by 400CCs, spark plugs had oil on the threads, steering head was extremely loose, coolant temperatures were high, radiator cap was completely ineffective, brake fluid was old, and black flakes came out of the coolant drain. I replaced all of the fluids and overhauled the coolant system (swapped thermostat, water pump, and all radiator hoses) and flushed the system multiple times on different occasions. As for spark plugs, I believe the previous owner used a sort of oil as an anti-seize, as the cylinder head and walls were in perfect condition when we checked it with a borescope. Finished up the entirety of the 8,000 miles service interval alongside repacking the steering bearings and got new rubber seals for em (the fact that the steering bearings were ball bearings instead of tapered rollers is still surprising to me!). Below are some photos I took while on the maintenance journey.
All of this is to say that I worked on the bike quite a bit! There are still some things that I am concerned about it though. For one, temperatures are all over the place (which seems commonplace for the FZ6 in general). While cruising I get a nice 180F/82C, but the moment I shut off the engine, it goes all the way up to 236F/113C! I am pretty sure that this is normal, but it certainly is not like the R3. Additionally, there is a ticking sound that is noticeable near the top of the engine, which I think is just the fabled "yamatick", but still scares me a bit. Any input on this from any of y'all would be greatly appreciated!
That aside, with everything done, I loaded up the bike and started on my journey. I used some kriega bags (two 20L and one 5L), a net with a generic bag and the bike cover, alongside two bungie cords to keep it all stable.
Once I packed it all up, I headed off onto I40 and made a beeline towards Albuquerque NM. I made a few pitstops for gas. The meteor crater was exceptionally expensive on fuel ($6.1 for 91 octane!!) while my quick stop at Gallup NM was uneventful. Did add two stickers to the side of my pannier though, someday I will have all 50 states on these things xD
The real fun was the road itself. In a car, it's pretty easy to just "zone out" and forget that you're even driving. Oftentimes, I just kinda feel like I "teleported" from one part of town to the next without a proper recollection of the scenery around me. On the bike that seems to be a totally different experience! Because of how uncomfortable it is by comparison, I find that I am forced to focus a lot more and actually enjoy the views around me. It is absolutely gorgeous, although my crappy gopro does seem to butcher a lot of the cool views...
Looking back, I do wish that I took Mingus and Sedona instead of just sticking with the I40. If you are ever in the northern AZ area, Mingus Mountain (specifically the road that leads from Prescott Valley to Jerome) is one of the coolest twisties you can hit. That and the small twisty in Sedona would have likely made for even better views - were it not for the fact that it would have added roughly 2 hours of additional time.
With this, I finally reached my stop at Albuquerque! I locked the bike up and am currently in the hotel room typing this all out. Special thanks goes to the user Gnyce on the forum! He sent me a disc brake lock that I absolutely adore using. THANK YOU!!!
And thank you for reading this far! I will be updating this daily until I arrive home. Hope to see you for the next post!
- Nick
I am a new '09 FZ6 owner who is now bringing it onto a long trip starting from Prescott AZ and ending in Northern VA. The reason why I am doing this is not just for funzies (though that certainly is a large factor), but mainly because I am moving back as I just finished my degree in AZ. U-Haul costs were estimated to be $3,400 including fuel and no hotels, which is ridiculously high considering that I can ship most of my belongings in USPS flat rate boxes and just ride myself over for a quarter of that price. Considering that I now also have the FZ6, which is a far better touring machine than the R3 I sold recently to buy the Fazer, this trip is also a lot more feasible to complete.
As for the bike itself, I got used at a family owned dealership down in Phoenix. It surprisingly came only 8,000 miles on the odometer, which meant that it was ridden barely 470 miles per year on average!
However, it came with a few issues. Although the bike itself was clean, a lot of the internal and fluids were sketchy. Coolant was completely brown, oil was pure black alongside being overfilled by 400CCs, spark plugs had oil on the threads, steering head was extremely loose, coolant temperatures were high, radiator cap was completely ineffective, brake fluid was old, and black flakes came out of the coolant drain. I replaced all of the fluids and overhauled the coolant system (swapped thermostat, water pump, and all radiator hoses) and flushed the system multiple times on different occasions. As for spark plugs, I believe the previous owner used a sort of oil as an anti-seize, as the cylinder head and walls were in perfect condition when we checked it with a borescope. Finished up the entirety of the 8,000 miles service interval alongside repacking the steering bearings and got new rubber seals for em (the fact that the steering bearings were ball bearings instead of tapered rollers is still surprising to me!). Below are some photos I took while on the maintenance journey.
All of this is to say that I worked on the bike quite a bit! There are still some things that I am concerned about it though. For one, temperatures are all over the place (which seems commonplace for the FZ6 in general). While cruising I get a nice 180F/82C, but the moment I shut off the engine, it goes all the way up to 236F/113C! I am pretty sure that this is normal, but it certainly is not like the R3. Additionally, there is a ticking sound that is noticeable near the top of the engine, which I think is just the fabled "yamatick", but still scares me a bit. Any input on this from any of y'all would be greatly appreciated!
That aside, with everything done, I loaded up the bike and started on my journey. I used some kriega bags (two 20L and one 5L), a net with a generic bag and the bike cover, alongside two bungie cords to keep it all stable.
Once I packed it all up, I headed off onto I40 and made a beeline towards Albuquerque NM. I made a few pitstops for gas. The meteor crater was exceptionally expensive on fuel ($6.1 for 91 octane!!) while my quick stop at Gallup NM was uneventful. Did add two stickers to the side of my pannier though, someday I will have all 50 states on these things xD
The real fun was the road itself. In a car, it's pretty easy to just "zone out" and forget that you're even driving. Oftentimes, I just kinda feel like I "teleported" from one part of town to the next without a proper recollection of the scenery around me. On the bike that seems to be a totally different experience! Because of how uncomfortable it is by comparison, I find that I am forced to focus a lot more and actually enjoy the views around me. It is absolutely gorgeous, although my crappy gopro does seem to butcher a lot of the cool views...
Looking back, I do wish that I took Mingus and Sedona instead of just sticking with the I40. If you are ever in the northern AZ area, Mingus Mountain (specifically the road that leads from Prescott Valley to Jerome) is one of the coolest twisties you can hit. That and the small twisty in Sedona would have likely made for even better views - were it not for the fact that it would have added roughly 2 hours of additional time.
With this, I finally reached my stop at Albuquerque! I locked the bike up and am currently in the hotel room typing this all out. Special thanks goes to the user Gnyce on the forum! He sent me a disc brake lock that I absolutely adore using. THANK YOU!!!
And thank you for reading this far! I will be updating this daily until I arrive home. Hope to see you for the next post!
- Nick
