Yamaha’s have always been particular and selective when it comes to launching bikes in India. A very few stay for decades, well the FZ landed in India in 2009 and it’s already 2017. The company launched its version 2.0 almost 2 years back and now its big brother the FZ 25… But will the masses forget the original FZ & the FZ-S. Competitors have risen their game a level higher & we are here to decide whether getting a FZ-S is still a worth buy…
We got the Army edition FZ-S 2.0 with us today to fight a battle against the other newer 150 cc segment bikes…
FZ has been the tourer king and what else could we ask from our rider Shubham Mehta other than visiting home on this bike and making review at the same time, which meant taking it to Beed from Pune and getting it back. A 500 km journey… 2 days of passionate riding with just one motive … to find how well does it stands to today’s competition.
The Journey:
Pune to Ahmednagar…a flying 122 Kms of highway, high speed corners, extreme straights, to witness the curvature of the earth, very low traffic and superb roads our rider touched a top speed of 132 kph, and enjoyed every breath of it. But testing the bike on its straights was not the only motive. We knew Ahmednagar due to its military area is just so full of speed breakers that the bike will have to go through a lot of hard braking, little slides, early shift ups and double gear downs constantly and so we continued. The grip on the MRF Rev Z tyres gave us constant assurance to push it to its limit. The next phase of the journey took us to village roads… Kacche raste…
Almost 40 Kms of riding on the craters of moon. Here’s where we tested the suspensions, the Fz has a long travel to its suspensions, it surely benefits here as compared to its competitors. Almost an hour of riding continuously wondering where are the exciting roads at, we reached the Ghats. And like all men we too love curves more than the straights ;). Accompanied with good scenery, banking corners and very little room for error, got us excited and we began riding like the enthusiasts we are.
Beed arrived in an hour, our destination for the day. It was now the time to take rest and give FZ what it deserves too. It was a non-stop direct Ride from Pune to Beed, A journey that takes 5 and half hours was completed in 4 hours and 10 mins and the FZ did quite well.
Next day we started early and it was time to analyse the key aspects of the bike. & here’s our review
Looks & Aesthetics: The FZ has been a head turner since 2009. It has that macho stance and has been favorite of many for all these years. Ever since the company has unveiled their new army edition, a lot of young enthusiast are after purchasing the bike in the same shade.
The tail lights of the 2.0 look revised and are brighter than the older models. The bike also poses its limited edition stickers to make the rider feel special. The alloys are matte black and don’t catch dust and dirt too soon, which means one doesn’t have to keep cleaning them weekly. The spring of the mono shock are stunning red and eye catchy and suit the overall looks of the bike.
Engine & Performance:
The Fz’s motor with its improved Blue Core technology and the addition of the new Fi churns out 12.9 bhp @ 8000 rpm with its peak torque of 12.8 N-m @ 6000 rpm. We were able to attain a top speed of 132 kph twice, but this is not the FZ has been famous for.
The acceleration out of the new Fi proved to be much better than the carb engine, a massive 2 sec faster than the old one in clocking 0 to 100 kph. Hats off to Yamaha on their achievement in making the bike faster with the increase in fuel efficiency. We knocked 0 to 60 in 5.4 secs and a 0 to 100 in 17.5 secs. Figures are still impressive considering it’s an all-round tourer.
While the NVH levels were damped well under 5k rpm, they had a substantial rise which are noticeable on the foot pegs and on the handle bar at higher rpms, and we thought that Yamaha still had an area to improve on. Overall we rated the engine 7.5/10.
Braking Performance:
The FZ-S comes with front disc and a drum brake at the rear. The disc sized @ 267 mm and have fabulous heat dissipation. The calipers are Bybre and have a wonderful brake bite helping the FZ stop from a 60 to standstill 0 in 13m and in 3.6 secs. The front suspensions have a perfect dip on braking without nose diving too much. We felt the need of an added disc at the rear would had been of an enthusiast choice. At least to see it in an optional variant could make many riders happy. The Tyres of the FZ are the Mrf RevZ, radial, wide and last for a 30k Kms easily. Though wet braking could had been better, braking on dry surface is excellent and won’t give you a chance to complain.
Handling & maneuverability:
A long handle bar, Perfect length of the swing arm, a mono shock suspension at the rear and the 140/60-R17 Tyre gives the FZ the Maneuverability it is most famous for. On fast corners you have the Unbelievable grip, no fear in going from a knee down to another and the perfect stance to get out of the most difficult situations easily. On speed breakers the suspensions take the bump smoothly and give you a soft comforting ride. In traffic you have the advantage of owning a naked street. Its agile, rev happy and easy on weight to get you pass the traffic with ease.
Mileage:
Yamaha tried to improve its mileage with reducing the engine capacity from 154cc to 149 cc and adding blue core technology to induce more air in the engine along with the Fi but still it lags in this segment with its competitors, it give out a mileage of about 40-45 kmpl in city and 47kmpl on the highways.
Overall VFM (value for money):
The FZ-S comes in 4 colors and stands at RS.96,036 OTR Pune. It’s accurately priced between the Honda CBF Hornet and the Suzuki Gixxer. It has been in the market for ages now, trying its best to sustain & dominate the market. But it has started falling behind in a few aspects where the Suzuki’s Gixxer is most appreciated at.
The Gixxer comes with better Instrumental cluster than Hornet & the FZ-S, it’s more advanced and techy, it notifies the rider with the gear indicator, perfect up-shift timing and a digital clock. Something very common but the others miss on.
If given a chance, we would still buy the FZ today, we find it more value for money considering how it ages over the years and the resale value achievable even after 5 years.
However something that suits a person may not suit you the best. And at AutoGenius we guarantee to help you find the best match. If you are planning to buy any bike, give us a call prior, we exactly know what can keep you happily in love.