Fear not, new rider dreaming of a sporty choice! The FZ6R from Yamaha should satiate your hunger for some flash and need to look fast even when keeping to the posted limit in school zones.

The Fizzer also represents that rare instance when a manufacturer directly solicits new riders. From Yamaha’s marketing copy:

“The FZ6R offers features that make it easy for beginning rider to get started: low seat height, grips that reach back, and a torquey, 600cc engine you won’t outgrow anytime soon.”

Yamaha not only built the FZ6R with the beginner in mind, it also built a fair bit of adjustment into the ride position.

The 6R’s 30.9-inch seat is adjustable for a 20mm increase in height, and its handlebar – already 12mm further back and 12mm lower than the FZ6 model that preceded it – offers 20mm of forward adjustment.

During the FZ6R’s new model launch, 5-feet, 10-inch Fonzie remarked that he could easily flatfoot with the seat in its 30.9-inch position, yet after 150 miles of riding never felt as though the seat was too low.

This bike is essentially fully faired and has an effective windshield. Dual disc front brakes provide “adequate power,” said Fonz from the intro, and during our recent comparison of the FZ6R to the Suzuki GSX650F and Kawasaki Ninja 650R, the Yamaha was deemed to have the best brakes of the bunch.

The 6R runs a milder state of tune in its inline four-cylinder engine than the FZ6 did, but the R’s 64 peak horsepower is plenty of get up and go in most instances. Guest tester Tom Roderick heaped praise on the 6R as a bike with a great engine that has “strong mid-range and pulls cleanly all the way to rev limiter, with excellent throttle response.”

Yamaha’s marketing hype for the FZ6R seems right on the money, so young and young-at-heart new riders, get yer checkbook out!
by motorcycle