the rider and passenger sections of the seat slant forward.my gf doesnt like to ride on mine for long-but a little foam work isnt hard.rear spring is soft-but you can fix that.but the engine is great-always ready to go
Mine`s a 2004 model with 22,000 miles on it. Best all round bike I`ve ever owned. Not done any 2 up touring, but plenty of miles across Europe. Now got hard luggage for it......so much easier. JUst about to replace the rear shock & front springs with WP stuff. The standard seat was a pain in the arse, quite literally, I replaced that fairly quickly. For more info, check this forum based in the UK; http://fazer1000.yuku.com/
My 05 is my traveler, but only one-up. Springs are too soft on the 1st generation model, but it's an easy fix. SW motech qd racks hold my Givis.
I had an 02 and it was a great bike. Windscreen sucked and there isn't much you can do that doesn't look like crap. Didn't look right with hard-bags. Carbs suck. Way fast. Looks better than the new gen (IMO). Great headlights, great brakes, great engine.
I can't tell you about how the FZR would work as a two up tourer. I think it depends on the people involved. I know I did not like my standard seat running down the freeway for hours (fine around town) and replaced it with the Yamaha gel seat (much better). The windscreen was two short (great around town) and I ate a lot of bugs on the highway. I replaced this with the Yamaha touring screen. Liked the shorter one better around town. I know the FZR has plenty of go for two people around town and don't know why it wouldn't work great as a two up tourer. You would probably have to replace the rear seat. I would like a larger tank on the FZR. The F-trip (reserve light) is on around 130 miles.
I dunno about that. A friend of mine has the current gen FZ and loves it. A little ivans, exhaust etc and it screams! I for one find it soooo much easier to hit a few keys on my laptop than to swap out brass in four carbs, not to mention that I'd have to spend $1k+ on FCR's to get anything like the throttle response I've grown accoustomed to. In stock form the current gen FZ is a bit lame, but an easier to mod bike may have never been made
I didn't have to touch my 05 and it screams. Holds more gas and gets better mileage than the injected ones too, and the frames don't crack.
ivans jet kit for gen 1 fz1 = $120.i put the jet kit for full exhaust system on mine even though i have a slip on.i didnt want to have to open up the carbs if i changed the exhaust.it dynoed at 130 hp with a good a/f like that and runs great.it was set/forget it.went -1 on front sprocket.the stock seat sucks
Had a 2001 FZ1 with re-sprung and re-valved forks and shock, heated grips, Rich's custom seat and soft bags. Also Yosh slip-on and Ivan's jet kit; 133 SAE hp at the rear wheel. Rode it all over the West for three years. A truly great sport touring bike for one up. My wife liked the back for day rides. Sold it because the longer I owned it the harder it was to stay any where near the speed limit. The acceleration was just too addictive.
After giving this some more thought; I don’t see why an FZI with Givi side bags and top box and a good custom seat would not be a good two up sport touring bike. Note: as mentioned in previous posts, the stock seat does suck. Also the stock shock will not do well two up without a stiffer spring.
I still have the stock seat and have no real complaints (one-up only). I have ridden the FZ to Iowa, WI, etc. from Tennessee.
No wonder a manufacturer can’t make a seat that makes everyone happy; everyone is different. The first long ride I took on the FZ1 in 2001 was from Seattle to Glazier National Park and back on Highway 20. A great ride that I highly recommend. By the time we got home I was in agony, so the next mod I did was to get the seat customized by Rich. http://www.richscustomseats.com/ He raised me up about ¾” which made for more leg room and a more natural reach to the bars, made the pocket wider for more thigh support and added a gel pad. WOW what a difference, 500 mile days were no problem.
I am looking at an 02 with 56K miles. From the pics, the bike looks to be in great condition. What would be a reasonable price for this bike? The guy tells me that the chain, sprokets, clutch were replaced at 50k.
